JohnG

Well, not like you have much of a choice, do you?

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God forbid. http://www.replica-watches-guide.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=23904

Yep, nonsense. There are several dealers offering new ETAs whose movements have been verified by more members than I could even begin to count. There are still lots of new ETAs out there - they are not rare, I could buy a hundred today from Ofrei, thousands from a wholesaler.

Well there's a load of nonsense.

Yes, I got the white one, knowing it was a fantasy because of the white dial, but thinking it was 51mm (it is smaller but I thought it was a misprint). So when I found out, several people at RWG1.1 were already looking for the 51mm version, like the gen, and Mary (watchinternational) found it, bought ten, and I ordered one right away. Should be here in a few days, when it arrives I will post pics...

Super sexy, this is the just-releaseed 44mm (someone measured it in another thread and said it is actually 47mm) reworked Carlos Coste quartz ProDiver fantasy with white dial. This one came from Silix. I love this watch, although I have to keep it hidden when the gf is around. Actually, I don't have to keep it hidden, I just have to ignore it, if I pay too much attention she will know it is a new watch and will be [censored]. I need to sell something, then I can "receive" the watch and show it off. Anyway, the bracelet feels a little clinky but as far as I can tell the links are solid, and I think it is a relative thing; the watch is SO heavy that the bracelet seems like it should be a little heavier than it is... The finish is nice, the bezel insert is engraved, though the screws are fake and glued to the insert. The pushers are nice and fat, the dial is simply gorgeous.... This is one Oris SHOULD make. Anyway, I ordered the correct 51mm black dial ProDiver, ss bracelet, that will be here within a week or less, will post up some pics of that one later. here are the pics: Pics of the 51mm I ordered from WathcInternational (Mary - a dealer on RWG1.1):

Excellent!!!! All the way around!!! Great watch with an even better history!

Dude I wish you would come back to 1.1, seriously, I have to do all the heavy lifting now, need help keeping the place interesting....

No kidding! 36 grand to listen to, "ow!, ow! it hurts!, no its okay, keep going.... ow, ow, no, keep on going, you paid for this so I will do it, aaaaaaaaahhh, owwwwwwww...." You get the idea.

Thanks, I had a feeling it might be someone else. I hope that wherever he is, he is well.

+1 I have seen him online a couple of times in the past month but he didn't reply to my messages. I never got my last two watches from him but I am more worried about a fellow human being than a couple of cheap fakes. Unlike a LOT of people, I did my research on Neil BEFORE I bought from him, so I knew there was some risk involved. He was clearly neither quick nor responsive as a dealer and he appeared to be somewhat unstable. I bought from him for the simple reason that he was a pivotal figure in this hobby from the beginning and I wanted to "touch the void" so to speak. So when he disappeared I was not upset with him, I got what I wanted - a unique experience. Oh that many others had bothered to spend thirty seconds researching their dealer BEFORE they bought - all the bellyaching really got tiring.

That pic looks familiar. I have read that Jackson's crystal is different than other (cartel) 44mm domed crystals, but I don't know for sure. I will pull a crystal tomorrow (I have THREE Jackson mini Fiddy cases) and measure it and post it here. If they are the same I might be interested, depending on cost. Jackson's replacement crystals are $10 shipped, so no skin off my back if it gets scratched.... But it might be cool to get a sapphire crystal and have it double AR'd - the Chief owes me one from a raffle I won a while ago... Cheers!

Here is a cheap pick-up that just arrived - a sterile Sea-Dweller Deep Sea homage. The watch is very nicely finished, 21j movement, single piece caseback, non-glidelock clasp, polished center links, weak green lume. So this appears to be a sterile version of the early SDDS replica. But for the money, it is a NICE watch. It is possible to get the old reps for about the same money I paid for this ($56 on eBay), but they are full of flaws (listed above) and while I am somewhat picky about tells on reps, sterile homages liberate you from that nonsense - it is not a rep, so technically speaking there can't BE any tells. As long as the watch is nicely made, I am happy. And that it is, heavy, great looking, and I never have to worry about being called out. Long live homages. Anyway, here are the pics (sorry about the crappy pics, the GF has the good camera)... Enjoy!

Yup, you can buy graphite powder, but just rubbing a pencil against a piece of sandpaper works just fine - and its cheaper. You don't need to spend a lot of money on exotic lume powders, graphite added to regular lume is as good as anything out there.

Let me guess, you were a crime scene investigator too. Was that before or after you were a hitman?

Looks great - I love the brushed clasp, looks perfect on the Blackbird, congrats!!!

+1 There is an online site for Seikos (probably more than one) - the one I have been to has a section on identifying fakes, risks on eBay, etc.. and lists Premierworld as a trusted dealer. His feedback should also speak for itself.

Several of our trusted dealers offer boxes and papers. I have also seen them on eBay.

I don't know the lengths. I took my properly sized bracelet off of my SA and laid it out and measured from spring bar to spring bar - it was 16.5cm. I told Bo at Gorilla Straps to make the strap so that it was 16.5cm from spring bar to spring bar with the clasp installed and closed. This seemed the simplest way to order and it came out perfect.

Thanks guys! I am really loving the watch, still needs some work - the lume needs to be aged and a couple of other issues dealt with, but I can hardly wait to start my next project!

A friend of mine had a 44mm PVD luminor case from Getat that had a problem with the crown lever - it wouldn't reach the crown. He said he was going to toss the case so I asked him to give it to me. I put a larger crown on it, modded the lever, and canibalized the dial, hands, and movement from a homage U-boat "Thousands of Feet" with 6497. The Thousands of Feet is 50mm so the dial required extensive modification to fit into the 44mm Luminor case. Then I removed the bezel, stripped PVD from bezel and crown guard, distressed the PVD on the case, banged everything up, then polished and polished and polished. Then lumed dial and hands. Just to be clear, this is a FANTASY watch, Panerai never produced watches for the French Army.... ---------------------------------------------------------------- The "Dien Bien Phu" (DBP) Combat Luminor was produced for the French Army from 1949 to 1954. It was issued to commanders of the armored units of the Groupements Mobiles serving in South-East Asia at the time. The watch receives it's nickname from the role it played during the battle of Dien Bien Phu in March of 1953, where it was famously worn by Squadron Commander Capitaine Yves Hervouet. The Escadron de Marche du 1er RCC was comprised of three platoons of three tanks each, and one headquarters tank commanded by Hervouet himself. Capitan Hervouet was photographed during a late engagement of the battle wearing the Panerai issued to him two years earlier in Tongkin. During the battle the squadron of tanks was subject to intense artillery fire from the Viet Minh. In the photograph (location unknown) he is said to appear in his Amercian M24 Chaffee tank with both arms in plaster casts after having been wounded, still wearing his Army issue Combat Luminor. The pictures below are of the only DBP Combat Luminor still known to exist, currently undergoing light restoration. Though provenance has not been conclusively established, based on engravings on the case back (not pictured) it is possible that this is the very watch worn by Hervouet during his service in the The First Indochina War. Capitan Yves Hervouet, Escadron de Marche du 1er RCC: DBP Combat Luminor As the restoration project progresses, more photographs will be made available. ------------------------------------------------------------