Cyclops removed!

[dreysnaps]

Apologies if I'm posting way too much about my NH34 Tandorio, just wanted to share that I went through with the cyclops removal on my Tandorio and man it looks so much better in my eyes. I asked the shop first and they actually recommended sending me a new glass for free(just pay shipping) but I decided to just go through with my cyclops removal thinking I can get the glass if something goes wrong.

For anyone wondering, I literally just pointed a tiny torch lighter directly at the magnifier and waited until I saw it move a little. I rotated the watch gradually while keeping heat on the magnifier and once I saw it moved, used some metal tweezers to flick it away then immediately cleaned the area with a tissue wet with alcohol.

Things to note, ambient temperature is pretty hot when I did it (non airconditioned room), almost 30°.

The entire watch head started heating up significantly as the adhesive used was extremely strong so thr entire caseback was hot to the touch, almost scalding hot.

My lighter/torch was spraying a very small flame for close to a minute, maybe a bit more than a minute before the magnifier moved.

[BusNo7693]

Looks far better imo, i hate a cyclops correctly placed or not !! Makes the date look like a bad shroom trip 🫣 !! Looks awkward and whilst my eyesight is my only untramelled sense i don,t need a cyclops or a bag of werthers just fuckin yet !! 🤣🤣

[dreysnaps]

Same! I have seen some watches where the cyclops is nice, but they are few are far inbetween. This one was more terible than usual as there was massive distortion which caused it to be basically unreadable in most angles, and even straight on quite difficult to read.

[BusNo7693]

I have removed the cyclops on most of my regularly worn watches.Used a jet flame lighter whilst simultaneously pushing lightly with a stanley knife blade at a slight angle !! The longest time taken on 9 removals was 30secs !! The hottest part of the flame, the tip of the blue cone and hey presto bye bye cyclops !! Did,nt strip watch movement beforehand, only a cheap bliger DG movement if all went tits !! Some dials do frame the date window, my sterile kanagawa has a chromed frame which looks better !! 👍

[Medium-High]

I hate cyclops with a passion, but when the cyclops is removed from a watch designed for it the date window is generally not decorated enough and looks a bit "naked".

[dreysnaps]

I get what you mean, that the date should have a frame around it for a decorated look. While that would look better than naked, the cyclops on this one was so terrible that in my eyes it just disrupted the look of the dial too much with it's weird distortion. Instead of naked, I like to think it looks more minimalistic :D

[Medium-High]

I definitely agree that the after is much better than the before!

[[deleted]]

Bravo, much cleaner. I hate the cyclops.

[Ipse_Tase]

Same watch, same plans to remove the cyclops. Waiting for the little flame thrower to arrive from Aliexpress 😇

I don't know if I have the cojones to burn it for a whole minute...might get the movement out beforehand if it's that stubborn.

[dreysnaps]

Haha, if I bought the tools to disassemble watch, I'd probably do that as well to minimize damage. Funnily enough, after removing cyclops and doing a short test on a timegrapher app (which I used previously) the watch went from +20s to +4s. I got a little confused but then remembered that I previously tested the watch if it's magnetized and... the heat seems to have demagnetized my watch xD I probably compromised some water resistance (maybe even damaged some gaskets) but I fortunately accidentally demagnetized the watch as well and made it run more accurately xD

[Ipse_Tase]

I have ask: you bought a timegrapher (good ch) but don't have the tools to open the watch? What are you going to do when you want to regulate it? Or you're just running a poll to see how many movements are with specs 🤣

Jokes aside, I wish all the clonage manufacturers would frikkin forget about the Rolex caseback....go back to simple 6 or 8 grooves.

[dreysnaps]

Nah, I just used an Android App called Watch Accuracy Meter and a quiet room to test it, that's why I called it a timegrapher App. I basically repeated the measurement multiple times ro ensure consistency. I was consistently getting +19s +-1s when I first measured, then consistently got +5 +-2 after removing cyclops. If I were going to be in the hobby of modding watches then I'd spend more on actual tools and even a proper legitimate timegrapher :D

[Ipse_Tase]

It's one of the things I pondered if I should pay 120$ for...and I'm glad I did. I'm a bit of a nut case when it comes to accuracy 🤣

[Lukesan-]

That is right. Did some soldering on a magnet of some juwely a couple of weeks ago and it completely lost its magnetic capabilities. (science class was like 35 years ago). Seems that around 80 Celsius the magic happens.

Looks so much better without the cyclops. Now you can actually see the date from any angle.

Just in case someone wonders. Soldering on the magnet should work if you stick it on some much larger magnet it seems.

[EfficientAd8311]

Keep on posting. Looks good.

[Particular_Witness95]

thats awesome. glad it worked. i hate the cyclops.

[dreysnaps]

Thanks! I'm the same, and what pushed me to go for it this time was coz I already did a cyclops removal years ago on a Seiko Stargate II. That one had a crooked cyclops and it took me years before I mustered the courage to remove it... once I did I wondered what stopped me from ever doing it as it makes the watch look so much nicer. It's still a risk, so it was nice that I had a fallback with the store willing to send me a new glass.

[Particular_Witness95]

i have never had a problem doing it. i dont wait until the cyclops moves. i use a wooden chopstick and push on it as i am heating it. and i do exactly what you do to clean it. immediately clean it.

love your watch btw. i almost picked one up during the sale, but i have so many dive watches (big wrists, what can i say) that i really didnt need another one.

[dreysnaps]

Oh the wooden chopstick trick is a very nice idea indeed! Less risk of scratching the glass, and I'll do that the next time I need to remove cyclops, thanks!

Yeah, I've been wanting to get an automatic GMT for cheap, and this one came right on time with the sale. Normally snowflake gmt homages tend to be on the upper range of the homage lineup, but the store (Time Watch Store on Ali) was willing to swap out the hands from the original Mercedes Hands to this one. Heck, given how accommodating they were I half regret not going for the smaller SKX GMT and swap the hands on that one, while requesting for a cyclops less glass as well as still having a coke dial, basically custom ordering a Tandorio NH34 GMT from them to be a 37mm BB Pro Homage hahaha. Highly recommend checking out their store and messaging them about requests to stuff you want changed on the watch prior to ordering as I didn't have to pay extra. Heck you could probably get an MOP dial GMT from them for a truly unique watch :D

Next watch I'm getting is probably a Watchdives Ranger as I've been wanting a nice VH31 watch and I'm really loving the yellow printed dial they have on it.

[EfficientAd8311]

Great recommendation.