Alright, so today I’m gonna walk you through my little project – slapping an AP (Audemars Piguet) Spider-Man watch together. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not talking about the real deal, more like a fun, budget-friendly homage. Here’s how it all went down.
First off, I did some digging online. I wanted to see what parts were even available, and what kind of cases looked closest to the real AP vibe without breaking the bank. Found a couple of decent looking cases on AliExpress, the kind that are supposed to be “Royal Oak” inspired, if you catch my drift. I picked one that looked solid and had good reviews.
Next up, the dial. This was tricky. Obviously, you’re not gonna find a real Spider-Man dial floating around, so I decided to go the custom route. I searched around on some watch modding forums and found a guy who does custom dial printing. I sent him the Spider-Man design I wanted – found a cool high-res image online – and asked him to print it onto a dial blank that would fit my case. He nailed it, to be honest.
Movement time. I wasn’t trying to build a super high-end watch, so I opted for a reliable and affordable NH35 automatic movement. You can snag these pretty easily online. They’re workhorses and easy to service, if anything goes wrong.
Now, the hands. This took some thinking. I wanted something that matched the overall aesthetic. I ended up going with some silver dauphine hands, just seemed to fit the Spider-Man vibe without being too over-the-top. I got them from the same place I got the movement.
Once all the parts arrived, it was assembly time. I started by carefully installing the movement into the case. This part is a bit fiddly, but nothing too crazy. Just gotta make sure it’s seated properly.
Then I carefully placed the Spider-Man dial onto the movement. This is where you gotta be super careful not to scratch anything. I used a dust blower to get rid of any stray particles.
Next, I pressed the hands onto the movement. You need a special hand-pressing tool for this. It’s easy to bend the hands if you’re not careful, so I took my time and made sure they were aligned properly.
Finally, I slapped on the case back and added a rubber strap that I thought looked sporty and cool. And boom! An AP Spider-Man watch – well, a reasonable facsimile – was born.
Was it perfect? Nah. But it was a fun project, and now I’ve got a unique watch that I built myself. Plus, it’s a conversation starter for sure!
