Pugwash

Not that I'm aware of: http://www.swatchgroup.com/brands/brands.php

I was under the impression Omega pretty much put all the watches on wrists. I can't see a FM sneaking in.

Unlimited Budget? UN Copernicus.

If you've ever had the pleasure of seeing a gen FA Jones, you'd know never a truer word was spoken.

German-Swiss, which is even more functional than regular German.

Any time, mate.

Lots. Lots and lots. I used Google images to trawl through dozens and dozens of Fliegerchronographs and every single one of them had the same dial as the one from Joyful. In fact, I found the Joyful one last as none of the other pictures were as good. It's a shame, but it's one of those things. The fact that you asked means the chances of anyone ever questioning it are slim to none, and slim just left town. It's classy and timeless enough not to bother me though, although I'm looking for a gen dial, as are a few others I know about.

Yes, but the hands won't fit.

Bork bork bork!

This weekend has seen me sporting my Navitimer and 196, but today, to commemorate the IWC Fliegerchronograph review, I changed into this:

Yes, much clearer. I can see the edges faintly if I look, but that's only because I know you did something. If I didn't know beforehand, I'd think it was perfect, so think of it as spot-on. I'm on a calibrated LCD and I could see the noise. Maybe it's not so visible on CRTs? I see that here too. Oh, but then I look at what TTK does and am reminded what all that stuff is for.

Of course it was available in SS. It's a GST. Here's my review: http://www.rwg.cc/members/index.php?showtopic=16927 I'm now convinced that when they say Gold, they mean White dial with gold hands as I've never seen a gold-cased GST of any variety.

This review is of the IWC Flieger Chronograph replica currently available. The Flieger line are pilot's watches (Fliegen is German for "To fly", so Fliegerchrono means "Chrono that flies") that IWC has had as part of its history since 1936. This particular model, the 3706, is a 39mm watch that was replaced a few years ago by the 42mm 3717 that's designed to cash in on the popular looks of the Big Pilot, IWC's flagship watch. This simpler design is cleaner than its replacement and appears to have directly inspired several subsequent designs, like Fortis's Flieger design. The replica has got an Asian 28k 7750 movement without any dial-moving mods, so it should be a sight more reliable than those with moved dials. As long as you follow the usual procedures for using a 7750, you should be fine. All the features of the original are present on the replica: it is functionally identical. I got this one off Sash, so I was comfortable in knowing that if it had died in its first week or so (the telling period for Asian 7750s) then it would be dealt with. Check with your dealer on their policy if this worries you. The case is brushed steel and fits in with the grey and black feel of this watch. It's classy in its subdued monochrome look. The case is a different depth to the original, but not enough for it to give it away. Also, the replica is missing the deep AR coating on the gen, but it's not milky on a side view so I suspect it's lightly treated, like most replicas. The crown is a screw-in crown with the familiar IWC fish motif. Both the crown and the pushers are apparently slightly wrong sized, but I think you'd need a gen and a rep side by side to see it. The strap supplied is exactly the same MooCroc as the one supplied with the IWC Portuguese Chrono. It's a 20mm strap with a brushed clasp. It does the job and I don't plan on replacing it just yet. The faults and flaws on this watch are pretty much all on the dial. The numbers on the 12 and 9 subdials should all be horizontal, there are three dots missing in the 12 subdial and the 12 and 6 dials should be ringed in white. Apart from that pile of errors, it's damned close. I think a genuine dial would finish it off to a T. Now, I'm going to do something I don't normally do and that's use someone else's photo without permission. I cropped this photo of the genuine article from one of the magnificent photos from the Joyful Collection website. Click on the photo to see their IWCs in their natural habitat, but be warned it's all in Japanese. You can see the subdials very clearly on that photo and see where they differ from the replica. While there are faults, as with other replicas, I don't think they're enough to turn me off this watch. I would check, though, before you buy one that it has the correct white hands on the subdials as this is apparently a recent fix. Older models have silver hands that are incorrect. Conclusion: Good replica (not perfect, but good enough) of a timeless classic. In closing, I'd like to thank Sashwatch, the supplier of this magnificent timepiece, By-Tor, for not complaining when I ripped off his opening picture style and Ryaku, for pointing out the dial and case differences. Without them, this review would be a lot less interesting. Edit: My German has been corrected by Seadweller 4000. Another one to add to the thanks. His correction is as follows: In german "Flieger" means pilot, while "fliegen" is translated as flying. So a Fliegeruhr does not mean a watch that flies, but a pilot's watch.

Fantastic movement. However, I would recommend a different dealer. Read the dealer reviews and find one you like.

I'd do it because you're just counteracting a side effect of digital photography. The line is simple. As soon as you touched the brightness/contrast setting, you crossed it. There's another line further down the road, but noise-reduction doesn't even get close to it. If you pick up a brush or clone tool, that's a different matter.

So vote for the proper version in the polls. This will happen. I've got loads of new stuff to show off and it's been a while.

The problem is that the newer dials are pretty much universally better, apart from the slide-rule. Which problem is less annoying for you?

See, I like that shot enough to forgive the noise on the dial. Sometimes looking for the faults means you miss the gorgeous photo. "It's like a finger pointing at the moon ... don't look at the finger or you'll miss all that heavenly glory."

I find if a picture is evenly lit, it needs no Photoshop at all and Picasa or iPhoto will be all you need to fine-tune the levels, colours, etc,, and crop it for a computer screen. Photoshop is, however, needed to get around the technical limitations of your equipment, like noise-reduction and dust-cleaning as a well-lit watch can be covered in some well-lit dust. Unless you have a clean-room, this is inevitable. I prefer to use photoshop to make a photo closer to what I actually saw with my eyes instead of what the lens saw.

I take two kinds of photos and one of the kinds is your surgical instruments style. The reason I take some clinical shots is that it shows the rep objectively. For review purposes, it never pays to try to be too clever, which is why my review shots are less interesting than my pure eyecandy. Even then, review shots can be made less boring with angles and composition, but they'll never really be as aesthetically pleasing as the ones taken to be pretty. However, By-Tor manages to get prettier review pictures than me, just to make things annoying.

Only on certain movements, like the 2894 that generates so much torque resetting the chrono that if you put the same hands back on, you get to see the second hand fly all over the place, apparently.

Please read The Rules for this incredible opportunity and then Vote for your favourites! Can you imagine, if this works as well as hoped, we get to have some say in what gets replicated for us. We're no longer mere end-users.

Tis good once more.

If this doesn't help, you may need to tighten the lever by filing down the crown guard ... carefully.

5-7 days usually, but don't forget to factor in xmas.