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Thank you all for the kind words and support and for anyone who can't figure out why such a newcomer was chosen, well neither can I. When this idea was first put to me I was truly stunned. Aside from the great comradery, the champagne fountain, dancing girls and so forth, I see this not as being raised to the aristocracy, but as having become the servant of all.

Gentlemen, it gives me great pleasure to announce the newest member of the RWG Moderating staff! We spent many an hour around the fireplace sipping fine single malt, bandying about the possibility that the new guy would keep the liquor cabinet and cigar humidor locations secret. In the end the vote was enthusiastic and unanimous, so without further ado.... may I announce: SOGEHA as the newest member of our staff. It's a lot of work, and we're sure he's equal to the task. So please join us in welcoming him "aboard".

This is a really neat Art Deco watch. The crystal profile is fascinating and lends a really unique look to it in person. Impossible to capture with a camera I suppose.

What the hell I specifically told you guys NOT to engage this dude. He's straightforward, dedicated, protective, level headed. But he does not indulge in alcohol which makes him totally unsuitable for crew material! Lol. Congrats@sogeha you've always been on our side and I'm proud to serve alongside you P! I tread softly along the fine line separating raving insanity and lucid moments of ingenuity. The issue is I've no idea which is which mostly.

1966 always looks good on my wrist [emoji4] Highly recommend!

It's tempting to do that, but I've vowed that, unless the thing is hideous, I won't gut it.

Daytona for me today

Knew that dial looked to good to be a rep ...

Hulk!

From last year's vacation in Croatia.

I think I already revealed my real name once in a thread and there are several members who have my full contact information. While obviously I don't want my personal details spread on the interweb, my name is Paul The allegation that I don't drink is a gross distortion of the truth. I rarely drink spirits, but good red wine has a remarkable tendency to evaporate near me. I'm still getting used to my new status, but obviously things will never be the same again

Exactly, now if you can prise the lock from the drinks cabinet in the lounge may I suggest you pour yourself a large one. Boy, you're gonna need it!

Oh my. I was very tempted recently to rip off a 7734 chrono in excellent condition that I got on the cheap to build a Tudor Monte Carlo. In retrospect I am very glad I did not and I meanwhile got a very nice 7032 M2M.

Welcome Jackstar Take your time and enjoy, we're delighted to have you join us. Regards AJ (UK)

ME TOO !! And just because Mr. Smarty pants knows about zodiacs doesn't keep us from keeping these old eyeballs on him!!

Please be aware this is the second time in a week that this member has solicited for people to send him watches. @nikki6 and I have had our eye on him for some time now.

I agree with you. I dig both of mine very much!! The Heuer is a slept-on piece. It was available for next to nothing up until last year. I think people are finally catching on to the stellar Flyback Valjoux 230 mov't & also the fact that the watch is thin but 43mm in diameter without the pushers/crown. It's a big contemporarily-sized watch but elegant and wearable due to its thinness!

Fun build with spare parts and new dial that came in. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I guess I'm a fake guy because I took a rolex 1570 made out of parts gathered from here and there plus c/o/put it together, stuck it in an MBK case with aftmkt bezel kit, dial, hands, case tube, crystal, one of Mary's folded bracelets...and cranked out a 'fake vintage' watch that will run for a many years. I can't help being a little bit proud of it even if it is a 'fake' because I put it together, know it inside and out, and can fix it if it breaks. So...when some dildo with shiny shoes and a new submarooner starts bragging about how great and expensive his watch is and spouts 'fake watches are for fake people', I have to wonder if characters like that ever learn anything about life or just slide in and out, always being a dildo. "This one was $175 brand new." ...back when an RC and a Moon Pie was less than a quarter.

All of these fake watches and fake people have created and University for me. I would not know have the things I know now if it wasn't for all these fake watches no thanks to all the fake people that have shares all there journeys I have found a fake world full of greats. So sorry but there is no turning back. From one fake person to a real one. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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.

Gen vs decal [emoji632]

So you've got the QC images or your brand new best replica, like, ever, with that incabloc you always dreamed of, as swiss as cheese, but what about your timegrapher results? What dahell are those? Presets Beat Number Frequency, the vibration of a movement. The number of balance wheel swings per hour or how many times the watch ticks per hour. This is a preset, depends on the watch you order. 14,400 bph = 4 beats per second 18,000 bph = 5 beats per second 21,600 bph = 6 beats per second 28,800 bph = 8 beats per second etc Lift Angle The angle the balance passes through while interacting with the pallet fork. Important to be set correctly in order to calculate the Amplitude. This preset is per caliber specs. Most modern watches have a lift angle of 50 - 52 degrees. Generally lift angles range from 44 to 58 degrees. Some other settings are present, for instance Gen co-axials angle is 30 degrees. Results Rate How fast / slow the movement runs (in seconds per day) great : +/- 5 s/d acceptable : +/- 12 s/d If higher / lower? It is possible to adjust this yourself or ask your dealer to nudge it a bit. Amplitude The measure of the amount of rotation in the swing of the balance wheel, in either direction. Amplitude is higher when a watch is lying flat and usually falls when the watch is in a vertical position, due to increased friction. Amplitude can also fall as the watch winds down and the mainspring delivers less power. Amplitude is a good indicator of the movements health and if is too high or too low, or that changes too much in different positions, can indicate a problem with the movement. great : 270-310 acceptable : 250-270 If higher / lower? Ask for a different watch or have your watch serviced Beat Error The amount of time by which the duration of swing differs from one side to the other in the oscillation of a balance wheel. Generally speaking to get a beat error of zero, the roller jewel in the pallet fork must be perfectly centered. great : 0.0-0.5 ms acceptable : 0.6-1 ms If higher? Ask for a different watch or have your watch serviced. * Please note that if you are reading your QC from the dealer, you will generally receive only the results of the watch lying flat. All the above recommended measurements are from that position. The measurements in other positions may vary

... and even more so in replica watches, since the factory QC is lacking and some basic rules and requirements, like clean assembly environment, are loosely followed. One should note that good timegraph results from the dealers are absolutely not a guarantee of a good movement. If the results are good, one can assume that the movement may be good. On the other hand bad results require your action - whether servicing your watch, if you are testing one from your collection or declining QC, if you have received the results from a dealer.

I'm finding that what a timegrapher says has a rather superficial meaning compared to the real world. Don't expect your watch to maintain a plus or minus 1 second just because it reads that on the timegrapher. There can be a rather large time variation in the different positions. And even more when you factor in the amount of winding tension on the mainspring.

Good clear concise and well writen informative post! I have pinned this but i will move it to movement info once every one has had a change to read this, put put a link in your signature for this!