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plus 1 for RICHARD then!

A new name? Well frankly that's a tough one. I can see the confusion with that other RWG... But this RWG is thee real deal Mothership from the Old Days. Perhaps a new name is indeed warranted but hopefully it will be a historically relevant name. Not sure how this would take shape but a proper ode or tip of the hat to our roots is crucial in maintaining the empirical provenance we have forged thru time.

Modification (Frankenizing) of my Breitling Navitimer Serie Speciale (Fighters) rep. by long time forum member rolexman. I’ve never done a revue before and apologize if this is too long and boring. I have a friend who always complains that my emails are too long and detailed. For those of you who don’t have the time to read my long winded revue rest assured that it culminates in a glowing recommendation for rolexman and that I am an extremely happy customer. For those of you interested in the details, read on. I am fairly new to the forum but have been buying and collecting reps for nearly 20 years now. At one point several years ago I had over 200 watches in my collection of both gens and reps. Up until joining the forum a few months back I had never even heard of the term “Franken” and, to be honest, I initially judged it to be a kind of silly, OCD type pursuit. One of my reps was the Navitimer “Fighters” rep referred to above. As I had owned the watch for close to 8 years it had originally come equipped with an early low beat A7750 movement. It proved mostly reliable but never kept accurate time, even after having it serviced and then calibrated twice, losing 1-3 minutes a day or more. Still, I liked the watch so much that I wore it more than any other of my reps and simply reset it every couple of days. A couple of years ago the bezel started loosening up and finally got so bad that I wound thread between it and the case to keep it from rattling around. I added a little superglue to keep the thread in place. Then, the stem broke near the crown. A cheap Navitimer parts watch donated its crown to a repair, but afterward it became stiff and awkward to wind and set. Then the stem broke again, and after repair would not stay in the watch. Little did I know at the time that this was all related to my crude bezel repair. I retired the watch finally, taking solace in the fact that I could easily replace it with a newer version for under $300. In fact I attempted this about 6 months ago, with “Alpine” a dealer I had never used before, and received instead a cheap 21j rep with faux Chrono dials, nothing like what I had ordered. Luckily Paypal helped get me my money back on that deal. Then, when I tried again recently after joining the forum, I was disappointed to find production had ceased completely. While I managed to snag a nice standard Navitimer rep from a forum member I still mourned the loss of my Serie Speciale. I then decided to repair the watch with a new movement and priced an A7750 with TT. At the same time I placed a WTB ad, on the forum, for a gen ETA7750. I got a reply from rolexman that he had a gen NOS and recently serviced Breitling caliber B13 that would fit my case. The price seemed reasonable, especially when compared with a new, un-serviced ETA 7750. Suddenly the term “Franken” seemed far less silly to me. As I did not trust my local watchmaker with such a project, I asked rolexman if he would perform the transplant. He agreed so I sent the watch to him. I’d been aware of the watch’s non-original features from the very start because I had owned a gen briefly with which to compare it. It’s shape and dial detail were actually very good but it had come with a brightly polished case, compared to the gen’s brushed finish, so I readily agreed when rolexman suggested refinishing it correctly. Per his original belief the hands, dial, and movement fit fine but, as the movement had been constructed for use in a chronomat, we needed to source a new gen crown and stem. The bezel debacle had damaged the finish at the edge of the dial and this was touched up also. Then, we reach our first real set back. My botched bezel repair had resulted in it setting lop sided on the case. This in turn caused the movement to set slightly crooked placing a bind on the new stem and crown where it exited through the crown tube. Although rolexman had at first been reluctant to remove the glued bezel, for fear of damaging the case, he now set about in earnest, not only freeing the bezel, but repairing it to its original tight fit. The watch is now much improved over its original flawed condition and with its new Chronometer grade movement promises a long and treasured life as a part of my now condensed, but much higher quality collection. As a result of this project I’ve come to hold rolexman in the highest possible regard. He clearly knew what he was doing from the very beginning and, even when reserved as in the case of my botched bezel repair, eventually rose to the occasion and figured out what needed to be done and how to do it, or as he put it “thinking outside the box”. He was honest and reserved in his beliefs from the beginning, refusing to make guarantees about fitment of dial, hands and movement, although his beliefs and opinions turned out to be spot on in the end. Most important was the excellent communication. These projects can take a long time, and as a result be frustrating, especially when parts need to be sourced and ordered and unexpected things, like the bezel, come into play. I was fully informed at every juncture. Prices of parts needed were submitted for approval and then pictures of same provided upon receipt. Excellent digital macro photos (many of which are provided here for reference) were supplied as work progressed, which in a way allowed me to be personally a part of the project, almost as if I were peering over his shoulder during the process. Just as importantly rolexman’s labor prices were reasonable and credible, especially when considering the excellent quality of workmanship. I did not know of rolexman before this. I didn’t even seek a recommendation from members of the forum. I simply took a chance based solely on the tone of his original PMs, and photos of the movement he offered, while it was still disassembled during servicing, not really much to go on, just call it a feeling. I am personally gratified that my feeling proved 100% justified and now I’m pleased to be able to pass on my unqualified approval and recommendation to all of you. Sincerely, rionrlty

Superb Review, enjoyed watch this, and following the transplant unfolding with each step along the way. Great work Mark has done for sure, and I can only imagine how passionate you feel about your prized timepiece Congrats!

Hi paulvillo, Those are H factory 292's. I think the N factory makes a better 292: http://puretime.co/product/pam292-n-v2-11-noob-best-edition-on-black-leather-strap-dial-updated/ It's a 50:50 split on N and H on this one... They each have their flaws. Do a little research around here.

+1 for the scammer list, but this might turn out very nasty.....VERY nasty place to be.....imagine how fast you harm is done.....i think another way to put it would be more applicable. For the sales section, minimum post count would be better, because even if you're a long time member, sometimes life is a [censored] and you're just so broke that you need every freacking penny to eat something (or to pay your bloody taxes!)

While the 175 lbs pooch seems like a Great Dane/Black Labrador, she was found imbedded in the ice in Antarctica, while I was training penguins to fly. She can fly, however the penguins at last writing cannot...

6538

Will have 3 Steinharts when this one comes in, they are bloody good value and really well finished too mate I got that email but haven't managed to have a look as yet, they are a really great looking piece aren't they couple members have MKII pieces and I've only heard great things about them mate, don't worry about hijacking mate it's all good and yes they are pretty expensive !

Well, I got home last night and couldnt resist having a go. This may be useful for other members but as you can see from the pics above of Freddy's awesome setup is not a 'professional' way of doing things! If I had the slightest ounce of patience I would have waited a week for my press to arrive, but im not so here goes................ I used a variation of Mike's tip with the tube, I actually found a plactic cap that was about 2mm smaller in diameter to the crystal, the cap came from a small leather dye I had lying around and the good thing was it was shallow and looked similar in size/shape to the dies that come with the presses. Once i had removed the old crystal I sat the Sunnydale place and I could push it in fairly tight with my fingers to hold it in place. Then I put masking tape over the crystal and around the case to avoid any marks. With a pen I made small marks on the masking tape in the centre of the crystal and around the diameter, just to show where the crystal was located under the tape. I then taped two pieces of thick leather to one side of a vice, the side that the caseback would be placed against, then placed the case and the cap roughly in place inside the vice, although im sure that that would have worked fine, I had a thought that maybe I should cushion the cap against the vice, so I found a 2cm think piece of rubber that I put inbetween the cap and the vice, I have no idea if this was required or not but it just felt 'better'. Now everything was in place and I slowly, very slowly in fact! turned the handle on the vice, I felt the crystal move and pop in to the case, maybe I was lucky but when I removed the case and took the tape off, it was seated perfectly! I then greased the case back seal, put everything in place and had a look, wow this crystal is awesome! The next jobs on the list is a gen pearl that I have on its way to me, the gen caseback I have on order and the gen rubber that should be with me today! It never ends does it!

What time is it ! -sent from my iPhone5 using Papatalk-

Toro. It's already shipped, can't wait Already want more PAMs though

Made me happy. The more disinformation concerning replica's the better as far as I am concerned. The major swiss makers hate the replica because as time goes on the replica's get better and better. Two of my favorite watches, APRO and APROO Diver are unbelievably good replicas's of a watch that is so difficult to fabricate. I can understand why AP hates the replica so much. The hours and technology that goes into the gens is incredible. What is more incredible is that the replica of watches of this caliber are available at 1/100 the cost of the gen. Bad press concerning reps is GOOD for us.

Begin with Timezone's 2-part watch school & then read deCarle's Practical Watch Repairing, which should keep you busy.

Congrats sgt! now when you get tired of it and decide to flip it, send it to me!

Hey guys, this is a repost from other forums. Since some may not frequent the other forums I thought some here may gain some use from these photos: Hello everyone! I just got this watch from Sead, and wanted to share some photos with you. Sead did a great job finding me a clean watch with perfect marker alignment and dial. First off I didn't think i'd love this watch as much as I do. I was kind of like i'll give it a shot, looks to be pretty accurate. What impresses me is the feel of quality when you've got it in your hands. The texture on the dial, the crispness of the dial numbers, the even lume application. Really more than I expected. Per my conversation with Sead, these are not Noob factory. This is another maker (which has made some less nice watches in the past). This is by far their best showing. These two shots are just an overview of the watch. Not too busy with nice date triangle accent, which gets me thinking about old school altimeters: This next is just a straight shot of the dial with indirect lighting. Gives you a good idea of the strength of the AR which is very strong with a light blue hue. It looks very very close to the gen which I handled this weekend (in anticipation of getting this watch): The font on the dial is nice and sharp: One of my favorite aspects of this watch is the dial texture. It's not pure black, it's textured. It's certainly not gray, but it somehow shimmers in the light. This is uncannily like the gen watch. Really impressed with this dial: The date cut out is extremely sharp with a nice two step ledge down to the date wheel overlay. Great attention to detail and very clean edges: Finally here's an obligatory wrist shot. I have a 7.5 inch wrist. This is taken a bit wide obviously, but it sits very nicely on my wrist. Not too big and not too small! One thing I do feel is very very weak on this watch is the strap. It's atrocious. Will get a rivet pilot style strap and see how it looks. Thanks for looking at these photos, really enjoying this watch!