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I've been collecting both gens and reps for almost 20 years. I have over 100 reps, many of them cheaper examples and many with quartz movements. I have only been on the forum now for a few weeks. For the last 6 years I've been wearing, as my main, watch a Navitimer Serie Speciale black dial with an early A7750 movement that I sourced from Narikaa. I loved that watch even though It had silver subdials and I was never sure if that was accurate. The watch always ran slow, one minute plus per day, so had to be adjusted frequently. Probably because of this the stem finally pulled out and would not stay in. Also the bezzle loosened up until it rattled and and had no resistence to turning. I finally glued it in place. I tried to have the watch fixed but was unable to. A couple of weeks ago I started looking for a replacement. I finally bought a catch and release from one of the members through the for sale forum. It was the black and white version with the 28,800 A7750 movement, but not a Serie Speciale. It came with SS band, plus a leather band with deployant clasp. I am extremely happy with it, especially since I Iearned after receiving it that production had stopped and they were no longer available, even considering the flaws noted in some of the reviews. I've been wearing it for perhaps a week now and surprise! It seems to be keeping perfect time. I have a small wrist and this is my favorite watch style of all time. The SS band, which had never been adjusted, just fits my small wrist at full length, so is very short and probably would not be long enough for most people. The Serie Speciale came with 4 links more than needed. Per advise on the forum I soaked and lubricated the band to loosen it up. Regrettably this also loosened some of the tiny screws in the pins and one went missing. I had extra links from the Serie Speciale so tried one of those screws. The threads did not match. The pin for the old band was slightly larger than the new one so did not fit. After reducing the size slightly it was made to fit and my band is now complete, but if I lose another screw, I am screwed (pun intended). My biggest complaint with this watch, other than the band, is the engraving on the back. While correct, it is lazer etched and very shallow. I have other, cheaper Navitimer reps with accurate backs but none will interchange. I am considering changing to the incorrect back off of my Serie Speciale (if it will fit) just so it doesn't look so cheap. Here are a few pictures of the new watch. rionrlty

My tattoos

Having a little of a Hublot-trip going on. Today's arrivals: Ice Bang Lite from Supermirrors Big Bang Earl Grey RG from Perfect Clones Big Bang King 44mm from Puretime Sorry for the bad iPhone pics. Have to go and get a new camera tomorrow, my good old Canon G10 finally died All of the rep straps sucked the big one with the plain rubber on the Ice Bang being the worst (smells like moth balls). The gummy croc on the Earl Grey looked like somebody took a photo of croc hide and glued it in there. The ribbed rubber on the BBK is actually acceptable, but - as on the other two as well - the clasp is not very well made. There must be a better clasp out there. I have seen and touched one. So I decided to change out the straps right away: First impressions: Earl Grey: I am not a huge fan of gold watches per se, but I think I will like this one a lot better once I install my black brushed ceramic bezel. The watch feels solid, chrono functions work well. Blue tint on the AR is definitely noticeable and a bit of a turn off. Big Bang King 44mm: This one I ordered as my new daily beater and hopefully water watch (we will see how that works out...). Heavy solid feel, I really like the solid caseback. Seconds hand has a bit of a stutter. Strong blue tint on the AR. Good lume. I think I might order the version from Kurvasit that comes with the CF dial and the red seconds hand. All iin all I am pretty happy though. Ice Bang: This one takes the cake. While being the least expensive of all three and feeling just a tad lighter and the chrono pushers have a different feel (but not uncomfortable or cheap), this one IMHO looks the best and has no tint in the AR at all. I am no expert of Hublot watches so I can make no remarks regarding the accuracy of the watches. But all in all these watches feel very well made and definitely above the average replica fare.

This is clearly a girl with time on her mind, legs, thigh, and hips. Stacy also serves up some of the finest draught brew this side of Chicago.

with the ceramic sub the glidelock operates a little different than the DSSD. instead of lifting up on part of the clasp you pull down where the bracelet meets the clasp, then slide in and out and push it back up to lock it in place. This is a brilliant system for micro adjustment, the best out there in my opinion.

Love it, puts mine to shame

Its not easy to take a picture of 100 watches all at one time but I will try to take smaller groupings and post them. Like I said, the older ones or more of the cheaper ones and many are fantasy reps. I moved about a year ago and just got my photo gear set up for the first time since the move. I expect I'll be posting some of the better ones in the for sale forum because want get some new ones. rionrtly

Hi Ssteel, I had the same thought when I compared them. Whats missing here is a gen example of the larger 20mm deployant to get a better comparison. This deployant came on a late 90's genuine Super Ocean with blue dial that I had. I also had a rep Super Ocean at the time to compare it to and for it's day it was one of the best reps around. I still have the SO but I later sold the gen but kept the deployant which was on a thrashed gen Breitling brown leather strap. Anyone out there got a gen 20mm deployant so we can compare? rionrlty

Aquaracer.

Telling people a fake is a gen says something about you. What it says really depends how old you are, young people like to try to impress others in their peer group and will do lots of daft things to do so, older people have grown out of that and just do things to satisfy themselves. I'm middle aged, and have never really tried to influence what others think about me, I come as I am and that's it! I love reps because I love them, not because I think they make me look good. I know I can't polish a turd (those of you who have seen that episode of Mythbusters, shutup!!) I tell people they're fakes, show them the watches, chat about how the rep market has vastly changed from 20 years ago, chat about the good points (exterior, looks, price) and the bad points (un-serviced movements, stopwatches that you have to remember never to reset when running, never change the date between 10pm and 2am, customs, etc), it's all good. I've only just got my first few reps in the past couple of months but I've always found the people have been interested in what we chat about.

Can't take this off at the moment.

To begin with, you should not be wearing a rep into a Rolex store (AD). Have you read RWG's Rules in the Introduction forum? In some areas, you may be risking legal trouble by doing so since reps are considered illegal contraband in most countries &, if the staff or another customer IDs your rep, you come off as a poser. That said, we have all been there, so I get it. I would tell friends/family the truth. Never good to lie to people who matter to you. For everyone else, why not purchase a good, ETA-powered rep & then learn about who ETA is & how they rank, performance-wise, versus Rolex's movement (hint - they are pretty close). Then, when a stranger asks about your watch, instead of lying or telling them it is just a replica (which most will interpret as a 'fake Rolex'), you can dazzle them with details about ETA being a venerable, old Swiss ebauch manufacture & how your watch's case is made of the same type of steel that Rolex used to use in the 60s (as are most of the better reps), etc. That way, instead of coming off as just another know-nothing poser, you appear to be a knowledgeable & discriminating watch collector of limited means. Of course, you could always just start saving a few dollars/week to put toward the purchase of a used gen Rolex later this year or next & your problem is solved.

Incredible work mate, that looks stunning! Might have to put this back on my wish list...

I'm proud of wearing my reps, and all of my friends and colleagues are knowing that my watches are reps because I told them. And really, they admire me for my possibilities and knowledge for getting high quality reps from the other side of the planet, so many asked me to get them also a decent rep... The forum, the TDs, high quality reps, the whole procedure, this is a really fascinating shadow world, nearly nobody knows about these things - they only know about the cheap crap reps which you can buy at the beach or in Canal street. So you can tell interesting stories to your good friends, and for sure they will be fascinated about your rep know-how.

I'm happy with the AR on my Steelfish, Avenger and SuperOcean Heritage....

Just received this piece from pbdad this morning. It was quite a wait. Due to holiday and stuff. Here's the mod pbdad done to the watch: case and bracelet aging bezel aging gen crown cg shaped lug holes drilled for 2mm springbars 2mm springbars aged lumed dial markers and hands tangerine gmt hand mod right side lug modded to flush the profile under bezel. Here's the finished product:

Playng with inserts and bracelets... And Piece Unique- Fantasy

Yes I concur Andrew is a very trustworthy guy! I just received a new Ceramic Omega Planet Ocean and he used a different website and business name to accept payment. Anyway guys he had to change his url again cause Oakley took it over. The new one for Andrew is www.ttw888.com

Here's a few pams, and a 50mm Vostok Europe: Anchar, on my super small 6" on a good day, wrist. I swear I eat! I can put some food down!

WoW nice custom work , top draw .

Thnx Navik