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My second post in this thread... Patek Philippe. Why? I have owned a few in the past and they are very expensive (for little reason imho), fragile as a baby's breath, and PP = Patek Parts. The Nautilus is nice but I always see $5k repair bills in the future. The old models had JLC 920 movements in them...also used by AP and VC, but not by JLC. The 920 is known for being thin but not overly reliable...basically an ebauche for snob brands. A replica with a 9120 is a better bet imho.

Sardinian flag and "Italian" watch [emoji39] Envoyé de mon Moto G (5) Plus en utilisant Tapatalk

I have a contact for Tonney’s case supplier (pm me if you’re interested). I didn’t order anything, but the guy was responsive. A few folks here have dealt with him, so better wait for them to chime in with any recent experiences (if any).

That’s precisely the point... demand for better means wanting better, meaning paying more for it. funny thing is “they’ are the sellers we know, the small visible tip of a huge iceberg. Production costs in SE Asia are low, so low. medium and high quality cost the same; and market is huge. in the right places in VN one can find a vintage franken memovox for less of the entry price of a “noob” swiss ETA sub that we are so familiar with or find a “singer” dial for the price of a Johnie Walker.

"Hmm with all due respect the heavy hitters from Vietnam now are ten times the quality of the old fellas in the market." I understand that. Paul's $10 dials were only an example of how little an average dial cost to make 12/15 years ago. Today a first rate dial probably cost $40 to $60 to make in VN...or less. "Honestly on a level to be par with genuine manufacturers." They are good all right. Probably as good as the 1960s/1970s genuine dials. The process is the same for $30 dials and $300 dials...a pad printer, dial blanks, and a few drones to do the work. Stamp 'Singer' on the blank, solder the dial feet to the blank, paint the dial, stamp the letters, apply the lume. Applying the lume is the only hard thing about it. No applied markers or anything out of the ordinary to fool with, just $3 to $5 in material and a couple hour's work. On a crude production line they can probably turn out 40 or 50 a day. Maybe more. One main thing that determines how close a repdial is to original is how close the cliché plate is to the genuine dial to start with. "honestly MQ, phong, ruby etc... could be spot on if they pay attention to detail." One problem (imho) could be they might not want to get it right in one whack. If they get a little bit better every year, think how many more dials they can sell. I have one genuine Mk I Lemrich 1680 dial. It is no better that my 1680 dial from IG44...except it has tritium markers and looks older. I would rather have the IG44 dial on an otherwise genuine 1680 than a modern 'genuine' dial with 'swiss' at the bottom. After all, it is not really 'genuine' either. It's a rerun. I do not like 'genuine' 44xxxx replacement cases very much either. How can you tell one from a professionally finished replica case? A Yuki 5513 case with 44xxxx serial number might pass after it has been worn a few years. Here is a Lemrich Mk I dial: http://rolexpassionmarket.com/watches/rolex-1680-submariner-fantastic-mk1-lemrich-dial-circa-1977/

Hmm with all do respect the heavy hitters from Vietnam now are ten times the quality of the old fellas in the market. Honestly on a level to be par with genuine manufacturers.. honestly MQ, phong, ruby etc... could be spot on if they pay attention to detail. Ive seen in a few different varieties of the same dial giving us one complete and exact dial when it comes to rolex. They just don’t do it for some reason.. given the price point they will not lose customers, they will gain from the fellas wanting perfection. I know myself as one that will pay a lot of money for a correct dial, after all, the cornet doesn’t match the other stand out issues the the dial no matter of a $30 eBay Rep to the $800 re printed dials will all be liked st the same..

Q: why do Brits like their beer warm? A: because Lucas also make refrigerators.

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Up on the McHugh peak approach