Leaderboard

I have nothing much to add. How about a $200 donation from me if we get 5 new VIP members today?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Happy end of this one and lovely start of the next one everyone. May each day bring you peace, love and joy.

Guys honestly I would not have been so gracious if my credit card has not refunded me fully. I could afford to take the deal easy as nothing was lost on my side. The correspondence with the seller is still ongoing and I am against the facts that: 1. Seller did not check my name and address at point of shipping, resulting in a delivery to a wrong address. 2. Seller stopped the re-delivery I arranged with DHL. 3. The communication between seller and me was vague, tardy and not helpful. 4. Seller has not been apologetic or contrite in any way. 5. Seller would not refund me until the watch is back with him safely. But this is a matter between him and DHL and out of my control. I wish I could let you guys know what is really in the package but I could not do so because I've never received it. If the amount was sent by Paypal gift, I doubt that I would be as kind as I have been toward him if he had chosen not to refund me. Thank you guys for the input and if someone could shed more light on the situation please do not hesitate to do so. I tread softly along the fine line separating raving insanity and lucid moments of ingenuity. The issue is I've no idea which is which mostly.

This article was written in 2008 & websites often vanish or move, so YOU may need to research some of the links --freddy333 So you're a Noob. Welcome aboard. You've just found yourself the coolest and most knowledgeable WATCH forum around. The members on this board are some of the saaviest watch afficianodos anywhere and are well versed in replica, gen, vintage and homage pieces, as well as gen and rep movements. There are oustanding writers, photographers, watchmakers and modders as well as up and coming members who have spent hours and days contributing oustanding pieces of information in the form of topic posts, reviews, galleries, tutorials and you name whatever other kind of information you would want. The questions you have as a Noob have probably been asked before...many times before...so many times that the asking of the question AGAIN annoys many of the more senior members so much that the only response you'll get to your query is: USE THE SEARCH FEATURE, NOOB! Many members on this board have helped me so much in the early stages of my rep journey asking for no more payment than to be a positive member of this board, that I felt I should put some effort into putting together a guide to help you enjoy and appreciate the rep world. I'll tell you now...you should use the Search feature located at the top right of the forum screen. You may not IMMEDIATELY find exactly what you want, but the odds are what you want is buried in the various topics that get returned. Do yourself a favour and read seemingly loosely related posts, because you will find nuggets of information that you will find useful, that you probably never thought of asking. Start by being general with your search (e.g. A7750) and then narrowing things down when you learn enough about the topic and need something very specific (e.g. 0.17mm hands a7750). Here's a step by step guide developed using the Search feature, and comprised of posts I have referred many Noobs to in answering their common questions: STEP 1 - Learn the Talk Don't know what we're talking about in the posts? Look here for definitions: Abbreviation wiki The Zigmeister's Glossary If you want your questions answered without getting flamed, learn Forum Etiquette first: Edge's Guide to Rep Forums Pt I Then, learn the basics about reps: Legality of Owning Replicas Best Sub Phoband's intro to collecting If you've got time... Awesome collection of watch info STEP 2 - Start to Crawl Which watch to buy?? Many people will tell you to pick the watch first...then the collector as some collectors can get things that others can't, although most can get the same merchandise as they all deal with the same factories. Read the brand forums...read the reviews and buying guides. By-Tor, Pugwash, Seadweller, Andreww, Chrgod, myself and a bunch of others have written lots of reviews of various pieces to help you find the best of the best. Selecting a collector to buy from is a tricky choice. There is no "best" collector as it depends on many factors: Where you are from - European buyers often pick European based collectors to avoid semi-frequent customs seizures Price - price variances between collectors after incorporating shipping can vary ~$0 - $120 (more for the big ticket items) Availability of a specific piece (some collectors have access to things others do not) How much you value instant communication (within hours vs. within days) Availability of certain modding being done out of the box Your level of patience in dealing with the inevitable quality control (QC) issues that will arise Where should you buy from?? Check the list below. RWG Member Trade Section RWG Recommended Collectors NOTE: Dealer links can be found in the subsections in the Collectors area or HERE RWG Want to Buy (WTB) Section Which dealer or member is the best?? Trade Reviews (Including Reviews of Collectors) If you need to ship to the EU...read this: Problems Shipping Reps From China into the EU If the collector/site you're interested is not listed below, use the Search feature to see if others have asked about the site already. Finding existing answers about a site/collector in question will yield you more info than asking a question that's been asked many times before. Try various spellings of a site (e.g. watcheden, watcheden.com, www.watcheden.com) to make sure it hasn't been asked already. If you can't find info about the site/collector you are interested in, check below: Ripoff List If you still haven't found info on the site/collector you are interested...use common sense. Buy from them if you want, but don't cry to us if you lose your money and don't get a watch, or get a watch that's a piece of crap that you feel you paid too much for. We have recommended collectors listed above for a reason. They may be more expensive than what you can find out there...but these collectors have been around for awhile, members here have had positive experiences from these ones, they supply decent product, and they will not rip you off. Don't forget to Search. Which watch??? That's a matter of personal preference...but you could search for reviews...or go here: Onzenuub's Rep Review Database You might want to read reviews of the movements before picking which rep to buy...some movements make great looking watches but reps with ticking-time-bomb lifespan: The Zigmeister's Movement Reviews Francisco's New and Improved Seconds at 6 Review Francisco's Seconds at 12 Review STEP 3 - You've pulled the trigger...you're waiting to walk You've made your first order...you're now sweating about if it will arrive...and EMS tracking...the wait...the drama...the horror...ooooh...the suspense. Yeah yeah yeah...we've all been there...so has everyone else: Lanikai's Excellent Post on Tracking Your Baby (applies mostly to CONUS...Canada is never an issue...other countries?? Use search.) A not so untypical shipping story Great play by play of waiting for a first order to arrive Aaaaah...my watch was Handed Over to Customs Aaaaah...I live in the EU and my watch was Handed Over to Customs...you may be screwed (contact your dealer for details on this scenario BEFORE ordering. I spent $500 USD and all that got shipped to me was a !@#&'ing TOY!! RWG dealer Recommendations suck. STEP 4 - You've got the watch...now what?? Congratulations!! You have yourself an amazing mechanical marvel...unless you bought a soul-less quartz cheapo (just kidding). Watches are delicate instruments and require careful handling and care. How do I get the most out of my new watch? By reading: The Zigmeister's Basics 101 - Getting the Most Out of Your New Watch The Zigmeister's User Guide for the A7750 If you've never had an automatic watch, you're probably wondering why your watch doesn't keep running after 2 days: My watch stops running...now what?? The Zigmeister's Mechanical Movement User Guide The Zigmeister's 's Care and Feeding Of Mechanical Movements Problems Accelerating Wear and Maintenance of A7750s Does my watch suck? It's loud...not like the gen. A7750 Power Reserve and Rotor Spinning Problems Noisy Rotor and Grease/Oil A7750 Spinning Rotor...is it a problem? If my watch sucks, should I get it repaired? Some say yes...some say no. If you got a cheapo $100 watch...likely the movement is a DG2813 that can be replaced for $12-$40 (for a DG4813) + labour at $50 for a movement swap. That's almost the cost of a new one. If you can do it yourself...it's definitely worth swapping. If you have a gen ETA movement...it should be able to be repaired by a rep friendly watchsmith and is worth doing so as the movement is very reliable. If you got a nice spanky A7750, it can be costly to replace the watch and the movement...so repair may be worthwhile...but expensive as these are complex movements that require great skill to repair. The cost of servicing may be close to the cost of a new watch, but a proper servicing will give you years of RELIABLE service. Many people say unserviced, they still get years of life out of their A7750s. The moral of the story for me is, if you want the watch to last for years, get it serviced. If you like the watch a lot...get it serviced. If it's fun but doesn't get a lot of wrist time, you like it, but you don't love it...sell it...and likely skip the servicing. If you will cry because the watch died prematurely...get it serviced. You can try swapping out your movement: Toad's Movement Swapping Guide - Redux or get a Free Watch instead My watch sort of sucks...I need it repaired: Repair is always the problem with reps. Good watchmakers/watchsmiths are hard to find. Finding one that can work on the extremely complex 7750 (gen or rep) movement is even harder. Finding one that can work on an A7750 is the hardest. Why should my new A7750 watch be serviced? It's new right? Sure it is: Why service your A7750?? How should a mechanical watch be serviced? Things to know about rep servicing The Zigmeister's Post on the British Horological Info on How Watches SHOULD be Serviced To find a rep friendly watchsmith or watchmaker try searching RWG. You can start by looking here: Advanced Search and plugging in "watchsmith" or "watchmaker " in a Titles Only search. Use The Zigmeister, where possible but read this post first Who is The Zigmeister and where do I find him? ...or Thomson Highway in Europe ...Francisco seems to do amazing work as seen in Francisco's Forum Subsection ...or Domenico seems to be getting good reviews (though I've never used him) - Domenico ...or the phone book or shopping mall repair folks My watch definitely sucks...I want to return it to China: Play the rep game long enough (or if you're unlucky, even your first rep), and you'll get a dud. Maybe it's a movement, maybe the wrong watch, maybe a crooked crystal, crooked hour marker, etc). If yours is DOA or has some issues: Search RWG to see if they are known issues Search RWG to see what other people have done about the issues If the issue is a warranty thing...contact your collector and seek resolution If no resolution found with the vendor, complain about it hereonly AFTER you have attempted resolution so others can be informed of your experience Ship it back to China for warranty repair/replacement How do I return my watch to China? Returning your watch to China STEP 5 - You're walking now...how do you keep things running? Odds are good if you bought a chrono, it has an A7750 movement: What A7750 do I have or should I buy? There are so many versions... The Zigmeister's User Guide for the7750 Movement Care and Feeding of A7750 Chronos - Setting the Date The Zigmeister's Explanation of why handwinding your A7750 is bad This watch is great. Can I take it swimming? Read here for water resistance testing: Reps and Waterproofness Pugwash's Water Resistance Testing Post Greasing Gaskets and 4' Pressure Testing What is Water Resistance? Water Resistance Testing Home Brew Pressure Tester STEP 6 - Walking to running Ok...you love your watch but want it just that little bit more accurate. What can you do? How To Adjust Timing or Beat Can anyone do mods on my watch? The Zigmeister's Post on Questions to Ask a Modder I want to take it to the next level and put a real Swiss Valjoux 7750 movement in my chrono...just like the gen? Swapping Swiss Rotors with Asian on 7750s Takashi's A7750 to Swiss Tutorial Ajoesmith's A7750 to Swiss Tutorial How do I do STUFF to my watch? Francisco's Amazing Tutorial Section RWG Knowledge Base You want improved AR? Chieftang AR. The King of AR!! You want lume? Do a search on "The Watchmeister" (pass through parameter links don't work anymore) NOTE: The Watchmeister is not a full-time watchsmith so his client list is essentially sort-of closed. What does this mean?? Read: Who is The Watchmeister and where do I find him? Everest Watchworks STEP 7 - Take a rest...you've come far grasshopper...you can now leave the Mountain You're enjoying your watch...now put back into the community that helped you so much. Post some pics...write a review...encourage other Noobs...etc Pugwash's Guide on How to Post Pics ...start working on your own watches RWG Links to Where to Buy Tools RWG Watch Repair and Upgrade Section Practice and memorize everything here: The Zigmeister's Technical Info Subsection The Zigmeister's Watchmaking Resource Centre STEP 8 - Be thankful for this amazing resource The information I've provided above is gold. I know you will find it useful. I've saved you months of time searching...and have helped you get up and running quickly and relatively painlessly. The info presented here is by no means comprehensive as the forum has TONNES more to offer. SEARCH. The info above is worth far more than a stack of watch mags, books, etc...so Upgrade Your Membership and stop being a freeloader. If you're so broke you can't afford the small amount to be a Supporter...maybe you shouldn't be buying watches. If you can't afford to support the forum financially...support it through content, buy raffle tickets, post topics, reviews, news...interesting stuff...and Upgrade your membership and support the forum Don't Forget the Upgrade is a Subscription

Ok I know this is a little early for those of you in Europe and USA but it's already 2017 in Asia so here is the first wristie pic of the new year! @tango258 brother this book title is specially for you. I tread softly along the fine line separating raving insanity and lucid moments of ingenuity. The issue is I've no idea which is which mostly.

@slay opened me the door to high end rep Daytonas and other Rolex Vintages. His skills and knowledge on the subject is beyond anything I've seen so far. A huge asset of RWG. Happy New Year folks. May we continue to enjoy the best affordable close to gen Rolex for many years to come [emoji23][emoji23]

Come on guys, let's all be real here. Enough of the kumbaya. The seller is a scammer, plain and simple. The watch that he was selling was not a rep, he used Gen pics and offered an amazing deal so people wouldn't think twice. The whole oh I didn't fill out the address? I think only morons would believe that. I have never seen some post service employee fill out paperwork for the customer bcz it's high liability and increases the chance of mistakes. Second, why wouldn't the sender double or triple check the address on such an expensive piece especially after all the criticism and scrutiny he got during the sale, knowing that he is being judged by the handling of this sale! I hate trump but sometimes we do get too caught up in political correctness instead of calling out [censored] as is. Sent from my SM-G930T using Tapatalk

This isn't easy. I guess much as I'm not a big Panerai man, one of the newer models has to be by far the best bang for the bucks watch in terms of being most similar to genuine. Best Mod? I wouldn't like to judge between them. Unlike other forums, we don't have any weak Mods. our sexually desirable Rock God Modderators deserve a joint first place. i support @Nanuq for veteran member and @misiekped as modder, but with an honourable mention to @rolojack Member of the year, well I think of the guys who are always there with sound technical knowledge and deep understanding of tiny details. @freddy333 Daytona man of the year, @sacsah1, @QueTip, @automatico, @alligoat Also come to mind. @ssteel and @jmbseem to constantly help with watchmaking know how. @hologramet has been helpful with access to genuine parts. A big thank you to all of you. However also on the list of super helpful with technical information is @dbane883, who has also given away parts and inspired us all with simply stunning builds, so my vote for member of the year is @dbane883 Dealers, I've used a few now and had excellent service from all of them. I guess my vote goes to Rafflestime simply because Ken did the right thing by me when he could very reasonably walked away.

I've got numeral in black and yellow, love both of them! Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I bet it keeps the salties away! Lol I tread softly along the fine line separating raving insanity and lucid moments of ingenuity. The issue is I've no idea which is which mostly.

All the best mate. Wishing everyone here a very fruitful, and happy New Year for 2017!

The typical behavior of a forum noob: Guy signs up for an account, does not bother to introduce himself, and then starts new threads asking questions and contacts and such in a self-entitled manner. He may get some reply after some time, and then what? He thanklessly disappears and starts dealing privately using the contacts and resources provided to him. I am not against sharing of knowledge and resources, this is afterall a forum, but one should take time to integrate himself into the community and do his own research, and then ask the pertinent questions and eventually contribute meaningfully. Newbies who come and seek shortcuts entirely for their own benefit should be discouraged from doing so. Knowledge and resources both take time to be established and gathered. And experience can only be gained through personal involvement and effort and not gained vicariously through the forays of others. Guys who sign on and ask questions in a self-entitled manner would not integrate well into the community and hence, not assets to the forum. Manners, humility and gratitude are important when you're new (and even if you're a veteran member) and if one lacks these qualities, then he should not expect reciprocal assistance. We encourage meaningful integration, development and growth of members here, and hope that the forum can consequentially grow as a result of individual contributions. We should protect our resources and share them when we inclined to do so, instead of when we are asked or demanded, especially by unknown newbies. It can be argued with cogent logic that guys sign up here not to make friends, but to gain knowledge, resources and to trade watches for their own leisure and benefit. Nothing wrong of course, but newbies often overlook the fundamental but salient fact that OUR MEMBERS here, are our greatest resources and pride. That they are people, and to deal with people, you need to be equipped with a good set of people skills. Before one even begins to learn who has the best subs, I think it's best that he learns politeness, respect, humility and gratitude. I tread softly along the fine line separating raving insanity and lucid moments of ingenuity. The issue is I've no idea which is which mostly.

the old MBWs were never good. so much incorrect. the endlink connector doesnt have the bend or fit 2mm bars, the side links are polished, the mid links are too thin compared to the gen, the clasp has wrong half size adjustment holes, the clasp is basically a 93250 stamped 93150. the cartel bracelet is better but the end link stamping (93150) is too large, the endlink bend should be a solid piece with a dent in the middle but its just a folded over piece of thin metal that is not closed, the clasp crown stamping is too large and not refined enough, the divers extension 'S' is stamped on the wrong side on either the mbw or the cartel, i dont remember which

I would like to nominate @misiekped as modder of the year. His work is always outstanding, and he is a great guy to deal with. I would like to nominate @Legend as crew member of the year. For rep of the year I would like to nominate the ZF IWC Big Pilots. The build quality of these are amazing, and I really like the working PR.

Legend can sometimes sound harsh, but he is a good guy and a very knowledgable member, take his words on board. When I wanted to know about Phong, I did multiple Google and forum searchs. There is a ton of information out there. Read it and make your own mind up, this hobby isn't for those who want easy solutions because any of us that have built or had built high quality reps and frankens will tell you it is often far from easy. I have dealt with Phong more than once and will do again, but how does that reassure you? You don't know who I am or anything about me.

I totally agree. I do have all Rolexaddict's contact info including his postal address, but I don't feel comfortable giving anyone's contact details out to someone I don't know. If that seems harsh imagine how you would feel if it was your personal information I was giving away randomly.

Agree, thats why I make my own stems for the SA3135 movements, the originals are too fragile for regular use.

You need to yank that clock-gear Muncie out and stuff in a Super T-10!

From Raven's the Deadman Reach is best. Even better is our local Kaladi Brothers, get the Red Goat. http://www.kaladistore.com/allproducts.aspx

No point in replacing a broken SA3135 stem with another exact one.. same fragileness. Try to get a better stem aftermarket? I tread softly along the fine line separating raving insanity and lucid moments of ingenuity. The issue is I've no idea which is which mostly.

+1

The Nastymariner lives!

One of these :-)

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Late 50s UG Polerouter with twisted lugs and microrotor. Love this piece because it's designer Gerald Genta, who went on to designing Royal Oak, Nautilus, was only 20 or so at the time. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

She's done! JF V7 ProfSteve AR ETA DW Sunken Screws Picture review topic soon

" Stunning piece mate Congrats, always knew you were a Rolex addict behind the AP facade " You did! I've been accosting Alvin for years to go Rolex it seems persistence paid off...........

We will surely make full disclosure upon resolution, it will be better to have facts rather than conjecture and innuendo.

Oh how wonderful to be outdoors in a warm climate in Nov!

Sorry, I only know who makes the best submariner.