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Summary
This project focused on the recreation of a case for a mid century vintage Audemars Piguet watch. At my local antique show, this Audemars Piguet was found in a pile of junk watch movements for $5, in which its case had been melted down for the value of the 18k gold. After purchasing it, I was pleased to find the balance started ticking and the watch was able to keep time very well. Its exact age and service history is unknown, but was most likely originally sold sometime in the 1940’s.
With the options of selling it or recreating a case as close to the original as possible, I took the challenge of redesigning it. Finding images of the same model on the internet, I was able to download reference pictures to begin the design process. I opened the various images on Solidworks and used the dial as a reference to scale the images to a 1:1 dimension in the software. After this, I had an accurate outline to sketch and model from on each dimension plane.
After finishing the model, I was able to make a drawing set with all the dimensions and tolerances to ensure a snap fit for the two halves of the case. With this, I used PCB Way to manufacture the case out of brass, and then gold plate it. Upon receival of the case, the movement fit perfectly and was very snug. The last step was to get a crystal that fit the case front as perfectly as possible. I reached out to Crystalfit, who provided a domed mineral crystal that fit the case perfectly, and was finally able to assemble the watch after using UV glue to attach the crystal.
The movement will still need a service at some point as its service history is unknown, but I am very satisfied with the outcome of the case and am proud to have such a personal high end piece with a unique story!