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Having a hard time understanding how this thread got to where it has. I don't know MD personally, but I do have a project with him. He is waiting on me to send him some additional parts for a build. While I am ready with the parts, I saw his posts about what was going on in his life, and decided not to send them yet because I knew he needed to get caught up and get himself back into the swing of things. Anyone who was currently doing business with him, or was thinking about it, should have seen the same thing. I understand people have watches and money tied up, but MD did do what we would have wished several others would have done. He posted what was going on and why there would be a hold up on the work he had with him. He also let us know when he was back. I run a few small businesses myself and I know from experience when something happens that causes the business to get out of its normal routine, the first thing that happens is I get tons of emails, messages, phone calls from customers wondering what's up ... either in general, or with their specific business. I always post a generic message to my customers (either blast email, or on my websites) but normally am not able to contact individuals when the outage affects everyone. The sheer volume of those responses would prevent me from overcoming whatever is actually gumming up the works. In my case, they are e-commerce businesses, and quite frankly I would rather get the site back up and running, and then worry about contacting individuals. Once things are back to working properly, I post an 'all clear' the same way I sent out the 'there's a problem' message. Only then do I start responding to the individual communications. Sometimes it can take days, if not weeks, to get back to everyone. It happens because I can't stop everything else and just do that, so I take whatever time opens up and get it done a bit at a time. In one of his previous posts, MD said he had 200 PMs to deal with. Regardless of whether or not they require a response, he still has to go through all of them. Not to mention, he still needs to work on the projects he has. And since failing to respond to threads like this one will allow everyone to speculate that the sky is falling and they're about to get screwed, he has to monitor the board as well. Even if it took just 5 minutes per PM to read, research and respond, that's 16 hours of work alone. It's easy for anyone on the outside to say "well you should have done this" but until you are in the battle, you simply don't know ... especially if you've never been a sole proprietor that doesn't have a staff to fall back on. If MD was a scammer, he'd have just disappeared without posting anything. The fact that he told everyone what was up, and let everyone know when he was back speaks volumes. If you have work with him, some patience is going to be in order (rule #1 of the rep hobby). I personally believe everything will get sorted, but please give the guy a chance to breathe. MD ... if you haven't already you should take the time to contact only those people with projects you currently have and let them know where their project stands so they worry less. Everything else can wait. Once the dust settles, I hope you will have time to figure out some ways to minimize the grief that comes along with doing work for all of us. Whether its going The Zigmeister's route and being very selective about customers, taking fewer projects, or getting someone to help with communications is ultimately up to you. I do know the hobby would hate to lose someone with talent who is willing to work on our projects. Sorry for your loss. Losing a family member is tough enough ... dealing with the estate only makes it worse.

I asked two days ago to have it closed, Mike asked that it be closed, it has deteriorated into a name calling, acrimonious thread that is not serving any useful purpose. What is happening is folks are saying things in the heat of the moment, which some will regret later on. Sadly, some don't even have a dog in this fight, but post anyway. I can guarantee, nothing good is going to come out of this. Mike, if you are reading this, don't get sucked into this any more than you have. I know that a lot of the comments have been hurtful to you and make you angry, but the best thing is to stay above this, keep working and all this will pass.even though it's difficult, try not to let this thread lead you to make statements you will regret later. This thread, like every. one before it will, if not closed will run it's course. Have a great day everyone.

more on the list update 1. ikequebec (201/A non-matching) 2. ikequebec (202/A non-matching) 3. Sergeant_At_Arms (201/A matching) 4. Sergeant_At_Arms (202/A non-matching) 5. torresp (201/A matching) 6. ubiquitous (201/A matching) 7. ubiquitous (201/A non-matching) 8. dropbear2008 (201/A non-matching) 9. dropbear2008 (202/A non-matching) 10. altesporsche (201/A matching) 11. altesporsche (201/A non-matching) 12. altesporsche (202/A matching) 13. altesporsche (202/A non-matching) 14. m3amg (201/A matching) 15. air (201/A non-matching) 16. air (202/A non matching) 17. boston909 (201/A matching) 18. NTB (201/A non-matching) 19. NTB (202/A non-matching) 20. Korneevy (201/A matching) 21. deanr (201/A non-matching) 22. torresp (201/A non-matching) 23. torresp (202/A whatever) 24. milesd (201/A non-matching) 25. coolfire (201/A non-matching) 26. coolfire (202/A non-matching) 27. NiLo (201/A non-matching) 28. NiLo (202/A non-matching) 29. mir36 (201/A non-matching) 30. chrisser88 (201/A matching) 31. civic4982 (201/A matching) 32. civic4982 (202/A non-matching) 33. EMM (201/A matching) 34. ogladio (202/A non-matching) 35. esco (201/A non-matching) 36. esco (202/A non-matching) 37. fitch (201/A non-matching) 38. fitch (202/A non-matching) 39. HikeUSA (202/A non-matching) 40. Jakob (201/A not specified yet) 41. zhoon1129(201/A non-matching) 42. trans_lux (201/A matching) 43. trans_lux (202/A non-matching) 44. Watchmeister (201/A non-matching) 45. Watchmeister (202/A non-matching) 46. Grimlocktime (201/A non-matching) 47. blizzard (202/A non-matching) 48. blizzard (201/A matching) 49. Nix (201/A non-matching) 50. ismaelmv (201/A matching) 51. mellons (which ever avaliable) 52. znb666 (202/A matching?) 53. znb666 (201/A non-matching) 54. raywj (201/A non-matching) 55. prevendom (201/A non-matching) 56. prevendom (201/A matching) 57. prevendom (202/A non-matching) 58. grandvino (201/A matching) 59. Grimlocktime (201/A matching) 60. color code black: batch no.1, blue: batch no 2, green: batch 3 also update on trial of non matching (quick test on damage dial: 9 broken off ) after few shades, I think ill reduce the redness later

As many of you know our very own Nikki6 was attempting to become the fastest blind and disabled biker, well yesterday at elvington airfield he broke the current record with a speed of 167.1 MPH. You can read more here - http://metro.co.uk/2013/08/18/a-biker-whos-blind-to-fear-sightless-daredevil-reaches-167mph-on-motorcycle-3928986/ I would have loved to have been there supporting Stuart, however a prior engagement meant I couldnt. Well done Sixx!

Hey guys, As you all might know I’m an avid fan of AP. I love the whole brand image and almost every design going from watches up to the fountain pens and loupes they offer. With the forged carbon watches out there everybody on here that likes AP lusted for forged carbon, our first hero was Imaknockov producing his carbon cases, not forged though. The forging process is something that just can’t be done at home, unless you have quite a good sum in your bank account to spend on mechanical advance toys. Anyway, fast forward, we’re 2013 and 2-3 makers have been working on the carbon thing. First we had Angus with his “wood” diver. Nice but it not like gen. I liked it though. Then all of a sudden the cartel came up with a good story and pics. Two of the pics they posted were these, remember it well during my review: When I saw that I just know I had to order, especially since they would deliver quite soon. My fairytale started… Payment sent on the 24th of April. We all know the sh*t that happened so I’ll skip that part up to now. I received my diver as of today! The 26th of August. So let me start my official review. Sorry for all the talk, I have not posted a lot lately so here you go. In 1993, 21 years after the introduction of the Royal Oak, Audemars Piguet introduced the Royal Oak Offshore. It was time for an evolution regarding the Royal Oak collection, to make it more rugged, more sporty and – perhaps – younger. The Offshore is the most popular Audemars Piguet collection without a doubt. Some purists though, might prefer the ‘normal’ Royal Oak collection as it is more or less an understatement, and yes, closer to the original design of 1972. History aside, I assume you know most of the stuff already in the whole rep world. Today I had the opportunity to have a closer look at the Royal Oak Offshore Diver made out of so called forged carbon. The Offshore collection is pioneering with exotic materials ever since the very first models and forged carbon is one of them. In 2007, Audemars Piguet used forged carbon for the very first time with their Royal Oak Offshore Alinghi Team model. A few years ago, the Royal Oak Offshore Chronograph ‘Bumblebee’ was also made out of forged carbon and was extremely popular. This time, Audemars Piguet used the popular Royal Oak Offshore Diver (ref.15703, we reviewed it here) as a basis and transformed it into this forged carbon version, ref. 15706AU. The introduction took place during SIHH 2012 but was over snowed with the introduction of the new ‘Jumbo’ ref.15202 watch and offcourse the 40th anniversary of of the model. The Carbon Diver basically used the DNA of the Bumblebee. One of the things that immediately comes to mind is the clever use of scratch resistant (black) ceramic for its bezel. Everyone has his share of dents in his own AP. Because the Offshore case is bigger and thicker, it is easier to bump into something with it. There is no transparent caseback. Just the ‘Royal Oak Offshore’ engraving we’ve seen on the previous Diver models and other Offshore models as well. The watch is fitted with an A2824 movement. The dial The dial features a black “Mega tapisserie” pattern the whole Offshore line uses. In my opinion, comparing this to the gen piece, the tapisserie pattern is too small. The circular engravings on the main dial plate are not enough pronounced and the dial does not look glossy enough compared to the gen dial. This might be due to the crystal though. The inner rotating [censored] is predominantly black with the exception of the first 15 minutes which are depicted in yellow. Here, minutes are marked with black minute integers and white strokes every five minutes. Elsewhere Arabic numerals in a modern font are marked, “20”, “30”, “40” and “50”. At noon a triangular index is used. The makers quite nailed the [censored] ring layout, it’s a good job, the yellow looks amazing and correct. One thing that bothers me a bit is the colour of the lume. It’s a bit different from my dial markers. It would have been nice if it would have been pure white. The rotating mechanism feels solid and good, be sure to check yours when you receive it as there already is a member who reported a problem with that. It feels that solid that I was a bit scary I would break a thing or I would jam it. Luckily it did not. The dial uses clean applied batons to indicate each hour and at noon double batons are used. The presentation of the batons and numerals is wonderfully legible, everyone will like this. Lume is as good as the gen but nothing compared to a pam or a gen omega planet ocean. The date is located at 3 o’clock. The maximum depth is shown towards the base of the dial near 6 o’clock, an impressive 300 metres. The date is magnified by using a loupe/cyclops. This was the first big disappointment I encountered when I took out the piece of the plastic. The cyclops s*cks big time, it really does. The first thing that came to my mind was the cyclops of BC (BigCrown) that just looked like a mirror. It does seem to have some AR but it looks often blue. Not like the early V3 diver blue though. It’s not a smurf. The minute hand is provided by the vivid yellow colour which matches the hue of the diving scale of the aforementioned rotating [censored]. The second hand is black, tipped with yellow, repeating the colour scheme of the watch. This all looks great and looks like gen in my eyes. The crystal on this piece is my second disappointment. It does not look like the gen nor like the diver V3/3.5/4.1 which did look like gen. I don’t know what went wrong here but either it has no AR or very bad AR. I hope they correct this on their next version as it’s a big let down for me. The case The “forged” carbon bestows a totally different character to the watch when contrasted with the steel case version. It exhibits marvellous modernity and the marble-like pattern to its surface proffers a unique aesthetic. One thing that I’m not sure of is if they used the same case maker as the first sample cases I mentioned on my introduction above (the pics you had to remember). If I look at the carbon pattern on those pics it looks forged indeed and perfect as per gen. However, having the piece in my hands now it looks more like the case Zorrolondon once made. Which is not “forged” at all. A great way of manufacturing but not the gen way. This is an assumption that I made, not a fact. But this might be a reason of postponing the release. The case looks good but in my eyes not as per gen. Finishing looks ok, the gen has a satin kind of finish, very nice. The rep is somewhat in the middle but very good too. I can’t complain. VS my forged carbon project: This shows the look, the shine: The octagonal shaped bezel features eight screws with chamfered slots all perfectly aligned to follow the form of the dial. The bezel really looks amazing and 1:1. But so does the other carbon bezel from Angus. They both look great and they both nailed it on that. The union of the rubber strap to the case is faithful to original Royal Oak design. The absence of conventional lugs further differentiates the watch and imparts a neoteric character despite 40 years elapsing since its original conception. The strap feels soft and is very flexible, it has some kind of a gummy feel, a sticky feel. I like it though I prefer the gen strap or the strap from the V3/3.5/4.1. This is something I’m gonna replace. The logo is well stamped on the strap. A thing to mention is the strap colour, which is a bit too light. This is only noticeable side by side. The main difference is the feel. The buckle looks good but when taking a closer look we notice that the AP logo is somewhat wrong. The engraving ain’t 1:1. Still it looks good but I’m ought to give you a critical review, which is imo the purpose of it. The caseback of the movement is another part where it lacks something. The engraving ain’t great, the Royal Oak Offshore logo is completely wrong and way too flat. The sandblasted grain could have been much better. What they did do very good is the SN number and H XXXXX code. The font is great and better than the diver V3/3.5./4.1. The caseback from Angus his FC is better. The crown of this piece was another disappointment. It looks not centered and badly engraved. Angus his version is better. The movement This piece comes with the A2824 movement. Not much grease on the O-ring, it felt dry: Conclusion Well, after a wait of about 4 months I’m disappointed with their 1:1 diver. Don’t get me wrong, I do like it a lot but the marketing and the hype around it is wrong. This piece ain’t the rep of 2013 if that is what you are hoping for. It’s a great rep but the SS version is just way better repped. The build structure is 1:1 as per gen indeed. Basically if you want this version to be closer as per gen this is what you should do: - Get a noob dial and Cyclops (V3 – 3.5 – 4.1) and replace it with the H fac - Get a noob movement, imo their datewheel is a bit better (if you are really really picky) - Get an Angus FC Diver caseback and crown - Get a noob crystal (if they fit the ceramic bezel) - Mod the movement to low beat - Get the noob strap That’s about it. I hope this has been helpful for everyone that is on the fence. And if you ask me which one I prefer, SS or FC then I say SS as it’s more versatile, classy. The FC is a true sports watch, but I like it a lot as well. Heck, it’s an AP…  This is the first order from the cartel and definitely my last order. Everyone might be happy with the watch but I think further than that alone. I won’t forget the customer service regarding this release and updates they gave us. This is a fairytale but the ending ain’t that great imo. I will however enjoy this piece, I hope you guys do to! Thanks for reading. *None of the pics have been edited! MOVIE: -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Overall impression: • Good value for the money but the SS is much better value for money • Good quality/finish compared to the genuine article • Nitpickers, count in mods as mentioned above, main problem is crystal and cyclops which are real sh*t FLAWS (guys, you should know that I am a real pain in the *ss nitpicker, most of these flaws can only be seen up close): • Lume should match better (colour wise) • Dial ain’t that great vs gen dial, the tapisserie looks too small and concentric circles are not enough pronounced, it’s not shiny enough too • Bad crystal regarding AR • Bad cyclops regarding AR • Caseback could have been better • Crown is bad, uncentered engraving and bad engraving • Strap is too soft, gummy, sticky vs gen but doesn’t feel bad Problems on mine: Dial was unevenly placed, I already corrected this and my datewheel is f*cked, it’s not centered. This will get fixed as I will get a noob diver and use that dial/movement. There was also dust on my dial. Thanks for viewing my thread. Please feel free to post your AP Carbon Diver pics and impressions! MORE PICS TO COME! NOW IT'S DINNER TIME!

Opening the day with the classic n00b sub AETA

I just finished dealing with B3nj4min3 on the purchase of a Ceramic Seamaster and the process couldn't have gone better. After purchasing the watch and seeing my disappointment at having missed out on the sale he offered to forward the watch on to me as it had been an impulse buy on his part. Even though the last thing I need is another watch, sometimes I just can't help myself and I took him up on his offer. The sale was silky smooth and his communication was stellar, I was in the loop every step of the way and never had a single concern dealing with B3nj4min3. If anyone is considering dealing with him, consider this a ringing endorsement, like plus 5 feedback, or something like that. On top of the pleasing buyers experience, the watch arrived today and it is a beauty, I don't foresee it coming off my wrist for the rest of the week and I'm not sure if any of you would blame me for that.

The 6694 is 35mm and wore very nice on my small wrist. The one your asking about is only 30, I'd think it might really be small on a mans wrist. I'm not a fan of the big watches either, I wear the 39-40mm main Rolex.

No no that's boys size it will look silly

12-1400$

No problem, dial is refinished as stated but otherwise nice

The good points if your looking for a like new watch, redialed and polished, and looks like they did an excellent job. And a good price for all that work. The bad points are like anything, originality is lost. Just depends on your needs. It's a good clean solid watch for a good price. I'd check out the seller thoroughly though.

Congratulations on Your Seamaster If it comes to the purchase I wouldn't expect any other outcome! I had a pleasure to deal with B3nj4min3, both on the forum & in-person. We had a great discussion and he is a real gentleman.

Thank you so much guys!! It was a while coming, but we got there! I was fighting pretty brutal side winds of up to 40mph! But we came home with the win!! I'll get vids up as soon as I can! http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=1Eo_CyLWd1Y&feature=plpp Sixx.

Just leave Mike alone for a couple of day's, give him some time to spend with his family. Let's close this topic

This thread to me is beating a dead horse.... The guy had a family member die, a root canal and we had floods. I live near mike, boy did we have water and power outages. Now people in this forum are turning against each other. Mike has some of my watches and I will ask him to do more work for me. If you feel like he is taking too long go find a watchmaker near you that will work on reps. I just wish this thread would go away. Now people are attacking others, based on replies and jabs.... Give me a break.

i cant physically watch one of Archie's video's without suddenly having the urge to gouge out my own eyes and cave in my skull with large spoon. Its something about his voice i think. The fact he has no trousers on just makes the thought even worse to comprehend.

Fellas, this is getting out of hand. It seems Mike is working though his problems and has contacted most people, what started as a thread to provide updates on work currently with Mike, has turned in to a slanging match between respected, long term members. I feel for everyone who has work outstandining with Mike, as I myself am one of them, however I have heard from a few people that Mike is slowly but surely progressing through his work load, to me this is a simple case of too much work to handle, im guilty of the same thing myself, its natural when you own your own business. Mike has taken on way too much work and after a series of unfortunate events it has left him way behind. Unfortunately patience is the answer here.

Interesting. I didn't even know that existed. I can't say that I agree in such a section being that this is a watch forum; but no wonder why we are having issues. I've contemplated upgrading my membership here a few times but with all the disconcerting reading I've done and the thought of joining 10 different payment sites just to do so, seems more of a headache. Why in the world doesn't "The Boss" just open up a simple merchant account ? File a DBA on some stupid business idea. Get your Tax ID number and there you have it. 2.3% (to the merchant account) later he can collect payments via credit card or dumb little $10-$50 prepaid. cards. I cannot believe this is even a problem. I as it stands can sit here all day, swipe a card or punch in any kind of credit card, debit card, or prepaid card right into my phone. Just because I made up some retarded business through the jerk offs at PayPal. They even sent me a card reader that plugs right into my phone. Come on guys, this is kindergarten stuff.

Being a film critic, I was interested to read he mentioned his brother, Maz Jobrani, an Actor, Comedian born in Iran. I enjoyed reading that thread, and consumed to whole mugs of Finnish coffee in doing so

We get it. Trust us. We've been there and sympathize. I've lost several loved ones this past year, but business is business. You just don't neglect your work responsibilities. It is not about placing more importance on reps over your family. Not one person has said that. Its about a business and what you owe your customers. I am sure these reps you "give two shits about" help keep the lights on. So to neglect those responsibilities and push back by saying "stupid reps" is just poor business and plain immaturity on your part. Accept it or not, but people shouldn't have had to work as hard as they are to get a hold of you regardless of what life has dished you. Especially when there is money and commitments involved. I am trying to think of a situation where I could neglect work for over a month and blame others for my absence. I can't, sorry. Like I said I had several close members pass and the last thing on MY mind was leaving my work responsibilities. Best of luck to you and I do agree you do need a drastic change in how you run your business. I might suggest more organization and some contingency plans.

I bought the Calibre de Cartier from TT after seeing a pic of it posted in the daily wrists thread. Awesome watch! It has a clean (not a very busy face), unique look that catches people's attention without being gaudy. I'm not an authority on rep builds, but it works perfectly, looks awesome and feels great. Go for it without hesitation. Flash

Still in conversations with my friendin terms of what can be acheived, but I realise that ideally i need to be able to offer - 1. Remove existing engravings,laser etchings etc properly back to factory finish 2. Offer correct period engravings across a number of Vintage Rolex sports models(That's my thing) 3. Ideally be able to offer casebacks like the 1665 My idea is really to offer NOS looking work, or if you want it Aged then i'm confident i can also do this nicely DH

First off Congrats on some crazy shti I would not even think of trying , Second he really does resemble Nikki6 and third that SOH I got from you is never leaving my box . Every time I look at it now it will remind me that with balls and a will nothing is impossible . Thank you for that !

He always sees Heaven.....that's why he's doing all this crap! Lol! Great Job Mate, I know you always have it in you! Well done!

S has always shown he has an iron will and balls of steel... Congrats to a man that doesnt know the meaning of adversity..... or a good rep !! Well Done mate To live with the handicap he has had since he was born is amazing...I mean I dont know many people that could live day in day out year in year out as a jock!! 3-2 ... ...!!

Once again, thanks for everyone's kinds words. To make my final remarks about the Ti bracelet - it's really awesome. You get used to it, and the fact is that the properties of the Ti goes extra well with the color of the watch. It's hard to describe why, it just does. They blend together in a perfect manner. I went to the AD again today. I wanted to buy the blue rubber strap with the Ti deployment buckle. So I told the salesmen I have the one with the bracelet, and he instantly looked at my watch. I'm not kidding you guys... He thought it was a gen. How can I tell? His attitude towards me changed drastically and started talking about helping me find the rubber strap and see if he could give me a bargain. He became more friendly and helpful and talked about helping my with anything with regarding my watch. So I put the blue PO with rubber strap next to mine. Except for the movement on the back (of course) and the pearl that was not equally centered, just at a glance, there wasn't any major difference. Not kidding you guys. The color was SPOT on! Of course since I knew about mine being a rep I could tell that the properties of the bezel for instance were different, but that's just because I knew that the numbers are painted on the rep, and on the gen it's engraved with a laser. But nothing you could've known without having an insight into the rep industry. So the watch is now extra dear to me. I don't know, perhaps I should've exchanged the watches when he wasn't looking. I'm sure he still wouldn't be able to tell the difference...