jens

Yes I know, you have all reasons to be proud The genuine SLR is a fantastic car, but this impress me even more.

Sorry, please try now. I couldn's find out what was wrong with the link, however I pasted it one more and now it works from here.

Like this one maybe: whole story here: http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=848531&page=1 Impressive work if you ask me !

Wow, what do you think other people think about you ? Can they see it? Do you worry a lot about it ?

Looking at the Silixwatch web site, a lot of watches carry a socalled 'Asian automatic movement'. Anyone who knows what this is? Are these the movements refferred to as the 'unknown asian movements - stay away' in The Zigmeister's guides? Have anyone of you ever bought some of these cheap watches?

Very well said, I see it exactly the same way - projection. That said, it''s of course true that some people buy reps to show off, but one should realize that for others it's a hobby. The amount of time and energy a lot of people here puts into their watches is at least to me a proof of dedication to a hobby. I simply don't beleive that people who only want to show off will spend that amount of time on something others don't see.

Hmmmmmmmm. Daily wear Daytona, gun...... I won't ask what you do for living.......

Sorry to hear this, but glad that you are ok. The sad thing is that batards like this seems to have better conditions to continue their operations than ever before. Crime against ordinary people seems to be of the lowest priority to follow up in many european countries, and if if they do, the consequences for the bastards are second to none. At the same time, you - as I presume is just an ordinary citicen not doing too much harm to other people - in the very near future may face a pealty of EUR 10.000 for buying a replica watch or other replica items ! Where will it end?

A very good summary, thank's a lot for doing the legwork for us noobs Re. the ETA's and reliabilty - you state that they are extreemly reliable, whilst my impression reading threads on this board is that this is only true after they have been serviced. This due to big variations especially with respect to lubing of the movements when delivered from the factories. I also understand it the way that there are different scources or quality grades of the same type of ETA, but I may have missed something here.... Any comments? PS. This guide should be pinned PS2: Then next step - Who has the best Daytona ?

This is an interresting question, how do the manufacturers decide upon which brands and models they should make? I'm not thinking of popular brands as Rolex, Panerai a.s.o., for whom there supposingly is a certain demand anyway, but for the rest? Any ideas?

double post

Well, arabic car ? The team in question is in fact McLaren Mercedes. McLaren is one of the oldest Formula 1 teams around with 40 years in the game. They are a british team, based in UK, and one of their owners (and engine supplier) is DaimlerChrysler, a german company with some history as well. One of their sposors is the airline company 'Emirates' another one is TAG. So implying that TAG support terrorism is to me a little bit strange. Following the same track one could say that Chrysler, as part of DaimlerChrysler, is supporting terrorism as well .

Yes, I think so too . I need them, the tax man robbed me today jens

Basic question: In which country is Silix located? I just checked the countrylist at my (internet) bank - I can transfer free of charge to a lot of countries, but not China

Do you wire to the dealers here, do many of them accept direct wire transfers ? I think this is the best way to go for the future, at least if you have patience to wait for the transfer to go through.

A sad day, future doesn't look too bright as more and more dealers choose to leave one of the few convenient payment methods for us buyers. That said, I understand it if they experience a lot of hazzle using it, but for me it's a step backwards, and more important even a step away from future purchases. I used WU for the first time recently, and sorry to say, I don't think I will do it again. Apart from the lack of security, the whole process was annoying: I registered at their local website, so far so good. Then to the transaction part. Only name, city and country could be entered into fields, no adress, no zip, no [censored]ing nothing more with respect to adress of the receipient. That makes at least me to wonder. Then to the amount to transfer, at least that should be straightforward. No no my friend. Sending money to country 'a' in currency 'b' ? Not here. I had to convert from USD into my local currency, and from there into the local currency of the receipient. The only thing which was clear all the way was the WU fee of approx 10%. Finally done, ENTER. No, not yet my friend. e-mail from WU in the inbox: 'please call us to complete the transaction, we need additional information in order to approve the transaction'. Called and spendt 20 minutes with a customer support person that didn't know why I was asked to call! Then finally, he approved the transaction and sendt the money. As said, I don't think I will use them for future purchases. Furthermore, they have a quite low sending limit as well, so it limits itself. Seems I have to stick to dealers using PayPal or wire transfer with IBAN/BIC.

Maybe they should have pictured the formula 1 model, or even better the Mercedes SLR concidering their partnership with mcLaren, on the start page? They even have hands....

Kimi's McLaren not in fire ?

I guess this is exactly how it is. Very good .

For the products you mention, your description is not correct. First of all, service manuals for products still within the service period (8 years for TV's, less for cheap products) can be bougt the same way as any other spare part, you simply contact the national org. of the brand or his spare parts distributor. Some suppliers provide paper manuals, others in electronic format on CD ROM (covering a range of products). But the info is in no way guarded. Second: Noone, exept for the PC industry, replaces complete circuit boards because - you said it - it's uneconomical. But the most important factor to why repairs are uneconomical is the price errosion of new products. In the consumer electronics sector, this is as high as 8-20 % per year in average, due to this most consumers prefer to buy a new product (with more features) instead of a repair. Third: I don't think you could make a lot of money (exept for washing machines and the like), almost noone in this business does that. Repairs are, due to technology and production methods, much more complicated than only 5 years ago, and requires huge investments in equipment. The old soldering iron is outdated, just to mount a component now requires infrared solder stations at a cost of USD 5000 (basic and in practice unusable) and up. Only those with very high volumes can make money in this sector nowadays. So, better stick to watches And I now realize that this should be in the OT section jens

Yes, I understand that. My point was that a detailed technical manual might be accurate enough to be used as a reference in many cases. Like most, I don't think a pure rep-spotter guide at workshop level does exixst. According to the Rolex site, 3000 technicians are authorized by them; with that amount of people you cannot keep secrets. On the other hand, is authentication done by the workshops, or do you have to send the watch to the HQ, like you have to for some other brands ? In the HQ, there is for sure plenty of rep. info, maybe compiled into a guide.

I don't know - I'm not that familiar with the the watch business - but, from a general point of view I'm sure that such a reference exists. For watches like for any other technical product. And I don't think it's so mystical (or mythical) as some think it is. Service centres for watches, like any other other product like food processors, cameras, TV's, cars, airplanes a.s.o, need a service / technical manual to be able do perform repairs or service on a product. In these manuals product specifications and tolerances, service, repair and adjustment procedures are described, you find exploded views, parts lists and ordering codes for spares and much more. In short, it's a tool for the workshop to perform all kind of service and/or repairs on a product according to the manufacturer's specifications. And finally - if you are an owner of a product, the manufacturer will (at least in europe) have to have very good reason to refuse to give you the same information if you request it. In practice they won't refuse to give it, but as they determine the price you give up. jens

Congratulations to you V, we don't know each other, anyway I wish you both all the best for the day and the future ! Have fun! jens

Cool down and be happy - this only proves that it's a very good rep - bracelet seems to be a 'problem' with the genuines as well. A lot of complaints about 'squeaky' bracelets (but not screws) on the VC forums, like this one: http://www.network54.com/Forum/125476/message/1144317502/ You know, even in the best families................