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champagneinhand

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About champagneinhand

  • Birthday 12/01/1968

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    United States

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  • Gender
    Male
  • Location
    Upstate Western New York
  • Interests
    Wine, Food, cooking, watches, motorbikes, fine art, cameras....

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  1. Life beyond the wall. What shall we have? An '82 Margaux! Is it any good? Good....?, It will make you believe in God!
  2. I bought a nice Tudor Snowflake Ghost build last year as my 1968 birth year watch. I don't wear it often or as often as I should. The plexi T19 makes me a bit worried but again that crystal really makes the dial look spectacular. I am very glad to have it and thankful to the Italian watch smith/modder who made it possible. "What should we start with?" "An '82 Margaux." "Is it good?" "Good? It will make you believe in God!"
  3. They just took a plate back from a guy that's had this plate for years. Lame. Plus turn it upside down. 3I0H55V. People are just too sensitive. My neighbor has s corvette with L8RCOPS. No worries about that. It's $77 for the first year for me, but I have veterans plates option. Have wanted JGCN0IR for a while. That's my ride. I think it it is appropriate. What shall we have? An '82 Margaux! Is it any good? Good....?, It will make you believe in God!
  4. Buy a demagnetizer. They aren't that expensive and with speakers everywhere these days it more common than you might believe. Really only the Divers have decent protection from this. Also buying the smallest compass you can find, like a zipper compass can show you when things get magnetized. Such a common culprit.
  5. I was paranoid about wearing Gen Imegas while riding my crutch rocket. Seriously, like some kind of sports superstition. I finally sold all 3 Gen Omegas. I finally sold the 600cc Yamaha R6. I miss it all the time but always wore a disposable but accurate Quartz. Funny as I never worried about the expensive phone in tank bag or clothes but worried all the time about trashing a Gen and not having covered under insurance for the bike or homeowners. For thefts they have to have a fence or place to sell the merch. That's far more credit than you hood rats deserve. Most would let your rep go for $40 in cash or $50 in drugs. In bad areas have no fear. People smell it. Throw in that touch of randomness or a touch of crazy and you will be okay. However you have to believe it as people's d animals sense fear. It's palpable and victims are almost always of opportunity and present themselves as such. Take that cab ride if you are unsure of how you carry yourself. I can get catsuit crazy and bit somebody's nose off if things go down wrong, but that's just me. Usually I'm a nice gent that knows more courtesy than your average Joe. However I draw the line at being robbed without a fight on principles. It's like dealing with bullies but this can't be taught in a watch forum. It's something you learned very young in life. A bully or predator will always move in to easier prey if they even slightly sense that you have a bit of stand up crazy in you. Again, don't go where you don't feel comfortable. Take off your watch if that helps. If not buy some pepper spray but buy two cans so you can get how to use it down with can number one. Again fear is palpable and people look for those presenting as possible victims. It's a hard life out there.
  6. I just am in the process of doing some Frankenstein work to a Long Island version. I will be Rhodium playing the case. I have brightened the Lume on the hands and will update the crystal possibly with an AR. I changed the strap to a darkest Navy Crocodile with white stitching. The watch is fun and a great conversation piece whenever you wear it. Here is a picture of it so far. A very fun if not practical watch.
  7. Some of those analog reps on eBays are Quartz movements. I think the meaning of analog was lost in translation.
  8. For real. Maybe an old off the street Cartier with a bad Quartz movement or used 21J, but not likely to find a functioning one. Strap sale at Panatime got me under the $50 mark but it's a very low price these days. Less than a good bottle of wine from the store.
  9. I think pullers can work too. I've seen the watchmaker do it many time, but slowly squeeze and never pull up. I agree with having Saran Wrap or having the watch in a bag or do it in a corner where the hands can bounce back down after they pop off as direction can be anywhere. Again the puller really shouldn't be called that. Bergeron and others that sell these tool are very specific as not to pull, but to squeeze with slow even pressure. I do agree on lever for the tiny chrono hand. Removing hands is always challenging. The risks of thin seconds hand and chrono timer hands.
  10. I hate selling to as so many perspective buyers. I had one guy who does drive by posting though he has no intentions of buying, asking me to crack open my watch. I was naive and did this as I was trying to be a good seller. I had stated in the OP that it was stated that the movement was Swiss. You could get a good picture of the ETA stamp under the balance wheel assembly, but in OP, I also stated to assume it was an A7750. How many times do we get watches from TD that are stated Swiss with no ETA stamp. Anyway, whenever I posted more pictures, he just kept posting, not Swiss, no ETA stamp. So Frustrating! If he knew gen watch trade, he should know that even the priciest watches sold at AD in Duty Free or grey market stores usually have gen watches assembled in Asia. Swiss law is enforced in many places, but Duty Free, Grey market and many countries don't require assembly in Switzerland. Also hallmarks in a rep watch are pretty much worthless as I have a Daytona with an 18k hallmark that is clearly SS and sold by TD as such. The Gen is a platinum only piece. So bad buyers that stall sales, make a need for re-listing, bad sellers that stiff people and those that believe themselves to be the all-knowing police force of all sales threads get to me. Probably because I rarely sell anything, but these things hurt everybody. Most people sell because the need funding for..... We try to take the best photos we can. I think asking to open a case back when it's stated that assumption that as a rep, not a Franken, it probably has a movement assembled in Asia. Not to mention, I had to relubricate and waterproof with the silicone on O-ring and then the thicker Seiko silicone on the threads. Bad members with malice on the sales threads are bad. Moderators and the forum administrators have put up rules, forms and stickies. This thread had helped me, as I will send extra pictures through messages and emails. As a buyer I send all funds with PP. If I say I will buy it, I send funds ASAP via PP. From now on as a seller I will require first come first served and sales price is only negotiable through PM, unless I post a price drop. I try to price fairly as most of my reps have mods and very good straps. Thanks for putting this thread up. I don't post enough on RWG. I'm liking this site more and more.
  11. I'm a lot like cjoyce1, in that I love to do the small modifications. I don't have a lot of posts on RWG, but I do on RepGeek and a few on RWI. I have most of the watch makers tools. My good friends father is an 80 year old watch maker I have learned so much from just by watching him work and helping out when I can. I used to own 3 Gen Omega, but I sold one on the Bay about 8 years back. Over time I sold one to the watch maker and my friend and I traded my Gen PO. I still have a few vintage Gens and some Tissot that they are able to order for about 50% off retail. Still I have at least 15 great reps. I have been fascinated with watches since I was a teen and worked as a jewelers apprentice, though much was polishing and taking fresh casts of rings and bringing them to become beautiful pieces of gold. I never have worn jewelry, not even my wedding ring. Even back then I would hang out with the stores 2 watch makers and try and learn. Something about the mechanical movements has always intrigued me. I almost put the action between the springs and the balance wheel as something akin to a little heartbeat. I'm retired now but spent my career in healthcare, both hands on and then in Pharmaceutical marketing. I know most of the human body backwards and forwards. I look at a complete watch much the same way. I have now started buying the more costly modification tools. I bought an electroplating machine with all of the solutions, beakers, different anodes and such this month. I have been working with Swiss lume for a bit now. It's all fascinating and requires a lot of practice and patience. While my close up eyesight has started to fade with age, I wear reading glasses under the magnifying visor which has an LED light source and a loupe lens for the up close stuff. It's a lot like surgery, even if it's cosmetic. It's easy to have things get out of hand. At the moment I have 3 different FM Long Island Crazy Hours with 4 dials, 2 movements and so many spare parts. I too am guilty of buying very nice straps that cost as much as many of your standard rep from 5 years back. I also look for very well made replicas. I'll mention a few like the IWC Top Gun but it is fairly easy to get a very good Omegs. The Bond 50th anniversary SMP is one of the closest out of the box reps that is amazing. Holding the gen and the rep in both hands blows ones mind. My friend wears the gen PO a few days a week, so seeing how easy it is to buy gen parts with a decent rep, makes the Franken all the more intriguing. A quick statement about the quality of ETA movements should not be understated. Even most of the well made Asian ETA movements are very good movements. Anything that can pass and be certified as a COSC, with just a tear down, and reassembly using the proper amount of lubrication, being free of dust is impressive. Considering that many brands used ETA in their gens, with of course the decorated bridges and rotor. SWATCH is a huge players in the Swiss watch game. Until the co-axial came out in Omega, most of their house movements were modified ETA. Same can be said of Hublet, Breitling and others. I look at modifications as this same type of work. While many spend tens of thousands modifying an automobile or a motorcycle or even a home, something you do to make something your own has a lot of satisfaction. I would never own this many genuine watches. In truth I wear a Quartz Luminox most days but love to put on a rep when going out dressed a bit nicer than days of running errands or the child to volleyball practices and such. If you haven't figured out from my handle, I buy and cellar blue chip wines of France, Italy, Germany, with the USA West Coast, Finger Lakes area, and Australia and Hungary to a minor extent. In that world no clones or replicas will do. You buy through the retailers that initially release the wines and if sourced with age you need the documentation of provenance. I hope to drink all my wines in life but it sucks a ton of money from a cellar enthusiast. I also grow wine grapes in Upstate NY. Watch making gives me something to enjoy inside during our harsh, dark Winters which are long. I don't hate or mind people dropping $700 on a rep, especially if it's a real tourbillon or has a special case like the ceramics or forged carbon. I generally don't buy those, but will get a tourbillon one of these days. It's a passion and hobby. Long gone are the days of dressing in a fine suit of worsted wool and needing that beautiful time piece as the ultimate accessory. I also avoid the ADs unless I'm traveling to bigger metro areas or abroad in the duty free, but still over-priced world. In that duty free world many gen watches are assembled in Thailand or Asia, just like the grey market. I don't obsess about it, but I will probably not buy another gen unless it's for a specific purpose. The Luminox is a black ops diver. I use it while doing ocean swimming. I love the tritium during the long nights. It is a wonderful sub $500US genuine accurate to a fault Swiss Quartz. An ETA I believe. It is just a few seconds of an atomic clock over a month. That has a purpose like Tissot T-Touch if you do any backpacking with elevations being important as well as an accurate temperature beside you when you wake. Sorry for the length but watches/wine are passionate subjects.
  12. These all ceramics are not terribly expensive as gens. I haven't seen a good Rado rep, but you never know. GL with the hunt.
  13. You should be able to make most watches water resistant as long as they have a screw in crown, plus the O-ring gaskets on the crown, the case back and the crystal. They need to have a thicker form of silicone put on them. I like the Seiko product best for water resistance. It's thicker than petroleum jelly and a little hard to work with but it does the best job. If you are not comfortable disassembling the case back, pulling the crown and lubing the O-ring and making sure the crystal has some sort of gasket, then send it to a trusted repair person. Remember that these are reps. I don't think Tudor has a Helium valve as those need to be sealed as well on reps. You best bet for water play is to buy a good Quartz. I used a Luminox Black Ops and it has a screw in crown and tritium markers. It the watch I choose for water. It's rated for 200M which I will never go down to, but I do like to free ocean swim. It's good to know the time. All watches claim water-resistance, not waterproof, even the Gens because it's easy to miss something and salt water will ruin a movement faster than you can blink nits why I choose a replaceable sub $400 Gen. However plenty of threads in the watch boards to show case resistance without the movement and you can decide.
  14. That used to be Ryan's site a while back. I haven't used him but it's always best to check. I look for TDs here or on RepGeek or RWI. Too many cheats and thieves out there.
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