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What below represent the job I did this week evenings. I started last Mon or Tua and finished today. All condensed into one single post. I recently got a Noob GMT 2 kit from themannier here on RWG. It was complete except for the DWO and 3 of the 4 parts that turn a standard 2836 into a GMT. Plus it was completely disassembled. Going to show the rebuild process. First I unassembled the movement (and it is when I discovered that the GMT parts have been replaced with standard ones, except for the gmt hand gear/pinion) and properly washed it. Here after first rinse: And second rinse (between the temporary allocation over lint free paper and the passage in the 50°C oven I use to dry them): In the meantime I got a brand new BK dwo from USA that I will glue over the naked date wheel. Here you can see what transform a standard 2836 into a GMT version, together with the higher cannon pinion: Below the GMT bits, upper the standard ones. Here together with movement partially assembled: Finished (missing only the GMT hand gear and the BK DW overlay which will be done when I will be fresher than like now ar 11pm): Definitively not bad for a movement not yet regulated! Lovely amplitude and 0 beat error This eve I have installed and glued the dwo that BK has been so nice to sell me on the naked date wheel. Here you can see the result. For the alignment (that I have obviously checked) pictures we need to wait tomorrow. The glue I've used is in the pic. It has 2 big advantages respect to the others: 1) when it's dried it keeps 300kg/cm2, this means that I can use a VERY little amount of it, placed with an oiler on just 4 points of the DW. This will avoid it spreading around ending up on the movement and/or the DWO. 2) this glue fully dries in 12h and if you put a low amount of hardener it remains very soft for more than 1h (at least for more I needed to align properly the DWO). This means precious time to use for alignment! Plus I used that glue to fix a magnet of the flying wheel of my motorcycle, and after 20kkm spinning up to 12000rpm in hot oil and with the V-twin pulses the magnet is still there Check of DWO alignment: love it!! Hands alignment done! In the case: I also leaned something today: if your movement is performing amazingly half assembled and, after casing, it starts to behave erratically with ridiculous amplitude (197°) and very inconsistent gain/delay, then check the sec hand! Mine was nearly touching the crystal and it was causing this stupid behavior Once I pressed it a little bit more into its pinion it went back straight to the results of the pic:) Ok so how to relax oh a Sunday afternoon after a good MotoGP race (even if it has been very sad for Rossi...)? Move on with the GMT is a good idea Since the watch has been bought in bits and I don't know the story behind apart being it a Noob, a good idea is to remove the bezel and give a good clean to its parts: That way I will also be able to give a repolish to the surfaces without messing up with the bezel mechanics. Lubricating the bezel assembly with oil or grease isn't a wise move, because in some time they will end up in a kind of dirty paste as oily materials attract dust and incorporate it in the lubricants. So I used my dry Teflon spray, spraying it in a bowl and using a brush to apply it. When the solvent will be evaporated, it will just leave a thin layer of dry Teflon on the surfaces, reducing a lot the friction. Then some attention to the bracelet. Rebrushed and repolished where needed: Then a good clean in the ultrasonic machine, rinse with hot water and remount/resize it. And finally: Kind of happy of the result

1665 today

"Morning" coffee...

A couple of people here held up a bank with their full name tags on their work logo, and the police arrested them at work! Maybe the seller is one of them

My fellow brethren and sisteren, I've been researching this for a few obsessive days. Here are the facts (not unlike Avenger II Seawolf facts...Jebus, what a shitty watch.) on both gold plating and this particular model in question. The first thing we need to realize is that sites such as PC and PT list gold plating levels in two forms of measurement: Mils and Microns - one is english, one is metric. Most models will list the gold plating levels in mils, and most decent reps claim that there is .5 mils of gold plating. Using the chart below (which I have also hyperlinked), we can see that .5 mils is equivalent to, roughly, 12.5 microns... http://artisanplating.com/measuring-layer-thickness-on-gold-plated-surfaces/ This is the gold plating chart as required by United States commerce laws... The watch in question claims that it has 25 to 30 microns of rose gold. The video on the PC site shows Joshua using a Karatmeter to test the the purity and the level of plating on the watch. The video shows that the gold is 78% pure (which is basically 18K) and that it has a thickness of 25 microns. I exchanged emails with Joshua asking him to elaborate on the 78% claim, and he said that as the machine shows (?), the gold is 78% pure. This watch, as we have already discussed, is almost $900, shipped. I really hope Joshua isn't reading this - he has always been really good to me - because this is the thing...If you will notice on the PC site, there is another 18K rose gold calatrava, with the same movement and features, that costs only $308 and claims that it has .5 mils of gold plating - or, as we discussed, about 12.5 microns. If you look at the photos on the site, as well as the QC photos, you will notice that the watch is basically THE EXACT SAME THING, just different photos. The only difference is that the $308 version was released in April, and the $838 version was released in November. Using our basic calculations from the chart above, the $308 version has 12.5 microns of plating (5x the amount to qualify for Heavy Gold Plating). The $838 version has 25 microns of plating (10x the Heavy Gold Plating requirement), or twice as much gold as the lesser priced version. So, for an extra $530, your are getting a extra layer of gold on your watch that is about as much as a thick coat of varnish. Let's put it this way, an older/vintage gen Rolex Oyster bracelet has hollow middle links made of 18k gold. There is about $600 worth of 18k gold in that bracelet - SOLID 18K gold. With this $838 Calatrava, we are LUCKY if the extra 12.5 microns of gold plating that the dealers are claiming equates to about an extra gram to 1.5 grams of gold...or $40-$60. Hmmmmm....This is why I recently ordered the $308 version As an addictive rep owner, and gen Rolex owner, I will not buy a rep over a certain $$$. For me, that dollar amount hovers around $500-600, and it is reserved for only the rarest and most worth finds. I usually stay in the $275-$400 range. At a certain point, it just makes no sense to pay that much for a rep - just save for the real thing, you won't be disappointed! Nearing $1000 for a rep straight out of the box is ludicrous. Especially when this is the type of watch that you only strap on for special occasions. If you wear a Patek on an everyday basis, and your name is not Charlie Sheen or John F. Kennedy, then you are a tool. And if you are wearing a rep Patek at gatherings where there are people that can actually tell the difference, then you are an even bigger tool. The fact is, I just sold a TT sub that I purchased four years ago from Joshua, and in those four years, I wore the hell out of it. However, the gold plating on the clasp - although worn - was still gold, showing no steel underneath. It was advertised as .5 mils plating. If I can have a sub with .5 mils plating last me several years in the spot where it gets worn out the most, then .5 mils should be enough for a rose gold Calatrava. My feeling is that the boys from China got themselves a new Karatmeter and are using it as they should - to try and maximize their profits. They made an investment in their business, and they are hoping that is pays off...and I am sure that it will! There will be plenty of people who don't read this post and who will shell out cash for the $838 version. More power to them!!! It's an outstanding gimmick for those who don't have research accumen. I feel bad because "gimmick" is the word I used with Joshua when asking him about the machine and the model in question, and in his response he claimed, "It is no gimmick." I'm sure he begrudgingly smiled, though, when he saw me order the lesser priced version

I tried reluming my 1016 rep myself. Big mistake. I sent it off to Kent Park at Everest Watch works and Kent did a great job! First photo is the mess I made and the next two are of Kent's "repair"

it's one of the worst fake I ever seen, and he's selling it for half the price... Tell him to look at the others on sale on eBay and compare just the dials... I guess that asking for a picture of the movement is out of discussion... some ppl have no shame I reported it, hope that eBay pulls it right away it has too many watchers already.

depends on movement. what's the engravings say with the bracelet off in between the lugs? Take off the case back and take a picture. if asian 21J 2813 it's a $100 or so used.

Looking forward to it. If you have any questions, me and/or holo would be able to help you out, of course. @hologramet actually, you have a PM in your inbox.