greg_r

There's a possibility you may get charged duty - depends on how the paperwork is marked. You needn't worry about confiscation or that kinda thing, obviously, as the strap is a perfectly legal item. (Mind you, UK customs don't care about reps either unless you're bringing 'em in by the boatload).

Looks superb, Avitt - great job!

Excuse me while I steal that....

The Swedish Chef is far more fun: I'm steell cumeeng tu peeck up zee oold bunger OoS. I ifee heerd a roomer thet oone-a ooff my cleeents ves pluneeng oon peyeeng up su hupeffoolly be-a zeere-a suun tu cullect it und uny oozeer stooffff yuoo vunna sell me-a smeele-a.geeff Ve-a gutta get zee beck ooff zee soob es vell. Cun't veeet tu see-a vhet demege-a a yeer ooff eboose-a hes coosed let elune-a hoo mooch durt cumes oooot in zee vesh. Vell, splesh und deep unyveys. It's beck tu keepeeng perffect teeme-a egeeen effter a cpl ooff veeks ooff luseeeng a helff huoor a dey. Veeerd. Bork Bork Bork!

Respect is due to someone who has the nerve to wear that... Funniest RWG post of the week so far btw - thanks for the laugh!

haha - I always admire an optimist. I'm sure it'll be just fine - reports of iPB3 over on the support forums sound very encouraging - thank you for advance testing it for us :D

Good luck with the move and upgrade - I know only too well how stressful it can be. I'm not particularly looking forward to having to do the iPB 3 upgrade over at RWG1.1 - going to put it off for a few months longer, I think

I'd advise against EMS. Airmail is by far the safest way - it'll take a while (3-4 weeks isn't unusual), but you're far less likely to be caught by Chinese customs.

Malta is a beautiful place - I used to have friends/business contacts who lived over there and visited pretty often at one time. I have several photographs of some of Valletta's Roman ruins hanging on the walls here. Haven't been back in over 20 years though - I must correct that. I see the buses are as ..er.. 'characterful' as ever. Back when I was a regular visitor over there, the roads used to get as slick as ice at certain times of the year due to the constant heating and cooling of the asphalt. The buses new all about the really dodgy spots and didn't strictly drive on the right, or on the left. They drove in the shade! Got a bit hairy at times - especially in a bus dating from WW2 as many of them were in those days. I hope they've improved the road surfaces since!

"reed bending in the wind". Yes, a fitting phrase. Possibly my 'shouting at him' approach was just something that worked uniquely in my situation - the thing was that I didn't/don't do it often, and only when the individual concerned needed to know just how deeply he'd landed himself in it... I'm one of those people who don't really care whether the person concerned is junior or senior to me - if they [censored] me off royally, they get to hear about it. Oddly, I've always gotten away with it My colleague is very much the games player - and I've tried to make those games as dull and unrewarding for him as possible by refusing to play. It's not that I ignore the barbs, I just try to turn them into something that's a whole lot less fun for him. Refusing to be insulted or challenged by his games is a good start. The odd thing that I've discovered is that, despite our frequent clashes, he's basically a good guy at heart. That realisation - and his knowledge that I actually like the guy when he's not playing silly bastards - is I think what turned our working relationship around.

Welcome from leafy Surrey! Always good to have another Brit on board

I work with one of those. I tried getting along with him, but he continued to pull the passive/aggressive [censored] whatever I did to placate him. I eventually got fed up with his games and went on the attack. I just take him out into the car park and shout at him for a bit whenever he steps seriously out of line. On the other hand, when he's doing what he's supposed to be doing and not playing games (with me or others) I back him up all the way. He has gradually learned that messing with me does not make for a good day and he mostly behaves himself - we're even quite friendly these days. It's taken a while, though - the real trick is not to get involved in the games but rise above them... Good luck!

A few RWG1 members (I'm the admin over there) have done business with Tony. Prices are good, but aftersales service isn't up to the standards of our recommended dealers. We were considering adding him to our Trusted Dealers, but in the end his service just wasn't quite up to the levels we expect.

uh no. read my post again. Puretime are fine. era.mall are the ones who look dodgy.

Fake. Reported. Lots of things wrong. Firstly an 005 has a logo dial. Secondly, look at the spacing between '6' and 'L swiss made L'. Thirdly pin in the CG isn't as flush as it should be. This is a gen 005:

You really have been doing your research! Well done! Yes, the dial is flawed - the 'swiss made' spacing as you mention and the font used for the maker's name isn't quite there, but it's pretty close. No, this wasn't from Davidsen - it was one of Ruby's 'Ultimate' 111s - I bought it from her about a year ago. It comes down to the compromise you're willing to make - I love that watch. It's one of the best watches I've ever owned (and that includes various gens) and the minor imperfections aren't enough to bother me. You now have to decide whether they bother you..

PT's shipping depends on whether the watch is in stock and exactly where you are. If unsure, suggest you ask him, but he tends to be pretty fast if you're in the UK. era.mall do not fit into the picture at all. Just another one of the thousands of iffy rep sites out there. Rolex pics are of gens - couldn't be bothered to look further. Chances are you'll get high-priced canal street junk. Stick to the recommended dealers if you want to be safe..

Nope. So long as you're wearing it - and it's the only watch you have with you - I can't think of any reason why they'd query it.

I fly to the US and/or Canada regularly - and have done for years. I've been wearing a rep for every trip for the last 7 years at least. Nobody cares. You might have a problem if you were to pack several spare watches, but I only ever take the one I'm wearing and it never even gets a second look.

*jaw hits floor* That is just astonishing...

It's very easy to get obsessed by small details. You mention that people will assume a 186 is a rep, but that's not true. Hardly anybody out there even knows what a Panerai is - and even fewer actually care about what you're wearing on your wrist There is no such thing as the perfect rep - all of them have their flaws. If you want the perfect Panerai, then it's time to buy a gen. However, the better reps out there are still excellent watches - my 'Ultimate' 111h is one of the best watches I've ever owned, rep or gen. Few people short of an AD or a member of one of these boards will be able to tell (or will care) whether or not it's the real thing, so yes, an 'ultimate' 111h as a good place to start - whether from Davidsen or another dealer. Here's mine:

DSN or Time4Direct (RWI dealer - provided he has his 'Ultimate' Fiddy available atm, he may not).

UK customs are about as rep-friendly as it gets. Over 40 watches here and never a problem. However, they're rather backed up at the moment - UK customs clearance seems to be taking anything from 5 to 7 working days at present just due to volume of incoming parcels. Don't worry - you'll have your watch soon, I'm sure

I've bought several watches from Watcheden over the last year. 1) Overall experience was very good on each occasion. The one thing to remember is that Sarah's English is rather limited, so keep it simple if you need to discuss something with her. Tony's English is much better, but Sarah seems to deal with all of the enquiries these days. 2) WE ship very quickly. The free airmail shipping isn't as fast as EMS, but is very reliable. Most watches I've ordered from them have arrived here in the UK around 9-10 days after order. Never had a problem 3) The watches are the same as every other trusted dealer - there's good stuff and not-so good. Do your research before you order. If in doubt, post a link to the watch you're interested on here and I'm sure you'll get plenty of advice

Very nice indeed - especially for a cheapie. Great photos too. I wear my Fiddy a lot and keep thinking I should buy a 217 just for a little variety. Tempting...