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Welcome back - New look and new toys! Hiiiiii Soooo glad to see you again. It's been so lonely in here while working on all the new exiting stuff that is now ready for you. REALLY hope you like all of this First of all, I hope you like the new design. Not going to say to much about it, other than give it a day or two before you start complaining. And if you decide to come back here to complain in a day or two; don't bother. We are keeping it Now, let's get started on some of the stuff that has changed and let me introduce to you one of the biggest news; RWG Classifieds. Hurry, go there now and post an ad or just take a look; https://rwg.cc/classifieds/ The trade forums are some of the most popular forums on RWG and we will now move all of this into our very own classifieds section. Please let me know what you think about this!! For the first week, all users will be able to post as many ads as they want for FREE. This way, you can all get your ads up and running in no time. And because the sales forums are gone, you will have to post all of your items for sale again. Sorry about this, but there is no other good way of doing this. Now, since this is free for one week, I'm sure you understand that when one week has passed, you will all have to start paying to post ads here. And when I say all, I mean all members. VIPs, Platinums, etc. The free sales ads are no longer included in any of the upgrade memberships, The reason for this is simple; I have done a major cleanup in the VIP/Platinum members and removed all members that were non paying members. The sad fact is that we now only have 94 VIP members. The system has deleted almost 200 members that still were VIP members, but were no longer paying. There could be many reason why these members were still VIPS, but not paying, as we have changed the upgrade systems so many times and some members have gotten their accounts upgraded for one or another reason, but 94 paying members out of almost 70.000 members is NOT good enough. I'm still paying server bills out of my own pocket and by paying for ads posted, we are getting a little bit more funds in to cover our costs. The ads won't be expensive and it should be easy for sellers to add the cost of the ad on top of the watch or spilt it with a potential buyer. So I sincerely hope that if you are enjoying your stay here, you use our store to upgrade your membership; https://rwg.cc/store. For a limited time, we are now offering a 50% discount on all memberships. Just use the coupon code 615F5 during checkout! And speaking of checkout. We are once again able to offer payments via Paypal. Stripe.com is the preferred payment gateway, but Paypal available as a second option. We have a bad track record using PP, so hopefully it will stay available And remember; NEVEr open PP disputes without having been in touch with me first when it comes to upgrades you have bought or ads you have paid for! Ok, what else; You are now able to log in using several options, including Google, Facebook, Microsoft, etc. You can link accounts in your account settings; https://rwg.cc/settings/ We are now offering two factor authentication. This is to bump up the security on all accounts here even further. This is optional, but if you decide to use it you can use both Google Authenticator or security questions. You can set it up here: https://rwg.cc/settings/account-security/ On top of this, all traffic to and from RWG is encrypted and running on https:// Links directory is also back, so feel free to start and populate this with links and let me know if we need more/other categories; https://rwg.cc/links/ You will also notice that we have slimmed down the forums a bit. Some forums are gone, others are merged. I think the forum was too long, so this is the reason for this. Another thing you will notice is that some dealers are missing. This is most likely only temporarily, as all sellers on RWG are required to pay a fee. I will be reaching out to all sellers on RWG shortly to get all sections up and running again and have a chat with all the members who have their own sections here at RWG how they can contribute and support our community. Also, we are now accepting new dealers, so feel free to let your favourite dealer know that we have spots available if they are interested in joining one of the biggest forums online. Hmm...I'm sure I have forgotten something, but I'm going to put the forum back online now and get back to any other news I might have forgotten later on Enjoy and as always; I appreciate all feedback, both good and bad. Especially the bad, as I have a brand new BAN-button PS: Crew members - The re-opening party with the supermodel striptease in the "Champagne and caviar room" is slightly delayed. We have to find KB's left nut before we can start

Better sit down, Rick. This one was $175 brand new. There's an old saying... "Rolex makes the world's most expensive $500 watch".

Being one of the oldest folks on this forum, I am going to chime in on my take about "fakes are for fakes". I totally disagree with that premise, unless you are some guy who is overtly showing your "fake" AP,Rolex Hublot, etc. to others with the sole intention of deceiving them into something that you aren't. I would hope that there are none like those people on this forum. Most likely not, because for the most part they are not interested in watches as a marvelous miniature, intricate machine that allows us at a glance to see the time, date, phase of the moon, time in other time zones, etc. They are only interested in a watch as a symbol of their ostentatious lifestyle. I would suspect that the vast, vast majority of people who are here are proud of their watches, marvel at their design, but are as inconspicuous in their watch wearing. These are not fake people, they are not trying to deceive anyone, they wear replicas because they represent an opportunity to wear watches that they for whatever their reasons are not desirable to them in their genuine form. Possible they cannot afford the genuine, maybe it's because they have had genuine watches and are turned off by the incredible costs of repair and parts. Possibly they feel that their money can best be put to better uses than buying a 6-10K watch. Everyone has his reasons, and all are valid. Here is my experience. I have ben collecting (Accumulating) watches for probably 40+ years. I'm old enough that I bought new Rolex 1680's,1665's and Daytonas for less than 1000.00 USD each, in fact all of those were around the 500.00 USD range. Wish I had a couple of those back by the way!! Over the years, I ventured out into other brands, Breitling, IWC, Chronoswiss, Omega,Maurice Lacroix.,Ulysse Nardin are the ones I remember and can recall the exact watches. During that time, I ventured into Replicas, first joining a rep forum way back during the days of the old TRC. One thing that put me off gens at that time was the cost of repair and the lengthy time involved. I remember A Breitling Chronomat that every time I sent it in for repairs (twice) they wanted to change things that didn't need changing and the repair bill was in excess of 300.00 USD. That was a lot in 1988! Another was a Chronoswiss that required a trip back to Germany and was gone for 3 months. All in all I could see that the costs of maintenance on some of these somewhat finicky watches was not where I wanted to go. I eventually sold almost all my genuine watches and replaced them with replicas. Way cheaper and just as accurate and dependable. A few years later, I had a bit of a falling out with reps, primarily because at the time I was mostly dealing with Rolex and after purchasing them, I spent a good bit on making them nice frankens, the usual genuine crystal, insert, crown, reluming, replacing the rep bracelet with gen bracelets/endlinks. I was really happy with the results, however when it came time to sell one, no one wanted to pay much over the price of the original watch, so usually when one sold, I took a beating. this is still the same today, however I feel like folks today are more willing to pay for what was done as well as the original price of the watch. Over the years, I have totally enjoyed my reps. I never try to hide that they are reps, although I find that the vast number of folks are totally disinterested in watches in general. Most cannot tell a Rolex from a Timex!! Maybe that's a good thing as it probably prevents undue watch scrutiny. I still have a good many genuine watches, which alas, get very little wrist time. I have a gen Rolex 16610 that has not been on my wrist for probably 2 years. Why do I keep it? Probably to pass on to my son or grandson who both like watches. A few others get a little wrist time. Probably my Rolex 16750 gets the most, primarily because of it's GMT function. And finally, if you are worried about wearing replicas, then I have two pieces of advice. First, don't try to pull off something that is a well known expensive piece. Even though there have been lots of threads here about folks who don't look the part actually being able to afford a expensive genuine watch, in real life there are not that many young guys who are going to be able to afford a 100K watch at age 20. Certainly there are some, but by and large their numbers are pretty small. So if you are going to college and delivering Pizzas part time, unless your family owns the Pizza chain, don't try to pull off the unpulloffable. Second if you truly want to fly under the radar, wear "unknown" brands, or at least models of brands that look like a lot of other watches. My AP FC diver looks like about a thousand other "Black" watches that you see everywhere from drug store watch displays, mall stores to chain jewelry stores. Also, watches from those "unknown" brands. There are so many genuine boutique brands and even larger more recognized brands that are to the general population, unknowns. If you want to see how popular and widespread a brand is, go to the genuine website and click on dealers. Some of the genuine brands have almost no dealers in the USA. Watches like Linde Werdelin for instance have a grand total of five dealers in the USA!! and of these five two are in the Phoenix area and one in Florida. What do you think your chances are of seeing someone with a genuine LW are? Pretty slim. Same with others that some of us would consider pretty popular. A good example is Blancpain. And old brand with a pretty established history especially with their vintage dive watches from the 60's and 70's. Blancpain has about 36 retail establishments over the entire USA, about half of those a Tourneau, which to me is sort of a watch supermarket. So again, pretty slim chance that you are going to see your Fifty Fathoms walking down the street or in a restaurant/bar. So, finally to all you fine forum members out there, wear your replicas in good health, and for whatever your reasons, I feel certain that you are as comfortable wearing them as I am.

well, as far as birth-year watches go: In 1981 the only 4-digit-reference rolexes readily available (as no one wanted the friggin' things) was the 1655. There are also ref. 5513 dated to 1981, but I'd want a COSC (hence "superlative chronometer") certified watch so I'd rather go with a transition-model 16800 or a GMT transition-model 16750... Grail... hmmmmm, in terms of affordability, something like a platin A.Lange or Patek... unless I win the lottery (and even then I'd have to hit it pretty friggin' big ) The details on these are out of this world....

My personal fav trinity too, but these start to interest me more and more...

Well said, Sogeha. When you get to know the guys here better you'll find we have quite a group. We have guys in college without two dimes to rub together and we have very very VERY wealthy people rubbing shoulders with us. We have doctors, lawyers and Indian chiefs, and we have Joe Sixpack types. We hail from every corner of the globe and range from drooling morons to belligerent hotheads to erudite gentlemen. We are as diverse as any group anywhere... with a common thread: we're fascinated by these mechanical beasties that track the Sun in the sky. Odd, isn't it? When the chips are down and we're hurting, or when we've struck upon unimaginable good news, we as a man come to these pages and talk about it with our brothers. Sometimes there are shouts of excitement and sometimes a quiet nod is the best way to show we heard what was sorta, but not quite said. Mutual respect does that to guys. We have a lot more in common than we do in opposition. Let's keep the emphasis on our "Band of Brothers" and remember what really matters.

Hey Indy, I don't want to pick a fight because I don't have a horse in this race not being American, also we have enough of a mess with Brexit without arguing about US politics at the moment. However you twice make the statement that being a billionaire means you are not dumb. Well I'm not saying he is or isn't dumb, but one way to be a billionaire without being smart is to inherit it. It has been pointed out many times that he inherited from his father in '74 an amount that if put in an S&P 500 tracker would have left him a little richer than he claims to be. Given that his father also provided loan security and that he was extremely heavily leveraged one would expect him to have significantly out performed the market. An S&P 500 doesn't expose one to that amount of risk. I'm not criticising your point of view, but in a debate facts should ideally be more solid than this one is. Elections tend to be divisive and this one certainly has been. However the Democrats can point out all they want that they received more votes, under the rules as they stand they did not win the Presidency. On a separate point, I'm am delighted to hear we have "gentlemen of colour" in our community. It makes not a tupenny damn's worth of difference to my opinion of you. I thought your were a solid member and a brother before I learned this and I still do, but it pleases me rather a lot that we have members of all different ethnicities, politics and beliefs.

Except for caseback, everything is gen. Gen AP 3126/2184 movement as well as a gen midcase, bezel and bezel screws. 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.

Finished my GMT II project using the new CHS case,Gen dial, gen hands, Gen Crystal, Gen Bezel assem and insert, Gen crown and tube, gen datewheel and a yuki/3135/3186 hybrid with a number of gen parts to make it function exactly like the gen 3186, even has the gen 3186 bridge installed for accuracy ? The movement work was done by the master himself Misiekped and amazing work indeed as per usual !! Thanks !! It was a fun watch to build but a pit of a pain in the ass to mount the movement in the case correctly and in the end used a Panerai bezel gasket to use as a thin spacer to keep the movement in place and it worked perfectly !! And looks great ! Anyways here are some shots of the finished product.

I bought a watch from member REPPIN on march 2016. Here is the sales thread: http://rwg.cc/topic/183216-franken-super-rare-vintage-rolex-explorer-ref-6350-for-sale/#comment-1461102 First, the deal went smoothly. Communication was great. He gave me a tracking number not long after i made payment. [picture with personal identifying information deleted -nanuq] The package arrived at my post office at mid april 2016. But, there was a problem with customs. I was charged almost twice the value of the watch due to import tax. Customs thought that the watch is gen. I provided customs with the pp payment proof to get the import tax reduced but I wasn't successful. I contacted Reppin to let him know about the situation. I said I am going to have the package returned back to sender (him) to avoid the tax and I will tell him a different address to send the package to. The post office was having a procedural issue with the shipping back to him. Since the package was sent using USPS, the post office must use normal mail service to send it back but I insist to use EMS instead so I can have a tracking number and it won't take more than a week for the package to arrive in CONUS. After going back and forth, finally, the post office found a way to send it back via EMS. It was already june when the post office finally sent the package. The package was received by Reppin himself on early July 2016. I didn't get the tracking number from the post office eventhough I kept asking them to give me the tracking number. So I kept sending REPPIN a pm asking whether he has received the package. Finally i received the screenshot from the post office stating that the package has been delivered and received by him. So i pm him the tracking result and asked him again whether he has received the package since it was signed/received by him. Then he went all silence. He never replied any of my pm after that. I tried to raise a pp dispute after consulting with the mod, but the time frame for a dispute has passed. I just found out a few days ago that Reppin did a trade with a member for the watch. He then already sold the watches he got from the trade. So it is confirmed that he definitely has received the watch and made more money out of it. It is sad that a long time respected member would do something like this. I was scammed before. But i always chalk it up as an experience. I always thought that it was because i didn't do my homework when selling or buying. But, this time it really blindsided me. I guess nothing can be learned from this situation. Well, maybe the lesson is not to buy expensive watches and have it sent to post office here. As i said in a different thread a few times, postal office has been really strict this year. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Six weeks is next to no time really my friend, try buying from TC.

Strodda WP PAM 569 on Celdy Kleef

2533 dial with small seconds from Pratt, Black PVD case from River on Straps Monster strap. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Even though I don't have a Seiko actually my grail and my wanted birth year watch are from Seiko... Grail Grand Seiko Spring Drive Diver: 6105-8110 birthyear watch I once had and sold (the idiot I am some times )

Here it is folks, the topic for those of us who'd rather pull our fingernails out with pliers than watch the Super Bowl. What are your plans for today? I'll be out in the woods, because all the knuckleheads will be home glued to the tube. Wide open trails! This was yesterday...

Being British ........ ....... this is a super bowl. Just look at the superb craftsmanship in stainless steel.

Frankly I do not know, but here is the old thread. I believe somewhere in th thread you find a download link, but not sure.

https://www.shapeways.com/product/L6HSDJ38E/dwotool-v1-1mm?li=shortUrl&key=0ab43a09bbf7959ecd88dbc54b19c55a

Indy, I just checked and he is definitely banned. Probably something with the new software?

This is the closest I've gotten to my grail. A modded Seamaster Pro. This was built by our very own SSTEEL.

I dunno, if I renew when I get a reminder. I upgraded...

Get started - Post your watches/straps/stuff for free in our new classifieds section For a limited time, all members can post as many new ads as they want in our new classifieds section. The new classifieds section is incredible easy to use. You can post items for sale, wanted and for exchange, all in the same interface! Here is how you post a new ad; 1. Go to the new classifieds section; https://rwg.cc/classifieds 2. Click "Create new ad"; 3. Select the category you want the ad in; 4. The next form should be self explanatory, but here is a quick walk through; Title - Fill in the desired title for the ad Tags - Add any tags/keywords to your add. These can be used in a search to find your ad or similar ads Price - Add your sale price here Location - Specify a location. You can specify anything from just the country the item is located in to your specific address Allow offers - Let the members make offers for the item you are selling. You can select to deny or accept the incoming offers Advert images - Upload the images of your items(s). Click on the small circle in the bottom left corner of the thumbnails to select your main image Contact details - Select either PM e-mail, other or a variation of these three Package - Select the desired advertisement package. For now, all sales are free and you will not be charged anything, regardless of the package you choose Type of advert - Select your advert type Item condition - Select the condition of the item you are selling.

Gotta say boss, this looks really nice! Hope we can spur more folks into ponying up a few bucks for VIP memberships.

I bought my two DG3804B movements for one 6542 and my 1675 brand new from Otto Frei. They both were quite clean looking as compared to those that came in reps, and regulated easily. I don't know that is what makes the difference, but it looks that way to me. What I liked about the date wheel was the date 'ring' was easier to work with and lining it up using little tabs to secure it to the date wheel.

Great work, but god I missed you guys

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

"Some of the best money I ever spent was to get the best stereo microscope I could afford, A very good stereo microscope is worth ever penny ! and the next best money was for upgraded "super wide field" eye pieces !" I have a Japan made scope very similar to yours and it is a dark gray 1960s/1970s Bulova Accutron SM-1 model. About 25 Years ago a local jeweler went from watches in general to quartz only and I bought everything they had pertaining to Accutrons and mechanical watches, including the scope. I got about 50 Accutrons in the deal (most not running) but they are all gone now. Here are pictures of a scope like mine: http://www.relic-watches.com/watch-80257-Bulova-Accutron-Stereo-Microscope https://new.liveauctioneers.com/item/7169574

LOL. I started servicing movements a few month ago. My wife is convinced that watchmaking is something mainly executed on all fours and on the floor.

A fun Cali Rolerai build. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Super Dry Orchard Road

I finally got my stuff as well. After 2 months or so...

Working slowly towards my personal trinity, Grail, in so far as I will almost certainly never own one

1988 16520 El Primero for me. Love the way they look with a bakelite [emoji7] Although I would love a 1680 red or white..

I can only wish you the very best of success in overcoming alcohol issues. I've a history of outages myself and although it is now under control, I didn't follow anything like a normal recovery program.

I usually avoid political discussions on forums. Too much poor and disillusioned media out there influencing people's opinions/thoughts. One thing that surprises me is my perception of the disdain it appears a lot of members from other countries have for the USA. If I remember correctly we lost many American lives trying to protect your freedoms in the two "great" wars. Most people have lost sight of the fact that our constitution called for NO standing army. We had to recruit and tool up for both WWI and WWII to help mainly Europe from being ruled by what most would term as tyrannical powers. We did not have a standing army until the "cold" war started. Mainly to help in Europe. A lot of American soldiers died to protect other countries freedoms as well as ours. It seems that for some, the only time they are friendly with America is when they need our help. I did not follow the election much as I gave up on our media/propaganda system a long time ago. I am generally conservative but not a "party" guy. More of a constitutionalist.

Obviously this is a touchy subject and I have many good friends on both sides. I'm a fiscal conservative (when voting not when buying watches) so you can guess where my vote went. I spoke with one of my die hard liberal friends who posted a FB post much like the ones in here and much like the liberal media is pushing - Trump supporters are racist bigots. This type of name calling is exactly why the left lost the election. They are so out of touch with reality. I mean come on left, all of you have good friends who are on the right, are they really racist bigots? Of course not, but that's all the left has focussed on and all the media focussed on this entire campaign. News flash, that's why you lost. We are not racist bigots and you know it but throat was the campaign strategy of the RNC - instead of talking about how to make the country better we'll call them names. Didn't resonate with middle America. I mean the latino reporter on CNN almost had a mental breakdown when Trump said Bad Hombre. Seriously? Don't even get me started on Van Jones. My immediate family lives in FL, OH, NH, and WI. All voted Trump. My sister has a PhD in Physics from Dartmouth. I mean do you really think she's a redneck racist bigot? At the end of the day the DNC chose to focus on race and try and divide the country. That was their strategy and it backfired. Not because the country is racist but because they care about other things like lower taxes, better health care, secure borders and less regulation. I'm extremely socially liberal and would be happy to vote democrat if you ran someone worth voting for who didn't spend the entire campaign saying your a racist if you vote for the other guy. The Democratic Party, and particularly the liberal media think middle America is just a bunch of dumb racist rednecks. Nothing could be farther from the truth. My family along with 50 million other Americans, are neither racist nor stupid. Until the Democratic Party realizes that, they will continue to lose elections. I have absolutely no disdain for democrats. I just disagree with their view of America and Americas future. I don't believe the same could be said in the other direction based on what I've seen over the last 48 hrs.

Gents, I'm very gratified by how this discussion is unfolding. There's been far too much rancor in America over this election, and far too many people have lost sight of what matters: humanity. It used to be said "I may not agree with your speech, but I'll fight to the death to defend your right to speak it". Those words were spoken standing on the bedrock of brotherhood. That brotherhood is what matters. It's time to put away the vitriol, innuendo and pitchforks, and focus on what we have in common: Who has the best Sub?

That says nothing, innuendo.

That's for sure. DP if I go by what you folks in the UK and EU think of our choices well you guys loved Obama my lord he was a rock star over there when he was running the first time and in fact was a complete and utter failure so if you guys think Trump stinks I guess I'm better off. As far as offensive goes let's call a spade a spade no PC crap .

Going to love the next four years!

Like it or not he will be in charge of the most powerful country on earth gents. I for one I am delighted considering my other option...............

Maybe it's more accurate to say "people that try to impress others by the possessions they own are fake people". It's supposed to be about the content of our character not the content of our bank account.

Interesting that this pops up now because I have done some soul searching as to why I buy reps recently. I can see how somebody comes tot he conclusion that fake watches are bought to gain social prestige without being an unconscious bloke. I assume that the majority of reps are bought for exactly that reason. Just look at the fake watch buster posts with kids flashing their canal street reps and brag about the money they allegedly coughed up to buy them. At the same time I have learned that there are other motivations to buy reps, and I have learned that this is true for most of the members of this forum. I definitely do not buy reps to gain social prestige or flash them in public as gens. I also buy a lot of micro brands that would only be recognized by some real watch enthusiasts. Plus I own many gens, not in the 5-10000 USD area but the likes of Anonimo or vintage Omega. The net worth of my watch collection could easily buy me a nice Patek. So if I was out for prestige I would buy a Nautilus and end of story. But what I really enjoy about this hobby is diversity and the process of building a collection. Like to have a watch for every shirt color and every occasion. Having said this there are a lot of smaller and affordable brands out there that are even technically innovative and have better and more reliable movements. I am talking Anonimo, MKII and others. Just yesterday I stumbled over a UK brand that uses Tritium tubes instead of lume. So diversity is no valid reason to buy into reps as well. So why don’t we all buy micro brands or sterile homage watches instead? Obviously the famous watch brands have a lot of appeal. I often read the argument that the genuine brands are overpriced. But the price for something is made by the market and all luxury items are decoupled from the material and manufacturing cost. Why should the brands sell at a price below the market? The brand itself has a value and it was build by real people that earn their living from doing so and pay real taxes. It took decades of work, a lot if ingenuity and billions of dollars to get there. If you feel the brands are overpriced why buy them? It is not like food or medical supplies. Nobody needs a Rolex or a Patek. Another motivator: The hobby takes over and the obsession to correct the small flaws that still distinguish the reps from their gen counterpart. The hobby itself can be very fulfilling. So there are lots of reasons other then being fake or gain social prestige. Ultimately I came to the conclusion that I indulge myself into the thought of owning something I crave for and could not or would not afford otherwise. At the end of the day there IS some hypocrisy involved in this hobby. Face it! Probably not the kind of post guys want to read in a rep forum, but at least my "genuine" thoughts.

I agree 100%. I've built 3 DJ frankens and have taken the gen crystals off and put them in my drawer. Once mixed together the old gen and old aftermarket are indistinguishable. And they're so cheap, I'll replace them rather than polish them if I get a scratch on one of them. Sapphire crystals maybe worthwhile but not the plexi.