dovo1695

This watch has served as my beater of choice for the last seven years or so, and it certainly looks like it! Amazingly it still keeps great time, especially since I think all of the Porikka watches just had asian 21j movements. Tragedy struck this weekend however; I checked the time after lunch and noticed that my watch had stopped. I figured the 21j had finally given up the ghost, but then I noticed that the 3 hour marker had popped out and was tangled up with the second hand. I gave it a bit of a shake, the second hand broke free of the 3hr marker, and began ticking away as normal. I should have stopped the movement right there, but I didn't want to stop the movement indefinitely with the spring loaded, and figured I'd just let it wind itself down. Unfortunately, at some point before the movement wound down, the 3hr marker got tangled up with the second hand again and the 2hr marker popped up as well. It seems a bit silly to invest a lot of time and/or money in fixing this thing given it's age and condition, but I won't say I'm not tempted. Realistically though, I think it's time for me to start looking for a new beater... Desirable but Optional Features for New Beater: Crystal Scratched to the point of Illegibility Paperclip end link pin Missing Pearl Enough desk diving scratches to appear "satin" finished

I've been away from the site for quite a while, and this post made me smile. At first I smiled because it's a perennial question that will never go away. Then I smiled because at least two veteran members chimed in with no sarcasm or malice and pointed the new guy in the right direction. This place is just as great as when I last I signed on. That makes me happy!

I'm just glad to see I'm not the only guy who reads zerohedge every day . Some of the articles should come with a tinfoil hat warning, but on balance its the best source of financial/political news on the interwebs IMHO.

This was a wonderful review and a great contribution to the forum. Nice work. Congrats on a lovely pair of watches.

@Cocaratcha: Any update on the "noobfactory" buy? I'm hoping it worked out well for you and you got one of the earliest examples of a new noobfactory rep. It's a long shot, but you never know...

My watch acquisition disorder has been in check for many months; I haven't even logged in to RWG since April. I made the mistake of logging in this morning to see what was new. Big mistake. Now I have to buy this... Small issues aside, this is a stunning rep of one of my favorite watches of all time.

@Mysharona: I love that panda dial version. Where did you come across it? By way of update, the Montblanc in the review above is still keeping great time after 5 years of being my favorite watch. The pearl disappeared sometime last year, but other than that it's in great shape!

You learn something new every day.

C'mon guy's, it's a bezel cover. After you've swapped a gen bezel into your TCv6 sub, you slap this little guy on to make sure it stays pristine. I imagine that's one of the high end bezel condoms with the UVA, UVB filtering coatings...hence the $9,500 pricetag. Surely you folks aren't wearing your subs out into the world without protection?

Hard to say. I think you forgot the pics or the link in the post...

Outstanding work. The quality of work produced by vintage watch enthusiasts here never ceases to amaze me.

The question you've posed is a loaded one. Buying a good rep is quite a bit more complicated than just picking a watch model and plunking down a few hundred dollars. The good news is that you've already figured out how not to buy a Sub replica! If you want to learn how to buy an outstanding rep, here is the missing manual. http://www.rwgforum.net/topic/85981-hey-noobor-not-so-noobread-this-now/ It will walk you through how to select a rep, how to select a dealer, how to purchase, and the care and feeding of the rep after you've received it. Best of luck.

@genTLe: Those were some great points. I followed all of the links and learned a few things myself. The preemptive service thread by rolexman wad especially good. @Nightwatch: You may be right. Eighty percent of people, especially guys, don't read directions. Hell, I don't read directions either. I didn't even read Toads guide until last night! That said, there is a better chance that I'll at least read 10 sentences, than there is that I'll read 10 pages!

That looks fantastic! I bet the stock strap hit the bottom of your parts bin at 100mph when that beauty arrived.

It's never been easier to buy an amazing Rep out-of-the-box with just a browser and a PayPal account. The bad news is that it attracts a whole slew of Noobs who pop on the forum, ask "who has the best sub", purchase a rep from a trusted dealer like it was Amazon.com (no qc pics), flame the dealer when the date font is wrong, file a Paypal dispute, get the dealers PayPal account shut down, and leave the rest of us holding the bag. It's always been thus to some extent, but it seems worse now than before. I recently saw a post where a new member bought a dive watch rep from a trusted dealer, went swimming with it, was annoyed to find it wasn't waterproof, and was planning to bring it to Rolex Authorized Dealer for repair! That's an avoidable problem to be sure. Toadtorrent's pinned post "Hey Noob...or not so Noob...Read this Now!" is a fantastic primer on rep watch collecting basics and covers most of the frequently asked questions, but it's clear that many folks don't read it. The basic problem I think is that people get really excited when they find out that incredibly high quality rep watches can be purchased out of the box and they just want to buy "the best XYZ" and move on. They're just not going to read 10 pages of instructions. I was thinking about how best to address the issue and I started thinking about the 10 commandments. I'm not a religious person, nor do I want to discuss religion, but I think there is something to be said for distilling a 1000 page book into 10 basic rules. Everybody has time to read 10 basic rules! I thought it might be interesting to develop a list of just 10 simple rules that any noob can read, and avoid 80% of the problems that Noobs experience (or cause!). I'm still a Noob myself, and I'm far from qualified to create such a list but I thought I'd take a first stab at it. Here's my take on the Replica Watch Collecting 10 Commandments (actually, I have 11 that's I'm trying to pare down). What's missing? What are your Rep 10 Commandments? Never ask who has the best "Submariner, Planet Ocean, *ANYTHING*". If you have to ask, you haven't done enough research. Do not post a thread until you've read "http://www.rwgforum.net/forum/163-introductionrulessupport/ Do not post a question thread without first using the search function. Purchase watches from trusted dealers or accept the risks. Understand that buying a replica watch, even from trusted dealers, is not like buying a watch from Amazon. Understand how and why this true. Get quality control pictures and ask questions before buying a watch, not afterwards. Never file a PayPal dispute without first exhausting every conceivable alternative remedy. Understand why that's imperative. Don't assume that your dive watch rep is waterproof, or that the automatic movement doesn't need servicing out-of-the-box. Never wear your replica watch into an Authentic Dealer, or try to have it repaired by someone who isn't replica-friendly. Never use a member's real name on the forum without written consent. Keep your posts, avatars, and other contributions PG rated. The goal is to find the 10 basic rules that cover 80% of the problems Noobs experience or create. What are yours?

Thanks for the follow up Smab. Great tip on avoiding the A2836 version. Those worthless clone of the clone movements are showing up more and more. I'd rather get the watch with an empty case and a little plastic baggy with crown/hands/datewheel than a COA2836. I'm really puzzled as to why these haven't been talked about more. You're the only person I've heard from that even has it. How does the updated version with the corrected pearl stack up against the 42mm LMPO "super-rep" that everyone loves. It's odd that the 42mm LMPO wins rep of the year at RWI and the 45mm LMPO Ti get's nary a peep. What are the odds you'd be willing to post some pics and a short review?

She's a beauty! Knowing a new watch is coming home is a great feeling.

Even in the US, if you left it with the Rolex AD for repair for a few days, you're probably not getting it back. I agree that there is only an infinitesimal chance that anyone in the US would get a knock on their door over a rep watch. Not everyone lives in the US. If you did it in Switzerland, who knows. They seem to have very little sense of humor about that sort of thing. In any case I was talking about worst case scenario, even if it is a 5 sigma tail risk. Those handful of ordinary college students a decade ago probably didn't think they'd wind up with criminal records for downloading pirated mp3's but they got prosecuted just the same. When an industry wants to make an example of someone, they don't have much trouble doing so. It's a one in a million risk, but why take the chance? Again, it's tremendously unlikely anyone will get a knock on the door for bringing a rep for service to a AD. It's a really bad idea just the same. I'll leave it at that.

Sorry to hear that you were broken into; the loss of the watch given by your father is terrible. At least no one was hurt in the process. I'd actually suggest that you go the other way with it. It's a good idea to have a safe that's easy to find, and preferably easy to open. Put a few hundred dollars in there ($20 bills), some fake personal documents, and a few of your worst rolex reps. Put it right on the nightstand with the key still in it. When they open it up, they'll think they hit the motherlode and move on. The valuable stuff like your gens, and the watch your father gave you, etc should be stored much more securely. Or you could use the strategy that I use: be too poor to be worth robbing!

The pics are even more incredible given the limited kit. Hard to believe you got those shots with an Iphone and $50 clip on macro lens. I can't help but think how awesome that olloclip would be for rep vs gen reviews. Great pics!

It's considered taboo to even wear a rep watch into an authentic dealer. Even the most talented, veteran members here with $2,000 reps constructed piece by piece using primarily gen parts do not wear their reps into authentic dealers. It's rule #1. Them destroying the watch was not the bad case scenario, it was the good case scenario. You almost brought a rep into an Rolex AD to have it worked on! When you did, you probably would have given them your home address and a phone number where to reach you. A security camera would have recorded you bring the watch into the dealer. A good scenario would have ended with them destroying your watch. Depending on where you live, a bad scenario would have ended with a knock on your door from customs and immigration officials who had records of a shipment being made to your house from China shortly before you brought the watch to the Rolex dealer (who are the sort of people to call customs officials to report illegal merchandise). They might have had questions as to why you illegally, and knowingly imported an illegal, counterfeit watch into the country. I'm not saying that this happens often, but I've read some horror stories over the years. And to be honest, I've never heard of anyone actually bringing a rep into an AD to have work done! The story could have had a much worse ending to be sure. I'm not saying all of this to make you feel bad, I'm saying this because there are a lot of new members who need to hear your experience, and how close you came to a big mistake. Everyone here was once a newbie to the rep world, and all of us have made mistakes when we first got started. I've destroyed my share of watches through boneheaded mods and clumsy fingers. The best thing you can do is read some of those pinned articles in the general discussion forum. Here is a link that isn't pinned, but is the best guide to new members I've ever read. The section on water-proofing and waterproof testing is at the bottom: http://www.rwgforum.net/topic/85981-hey-noobor-not-so-noobread-this-now/

@ cc33 Holy macros! Those are some of the best macro shots I've ever seen posted here. Simply incredible. I only wish such a setup was possible for all the watch reviews that are posted here at RWG! Great pics and a lovely watch. Also, can you post a link to the dealer where you got the spider. Does it have noob legs or did you mod them with an aftermarket legset from Yumi?

Too bad. I'm sorry this happened to you. As a general rule it's a good idea to keep reps dry. The super-rep designation has more to do with dial fonts and crownguards than it does to depth ratings! That said, most of the high end reps can be waterproofed to at least 5atm. Some have been tested to 20atm or more. If you want to get a rep wet, and it's a valuable rep like the dssd that you bought, you need to get it waterproofed and tested. Some dealers pressure test before sending it to you and take qc pics of it being pressure tested (PT does this for example). Keep in mind that even on the $10,000 gen, the only thing standing between a dry watch and ruined watch is a $0.01 o-ring and a caseback that's been properly tightened. In short, this wasn't a watch failure, or a dealer failure, this was user error. It's a mistake that many people make. It's too bad it happened to such an expensive rep. I strongly suggest that you go back and read "edges guide to replica forums" and a few other of the pinned posts before you contact a rep friendly watchmaker to service and watetproof your watch. If you had brought it to the AD for servicing, they most likely had seized it and destroyed it!

That was one heck of a WIS ride and a great end point to boot. That MM300 in particular is fantastic; I like them more every time I see one. For my part, I've really enjoyed reading your posts, and I know I'm not alone in saying that there's always room for you in this forum. Congrats on a great journey and some lovely timepieces!

That bronzo is growing on me by the day. The first time saw one, I thought "why would someone make a watch out of a spent shell casing"? Now I can't stop looking at them! The bronzo is a bit like a bulldog in that way. The first time you see a bull-dog you think, "well that's a curious genetic dead-end". But after a couple of weeks, you find yourself buying them steak at the grocery store and letting them ride shotgun in your otherwise immaculate car. It's curious charisma, but irresistible nevertheless. Fantastic watch. I wouldn't be able to take it off either!