MikeC65

I expected this would be resolved. I just ordered two watches from Andrew end of January, and received one of them (DeWitt Academia) 9 days later. The other one is a PAM 177 which I understand is out of stock but I haven't been bothering Andrew about it. I trust him to get it to me when it becomes available again.

My watch shipped on January 28th via EMS from China and arrived on February 4th. No problems there.

What's "regular" sapphire? How is that done?

It's been down for two days now.

Of course it's light, it's made of titanium.

I too have a rose gold HBB which is over a year old and the rose gold plating looks just fine. However, I am very careful with this watch, as I am concerned that one accidental scratch and it's history.

I'm going to get one as soon as the big pile of cash I am expecting in the next few weeks comes in. Along with a few other watches I've been waiting for.

My grandparents used to live right across the bridge in Bay Harbor Islands, so I was within walking distance of Bal Harbour when visiting them. That was before I was into watches, however. As for Aventura, well, I haven't really fancied the place ever since a giant rat ran out from under the bushes by the mall entrance when I was walking out to my car one day.

They are the same watch.

I have a gen BCE and also a rep BCE, and the dial on the rep is not 1:1 if by "1:1" you mean perfectly duplicated. It's close, but not identical. On the gen dial, the ticks around the 15 minute marks (1 minute, 14 minutes, 16 minutes, 29 minutes, 31 minutes, 44 minutes, 46 minutes, 59 minutes) are shorter than the other ticks. On the rep, they are all the same length. This is easy to spot and an instant tell if you know to look for it. Also, the numbers on the subdials are too fat on the rep. In fact, all the print on the dial is finer on the gen than on the rep. The rep looks good by itself, but next to the gen it's quite obvious that the dial is better quality on the gen. I know I'm being nit-picky, and it is indeed a very good rep, but the idea that you can't tell the difference is just not true.

It's not a $300 price difference. Not even close. None of these watches have the ceramic bezel of the $700+ rep HBB's. The 'regular' HBB on Andrew's site with steel bezel, 28.8 bph Asian 7750, and double AR is $428.00. Angus's 'economy' version of the same watch with steel bezel, 21.6 bph old Asian 7750, and no AR is $268.00. That's a difference of $160.00. Andrew's price on the 'regular' HBB with rose gold bezel is $448. Angus's 'economy' version is $288, again, a difference of $160.00. For $160.00, yes, I'd rather have the better movement and the AR. And there is no 'economy' ceramic bezel version.

JCB (prez of Hublot) said this recently in the Hublot forums on TZ. He said that the ceramic bezels are made in Japan by Kyocera. Although, come to think of it, I'll have to find that post again. I definitely remember him saying the bezels were not Swiss-made because ceramic bezels cannot be sourced in Switzerland, and thus Hublot gets them from Kyocera, a Japanese company. But I don't recall him saying the bezels are actually MADE in Japan. Perhaps Kyocera makes their parts in China for Hublot? Who knows.

(1) Gai yang noy and Khao nieow duai ... and the tea with sugar isn't there either. (2) not enough chicken?

Does PayPal charge any kind of extra conversion fees for paying in Euros rather than dollars from a U.S. account?

I will be wearing THIS:

Just remember, when you come back, you run the risk of having your reps seized by customs. Unlikely, but possible.

The above quote is exactly correct. Note that he was fined pursuant to 19 USC 1526(f). I ran a quick google search and found the following on a customs website: Penalties for Violators: 19 USC 1526(f) Defined * Civil penalties o Any person who directs, assists financially or otherwise, or aids and abets the importation of merchandise for sale or public distribution that is seized under subsection (e) of this section shall be subject to a civil fine. Note that you can only be fined if you are bringing in the merchandise FOR SALE OR PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION. He brought in 8 fake watches intending to distribute them to friends, if I recall correctly. I think it's questionable whether this constitutes "public" distribution, but in any case, if you bring in the merchandise for your own use, the statute does not appear to subject you to liability for a civil penalty.

Here's the whole set, on my new eBay watchwinder... OK, now here's the thing... three of these ten watches are gens. Which ones? Of course, if you've seen my previous posts, you'll know!

Still wearing my gen (woohoo!) BCE... boy, I sure hope that AD salesman wins some more watches from Breitling for meeting sales goals, so he can sell them to me! However, since it hasn't been off my wrist in a week, I think I'll give it a rest Saturday and wear my RG HBB... Why, oh why does the ceramic bezel HBB have to cost so much? I am lusting after one, but I refuse to spend $600 on an Asian 7750 watch. Just not taking the chance of it turning into a very expensive paperweight. On the other hand, knock on wood, my RG HBB has worked perfectly since day one.

Well, I got it!! Here are a few wrist shots: So, now that I have a gen to compare the "Ultimate BCE" rep to, here are my brief observations: Even to my non-expert eye, when you put the gen next to the "Ultimate BCE", you can instantly see which is which. Aside from the major tell of the date font, which is very very obvious, overall the printing on the dial is much finer on the real thing. All the lines and characters all over the dial are much thinner and sharper. In general the rep just looks, well, cruder. Also the case engraving on the gen is far better. Some other flaws I noticed are that the rep didn't quite get the shape of the crown right, the spacing on the engraving on the back of the watch doesn't quite match the gen, and the position of the model number and serial number engraved on the caseback is wrong. Having said all that, however, I must say how impressed I am with the rep. The differences are certainly subtle. The rep doesn't look in any way crude by itself, it looks great -- until you put it next to the real thing. Without having it side by side with a gen, you really aren't going to notice anything wrong -- except for that date font! I don't know why it seems to be so hard to get that right, it sticks out like crazy. Yeah, the gen looks far better, but when you're comparing a $4,000 watch to a $300 watch, it isn't that the gen looks better, it's that the rep is so close. Anyone thinking of getting one, go for it -- you won't be disappointed. Still, though, nothing matches the look of the real thing! Now that I have a gen and I can see how close the rep is, I think I'm going to pull the trigger on a TT BCE rep. I love the look of those, and I'm not getting a gen, that's for sure!!

This is really sad. I agree, from the picture it is definitely a rep. The misalignment of the "10" and the "20" is a tell for sure, plus the date font looks exactly like my rep. Someone seriously ripped this poor guy off. I think he should be told, if it can be done anonymously. He needs to get his money back from whomever sold him the rep. I love reps, but not when they are misrepresented as gens in a sale. That is just wrong.

yes, a close relative of mine asked me for that specific watch (although not in pink, I think.). If there was a rep of it, I'd buy it.

I have the rosegold version and have had no problems with it at all. In fact I have it on right now. I really do think it's worth the money. This is not a simple watch design. Compared to other watches the case is more complicated and has more parts. And it's a really good looking replica and very accurate. Why shouldn't it cost more? It obviously cost more to rep it and manufacture it. I don't think the price is out of line for what you get. I really like mine.

OK, I went for it! Paid him a deposit to hold it for me so I can come up with the rest of the $$. I will post some pics alongside my rep BCE when I get it.