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Hey guys. Thought I'd drop in to say hello. Also wanted to share some analysis of 20mm spring bars I've "discovered". For the past couple of years, I've sworn by ST (Startime) spring bars. Unlike most rep and aftermarket bars, the springs don't crumple, the ends are nicely rounded, and they are made in Switzerland. They really are terrific. But I have an account at a part supply company called Beco-technic in Germany. I've ordered stuff from them a few times, but never thought of trying their spring bars until my most recent order. To my surprise, they are superior to ST bars and I suspect genuine Rolex bars are made by the same factory. Side by side, the ST bars are nearly identical to the Beco-Technic (BT) bars. The ST bar ends are rounded, and the BT bar ends are conically tapered: Now here is a comparison of the BT bars (on the left) and gen bars (on the right). Both ends are conical: Keep in mind, that these observations are based on a random and very small sample size and no two spring bars are identical . Now here is a shot of all three together (ST on left, BT in middle, Gen on right: Conical or rounded, I don't think anyone will care. But a more important contrast is the strength of the internal springs. I've always found the ST springs are "noisy" when compressed. The BT and gen are much quieter. Further here is some VERY unscientific measurements of the force required for full compression (using a kitchen scale). The gen bars, are not new, but measured 506 grams on the scale; equivalent to 4.96 Newtons (if my math is correct. I have a Physics degree but I don't remember jack [censored]): The brand new BT bars measured a whopping 580 grams (5.68 N): And finally, brand new ST bars averaged 380 g (3.72 N): Had the gen bars been brand new, I imagine the springs would be slightly stronger. At any rate, I think my go-to bars from now on will definitely be the Beco bars. If you try to order from them, keep in mind you will need to be approved. Also, I had a lot of trouble accessing their website recently (www.beco-technic.com). I'm in Canada and could not load the page for unknown reasons. So I changed my IP address to Germany and it worked fine. Odd. Frankly, I think 20mm ST bars (or equivalent) are just superb for any watch that accepts them. But the BT's are as close as I have ever seen to what you would get from RSC.

Many thanks for the work with the updates, and for keeping the lights on. KB's left nut was spent years ago, on a cheese and wine evening with Miss Understood's older sister, Philma Kraken

Hey Guys just wanted to share this pic I made today. Noob AP ROO 42mm Panda, Noob AP ROO RG Rubberclad 42mm, JF AP ROO Grey Themes (Elephant) 42mm, JF AP ROO 44mm Panda, BP Rolex 116655 YM RG, Noob AP ROO Black Themes 42mm, Noob V? Rolex Submariner 11660LN, Genuine Rolex 116610 LN, Noob Rolex GMT-Master II Pepsi, Noob Rolex Yachtmaster 116622, JF Rolex Daytona (faux Chrono), Noob Rolex GMT 116710BLNR. That's it so far. Cheers R.

Sorry to hear about your accident. No worries im taking care of business as we speak Hope you will get better soon bud!

Bohemian Rhapsody you say?

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Pretty sweet Natas! Nice strap. The dial really POPS. keep those. Holds coming. I need to take some horology classes. I'm itching to try some builds. Keep the builds coming is what I meant. (Stupid auto correct)

George! Long time, buddy! Cornerstone, someone discovered Ken has the mysterious ability to generate new nuts at will. When Philma was done with it, another magically grew in its place. I don't know how many times I've traded off his left nut for something sparkly.

Maybe a 703? I have installed several vintage 703 crowns on my MBWs, JKFs and Vietnam cases and have had to put 7030 tubes in for them. The 702 crowns require a 7020 where the threads are closer to the case and the tube has a taller [censored] above the threads. So threads up in the crown 703. Threads close to the edge of the crown 702. Both tubes are available from clark for a inexpensive price on the bay. Sent from my SM-G920P using Tapatalk

It looks like the brass threads extend to the base on the inside. Is that so, or is there a smooth area below the threads, that would seal against an o-ring? That tells you if it's a 702 vs a 703. You'll need the corresponding tube. Also looks like you'll have trouble getting it to screw onto a stem.

I vote for the Monte Carlo

OMG, that's right! You're down a ride now. But you know what that means ... it's time to go bike shopping. My advice: avoid disk brakes or wear good gloves. This is the brake that cut my finger off.

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.

Astronaut "G"

Old argument this one and to be honest I couldn't give a monkeys what other people think about my reps or my Gens either for that matter, I buy them because they please me and no-one else

what is a fake watch??? A watch that functions well and tells the time as it should is too real in my book. More to the point, I see a lot of fake people starting from Politicians, Shrewd business people and those that call themselves friends only when their lawn mower breaks down and borrow yours,the only time you ever see them. A quality replica timepiece regardless of if it has Rolex label on the dial or no label at all, gives me as much pleasure as something issued by Rolex or Timex. Before i got married, I had the privilege/blessing of earning well and indulged in buying a WG Daytona, Datejust 1601, including a Submariner 16080. That was my equivalent that critics may have seen as a bad habit similar to the stigma attached to gambling, drinking and smoking. The difference was that I still had the items to sell off even at a loss to get something back. The problem came when I had these gems attended to by RSC and the costs were getting beyond what I deemed feasible,, especially if I intended to alternate them between occasions and to prioritise the cost of raising a young family which always comes first at all costs. Sadly the genuine timepieces had to go when my eldest son was diagnosed with Autism and treatments became first priority. Reason why I hadn't posted much, but been on this forum for several years when I first discovered the joys and education of the art behind what some of you guys do and share, This runs circles over those that only own genuine watches and have no clue in what is behind what they own. Surely there are those that own genuines as well as replicas and appreciate them both, where the replica may be an every day beater and the genuine may be put aside for special occasions!!!! Each to their own.. I purchased some replicas back when they still used eta mvts and I have been more than happy with them no different to when I also owned the genuine pieces. The joys of acquainting my fellow members here and lurking on this forum, is worth more than the price of any genuine timepiece!!!!!

For twenty years I've only had one real rolex 18238 president. Now, I have 4 other replicas. I like being able to change up. Replicas let me do that without breaking the bank. I have several wealthy friends who have several gen watches. They love their gens. I have made them a couple of reps too. They love them. They are not fake people, but they like all their watches, including their reps.

NOW that's Guess/Hublot is a an UGLY BASTARD! It may be gen, but sure as hell looks fake.

I do not buy fake watches to be someone I am not. I buy fake watches simply because I like a certain model/style and I can't "afford" the real deal. Ofcourse I can buy a real watch that is cheaper, but what will I get? An overpriced Sevenfriday, which is basically a cheap Miyota? Or should I get a Guess watch that looks like a Hublot that had sex with an AP?

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Hello and welcome to RWG. You have come to the right place.

Welcome to the forums, which TD did you buy that rep from?