Leaderboard

Puffpuff… You ain't the only one lookin'. (then again, you might be) https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/vintagerolexforum/dark-lord-dial-contact-details-t245684.html VRF probably already sent out a lynch mob just for asking.

Yeah course, someone should pass the details of the person who 'allegedly' makes the best fake dials in the world to you because you want it and can't be bothered to even enter into a single conversation on this forum about your, or anyone else projects. You just want your information fed to you so you can go and annoy Ivan the Terrible with stupid questions like "how much" "when will it be ready" "where's my QC pictures" Jog on mate, this ain't the forum you've been looking for...

Wow! Dumb and Dumberer.

Most A. Lange & Sonne watches give me 1200 vickers of hardness.

Sent from me

Ivan the Terrible ... is he related to Vlad the Impaler? Yes the Dark Lord exists, but woe be unto the man that gives away his contact information. Your children will suffer the Scourge and your crops will wilt on the vine. Your livestock will deliver stillborn and your mp3 player will delete random songs. Be forewarned! His eyes are everywhere and he suffers fools harshly. Are you Worthy?

I will avoid TAG Heuer!! and any stainless steel or plated watch with an eta movement, as I can do better in buying a replica here from a dealer with an eta already in it and will come out cheaper! Also the new fat lug rolex models with ceramic bezel just do not sell unless I can buy it for a fraction of the price and flog it off for half price to someone else, making us both happy!! Modern mechanical watches are becoming like the old quartz watches with their silicone hairsprings and other parts not being possible to be made according to traditional watchmaking methods!

A few shots. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

"He's supposed to be Turkish. Some say his father was German. Nobody ever believed he was real. Nobody ever knew him or saw anybody that ever worked directly for him. The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist.”

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Well........ pull up a bollard and I’ll tell ye a story. Back in the days just before my time here at RWG, I hankered after a Seamaster Pro Chronograph. I looked and longed but didn’t want to drop £2750 on a new one. With it being my first luxury/expensive watch (over £500) I naturally wanted it new. My friend had a Seamaster Pro that got me into Omega along with James Bond. I travelled a lot for business back then, often traveling to Switzerland for work and this made the desire even greater - bloody airport shops! My mind was set, I’d save a little each month and buy one later that year. Luckily, I was working in Guernsey too, which whilst part of the UK is also duty free. On one such visit a deal was struck for a VERY good price and I became the proud owner of a new Seamaster Pro Chronograph - in blue of course. I wore it sparingly and with pride, but I felt guilty of the money I’d spent on it and nervous of damaging it. Then, within weeks I discovered RWG and high quality reps, hallelujah, problem solved. I’ll sell the gen and buy one rep of my Seamaster Pro Chrono......... Yeah right! I couldn’t bring myself to sell such a nice watch and investment (lol). Then, what if the reps were rubbish? I’d only have to buy another gen. Best pop the gen back on the winder and just use the rep, or another rep, or the black one, or the white one, or the franken built by Micky. Bugger, this has cost me more than the gen, but it’s been a whole lot more fun! This is the gen. Mr Black - with 2xAR My first rep Seamaster Pro Chrono, now residing in Italy. Mr White, gen relumed dial and bezel, 2xAR. Built by Micky Franken with ETA 7750 and gen relumed dial. Modded Blue with repainted hands, reversed date and 2xAR started with pumpkin insert. .... and now has a dark grey ceramic insert. So in hindsight, would I buy the gen? No, probably not. But hey I’m gonna keep it now anyway for special occasions lol

"What desired watch(es) will you never buy the genuine of, and instead will opt to keep, buy or modify the replica counterpart?" Any modern (sapphire) rolex. I like the 16610 but would never buy one unless it was a real bargain. The only 16610 replicas I have are F520117 Noobs and a few assorted not noob 21j and swisseta models from 12 or 15 years back. Do not wear them, like vintage better. Do not care for the fat lug ceramic models. "To ask the question in another way, what rep watch do you own, that satisfies you enough such that the gen one becomes more or less (though maybe never completely) redundant?" MBK Frankenstein 5512 and 5513. Both have 15xx movements/ST bez kit/GS crystal/ST case tube/genuine crowns. Imho this makes them just about as good as a high priced genuine watch without the worry of putting a scratch in the case or corrosion creeping up on it. The only worthwhile improvement would probably be to jerk the 15xx movements out and stick freshened 2846 Etas in them...

A few photos of my old buddy with the caved in 702. Don't ask.

If a master swordsmith forges a blade so sharp, and the warrior he sells it to uses it to effortlessly slay a hundred men, the warrior will be judged and not the sword. What we are discussing about is individual integrity and responsibility. You should draw the line at acknowledging the fine work and craftsmanship you produce. That is your accolade. How someone uses your work, is none of your business. Do what you believe in and know what your work stands for. Let every buyer of your watches/work exercise his own responsibility. I do not know if your post is a subtle hint at how good your work is, i.e, craftsmanship so fine, they can make a watch pass as gen, but regardless, what I said remains valid. Being good is not a flaw. But how someone chooses to represent your work/watches is his own responsibility. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I actually read through a couple of the longer threads and in reality this is a movie that has played out many times before on all these forums. I will always believe that VDB started out with the best of intentions. I bought one of his very first watches. Was it perfect? Absolutely not, in fact it needed some rework by the Zigmeister at the time. But it looked like a step forward and was well put together. I didn't regret the purchase. And I do believe that VDB did move the hobby forward. Fast forward and the modder has decided to make it a full time business and now the party is over. And this party was made worse by having the full time support of one of the larger forums to the point where owners and admin were getting special deals,organizing GTG's on their behalf, precluding other offerees on their forum and not allowing any negative comments. In fairness, those issues have been fixed on the other forum and so it is not a criticism of the forum. All forums make mistakes and they can be rectified. The whole issue of selling fabricated parts as gen is tremendously troubling. But I can also tell you that I am aware of some very very expensive non-gen parts which people have subsequently sent me pictures of from his watches. I know that he paid thousands of dollars for them. Some were offered to me and I always wondered where they ended up. In any case the real moral of the story is that people should tread carefully. More importantly, forums should as well if their primary role is to protect the membership. Frankly we were always criticized for not being aggressive enough on the vintage stuff. Nice miss, huh? Vintage started before VDB with legends like Kenzo, Enzo, Madasboot, Ross, etc. VDB was another chapter. And now folks like Francisco, Clint Eastwood, Kbiz, etc. will continue to move this vintage hobby forward.