arrrrgg..... photos on watches?

[chongsta]

yeah it does seem like a re-assemble but it might be worth it...

stay on this martin lol time is ticking (sorry, i had to drop that one in )

Dave.

[bms]

lol Starting to draw a blank on this. Contacts in the Far East can't locate a supplier of the watches

[chongsta]

Yeah i did a good 2 hours of going around in circles with google and other search engines trying to find suppliers.

i tried every connotation of "photo on watch" under the sun. The thing is these are massive in america so someone must be supplying on a large basis. i even mailed the sites themselves but got no reply. Even though I said i was british and wouldnt be stepping on their yankee toes, i guess anyone can lie about location and thus no comprende!

Nearest i can find is this [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Personalised-Phot ... 334b7009f5]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Personalised-Phot ... 334b7009f5[/url]

But thats just a print on the back of the watch.

Looking at the range from [url="http://www.timissimo.com/]http://www.timissimo.com/[/url] it seems to be that maybe there isnt a supplier after all - theres so many styles of watches available, perhaps these are just cheap watches that pop out and yes, the faces are sub-dyed probably with some of that sub dye spray application stuff.

Im going down to my local market to buy a few cheap watches and see if i can do this myself. Nothing to lose but a fiver really.

if it works i'll let you all know...or look out for a site that im about to make for photos on watches hehehehehheh

Dave.

[Andrew]

Do you know these types of watch are sublimation printed? I reckon it's probably a different method. There are probably easier methods which will probably be easier and give a better result. I have seen some with plastic printed inserts. Are there any suitable papers like Magic Touch that could over print an exisiting design that can be popped out? With the metal for subli you could probably get any shape cut out if the quantities were there.

Dave - I believe there is a guy down Llanelli that does custom branded watches for your old customer base. Also a company called James Allen if you remember that was one of the main suppliers of branded watches. Whilst these weren't singles they might be able to get hold of printable watches and know the options available for branding.

[chongsta]

Hi andrew, (I was about to call you for this )

do you have the number for him please? I looked around the football world of shops and they all have club watches, even the Swans, but upon close inspection theyre not subbed, they're raised off the plate like metal or something close to it.

i cant see how theses sites can offer the photo on a watch without it being dyed unless theyre printed direct which deepens the mystery. what gets me is that these seem to be big in america but only 1 or 2 are doing it in the UK. And the huge selection of watches from very decorative through to divers bezel watches says to me that either there is a huge selection OR there are certain types of watches that do pop-out and our changeable. weird that us Brits have missed this.

Im still not getting replies from the yanks lol.

Dave.

[JSR]

i cant see how theses sites can offer the photo on a watch without it being dyed unless theyre printed direct which deepens the mystery.

Why can't these images be printed direct to photo paper from a regular printer and then stuck to a plate before being assembled?

I imagine printing a bunch of circles on photo paper, cutting them out with a Craft Robo, and sticking them to the backplate before assembly would be a doddle compared to dye-sub.

[Andrew]

That's what I was getting at JSR. We get to hung up on sublimation now and then and sometimes don't see the alternatives. I know a lot of the individual watch personalisation is done with printing on plastic and then fixing to the watch back plate. Very small detail on an item like a watch face would be very hard to achieve due to a certain amount of bleed from dark bold colours into lighter areas. This is not noticed most of the time but the smaller it gets the harder to achieve very fine detail. I know them anajet? machines can print most things. Transfers might be an option but not my thing.

Dave - haven't really a clue who the company was down Llanelli as I didn't pay much attention when talking about them. James Allen is the biggest supplier to the industry.

[Justin]

Came across this whilst looking for some ideas for this thread.....About the best I could find.

http://www.flutterbees.com/index.php?ma ... cts_id=232

[chongsta]

Ive asked a friend whos Chinese and is constantly importing and sourcing new products. He's never seen these before and said that he doesnt believe they exist in the context we need them.

He's 99% sure that the companies involved have a working relationship together, this would explain how there's so many styles of watches on offer.

The whole process is just too fiddly he said. Too many things to go wrong like snapping watch hands etc.

I agree



never mind eh!

Dave.

[Justin]

I do think it's one of those things that would end up being more trouble than it's worth. Shame really as I'm sure they'd ne nice. I guess if it was easy enough to do everyone would already be doing it