Orient Ray II (Raven) mod
So the other week, Watches of Espionage posted a PVD’d Black Pelagos FXD.
The FXD is a watch that I would love to get, but is out of my budget for the time being (positive thoughts).
But I acquired this Orient Ray II in a trade last year and have grown to love it. However, the bezel was misaligned. Not a huge deal as I am an owner of a few newer Seikos with the same issue. However those I can’t fix. The original Orient bezel cannot be fixed as it has some unique cutouts in the insert and bezel which prevent a simple rotation to align.
But when I saw the FXD in black, I thought I would use that as inspiration to mod the Orient to fix the bezel issue and scratch the FXD itch … kinda.
The above photos are not mine and are from
https://www.watchesofespionage.com/blogs/woe-dispatch/pvd-tudor-pelagos-fxd
I am very thankful to the mod community as there are some parts available for this watch. DLW had the Orient compatible bezel in black. I went with head blasted because I thought the shiny black was already too much, and it was in stock. These bezels are great because they make them to accept SXK inserts, which really opens up options!
Tokeilab makes the insert which I think matches the look of the FXD (the inspiration) and yet still aligns well (pun intended) with the design of the Orient.
The above photo is my first stab at a staged top down watch photo … with obvious inspiration from W.O.E. Photo!
The DLW bezel shape is more pronounced than the original Orient, but I am ok with that! The white on the bezel and the applied indicies do not match exactly (who knew there were 50 shades of white too?!) but, again, I am ok with it.
Overall, I am very happy with the outcome and once again impressed by our community of mod-ers and makers.
It’s great how a simple mod can rejuvenate and improve a watch!
Thoughts?
Love me a good diver, chronograph, and anything vintage.