tomhorn

Again, ANYONE can already do this, and has been able to for years. I had a woman who pulled up next to me in a car at a stoplight on campus one day and said 'nice car!'. We chatted briefly, not exchanging more than a first name. Two days later she called me. Said she got my name from the DMV via my license plate number and called information for my phone number .... in 1985. Sure, the internet, cheap computing power, open records laws and a huge demand for consumer information has made this easier, but it's being going on for a long time and hasn't been that hard for the common man to get access to personal information.

Someday? That horse has left the stable already. Anyone who thinks they have any resemblence of privacy now is seriously deluded. The only way possible would be if you never hit the grid at all. Never had a job, bank account, credit card, loan, cell phone, internet access, utility or address in your name ... never gone anywhere ... the list goes on. If people truly knew what was stored in databases worldwide about themselves and their activity it would shock them.

the Gen had AR so well done I didn't think there was a crystal ...

I know they can't rep this one because of the movement, but I had an IWC 5101 Portofino 8 Days on my wrist this weekend, and it's my new dress watch grail. http://www.iwc.com/e...rtofino/IW5101/

Had the gen on my wrist in a watch shop in Vegas this weekend. It's a stunning piece IRL ...

Yep. In basic terms, any digitally formatted music (CD's, MP3's etc) at some point has to go through a DAC to transfer the 1's and 0's into something you can hear. In many cases, the DAC is part of the device itself. What the posters here are talking about is two devices. One being the box that spins and reads the CD, and one that does the digital to audio conversion process. The advantages to this are similar to the advantages you get when separating your amp and pre-amp. Isolating the two funtions typically allows for better components to be used in each, and therefore better sound (generally). Of course it can also lead to higher costs (generally). As with anything audio, the best advice is to go to your local high-end audio store and listen. Everyone's ears are different and therefore something that works great for me will be different for you. Without geting too crazy in price, I love the Benchmark, Cambridge Audio and Musical Fidelity DAC products. One other benefit ... if you have multiple digital inputs (for example an iPod or PC) you can hook them all up to the same DAC.

Tops on my list too.

A good service will include disassembly of the movement, thorough clean of all the parts, reassembly with proper oils, and test/regulation. Unfortunately, those assembling movements over in China for our reps are not exactly doing so in a clean room as would be done at ETA. They frequently ship 'dirty' and improperly oiled.

Nearly all of this has been answered in many posts here, but to summarize: 1) Versions v1 (not available 'new' anymore) - IMO the best dial. The dial and hands are lumed properly, but no AR on the crystal. If you are planning to mod your watch, try to find one in the sales section and use it as a base. v2 (also not available 'new' anymore) - IMO avoid this one. Dial is incorrectly lumed. v3 (only one available 'new' at this time) - best 'out of the box' if you aren't planning doing many mods. Dial is lumed properly, and this version has AR on the crystal. 2) go with the Asian 7750 if you are on a budget. 3) Any of the approved dealers here are fine, and they all carry the same watch. 4) never dealt with that site 5) IMO, datewheels are a must, followed by (in order) crystal AR (chief or taka), re-luming the dial/hands, and finally transplanting the A7750 with an ETA. If you want to go crazy, then there are a couple of members that sell gen parts. Here is my journey through modding my 3717 http://www.rwg.cc/to...my-modded-3717/ 6) Vac sometimes sells pre-modded 3717's and Concepta also has shown a few heavily modded (with gen parts). 7) IMO, I would always recommend getting the A7750 serviced once you have decided you are going to keep the watch. Some people will advise to wait a couple of years, but once I know I'm keeping a watch I send to service immediately. Have read too many teardown stories of the lack of quality of the assembly of the Asian movements used in reps.

I think this will be my next phone ... assuming the bootloaders are not locked of course. I am still cruising along with my Samsung Captivate (AT&T's original Galaxy S variant). Have been running custom ROMs on it since the day I bought it. That's one of the great things about Samsung phones, they don't lock things down so you can update ROMs, modems and kernels easily.

BCE on a 6.75" wrist if this helps any ...

I agree. Just wish more people would stand up to the establishment at the ballot box. In the last major election I voted against every incumbent that I could ... didn't matter what their beliefs were ... I did it on the principle of throwing all of them out of office. I also voted for any independent candidate that made the ballot.

I will be the first to admit that I am not all that politically savvy and probably can't have an intelligent debate on the good/evil of the American political system. I will offer up the following observations: 1) to Ronin ... doing a lot of 'things' as President does not make one a good employee, leader, and especially not a President. I have run many companies and departments and cannot count the number of employees that I had to fire that always looked busy or could point to a long string of things they had 'done' while I was firing them for doing the wrong things and/or not really doing anything to benefit the company. There were also those I let go because they took 20 hours to do things that others could get done in 10. Must admit I didn't research your entire list, but there was a lot of fluff in it and a lot of things I certainly didn't consider all that great of an accomplishment. Having said that, you can say the same about every President the US has ever had. They all did good things and bad things ... even the Presidents that history has judged to be incompetent probably did some good things along the way too. 2) I work with an investor group that committed $10 million to me in 2008 to buy a company that had a lot of potential to be turned around. Right before the election when it was clear Obama was going to win, they told me to stop on the purchase because they wanted to see what happened first. They were very concerned what would happen to taxes, and then after 'Obamacare' passed they were even more concerned about what those expenses would look like. This project was small, but would have created about 30 new permanent jobs in a city where unemployment is much higher than the average, and would have employed many temporary construction workers for another six months or so. This project is still on hold three years later, and may never get done. This is just my example, but I have to believe there are thousands more just like it. When the pundents talk about raising taxes on the rich killing job creation, they aren't kidding. It happens. But instability and uncertainty are just as big of factors. Business leaders right now have no clue what crazy idea the Obama administration is going to come up with next, and they are just circling the wagons to wait it out. 3) All US politicians have to head to their respective party's fringe (far left or far right) to create a big enough gap in philosophy vs their opponent to rally enough votes to get elected. The good politicians know that over time they have to come back to the middle, where most Americans really are. Although I am not a huge fan of Clinton's due to whole the lying under oath thing, he was a master at that once he survived the first universal health care debacle and the Dems lost control of Congress. Obama hasn't figured that out yet, and as long as he keeps pushing his quasi-socialist agenda, nothing is going to get done until he's gone. It didn't work when the Dems controlled Congress, and it will only get worse when the Republicans take control of the House during the next election too. 4) to Redwatch ... your friends that are still unemployed being in a specialized field and therefore not finding jobs is absolutely their fault. They chose their line of work, and while they might be trying hard to find jobs 'in their field' there are still jobs to be had everywhere, and they could probably fairly easily find something that would pay them enough money to cover what they get for unemployment. Hate to be brutally harsh on the subject, but I got laid off from a job in 2006, and didn't take another full time job in my 'chosen' field until 2010. Not once did I collect an unemployment check. I picked up odd jobs and did some consulting in my specialized field to pay the bills. And yes, it was tough. I'm a big fan of blue_sphere's plan of 'make work' for those collecting unemployment benefits. Labor is a big component of any infrastructure job, and I know I personally felt better doing any kind of work during my idle time. 5) I believed before his election that regardless of what I thought about his policy, Obama was unqualified to be President. He didn't have enough time in the political arena, and he hadn't actually run anything large enough to prepare him to run the nation. IMO he has done nothing but prove it day after day since he's been in office. What the US really needs in a President right now is someone that understands how to run a large corporation and understands the financial markets and the economy without having to 'staff it out'. Priority one is to get our financial house in order, and that means tough choices, including raising taxes on everyone (not just the rich) and minimizing the size and scope of our government.

Cleaned out the garage finally ... needed to put something back in. 2009 Audi A5 S-line. Forgot just how good a 'driver's car' the Germans make ..

if Rolex is all that would be known/recognized, it's hard to go wrong with a simple DateJust. You could easily find a gen for well less than $5k. Others to consider ... Omega Railmaster or DeVille, Ebel Brasillia, Raymond Weil Tradition, Baume and Mercier Capeland, Maurice Lacroix Grande Date ... the list goes on ...

Know nothing about the seller, but this has a BIN price in your stated range. http://www.ebay.com/itm/ROLEX-DIAL-MENS-DATEJUST-SILVER-16014-16030-16234-/130554565848?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1e65a894d8

Vac did my 3717 ... can't go wrong with him ...

Been in the business pretty much all my working life here in the US. Greatest game there is ...

I own both the Ebel and BCE. The Ebel is far more versatile IMO. Can wear it with just about anything, anywhere. Both are excellent reps. If buying used, just be careful on picking up a BCE that it has the proper datewheel font.

My Accutron chronograph is one of the best buys I have made in that category. Granted it was on sale, but at less than $300 it was a steal.

It would be too small I believe. The Cockpit is a 41mm case IIR.

Mike ... I have no doubt that the newer seconds at six movements are a bit better, but even you are admitting that they still need a proper service to have any hope that they will be a reliable situation long term. In fact G says the following ... "Of course friction is just one small part of the equation. As mentioned above, there is still the matter of getting the gear heights adjusted precisely and taking steps to prevent pivot separation. The newer movement is no different from the old in these areas, and it requires skill and precision to get everything just right." The extra gears are always going to be a problem ... just maybe less so with the new movement. Based on his post count, I would assume nwolf is a relative newcomer to the world of high quality reps. Personally, I think he'd be much better off getting started with a 3717 which has a very reliable and easy to work on standard 7750 movement rather than having to go through the headaches of trying to find someone to properly service a seconds at 6 version. Not that at some point a service would be beneficial to the A7750 too, but there's just less hassle getting it done when the time comes. Also, the 3717 has many easy to do (and relatively inexpensive) mods with many more posts about the process, so it's an ideal watch to get started with if he wants to play around with modding. Of course if money was no object and he really wanted the Porto, then I'd recommend trying to find one of concepta's frankens on the sales board. It really is the best alternative. It's also about 5x the price.

Assuming it's using a 6498 movement, yes. If it's using the modified 7750, then still no. For example, this Porto, would be good. http://www.yourtrustytime.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=30_189&products_id=3939

excellent write-up ... tempted to try it myself just for fun, even though I have the WM9 version ...

Any rep chrono with seconds at 6 is going to be a ticking time-bomb out of the box. It's not an IWC specific thing, it's the movement. There are some things that can be done to help it (like the graphite treatment) but if you truly want a Porto, the only thing to do IMO is get a gen movement from concepta.