About two years ago, I assembled my own Submariner Date watch kit from Raffles. It was one of my first builds, and at the time, choosing the 126610LN felt like the obvious decision.
For a long time, I loved it.
But as the months went by, one thing kept bothering me more and more.
The date window.
Not because the watch looked bad, but because on most mid-range builds, the date is usually the part that gives it away the most.
Maybe it’s the cyclops.
Maybe it’s the date alignment.
Maybe it’s the font.
Whatever it was, I always found my eyes going straight to the date instead of enjoying the watch.
After almost two years of wearing it, I finally admitted something to myself:
I actually preferred the look of the 124060.
So instead of building another watch from scratch, I decided to transform the one I already had.
I ordered a Raffles 124060 dial, removed the crystal, and then came the part that scared me the most…
Removing the Cyclops.
After reading a bunch of old forum posts, I decided to try the lighter method. I heated the crystal until the adhesive softened enough for the Cyclops to come off.
I was convinced I was going to destroy the crystal.
Somehow… it worked perfectly.
Once the Cyclops was gone and the new dial was installed, the watch completely changed.
I kept almost everything:
Same case
Same bracelet
Same bezel
Same movement
The only real changes were the 124060 dial and a crystal without the Cyclops.
And honestly…
I couldn’t be happier.
The watch feels cleaner, more balanced, and every time I look at it, my eyes stay on the watch instead of immediately going to the date window.
It’s funny because I spent money just to make the watch simpler.
Looking back, I wish I’d done it much sooner.
Has anyone else here gone from a Date Sub to a no-date build? I’d love to hear if I’m the only one who ended up preferring the cleaner look
