Katerchen

Ok guys... here are "the news": Talked to him today, saying he is not able to source/order parts at the moment - he said the parts have become VERY restricted from AP and VC or Patek. No Problem for him to source parts if i can forward him a gen watch for service or overhaul - what he cant do on his own, he gives away to his watchsmith. He said the "service-points" of the swiss factories are wanting to make the profit on their own... a service for AP or other high-grade swiss calibers is offered with 300-400 Euros by him (& his watchsmith fellows) maybe refreshing the bracelet/case also included! A brand as AP offers the same deal at minimum 1000,- € upwards!! I know he aint lying about this because i saw "the bill" of the previous owner of my AP 14802ST dial from AP and it was an amount of 1.200,- € entirely!! For what work done: Replacing the dial with a new one - exchanging the hands - (NO movement service!) maybe a little bit of bracelet/case cleaning but NOT explicit mentioned that they did something like refurbishing the watch - this mustve been about 2000,- € then He said that at the moment he asked but he is not able to order these parts "out of the blue" from AP, VC or Patek he works together with... Also sad is that it might "stay" like this forever - nobody knows if these and other brands will loosen their restrictions/rules they just enforced shortly about works that can be/must be done trough "service-points". He knows a number (and so do i) of ADs located for decades in the area Frankfurt/Rhein-Main - Germany - that once where able to do good and also often service-works on your watch at a "reduced price" compared to what would have been paid if the watch would be shipped to the "service-point" of the makers... these service points are located in germany and of course also in suisse. From what ive heard, some works are NOT allowed to be done even by skilled watchsmiths and employees of the brands in germany but the watch HAS to be shipped to suisse!! The brands force the watchsmiths to partake and spend some vast $$$ on expensive workshops offered by the swiss makers - and if you didnt run through these "advanced training" they withdraw you the permission to work on their models... no matter if you did before and have ability etc. you have to "buy" these workshops and partake... thats the opposite of outsourcing! What he is willing to do is to part with majority of his AP dials - mainly or most there are AP ROO dials (NOS and dials from models still in production) and tachy-scales for ROO - he might have some other AP dials too - at the moment i convinced him to offer me some of his AP ROO dials. Feel free to drop me a line if interested. He said NO second chance on a set of AP ROO hands too which i bought for Watchmeister/ex. Kruzer... lucky you! Anyway i will stay in touch with him and arrange a second date to stay in touch. Sorry - was disappointed too - thats life!! Regards! George

hmm... now that you mention it... i see... you are RIGHT!! Spot couldve been 100% "perfect" if anything is left as is with only exception the watch to be a PATEK lol George

LOL yes... you mean the CAR or the REP?? wait... maybe the car is a kit-car rep too

@aanival follow this thread ---> i will post prices ASAP!! havent heard something "new" from paul/rolexfinder till today - he said he is in contact with some guys in asia with "capability" of cloning a gen dial. Have no references/pics from his source though... Only thing i can do is "open a door" for a few members to order gen parts. Anyway youll have to "walk trough that door by choice"... I dont mind if you are going to buy as a "single" person or if maybe few people stick together to order a part as "group buy", maybe to replicate something. I guess more talk is to early - i have to know prices too! George

@J... and Ubi forgot to add: Id say... thats "TRUE LOVE at the lathe"

GREAT work done here... Hope "the lady" appreciates your efforts as well George

@ronin id say advertising at its BEST!! Nice spot... George

GLAD everything turned out fine for you Apex!! :thumbsupsmileyanim: you LUCKY "schlemiel"!! George btw will you post some pics?

Sweet! And indeed an improvement to the rep dial... what paint was used? George

@Gunnar lol So... useless to ask if you have a beautiful moustache either Ahhhh... no real men around here anymore Did i already mention that the armament of the original and genuine greek elite spartans used to be just a M O U S T A C H E with the rest of their hair completely shaved?? George P.S. my father (god bless him) used to have a wonderful moustache too... best thing around for shaving parmesan whilst eating

Just to follow you better: ---> WHO is "swift1688"?? i suggest thats NOT Gullivers Travels from Swift because that was BEFORE 1726... ---> You are not trying to indicate that PT has something to do with implementing the "PP button" on WatchPolos site?? ---> at least something i understood from your comment George

:blink: HOLY CRA_P!!! George

WHERE did you got THAT from?? Thats a shot from MY BELLY i uploaded into MY PHOTOBUCKET account!! Seems like you highjacked my pass... BTW where there NO MEMBERS here with MUSTACHE?? George

LOL Funny how this thread "evolved"... No, i guess we are not going to get something like a "streetfighting-thread" here what started as a thread about tattoos and maybe "mental attitudes"... BTW i LOVE real men with MUSTACHE couldve added also some stories ive experienced though but this would definitely "blast the frame" of the small thread we have here... My Mom always used to have "the right saying" for every situation that can come up in life - almost all sayings where of greek-origin: "You can be a real d_ick in life, but no d_ick is harder than life!" Cheers @all geia mas! George

Nice, what happened to the second pic?? George

Damn... thats N I C E !! But couldnt this be "at the bottom of your back" lol No, Dani... only thing that is wrong with it is that i am now afraid of YOU!! Cheers and live strong with it! George

@drlong You mean the shot from the bay? I dont know how much a new one will be yet... Follow the sales thread btw George

Be patient VC-lovers... i am working on making it possible to order some "brand new" ones at least for a few of you! Just cant ring my contact up everyday to annoy him George

Dear Apex - maybe you just took my "comment" which is just my 2cents the wrong way? I never check before replying exactly "how old" someone is (see for ex. profile of member) because in this case of fraud, it makes no difference to me... anyway i didnt want to offend you, maybe you still think this was my aim - but its rather good to tell things as what they are, than beeing too diplomatic about a situation where someone unexperienced with rep-purchases easily can loose $$$ a second time... You will surely accede to the fact, that there are legions in between beeing a naive person (which i now doubt for you) and just acting/thinkink too naive in a situation that took place? Anyway this is no thread to "bash" someone who lost 500USD... And as far as experience might take you trough this "jungle" - its definitely NOT IT based that will help you most of the times preventing such things. Although its good to know about these things too If my comment somehow will "keep you away" from things like that a second time, its fine for me whatever you might think about me as a person... People here and on other boards that know me and to which i had business throughout the years know WHO IS thrustworthy my friend Calm down friend - cheers! George

Yes W..., lets see which "rep-version" we will make happy with this baby...

Hi Gang! Beeing asked shortly "what i am up to?" i choosed to finally upload some pictures of one of the most beautiful and breathtaking GEN dials i ever handled... And yes, you might be able to make an educated guess of "what" i am up to do next time Dial was scored a month ago from the bay - couldnt let that thing go for that price - hopefully i will hear soon what the price for one of these babies fresh from the factory is! OK guys - i know this is real TORTURE for you (but you deserve it), pictures CANT DO justice to the eyecatching beauty of this beast - even my non-WIS GF was jealous about this one... kick it: Whats inside? ...getting a little closer... ...open up baby ....closer ...even MORE closer Thanxs for "watch"ing!! George

@cougaree Nice try summing "watchconomy" thoughts up in some kind of "guideline"... Have to admit that most of the points where very familiar thoughts of myself when buying/planing rep/gen items!! Nice one! And btw "knowing what you want" is something that will get yourself VERY close to your goals in life everytime Cheers George

CONGRATS @goin seems like you have this "goin" good Am not so much into ROOs but the i really like the look of this combo with grey dial... This watch has the guts getting a "classic" as the black themes!! Beautiful chrono! Love it George

Yeah - listen to Watchmeister he has been "there". BTW hello friend George

@dutchman VERY GOOD, friend!! Thats why we are a community here!! @offshore couldnt have said it better... "experience" George