JohnG

There are many ebay sellers offering inexpensive watch tools. I don't remember who all I bought what from, don't have time to check, and it doesn't matter - they are all pretty much the same. But you need 1. caseback opener (I use a sticky ball I got from Jackson Tse) 2. tweezers (anti-magnetic) 3. set of watchmaker's screwdrivers 4. hand puller 5. hand setters (some sellers sell them together with puller, some do not) 6. dust blower (little rubber squeeze ball) 7. Rodico (putty for tack-cleaning dial to get dust off) 8. Wire cutter or pliers with wire cutter, to size stem. I think that is it for this project, if anyone else can think of anything else, chime in... Be sure to read up in the tutorials section on how to do this stuff, it isn't hard, but I would have made mistakes if I hand't read tutorials first... As it is, I messed up the keyless works (didn't realize the new movement came with the screw already out, I turned it out more and out fell some parts!). I used information from the forums to fix that and to get the watch together, and to replace the broken crystal. All the info you need is here but you have to invest some time reading....

Here are a few more pics:

I am not aware of a sapphire or plexi domed crystal that will fit Jackson's case, but that doesn't mean there aren't any. But I have read that others won't fit. There are techniques for creating black lume, but it has a mat finish, and I like the black glossy numerals so I will only lume the hands later. The tools I used were (aside from the crystal press), tweezers, screw driver set, hand puller/setting tools, blower thingy (for dust), Rodico (for dust on dial), movement holder, sticky ball caseback remover, and I think that is about it for what I did. I have bought more tools but I think that is what I used for this job. You can get tools on eBay for cheap. I bought all mine from Hong Kong sellers - you can get a whole set of tools for about $30, but you will have to get a few extra things (such as tools for removing/setting hands)... Good luck!

Can you believe that case costs $30 shipped from Jackson Tse!!!??? Unreal. The only disappointment is that he doesn't sell a sapphire crystal for it and I have heard that the sapphire from other mini Fiddy cases doesn't fit. But at $10 shipped for a replacement crystal I am not going to sweat it...

A couple of months ago after buying a couple of watches from Getatwatch Co., I decided I wanted to finally try to do a custom watch, a Panerai homage, something not too complicated but that would be unique. One of the huge attractions of homage watches is that one may create designs that the gen manufacturers never produced; in essence sterile "fantasy" watches. The Pam homages lend themselves especially to this because they are rather simple to work on and parts are very easy to acquire. GetatWatch recently started producing a sterile "stealth" dial with glossy black numerals that contract very subtly with the mat black dial, at time visible, at times not, depending on the angle of illumination. I bought a PVD Radiomir homage (reviewed here: ) from Getat with this dial and I immediately saw the potential that this dial would have in other cases. I subsequently purchased another Radiomir homage, polished SS, also with the same dial. Again, the watch was simply stunning. About this time I placed the orders for parts that would become my new, one of kind, mini Fiddy homage, as follows: 44mm Mini Fiddy case set with sterile case back - Jackson Tse. PVD Asian 6497 - GetatWatch "Stealth" dial, all black - Getatwatch Handset, silver - Getatwatch Black Poseidon Strap, white stiching - Heroic 18 (purchased from RepGeek member Eddiemonster) Polished SS Pre-V buckle - Strap Culture (purchased from RWG.cc member Siesta181). I had no sooner got the pieces together then the crystal exploded on the watch in the middle of the night. I had to order another from Jackson Tse, along with a crystal press from an eBay seller, and another two weeks went by.... but this week finally the crystal and press arrived and finally the watch is on my wrist.... Enough talk, here are some pics - of the first watch I have ever assembled: Ohhh SH!T!!! No dies big enough for the 44mm case, had to get creative with the movement holder... Took the opportunity to swap from gold (my original choice) to silver hands - with the black Heroic strap monochrome looks better... PVD movement from GetatWatch.... So there it is, my one of a kind sterile stealth dial mini Fiddy homage...

What does the tracking say? Has it been returned to sender yet or not? It is not the sellers problem by the way, why should he return your money?

If you use your CC you should be pretty well protected but if the seller is not reputable, why risk it? It is still a lot of hassle and there are a LOT of scammers on the Bay. The closing price usually does a good job of reflecting the risk - savy buyers and the risk averse stay away, the price is lower, but the risk it higher. So the prices are not really "good" - they are what they SHOULD be given the level of uncertainty associated with the sale. As they say, "you can't beat the market"

This would look nice with a sterile sandwich dial modded with subdials....

I am pretty sure the exploding cyrstal problem was with mineral not sapphire crystals - that is my recollection anyway from my reading. I could be wrong though. +1 On Jackson Tse - I got a mini-Fiddy case from him for $35 shipped, am going to make a sterile homage with it (with dial/movement from other seller). He is fast, cheap, and courteous. Almost everyone seems VERY happy with the quality given the price.... my mini Fiddy case is very very nice.

http://www.panatime.com/prevbuckles.html

+1 On Josh's and Andrew's sites "synthetic sapphire" is a code word for minteral crystal. If it says "sapphire" - then it IS synthetic sapphire (because there are no natural sapphire watch crystals), as stated by jfreeman. Like when they say "Asian ETA" they mean 21j, NOT the Asian ETA clone. They LOVE to create false impressions. "Light AR"? WTF is THAT? Turns out, no AR at all! I only buy from dealers who say what they mean and mean what they say.

eBay seller Cust_Watch and GetatWatch Co. are the same entity.

You already got the site, but here are the prices he sent me, anything not on here, just email him (address is on site).

Thanks, I didn't know that!

Yes, mineral crystal, if it were sapphire I would feel like I owe him a sex-favor or something... And yes, the CG came like that - I am going to look up a tutorial on how to flatten/polish pin, but I have definitely seen worse on $300 watches... I am glad to see that my initial positive impression wasn't wrong. And as is often said, it looks better in real life - my camera is pretty old, did the best I know how, but "pics don't do justice."

Just got this case set from Jackson Tse for a mini-Fiddy sterile stealth dial project, I am not a Pam guy, need opinions on the case. At $35 I am very happy, looks pretty good to me, but just curious what problems it might have. Since it will be a homage, I am not worried about small details that might be off, but still like to know regardless. Sorry for the shots, best I could get with a crappy old 2mp camera... (white balance whacked out on the last few, but doesn't matter for purpose of viewing case):

Fine with sport coat/slacks. Suit? Depends, but generally no.

Amen, I don't belong at the A-list parties, that's what they told me. Shouldn't even have posted this thread, it sure [censored] someone off... jeesh.

Last year I gave out an url to a dealer (not forum approved) and got a nasty warning from a mod.

old article, been posted before.

Many of the big dealers can't be bothered, but the smaller ones will usually source parts such as crystals. I couldn't get ONE trusted dealer to sell me a Breitling Ocean Racer deployant without the rubber (for a custom strap project), but got one fine from a non-forum dealer (for $35). Thing is, you mention their name and you risk getting in trouble. Just email all the dealers, someone will be able to help.

Sexeh Seikos!!!! Lots of people turn their nose up and don't even see the irony of doing that on a forum about FAKE WATCHES.

You got jokes man!

Yeah, ask the mods what they think of that idea!!!

Recently I discovered homages when I made a couple of purchases at Getatwatch Co. (see my thread here: http://www.rwg.cc/members/index.php?showtopic=100795&hl=. The price, relative to the quality, was FAR below that of reps. And suddenly I discovered true freedom from the chains of reps: no more obsessing over silly little tells you can only see when blown up twenty times on a large monitor, no more "what clever thing do I say if I get called out?", no more fretting over customs seizures.... not to mention ARTISTIC freedom. Anyone who doesn't know what I mean should look at Flavor Flav's creations - rep cases used as the basis for something NEW and UNIQUE. I discovered "dial sterility" too - the simple elegance of an uncorrupted surface, free of advertising for an already obscenely rich manufacturer... I don't wear shoes stamped "Johnston & Murphey" on the top of the toe, why should I be forced to promote a product I am TRYING to rip off????!!! No, I decided, reps, where ever possible must be superceded by homages. Freedom, clarity, simplicity, economy, they have it ALL. Sometimes I will forced to buy a rep (no Ingy homage yet), but the range of possibilities with those homages already extant is wide indeed. As I discovered over the past week as FOUR packages arrived on my door step... Behold.... 1. 2. 3. 4.