A Different Blue Manta Ray !

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A rare and discontinued Alba 200m diver, a.k.a. The Blue Manta Ray has the following specs:


Model No: AL-4005X
Diameter: 44mm (without crown), 46mm (with crown)
Lug-to-lug: 47mm
Thickness: 14mm
Lug width: 22mm



This blue dial version only comes with an Alba signed diver strap and this is what the watch looks like brand new from a watch retailer.





Its a nice watch but it can be better if

a) The uncomfortable rubber strap is replaced with a SS bracelet

-AND-

b) The slim hour and min hands are replaced with a set of decent diver's hands that offers a better lume.




So what happens if i attempt to make the above mentioned improvements? Well, i ended up with a watch that looks like this ...







The hour and min hands with a chrome surround are white in daylight, nicely matching the indices giving it a stock look.





A 22mm polished straight ended Anvil bracelet





The area between the lugs is nicely finished and polished. It looks fine even without the a folded curved end link










Solid links and solid end links with the original fat spring bars





A folding clasp ...





The flip-lock clasp has a polished finish. There's probably too much bling here, i may just brushed it out later





Lume junkies, go knock yourselves out !!!





A wrist shot ...





I'm not someone who likes to mod watches, preferring to go along with the original parts. Things changed when i had my hands on a Blue Manta Ray. Somehow, i just had the urge to fix things that arent quite right with this watch. Thanks to the members of WTW who helped me with the choice of bracelet and hands (so its your fault if it turns out horrible! ), i think the watch looks much better after the mod. Its now a different blue Manta Ray!




Thanks for viewing!