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This. This watch dial is the reason I started on this particular watch build... It all began when I came across someone's build that utilised the same dial - prior to this, I did not even know of the existence of a Walter Wolf Racing branded watch or dial. If you don't have any idea who or what Walter Wolf Racing is, here's an excerpt from Wikipedia: "Walter Wolf Racing was a Formula One constructor active from 1977 to 1979, which won the first race the team entered. It was owned and run by Canadian Walter Wolf. The team was based in Reading, UK but raced with the Canadian licence." Okay, to be honest, I don't really know much about the team either, all I knew was that its colours look great, I've seen F1 cars with its livery online, and that there was an RG400 Walter Wolf by Suzuki. Eitherway, I decided that this would make for the perfect piece to work around to create a motorsports-inspired driving watch! As you can see, the dial that I've gotten came from this Citizen watch, which was part of a special release of Walter Wolf Racing co-branded line of watches. And for some reason, the dial was available on eBay, and although it costs quite a pretty penny, I decided to go for it! While I could have went with a typical NH36 movement, this was a plain dial build without any date, hence the NH36 movement with a date complication would have resulted in a 'ghost position' for the quickset date adjustment. To circumvent this issue, and for that fancy black plating, I opted for the skeletonised NH72A, and on top of that, I ordered some blued screws to dress the movement up a little (the watch's gonna have a display caseback!) As the dial is of a smaller diameter than standard Seiko ones, I had to make it work somehow, and fill the gap on the outside. To achieve that, I decided to get a minute track meant for skeleton dial builds, and to combine it with the Citizen Walter Wolf Racing dial. For the hands, I wanted something that would fit the instrument panel of a race car, and hence the simple red second hand that is inspired by racing tachometers. The completed "heart" of the watch! With the intention of it as a driving watch, I opted for a simple slim case. And by now you should have noticed the weird orientation of the dial, and the crown. You see, without a date window, I have the freedom to play around with the clocking of the dial (and the entire movement essentially). I've chose to have the crown on the left side so that it doesn't dig into my wrist (I'll be wearing the watch on my left hand), as for the dial position... Pictured here is a driving watch from Vacheron Constantin, very expensive stuff, but hey, that isn't the point. Now, looking at this image, you can probably already understand the reason for the dial's position - it is so that the face remains upright when you are holding a steering wheel, or when you are riding a bike. So there we have it! A 1 of 1 motorsport inspired driving watch that I built myself! Here's a shot of the display caseback, showing off the movement in its full glory - Zhi Xuan

Watches were something that a Poly friend of mine got me into - my first one was a Seiko SKX007 that I still have to this day. Being an affordable mechanical watch from a reputable Japanese brand, it was something that I figured I could save up and get into. But the journey didn't end at getting the watch. Shortly after, I was introduced to the world of watch modding... Apparently, the SKX007 looks somewhat like the higher-end Marine Master 300, and there are people who swapped the dial and hands over from the latter to create what was called the 'PMMM' - Poor Man's Marine Master. I ended up ordering various parts to spruce up my SKX007: Sapphire crystal, Grand Seiko Diver inspired hands and even a movement upgrade eventually! All the work was done by Mr. Goh at K2 watch co. Okay, so, enough with the back story. In more recent times, my watch hobby has continued to grow, and I ended up buying the tools needed and started putting together watches with parts bought online. So I'm here to share about my most recent build, a watch for my mum! The square Bell&Ross inspired watch case was originally for another project of mine, and while I ended up using another case, this one caught my mum's eyes, so I asked her to pick out a dial, and I'll put together a watch for her. Pictured here are the main components for you to build a watch: A watch case, dial, the movement (in this case a Seiko SII/TMI NH35) and the watch hands. A closer look at the components Putting the dial in for a test - seems like the indices on the chapter ring (the black ring with white markers on it) is a little too much, considering the dial already has its own minute track printed... I'll have to do something about the chapter ring. A quick press and the crystal is off, and so is the chapter ring. Using some Isopropyl Alcohol, I've managed to remove the paint and printing on the chapter ring, resulting in a nice mirror finish. Doesn't it look much cleaner now? Now, it's time to get the hands on! Using some plastic sheets that I've cut from old ziplock bags as a dial protector, the Hour hand is successfully installed! The rest of the hands are installed, and what's left is to install the entire thing into the watch case! The movement I bought came with a custom date wheel that has lumed dates (glow-in-the-dark), a nice touch isn't it? So, this is it! The watch build for my mum! If you are someone that loves DIY projects, putting a watch together is a fun hobby that you can consider. While there are some challenges due to how small the components are, you just need to rack up some experience and you'll quickly start to enjoy the process! -Zhi Xuan