Leaderboard

And I was thinking I'm living in the year two thousand fifteen Tudor 7928 with some good whiskey

Saw a brief write up about this watch on another forum and was impressed. I remembered that my wife mentioned that she didn't have a Gold watch except for a gen Omega dress watch which is tiny and not practical for everyday wear. This looked like something to fit the bill. Sweated it out through almost 5 days in US customs, got here on Friday and she loves it!! Didn't take it off all weekend. Looks like her gen Tag AquaRacer is going to be spending more time in her watch box. I'm not sure how close to the gen this watch is, but if anyone can pull this watch off, it's her. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Technically, I've been a member here for over a year, but I spend most of my time on RWG.bz, some on RWI, and I dabble a bit on the Geek. But today a buddy of mine on the .bz sent me a link to a watch for sale here to ask my opinion. Tried the link and couldn't see it because I wasn't logged on here. Didn't even know if I had an account, so I tried my login/password from the other fora, and sure enough! Figured while I'm at it I'd mosey over here and introduce myself. So hello! I'm up in the good ole' Pacific Northwest, and my long-suffering wife has been putting up with my rep hobby for the last decade plus. As I said, I spend most of my time on the other RWG, but as my tastes have expanded, so has my fora participation. I'm primarily interested in vintage Daytonas - a fancy that can quickly bankrupt its unsuspecting victim. Aside from that, I'm into Breitling (just picked up an SOH V2), A. Lange, Patek, Omega, Tudor, and I've got a bit of a thing for rose gold AP ROOs (Don Ramon, RG Themes, LBJ) - I know I know, they're blingy, and the movement is a time bomb, but I'm easily distracted by shiny things. But my first love is the 6263. I have a couple DWs (gold dial; Albino), a modded cartel gold/black dial, and a special Big Red built by another member. I'd post pics of them here but apparently I can't until I have 5 posts (I'll rectify that shortly). So hi gents; good to be aboard! Cheers, Ish

I'll kick off the Saturday weristies: image free hosting photo hosting

Sorry to disagree, but their roots were withering. Very few liked Panerai prior to the early 1990's. The company was going bankrupt. Stallones promotion and Richmounts purchase is all that saved them. I think the balance is swinging back there once again.(but not as far as bankruptcy) These days there will always be someone to buy them,as people bought Studebaker and Edsel.(just not enough) The fandom in the rep world exists because you can get a rep very cheap that is virtually a clone of the very expensive gen.(and may continue even if gen sales drop) As far as in house movements go,they have yet to be proven over decades of use. JMHO

Pretty sure Rolex only made up to 18mm but could be wrong I have a couple of these Yuki buckles and I have to say they aren't bad at all, fits in with some of my straps and nato I already have too

Picked up this one a while back and it gets a surprising amount of wrist time still. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hey all, So as not to leave you hanging, below I've attached pictures of the first printing. I think I forwarded one of these to a member who preordered already, but wanted to share with everyone as promised. The first printing did not pass my QC because of a couple of issues, the largest being the "E" in 'Superlative' (or rather the 'upside down F'). Not sure how this happened, as the source file I supplied them did not have this defect. With that said, pad printing is always the fun part Will be updating you guys once the batch is reprinted! -Whoop

No problem GBOGH he did himself out of a customer who was going to buy a few dials off of him. Here's his lovely PM; your statement ( If the price is right then put me down for one please ) you know the price is never right. because it is swiss making oem standard in highest quality made from the best swiss dial maker , printer, and rc tritec filling. so... who makes the price = answer = the maker. for whom is the price right = answer = not for you !!!!!!!!! usd 400 plus is for sure not right for you. for you is right the asia [censored] quality , not top swiss quality. regards rolli

Wow. Sorry to read about your negative experience.

Coming soon! Bevels!!! New gen bezel assembly / insert w/ correct vintage pearl Dial & hands relume by Dazza himself Proper lug-hole size - drilled out personally. I'll post pics as soon as it's complete and back together. Will be adding a 7206 style rivet bracelet as well for summer.

I found my RWG ring today and decided to pass by and say HELLO!!! Cheers!! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Welcome back, Chief. I hope you plan to hang around.

Let's Play "Name That Movement" I was happy to see that this didn't go juvenile and then I wondered if this was going to be an audible challenge about Beethoven.

Welcome back buddy

Yeah! Welcome back, Chief!

WM9 cases basically came from George at Watchmaker 9. BK and some others also sold them. But George is gone and may have died in an auto accident possibly. I've heard of the TC sub just being the latest version of the WM9 case- don't really know if that's the case or not. There's also the MBK (Euromariner), TW Best that BK handled and the Sean case, all of which have gen bezel like construction. Where they actually come from is anyone's guess

There will always be examples of where a franken build is priced correctly based upon the sum of it's parts, but is not "worth it" as a whole. Pretty much any Rolex build using a gen movement is going to fall into that category. Most super frankens need to be parted out to get back close to what they have in them. This is doubly true if people don't shop well and overpay for parts (which is easy to do if you aren't careful). As I have said in many similar threads, there are two kinds of frankens, heirloom type pieces (built not for sale, but to keep forever and are worn infrequently), and those that are built to be worn, enjoyed, and at some point either traded or sold. With the first variety, build cost doesn't matter, and people will go the last extra mile to find just one more genuine part to try to get to perfection no matter what. That's OK, but you can't do that with watches that you want to wear regularly and figure to trade or sell, unless you plan on losing a lot of money in the process. I also believe that even though there are many great watches (including some downright bargains) that are offered for sale at over $1,000 USD, the market for watches beyond that pricepoint drops exponentially as the cost rises. It always only takes one buyer, but while you might have 100 potential buyers of a stock TC Sub, you might only have five for a $2,000 USD v72 vintage Daytona build, and you'll be lucky to find one for a $4,500 US vintage Daytona build, based on nothing more than the relative prices. As to the OP, point #1 is a given. Sellers should always advertise their watches truthfully. Not difficult if you did the build yourself. Could be if you originally purchased from someone else. Points #2 and #3 are IMO wrong. Sanity checking your price shouldn't be done vs the price of a gen (that should have been done before/during the build). It should however be sanity checked against similar builds that have sold. As for including labor costs, whether a seller mentions them or not is up to them. They are a part of the total build costs regardless, and they can have value. For example, a recently serviced movement has value over something pulled from a donor watch because the buyer won't have to do a service right away. There is nothing wrong with someone including labor when they state "this is how much I have in this build". Buyers may not want to include it when making an offer, but there is nothing wrong with the seller disclosing it.

Yea we get it Rolli and I also didn't appreciate your negative and quite frankly rude PM that I received from you all because I said 'If the price is right'...Get over yourself.

I like the AC/DC reference . Nice to see back in the mix! You're a valued member for sure.

Guys, cool your jets! Who cares where these dials are made. They could be made in a basement in the Congo for all I care. The results speak for themselves. There are a few members here that are instigating for no reason and frankly I don't understand why. Rolli/FGD/whoever was involved is making a great dial and you're just pressing buttons. It's pretty obvious that English isn't Rolli's first language so some of his messages may get lost in translation or come across harsher than what is intended.

Can't say that I've ever felt that way. I've owned a few Gens over the years and at 33 years old, I still feel a Rep is the best Value. First of all, I wear all of my watches. No matter the experience or situation. I just feel naked without one. If I've forgotten to put it on before I leave the house, I'll turn around and go back. Even if I just drove 10-15 minutes down the road. It's excessive I know, but it's my passion. Secondly, I have bashed a few gens, scratched them, broke the crowns off, etc...... I am clumsy with a watch sometimes. I've paid hundreds, if not thousands in repairs on gens. Thirdly, acquiring a Gen, depending a lot on career movement, either took a few months to save, or trading high priced items like, guns, motorcycles or even a car or two. Living in places like California and Las Vegas enabled me access to a multitude of willing people to buy, sell or trade this way. The upkeep is a nightmare. First of all finding a competent watch smith. Then dealing with a repair that the manufacturer required original sales documents just to provide the part the watch needed proved to be more of a headache. I'm not one to walk into a boutique and buy retail. All of my gens were acquired in the 2nd hand market as stated above. So, my take, and what I'm fully comfortable with is, to hell with Gens. Now, I get to spend a few hundred rather than trading a few thousand dollars worth of items and or cash. And if it breaks, to the garbage you go. More than likely I had it for at least a 3 years and for me, I've never spent more than $300 on a rep anyway. So, $100 a year on a watch to discard, is pinto beans to me. Besides, I like buying from here. The members. I've come across a few great deals and haven't been disappointed yet. Although, some of you are super, uber passionate that I would ignore most details that would drive the others crazy. I love watches. Plain and simple. They are works of art. For me, a beautiful rep is more than enough in both a financial standpoint and a sanity stand point. I understand business and marketing to a degree that is sickening. I have many a fellow colleagues in the accessories industry from Salesmen, account managers, boutique managers and so on. The manufacturing processes are reasonably similar. For the sake of argument at least, minor differences exist. It all boils down to, The Name. How much was spent on advertising and marketing, the availability of super precious metals and stones. (Which in itself is a travesty of how that's going on. Think of diamonds) Workforce salaries, and blah blah blah. It's all about money. In the grand scheme of things, that $10,000 Gen is about 35-65 % markup relative to ACTUAL whole sale cost of materials and processes. Plus, the fact that the piece will never depreciate, because of The Name. Good for them. Gens are fascinating. Absolute unimaginable to think of every detail that went into a piece from conception to birth. Without question, impeccable materials of the highest quality. Designs such as the Tourbillon that boggle the mind. Gens have a following just as loyal as the Reps do. If / When Reps become rarer and more expensive, or harder to come by, I'll then reevaluate my love of Reps and might swing into Gens as also a way of investment. Furthermore, YES!!! Please liquidate your collections. May you find piece of mind in which ever side you choose to stay or venture off to. The End.

Since I'm not shy, here I am at work - and once I figure out how to stop breaking bits, we might offer our services. There's a shaper, lathe, milling machine, press, grinder and lapper in this shop owned by my brother. I'm in white t-shirt in the middle.

Drilled two lug holes today. Had to order bits and an arbor and such from MSC. The first two went reasonably smoothly, but then I got hungry and tired and broke two bits. Now to order 4 more bits, just in case, and try again later in the week. Very happy with the result!

It is my understanding that the hands on the first Submariners were brass due to their intended sea duty. I got my 13mm minute hand from Helenarou and gently sanded all the hands to bare brass using 1500 grit sandpaper. The chapter ring itself measures 26mm in diameter. The look of the watch really changes using the 13mm minute hand in place of the 12mm minute hand used since. Since the hand change, I love my 6204 as much as my 6542s. The 6542 uses a silver 13mm minute hand but 'standard' length hour hand. If I can find a Tiger V2 case, or if someone makes a gen style case for reasonable money, I will rebuild the 6204 and improve the dial as well. Your 6200 is awesome! Small crown joy!

Yeah I definitely am one to lean on the side of caution rather than over-doing it or ruining it. Some people want the watch to look like it's been through hell and back... honestly the pictures are very sharp, it's more neutral and pleasing in person. I did over-do it a little bit by the "10" where the tool slipped and bit some of the face. Probably not the last insert I ever have on it or try thanks for the reply

So I did a bit of aging to my insert on the 5513. I used a dremel tool "fine-detail abrasive brush" then polished it a bit. These are ultra high res pics taken with a Canon DSLR so it really shows everything. I took an iphone shot as well. Less harsh looking in person, and I'm happy with it, the black gloss of the insert is gone, it's a little barked up - and now looks the business of a 50+ year old watch. Tell me what you think please!

Remember it's all about the dial. Then you get a case and movement to fit.