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When this gen first got introduced, I was never fully impressed with it. While I thought it was a good looking watch, I still felt that all the magic, mystique and traditions of the classic red and blue Pepsi GMT were instantly swept away. I might be biased, because everything from 1675 to 16710 are my all-time favorite Rolexes. I love that watch so much that I purchased the genuine article just a few weeks ago. My opinion hasn't changed. I actually like the design of this watch, but it's the departure from the classic, legendary GMT that I'm not too excited about. Maybe I'll change my mind when they introduce the classic "Pepsi" model back into the lineup. Just like you can't offer Ferrari with only in British Racing Green, Rolex shouldn't sell a GMT Master without the Pepsi option. But besides that, the watch certainly is a good looker and very good replication. This rep has been absolutely all over the place since it was released a few months ago. It is available with the correct hand stack (short: CHS), which means independently adjustable hour hand. Correct hand stack means that the 24h hand is placed above the hour hand. This movement behaves like the gen, and the hour hand moves in one hour increments. But it's also an accident waiting to happen. I have plenty of experience with the CHS, so I decided to opt for the wrong hand stack Swiss ETA movement. The wrong hand stack (short: WHS) version is a "faux" GMT movement, and it doesn't operate like the gen. The 24h hand is placed below the hour hand in the stack, and one time during the day the hour hand and 24h hand "meet". This is when the visual problem with the WHS occurs. However, you can set the 24h hand "meeting point" to say, 2am or 3am if it bothers you. Besides this "meeting point" the hand stack is very difficult to detect without a loupe. The small annoyance with the "faux" WHS modification is that you have to set the 24h hand "in sync" manually. This has been covered in this article. I have developed a good trust in this WHS ETA "bastardization", and I can recommend it to anyone (as long as you really get a genuine ETA). There is an Asian version of the WHS available too, but the reports of that movement have been less than stellar. This watch has been discussed throughly, so I doubt I can bring anything new on the table. My good friend Dan (a RepGeek admin) compared this with the gen here, and that superb comparison pictorial tells you everything you need to know. The replication is excellent. The bezel numbers have been improved (they used to be too thick). I'm also very impressed with the dial, which is almost flawless. The Triplock crown isn't perfect (the threads aren't quite apparent enough), but it's very acceptable. Tube looks thick and solid. The 24h bi-directional bezel has a new feature: it moves in one hour increments, and has only 24 clicks. This is perfectly logical for a GMT watch, and definitely a great feature and improvement over the old Master II. The biggest flaw on this watch is the non-symmetric rehaut engraving. ROLEXROLEXROLEX should always match with '9, '12 and '3'o'clock markers, and this isn't the case on the rep. The '9 spot is way off target. I find this a bit disappointing, and of course it's not fixable. Big flaw or not... it's another very stupid mistake by the factories. The SELs have been fitted exceptionally well. The cyclops magnification also lacks the antireflective coating. Many have applied an AR for their mags, and I'm often amazed how innovative our members are. You can read about Lanikai's experiences with it here and here. The bracelet felt really lousy and cheap when I received this watch. But as usual, there's nothing that a bottle of sewing machine oil couldn't fix. I can assure you, after the "oil treatment" the difference is dramatic. Pour plenty of sewing machine oil all over the bracelet middle links, then twist and bend them like a maniac. Then do it again, and leave plenty of oil on the bracelet overnight. Don't even think about skipping this... oiling the replica Rolex bracelet is absolutely essential modification. The bracelet edges should be gently filed smoother as well. bklm1234 has a good tutorial how to do it. Polished middle links are a bit "so and so" on a tool watch, but GMT Master has never been a "hardcore tool" like the Sub or SeaDweller, so I think they're acceptable and go nicely with the reflective and shiny bezel. The clasp is the same as on the Daytona, so it feels solid and heavy compared to the old flimsy design. The micro adjustment is extremely tricky, because you have to release the adjustment pin from inside the clasp (there are no holes outside). If someone has a good system for it, I'm all ears. Is this the best ever otb Rolex replica? In my opinion: no. The classic (and rare) black Explorer II (the same base model that was used to build my franken) is still the king, but this and the WM9 Sub definitely take the second place. The rehaut engraving is a small (but fundamental) flaw. I received this watch a few days ago, and while I have to admit that I'm still not completely crazy about it, Of course this is an instant replica classic, and me being a GMT-geek it was kind of a "must have" in many ways. Generally I'm not too crazy about plain black & white watches, but I really like the highly reflective "ceramic" bezel and the Daytona clasp. This watch has "grown" on me a little, and maybe it's just a matter of time when it manages to fully capture my heart. But there's no way I could ever prefer this over the classic 1675/16710. Thanks to ***Precious Time*** for another flawless transaction and QC'ing this rep for me!

This, hard to find, but excellent thread is a must for all sensible buyers: I only buy reps at under 150$ or so.. It's not that I can't or don't want to afford a watch at 300-400$, I'm willing to spend that and much more than that on a gen. It's a principal, I don't think that any rep is worth that much, and I'll explain exactly why: 1. The Asian movement is so cheap, you can replace it whenever it fails (and usually it won't fail so quickly). Even if your ETA watch would last 3 times longer than the Asian, the Asian would still be cheaper in the long run. 2. When buying a rep, you're getting little if any warranty. If your 350$ rep fails after 3 months, it's money down the toilet. You could fix it, but it will cost about 150$ more if you're lucky. Any gen can fail anytime (and it happens), a rep is much more likely to do that. 3. Auto chrono movements in high end reps, simply suck. Tons of problems, no matter would they do. Many times its also very flawed compared to the gen, because of bad sub-dials spacing. If you want a chrono watch, buy a quartz. Usually it will come in the same case, be a lot cheaper, much more reliable and more true to the gen. Of-course it's still a quartz, and if the gen is auto (which isn't always the case), you have what I consider a very minor flaw, but many will consider a major one. Like I said before, take your time, do your research, read and ask, and you can find great value watches. Just a word, I really like this forum, and I even support it, but take into consideration that many times people would look down on you if you're looking for the cheaper reps. Maybe it's just me, but this is the feeling I got, when asking similar questions at the beginning.

I recently purchased a strap in the sales section/straps subforum. I sent a pm to seller and posted "pm sent" in thread. For THREE days that post was the most recent post in that forum. It was DEAD. I came close to re-upping my Platinum membership after it expired, I need to sell some watches. But there is so little traffic it is not worth it. And I made donations to this forum, then a monthly membership, AND some pay-in "support the forum" raffles, I have given money, so for me the issue now is do I want to pay MORE just to be able to post a sales thread? And the answer is no, the traffic in the sales forum is definitely not worth what you have to pay to have access to it. As to why it is so dead, I don't know. I don't like some of the changes, I used to have "trader" stats, feedback that is, that's gone now. How can I even know who I am dealing with? But for the most part, it seems to be a lack of tolerance for banter. This is the A-list site and everything is top-shelf, no fooling around. I made a mistake once, paid the price, came back, promptly got smacked down again on a silly pretext. Even RG is friendlier than this place lately. And that wasn't always true. This isn't sour grapes, I am not the only one to have made this observation. So if you ask me, that might have something to do with it. Not that anyone is going to care what I think.

I realize that I am somewhat still a noob here, but I have started to notice a bit of a disturbing trend as of late that may be scaring off the noob community. I realize it is just bad form for your first or second post to be "Who has the best sub?", but some people I find are a little too quick to flame the noob questions and state "Use the search function. It is your friend". Before the upgrade, the search engine was superb. Since the upgrade, I find the search engine very difficult to navigate through. Considering how much I used it before the upgrade and loved it, I cannot imagine being a noob now and trying to find some useful information through every single thread that comes back in the search results. I think it might be time to start pulling back the flaming posts a little bit and really step up to start helping the noobs who are brave enough to dare ask such questions as "V1, V2 or V-super-advanced-incredibly-amazing" Additionally, there have been quite a few people who have been quite quick to jump on people's sales threads practically calling them scammers - members who have been respected veterans for quite a while and have a superb sales reputation. Certain tones of writing that have seriously gotten out of hand and caused quite a bad feeling between members. I'm no super poster, but I love to contribute when and where I can and I love the feedback, advice, and general good vibes from everyone here who has helped me out with all of my little projects. Just thought I would share my 0.02 RED

As I stated in another thread, I've definitely noticed a drop in new posts lately. By lately, it's been since the upgrade. I know that when the upgrade first came out, i felt very disoriented, and things just didn't feel like they used to. The other forum felt comfy, like home. With the change, it just didn't have the same feel to it, and I noticed almost immediately that the number of posts went down. I assumed it was due to the first challenges of getting things up and running, followed by people just needing to get used to the place. I've been waiting for people to return and for posts to increase, thinking "today will be the day". It does indeed feel like there are less newb questions in the general discussion area. It seems that some of the threads that would generate the most replies and that real forum family closeness, were responses to people who were very new, and had the typical questions about "who has the best" "how do you know who to buy from" "what should I expect with customs" "what is an A7750?" etc. Those used to hit multiple pages in a heartbeat, and you saw genuine enthusiasm from our members supporting the newcomers. Maybe we're a victim of our own success? Have we created so many how-to guides, and made the information so accessible that people find it without asking the old time questions? I always enjoyed when veterans would take the time to answer questions of newbies, even when they have been asked hundreds of times before - not just the default "learn how to search.". I can tell you the posts i look forward to the most are when members are getting a new watch, discuss why they picked it out, and the eventual review. I love reading watch reviews and getting opinions on how people think they measure up. Regardless if it's a new sub, PO, pam, or the new UN, it's always great to see the excitement when people get a new watch and start talking about it. Maybe we're buying less due to various reasons. Perhaps we could start some kind of, for lack of a better word, contest. Like a newb questions of the week. Encourage new members to ask questions, and those that generae responses or ask a good question, get something - no idea what though... Anyway, just my $.02US WR

I would say a reworked 6497, it is fucking nice though!

Yeah, v2 is better. +1 Wear it well.

And people wonder why newbies are scared to post and the activity levels are low. What did the old start page used to say? "One of the friendliest forums in cyberspace"? Geesus. Welcome to the hobby p-lund. Be warned its incredibly addictive so the costs do pile up, even if ur going for cheapies

Just an idea, but perhaps we should look to intro new things as an enticement to increased participation? For example, I know there must be new stuff coming out all the time but the only time I ever read about it is when someone posts up about them, usually with a "What do you think? Is it good?" type of post. I'm still n00b enough to not really keep up to date with everything (perhaps I'm not committed enough?? ) so maybe a thread a week with the new watches that dealers are stocking would be enough to stimulate more posts and perhaps get some sales going too? I think generally it's just summer and people are busy, and also finances are a bit squeezed at the moment, no matter what governments say about comuing out of recession. The new skin and layout has, for me, made things harder to find too, but then I shouldn't be a luddite as I'll soon find my way round again Thanks must go to admin for striving to make this place better - I'm sure it will all pay off fully!

I think it was easier to see new posts with the old one and it was therefore quicker to reply. I think much is due to the normal eb and flow due to your northern summer. The Economic down turn may mean people are buying less frequently so feel less able to contribute. I know my habit has slowed a bit. Personally it just seems to have turned serious in the last few months and much less light hearted than it was before the change. I say bring back the old rating system that will bring the punters back both old and new , stuff the speed issues

BTW when you say chrome ring i am a bit confuzed as the gen has a mat black tention ring

You are perfectly correct. The Submariner's bracelet is like this .. not luxury .. a tool. If you lubricate it with a dry bicycle chain lubricant it will improve the feel a LOT!