Bike Mike

$5K? I wish, none of the AD's I have dealt with are willing to budge off the $6500-$7480 (Leather strap or bracelet) retail right now. I have found it disappointing that there has not been more topics on Breitlings around here. They are by far my fav. time pieces. Maybe the reason is, other then updated dial versions, the entire line is pretty well covered. All the dealers really have left to do is improve the flaws. Other then the new B01 or Colt GMT+ what else can they replicate? Models like the Aerospace, Airwolf, and Emergency are hard to duplicate (better then what they already have) because of the LCD screens. The Skyracer, Bentley Flying B's and 125th Anniversary Navitimer require unique movements beyond the typical A7750 modification. The new Chono-matics have perpetual calendars, again becomes a movement issue. They should not be far behind on the B01 as it really just a dial change from the Chronomats as the movement already exists although dial spacing would be a minor issue.

Gyro Tuourbie at that! Damn they are sexy!

Really all depends on the environment, person and circumstances I guess. If it is a peer at work or friend I dont have any issue. You just never know what that persons intentions are as you hear stories of people having their watches stolen. Most are in admiration I am sure, yet it just takes one person that pays attention and decided he wants to make it his. Of course if I was that paranoid, then I would not wear my watches. I am a little patanoid though, can't blame me as my work takes my into Detroit a lot of the time and surrounding areas.

Yes, however this requires a degree of heat. Super glue fumes are corrosive to certain types of coatings and plastics. The fumes can attack some type of dial coatings and printing, causing them to haze or whitten. I typically use diamond powder to set the crown to the stems. For so exothermic fun

I like it! Nice job. What would really make that dial pop is to do the mid links in the bracelet as well! I forget, but one of the high end swiss luxury brands is doing wood mid-links in their new model.

Keep in mind too the cost of service for a gen. Rolex especially is very picky when it comes to maintaining quality of their time pieces. My first Gen 116710 I purchased new from a AD. They were hosting a Rolex event for a free inspection, cleaning and polish if you purchased a watch from them. Of course I signed up as it was FREE and their were limited spots available. Upon picking it up, my face was glowing at how sparkly new my watch looked. I could not have been happier. Right up until I was handed the bill! The cleaning and inspection was free, but I got hammered for new crown, crown stem, full gaskets, clasp and bracelet link! Of course it was outside of warranty! For me this was the first and last gen. Rolex I would own. Nice thing was I sold it for what I paid for it. They do hold their value! Rep Rolex for me, from then on.

Like most I think, I do check out what people are wearing when I first met them. I would never call out it being a rep or gen as it is none of my business as I am sure the owner enjoys it regardless. Okay maybe I would say some thing if it was a really crappy rep and the guy wearing it was telling me it was real under his own accord without me questioning it. I would never comment "nice watch" to a complete stranger regardless of rep or gen. I know it makes me feel uncomfortable. Especially in a public place, you never know if that person has alternative motives. I really hate the question, "How much did that costs?" I had some kid waiter ask me that at a restaurant a few months back. I just ignored it, but I felt real uneasy leaving the place. I little paranoid I know, but I just had a friend that was cased inside a casino and shot 3 times after he was robbed outside of it.

The reps are so close to the gens, that I do not know if it is even worth purchasing the gen.

Same here!

Only refering to the Gen. as Panerai makes those upgraded components and not ETA. Of course, I wonder what Panerai is going to do since they will not longer be able to get the base movement from ETA anymore? Other then upgrade their piece that use this movement to their in-house movement. Which will send the cost of Gens through the roof.

True only if that modification effects that part of your car that has failed. In the States anyway there are laws that protect the consumer. I have heard that Rolex goes as far as replacing bracelet links if the bracelet droops Xmm over Xmm distance when it is placed on its side.

Diamonds belong in womens rings, not mens watches!

From what I have read on PAMS with this movement, most of it is a ETA, and Panerai uses their own main spring barrel, balanace, escapment wheel and pallet fork.

Quality of Jags in general sucked until Ford took them over. I think jewlers are allowed to do this as long as they sell the original bezel with the time piece. Don't know, be a good question.

Go on step further. How about taking a brand that already uses a ETA movement? Breitling Chronomat for example. Say the COSC ETA7750 craps out and you replace it with a standard off the shelf ETA 7750 to save yourself some coin. The watch is still a Breitling. The movement is still a gen. ETA, that Breitling uses, less the Breitling balance, escapement, COSC Cert., etc. I would imagine you could sell the piece as long as you fully disclosed the generic ETA7750 as this would reduce the price of the piece greatly. I can guarantee Breitling would not touch it if the future owner ever sent it to them for service, unless they (Breitling) replaces it with another one of their movements. The line has to be drawn some where as you legally purchased the piece, it is yours to do with as you wish.

Too funny! I never noticed that! Always paid attention to the straps.

I have read that story about Kennedy. They got him about 60 boxes before he signed the embargo. It is legal to own pre-embargo Cubans. They are just extremely hard and very $$$$ to come by. You can leave the US (at least to Canada anyway) with tobacco products such as cigarettes and return as long as it if for personal consumption. This is what I was told by Home Land Security/Boarder patrol when I had to cross back and forth from Canada on a daily basis. 4 packs of cigarettes is what they considered for personal consumption or previously exported. Same with purchasing tobacco products (less Cuban Cigars) from other countries and bringing it back into the US. As long as it is for personal consumption. Anything over 200 cigarettes was subject to tax. This does fall under the ATF as also when ever I would bring back alcohol and ammunition. It is all about quantity.

Then all of us in the States should be able to live without fear of Customs seizures. Unfortunatly this is not the case. No lawyers around here?

Searching for my cube now.......

Getting off forum topic I know, but this is brings up some good points. The only reason I commented on this was because I used to work for a company that Ford came after for trademark infringement. The thing was, the company was not selling anything with Fords name on it. Long story short, the company I worked for built all kinds of prototype vehicles for all the automotive companies. In 2003 we decided to take 3 trucks (Tundra, Ram & F-150) to SEMA to show our work. We had given the trucks their names based on their themes. The Ram was named "Everest Edition". We came up with the emblem design, font and name. 1 month prior to SEMA Ford got wind of this andwe started getting phone calls from their lawyers. Unknown to us, Ford had the "Everest" name trademarked for use on vehicles. I guess all the automotive companies trademark names that they will want to use one day years in advance. After many meeting and many discussion between lawyers we had to remove the "Everest" name from the Ram. We ended up using it on the F-150, which of course Ford was fine with. My point, is here we are building a vehicle, that the company lawfully purchased, had no intention to sell, we designed and built the mountain landscape around the word "EVEREST". There was NO intention to be profitable from any name or content as we could not even attempt to sell the vehicle for safety reasons. Joe Blow could not walk in off the street and order on of these up as they were for show purpose. We were called out by rightful owner and had to cease usage or face uphill battle. Regardless if they were within their legal means or not, I dont know but the owner was not going to invest the money to find out. Now, could Joe Blow off the street slap a EVEREST name on his Nissan. Sure! Ford is not going to waste the efforts. Can they legally do some thing if they really wanted to? I dont know, but they did to the company I worked for. You are correct , a AD can not stop you in a mall and detain you for wearing a rep., I do not see them even wasting their time. With regards to customs, yes they have the backing of the government, but is there laws that state they can confiscate items of trademark infringement if they are for the buyers personal use and not to make profit? Go beyond getting a rep through the mail. My buddy that got me into reps, traveled to China for work. He brought back reps all the time. He was stopped by customs during one return trip and had the 2 rep watches in his bag taken. They asked for receipts which of course he did not have and he was honest and stated they were fake. But at that time he was the rightful owner they were in his possession.. Use Cuban cigars for example

Check these guys out as long as you do not mind not having a aftermarket strap. I have bought their calfskin straps and was really happy. Nicely made and very well padded. Straps Also, there is a seller on Ebay named Official Time out of HK. I have bought 2 shark skin straps from them and they are real nice as well! Again thick padded strap and will fit the Breilting deployment. Both of these have alligator/Croc pattern straps made from calfskin and gen alligator/croc. If you are looking for gen. Alligator/Croc expect to pay some $$$.

Nope, I hate that sh!t. I am content on with the yellow crap.

You are correct I did say "i just sat their and laughed and then thought you dumba$$". I should have said "laughed to myself" as I thought what a dumba$$. "the salesperson tossed it in the box with all the rest" I don't know how many were in there, could have been 2 or 3. Could have been 20 G-shocks for all I know. I just know the sales rep put it in a box with other watches and took it to the back. Like most, I am not one to call people out on their personal business, but we are all free to think of them as we wish. No worries or apologize needed, being a engineer and I very fact oriented, very black or white not much into shades of grey, hence why I do a poor job with setting the tone of my experience relative to fact. I do enjoy this hobby (it is the only one I have that is relaxing ) and those in it for the right reasons of knowledge growth. If we happen to share common interests that makes it all the better when sitting down over a beer.

I am making my own winders (case) using the DIY Module from Orbita (this is why I did not comment on Cost vs. quality as I do not have anything to compare to except the winding mechanism.) You can also use the Sparta modules from their open face winders and convert to the DYI for $10ea. buy purchasing the "housing" from Orbita. Surprisingly to me, Orbita has been very cooperative in helping me out. Going for this look out but using hard maple with purple heart inlays. I will post pics when I have it completed.

Well if that is the picture I painted in your head I appologize. Really what the hell do you care what I do with my time? Who are you in my life? No one! But obvisously I made enough of a impression for you to make a comment. The only reason I have gotten to know the sales rep so well is because it turned out we have a lot in common. Racing motorcyles, snowboarding, skydiving, etc. Do we not gravitate to those we share common interests with? Hmmmm.......is that why we are all not here? Also, where did I once say "laugh out loud at customers that have gotten their watches confiscated" as you put it? Oh wait I did not, you assumed I did. I could actually careless as it none of my business. All I have done here is share a story, what I have whitnessed. Take it for what it is worth and how you like. Maybe you do need to get out more, because in my short time on this Earth I have seen some pretty dumb [censored]!