the osteopath

For the record, the genuine Panerai deployant buckle is crap as well- no matter how it adjusted it slits your wrist. I change straps pretty much weekly, and all of them use screw in type buckles for this very reason. My first post in a long, long time... -O

And a few more yes's for good measure. Even if you were a McCain supporter- and he has done some pretty impressive things in his career no doubt, he chose that 'thing' as his runnning mate, and make no bones about it- that woman is Crazy with a capital 'C'. Even if the U.S. is too bigoted to recognize who the better candidate is, at least of the rest of the world is behind the right guy. The rest of the world was right about Bush- maybe this time Americans will actually pay attention. Nervous though- as Stig Andersen once said- People are not as stupid as you think they are. They are way, way stupider. Fingers crossed, toes too... -O

I just bought a speedmaster professional with moonphase and date (manual wind.) I have to tell you- it has very quickly become one of my favorite watches. It is not a 'fashion watch'- it does not stick out like some of the more flashy designs. It is simple and functional. As such, it will never ever look dated- so in that sense it is a lot like a Submariner, with the added advantage of NOT being a Rolex (I have never liked the image associated with Rolex- it seems to be more of a prestige brand than anything else.) You can get them reasonably priced if you look around, and you will really enjoy your purchase. Best, -O

This part I get- what I don't get is people who should know better perpetuating the nonsense when they know good and well it's wrong. -O

I know enough to see that you defended your comment in the second post, and backpedaled in your third. America has been duped into knee jerk responses to sound bites and disinformation. How many folks get their news from more than one source, if at all? I try to get my info from many sources with many differing backgrounds- most people don't. Many Americans believe that Iraq attacked us on 9/11- why because they repeated it over, and over, and over, and over- the same way people keep planting this 'he's a Muslim' rhetoric. It's astonishing to me that in 2008 that 1) His religious background should matter anyway, and 2) That people are so willing to bite the worm and get hooked on concepts that are simply wrong- with no though of research or consideration. Hope your worm tastes good. -O

That you would even put something that asinine in print is shameful. Let's see- we cannot support Obama because he's a Muslim, and because the leader of his Christian Church hates some wrong minded US policies? Which is it- should we not vote for him because he's a Muslim or because of the Church he belongs to? The smears are embarrassing at this point. Don't diminish the value of your opinions by perpetuating what you know are lies. You can do better. -O

If I recall correctly, the gen does not have AR. As an interesting side note, it turns out that the gen does not have a solid rubber bezel either- it too is rubber coated, as per the AP catalog for 2008. -O

Hey Pho! I have the same coochi coochi photograph (same Charo- different dress!) -O

I have not seen pics of any with a properly centered datewheel. I want one, but this is a deal breaker for me. -O

As with all Apple products, best to wait for second generation. Next version will have a more substantial hard drive (my guess is 320GB), faster processor, and option for more RAM. -O

I have two questions regarding these, as it is the first Rolex I have ever liked: -Are the reps coming with centered datewheels? -How are the bands? Lightweight or nice & solid? Your thoughts would be most appreciated. Thanks. -O

I cannot answer for the support you received, only the service I got- which was top notch in this case, and has been. Sorry you are having problems. -O

Of course I would never defend 'price fixing'- however, it is a fact of life in any business involving merchandise- the manufactures always dictate the highest and lowest prices, and the sellers are always held to a certain level of sales. All of the items we purchase through our associations on this board all come from a very limited number of actual manufacturers, in spite of claims that 'my copy is special because it is lubricated with REAL goat semen-' or other ridiculous claim. As such, if one dealer were to suddenly begin to drastically undersell others, it would hurt the business of the others, ultimately driving some out of the business (and lets face it, we are not an easy lot- anybody heard from Eddie lately??) I have been a customer of Andrews for some time, and have been very happy with the transactions. I accept the price fixing which happens as a natural consequence of the business. In a grey/black market endeavor such as this, that we are offered any level of customer service is a miracle, and if the prices are a little higher- so be it. You can throw them off the board, but there is nothing new about this type of practice, and it will continue whether they are on RWI or not- and still get plenty of business. -O BTW- Andrew fixed my ROO in 5 days without a hitch. Try getting that from an AD.

Did you see their booth at Baselworld? There is a 6-12 month waiting list for most of their current models- not exactly 'yesterday's news' by any standard. -O

If the case front is indeed 1:1 (the back is not as we know due to thickness issues) it should not be an issue. That being said, can you get me one!!!!! -O

GGILF perhaps... -O

Joan Collins????? -O

Why would you get so [censored] that someone suggest there was AR? -O

The new iPhone pretty much addresses all of the speed concerns/shortcomings with 3G and adds real push email. For the new reduced price, it is a home run. If I were a cell phone manufacturer, I'd be scared. My first generation iPhone is almost perfect- the new one is scary close. -O

Gold plated is never ok. Hate a watch with an expiration date... -O

Please note that while I mentioned the reliability of the A7750 movement as an issue, I was speaking more of the actual value of the reps vs used/lower priced gens. I'm not speaking about anything specific- more a feeling I suppose. -O

"Now go get that Big Bang, I can hear it calling your name" Yeah- hear it too. Glad you said so- I thought I was going insane. BTW- I've had one 7750 work flawlessly, and two go funky. I guess you just need to get lucky. I'll keep you posted on the lifespan of the Chopard. -O

Ok, so I began my interest in reps several years ago, and became a regular poster on RWGI (Where many a political thread ended in on-ine bloodshed!!!) In any case, during that time I really began to appreciate the hobby- recognizing flaws, identifying reps that were best out of the box- and I really enjoy the ingenuity everyone here exhibits in an effort to achieve rep 'perfection'. That being said, and I know this has been written about a LOT recently- as the prices for the 'super-reps' continues to creep up, I find myself questioning the value. Now when I say value, I don't mean in monetary worth, I mean in terms of enjoyment bang for your buck. My most recent rep purchase was the Chopard XL GT Chrono LE- and in my opinion, this is one of the best reps I have seen. Needs no mods, and for 99% of the world, will never raise an eyebrow. It cost 400plus. Now for my 400, I got a really nice watch, with a potentially scary movement. I am really enjoying it, but everytime I start and stop the chrono, I flinch a little- wondering if this is the operation that will finally do it in- kind of a yucky feeling to have for something I just dropped 400 bucks on ( I actually use the chronograph for work related stuff.) If I bought a new digital camera for 400, and it had a very high likelihood of failure, it would really bug me, but for some reason I put up with it in reps. A few days ago, I won an auction for an Enzo Mechana dive watch. I've wanted one of these for a while, and the auction had me dropping about 600. The watch came today, and to say I'm impressed with the build quality would be an understatement. Its construction is fantastic, even rivaling my genuine Panerai 024 in some respects- for $600!!!! For only a little more (relatively speaking of course) than the 'super rep.' Now, this realization/feeling will not prevent me from buying reps (I really want a ceramic HBB!), but I was wondering if any of you have the same sort of feelings regarding this, and how do you mentally reconcile buying a fake when you take these little internal notes?? Just thinking, -O

Would any of our local VC overseas experts be able to evaluate the dials there? Maybe some are gen some are not. The El Primero one is kind of specific, but others could be reps? -O

I cannot vouch for all of them, but the Zenith Chronomaster dial I got was perfect. Some look better than others, but if they are original, for some of them, who cares. The final bid on my dial was under 30 bucks!!! I had a beat up black dial and got a clean white guillochet dial- so Im a happy camper. -O