Leaderboard

Torn White should let one go leaning on keeping the Borealis but then I take out the Squale ........................... :bangin: This how you wind up with 40 watches!

I haven't posted here in a while ( this thread) , however, Mike called me a couple of weeks ago, after we played phone tag for a couple of days. We had a very good positive conversation, about things that were going on, as well as my watch that's with him now, a DW 6365 Daytona that he's putting together for me. Like many of the DW cases, there were some crown tube issues trying to use a gen tube. I'm sure Mike will get it put together, and eventually, it will be done, and done correctly. I've been in the watch game for a long,long time, and one thing I have developed is patience. A gen Omega 300 Seamaster that went back to Bienne for restoration and was gone for 6 months, a vintage Doxa 600 that's at at RGM ( at that time the USA service center) for one year waiting on parts and finally sent back unfinished as they claimed that they couldn't find the correct parts, a MKII Kingston that was over 18 months from deposit to delivery, and finally a MKII GMT homage to the Rolex 6542, 50% deposit sent in January 2012 and the watch is still probably at least 6-9 months from delivery!! So from my perspective, waiting a couple of months for Mike to catch up is just a blip in time. I feel sure that Mike will finish up or return every watch that was sent to him, owners choice. I also feel that this experience while very traumatic for Mike and stressful to the owners of the watches will in the end be positive, in that Mike will learn from the experience and will develop a more organized business model that will be much better for him and future customers. Life lessons unfortunately, usually give the test first and the lessons later. Maybe in the long run we are better for it, as these are the lessons we tend to never forget.

I just wanted to share that with you guys.

Heading for the beach tomorrow, much needed week of sun,sand and good seafood.

Guys I think you are missing the point and k0hr has stated he did not read whole thing (can't blame him). Mike is a friend and has done great work for me in the past also but just watch the shout box the daily pleading for answers from clients is something that can not be a one off. I have been contacted by a few members and things are moving along. Mike is clearing out the backlog to the satisfaction of most in regard to work, it was never about when it was about communication.

Marti yes may get one for this , well off to the post watches to ship!

Exactly right. Just order the gen parts from cousins in the uk or ofrei. The POs have this crown issue as a well known flaw.

Sorry to hear you have issues with this, honestly, I expected these 42mm crowns/tubes to be hit and miss on initial release of this watch. The 45mm versions appear to be better. You could ask the dealer to take the watch back and ask for another. Alternatively you could ask him to send you a new crown and tube and get a watchmaker to install. Truthfully, no easy option with this, it is a bit of luck of the draw on some reps like this one, some will be very smooth, others will cause problems. I'd personally nearly just buy a generic crown and tube (available on ofrei/cousinuk) that fits the dimensions and install it. Not the most accurate way to go about things, but at least you'd have full functionality. A few questions, is there any screw down before it stops? i.e. is there some functionality of the crown at least screwing partially? Is there anything gunking up the tube thread or crown, lint, dirt or dust? If you have some functionality (some screw down) I wouldn't worry about it if the watch passes water resist test.? Try cleaning tube threads first and see if it improves. You may also be suffering from a badly cut stem, any problem winding as you are screwing in crown. A watchmaker should be able to help if it is a small issue like these.

What he said. The original 6538 has amazingly svelte curves and only Phong and MQ come close to matching it. They say the devil is in the details, and truer words were never spoken. Many people couldn't identify a real Big Crown case, but close matches are out there ... and you'll pay dearly for them. Get ready to drop a Grover on something most people would never recognize. Then you get to dials. Yes there are very nice $300 pieces, but soon you get caught up again in the devil's details and before you know it you're spending $1,500 for a dial, glad for the opportunity. Then you need a genuine 8mm Big Crown to match your expensive case and dial, another $1,000 out the window. And you can't bear to cut the feet off your $1,500 dial so you go looking for a gen 1030 movement, for another $1,000. What's this? You want a genuine Tropic-17 crystal for your build? Hah, good luck ... your money isn't making one appear from the ether of rare vintage parts. Hmmmm. You need a bezel upgrade you say? That'll be $1,000 please. Inserts are sold separately. As are the pearls. Before you know it you're $4,500 into a frankenwatch that 99% of the public cannot tell from a $500 Raffles build. And you're scared to use the thing because of the investment. Welcome to the madness.

Mike I consider you as a friend and a good watchmaker and honestly I don't have a worry in my body that you won't come through but stop with all the excuses and meaningless side stories. People have their 'babies' with you! Forget watchmaking for 2 hours, step up and call/ email ALL your clients and give them a status update. Let them know when their watch is scheduled according to your new time frame and give them an option: wait or send the watch back. If you do that today this whole nightmare will be over tomorrow. Just my 0.002.

I just received my Ceramic Submariner, but the bezel insert is cracked. How difficult is it to replace that part? Can I just pop off the bezel assembly as on the old Submariner models and replace it?