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This one for me today...

Interesting, and maybe a bit ironic, considering that Dowling was the one that coined the phrase 'Buy the seller'... Quite honestly, it's not too surprising; there have been a number of 'above board' sellers and dealers that have dipped their toes into the questionable and shady at some point or another. If there's money to be made, the risk will always be there. Ultimately, the onus is on the buyer to know exactly what to look for, to do the research and to know what's good and bad before parting ways with their money. It's not any excuse for unscrupulous activities, but the best way to protect yourself is to be informed. There is plenty of information out there on the Internet, and oddly enough, some of the best informational resources are rep forums. Go figure...

Nice to post in a Ubi-started wristies! Wearing 1 of my Subs today

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RGDS WKK The enemy of my enemy is my friend [emoji41]

Started out as a 1675 now this. Specs: Cartel 1675 Yuki dial Gen t127 JoeyB bezel Tonywatches insert Raffles gmt hand Case work and lume by pbdad

For the moment, let's assume James knowingly sold Frankens as all original. When the buyer came back asking for a refund, you would think he would comply rather than be publically "outed" like this. It makes no sense unless he's super arrogant, stupid, or had no idea what he was selling. Under any scenario, the damage to his reputation could have been avoided.

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Having been around here for neigh on 10 years, I have seen a fair number off repair/mod folks come and go. Some went gracefully with lots of accolades and tears because they were leaving. Our beloved The Zigmeister comes to mind here. Some left after screwing over a whole bunch of folks to the tune of thousands and thousands of dollars worth of watches, parts and prepaid funds. The worst culprit by far was MD2020, long gone, but not forgotten or forgiven! Why do these folks come on with so much enthusiasm, only to fade away? I don't think that there is one pat answer to the question, but many reasons. I do think that there are some primary factors that lead to a once enthusiastic individual finally deciding to fold up their tent and move on. First off the repair person/ modder is starting a business. It may be on his kitchen table, corner of his den or a nice shop in his basement or garage, but it's a business. Every business needs a plan, operating procedures, rules and regulations. Generally all of this is ignored. The successful guys have a very rigid scheduling system, they schedule watches in and will not accept anything that is not on their schedule. Others just tell folks" send it to me, I'll look at it. Very soon these folks are inundated with packages.One guy years ago, who was about as disorganized as you could possibly be posted a photo showing a pile of unopened boxes that literally took up half his living room. I bet he had a hundred boxes stacked up in there. Suffice to say, he flamed out and left a bunch of unhappy folks in his wake!these inundated repair/modders are spending more and more time at their bench, the family is unhappy because dad is never available for the family. Pressure builds and soon he's taking shortcuts, or if not the owners of all those watches piling up in his dining room start to raise Holy Hell because he hasn't gotten to their watches. Something has to give and ultimately, the owners suffer the consequences. Good qualified professional watch repair people have a published price list of their work. They impress on folks that this is the MINIMUM price for the work, and should they encounter more problems the price may be higher. They also require a deposit of 25-50% of the anticipated cost before they open up a watch. What this ensures is two things, the deadbeats( which you would be surprised are many) will have to at least cover the cost of his time and parts before he starts, and also eliminates those who after the watch is finished, decide that the repairs were too expensive and just tells the repair person, "just keep the watch".this happens often enough and even guys like The Zigmeister who had a really sound plan and pretty rigid rules, got stuck with orphan watches. Of course a deposit often deters those who send a watch in on a whim and then decide later they don't want to pay for the work. Guys who are successful are very careful about what they advertise they can do. If they don't work on sec@12 or sec@6 a7750 movements, they refuse to accept those watches. If relumes are not their forte, they don't advertise or accept relume work. Quite a few folks start out doing one thing really well, but either pressure or their egos send them into areas where they have little or no expertise. Just because you can relume a dial or reshape the crown guards on a Rolex 1680, doesn't qualify you to disassemble, clean, oil and regulate a movement properly. Generally what happens here is owners get watches back and the work is not up to par. People complain, demand their money back, open PayPal disputes, etc. and pretty soon another modder bites the dust. These are just a few of the things that work to create a revolving door repair/modding network. Not much different from opening other types of small businesses. I'm all for trying to encourage more folks who repair or mod watches to participate here, but at the same time they need to realize that they have a responsibility to the customers who trust them with their watches, and by the same token the customers have a responsibility to do the right thing by the repair/ modder. Do your due diligence, ask questions, read reviews and communicate with the person doing the repairs/mods. If you feel that the person does a fantastic dial relume, don't assume that he can make your broken AP ROO movement work like a genuine AP movement. Sorry for the long, probably off the subject diatribe, but we all have to work together if we want to have good honest folks making our reps even better. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I'm quite shocked, up until Dbane started this thread I would have had total confidence in Mr Dowling. I thought maybe buying from him was paying over the odds for his reputation and peace of mind, but never would I have thought his watches were not as discribed. I imagine I am not the only one who thought like that. Now I don't know. Perhaps one should not preempt the trial, but the submission looks damning. One thing is for sure I would rather buy a high end build from someone active on this forum than pay genuine prices to risk getting a franken from a "reputable dealer"

Pam 111 w/ Kodiak strap Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

176 on olive green canvas RGDS WKK The enemy of my enemy is my friend [emoji41]

sent from BOOOOOOOOOM

Today it's me and Raquel ... domealicious!

1960 pcg

Such a simple classy piece Ubi, My cheapo until an old build of mine returns

So not fair, beautiful surroundings, beautiful watches, beautiful spirit......and the turd in the punch bowl, moi

Whilst I don't particularly follow Rolex, that is a thing of beauty. Just fantastic and my new favourite Rolex Any chance of more photos?

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Pffffft, you call that a wristie? Behold... the Miguel

I will jump in

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The author pretty much sums up what I have been saying for years. People just don't give a damn about what someone else is wearing (women excluded, as they notice everything!!!). Most people can't tell a Rolex from a Timex. They see that beautiful AP ROO on your wrist, and to them it looks a whole lot like the big chunky watches they see for sale at the watch counters in mall department stores. The only folks who will notice and may or may not comment are fellow WIS, who honestly are pretty few and far between. And like the young fellow said, if you are not knowledgable, better to stay silent. I would bet, in most circles, one would get more comments wearing nanug's Mickey Mouse watch than they would wearing any stainless steel black dial watch, be it a Rolex sub, an AP diver or a Blancpain FF. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Vintage seiko today

Wow. Wow! Even the so called gurus and the top experts are engaging in shenanigans related to this vintage watch tulip bubble. Unbelievable. This guy thought it was on the up and up and he was buying from a world renowned expert. I would have had faith in Dowling, too. My guess is Dowling never in a million years thought this buyer would even look into it, or if he did he would just keep coming back to Dowling since he is/was so world renowned. Dowling probably mistakenly thought/assumed that he would have a lifetime relationship with this wealthy buyer and would have carte blanche to scam him whenever and however he deemed appropriate. A little here, a lot there, take the pieces back on "trade" and keep the cycle going. Like Bernie Madoff. Even Madoff started out completely legit. He just succumbed to his own greed and the ease with which he could take advantage of clueless millionaires. Sent from my SM-N920P using Tapatalk

Today I decided to follow my heart. Here in Alaska we have a saying... "Go big, or go home". Today it's time to Go Big. Or..... ummmmmm...... well, you know. So I busted out the rarest item in my collection. It gets NO wrist time, for several reasons. Yes, it lives in a tightly sealed case, and it's near mint. One would expect this from a piece that hasn't seen the light of day more than 5 times since it was built. Even the stitched leather strap is nearly pristine. I know..... I'm not one to brag about my watches. But this is really something special. It makes a statement on the wrist. And so, I give you.......... The Miguel. Please. Hold your applause.

560 on beige canvas on this hump day RGDS WKK The enemy of my enemy is my friend [emoji41]

I was thinking with the conditions that 'Hall of the Mountain King' by Edvard Grieg might be more fitting. Congrats to you and the family B, must be paradise to you guys. Ken