rmcsherry

Tourb, if you've got so many why do you need more?! Sounds like you've got some interesting projects in the pipeline. JBoy, as the long green vegetable has already pointed out, there are tell tale signs on these clocks - be patient and do your research, without dimensions you can tell from the front or back what movement is inside!

I was suprised to see this, surely it wouldn't be worth the bother? Unless I'm hugely mistaken, this 1912 Rolex Pocket Watch has a badly printed face, Molnija movement with 'Montres Rolex' engraved over the russian reference number, with a nasty transfer on the winding wheel. Even if it were genuine, it's as ugly as sin!

Please tell me you mean this one? Apparently the last one sold went for $240,000 at auction!

I know there are very few Ikepod fans on the board, but the brand has just been relaunched. It has taken 3 years since bankrupcy. After tales of poor quality watches, falling off crowns, freezing movements etc. they have decided to relaunch the model range - by the looks of things, the Potoroo and Isopode (their best seller) have been scrapped, the Tourbillon has been carried on (minus the tourbillon!) and the Hemipode / Megapode are just the same, without the Ikepod logo. They seem to think that nobody will notice they're using up old stock if they put the Ikepod logo on the glass instead of the dial. http://www.ikepod.com/ From a designers perspective, I think Marc Newson is a very talented industrial designer - but putting his name against an overpriced relaunch of a failed model range isn't going to do him any favours. A fresh start could of been very interesting for Ikepod - it's just a shame that they have played it safe by reusing all of the old designs and tooling. The second hand market has hit rock bottom, and public interest has faded, so why relaunch with the same product (and same tarnished image)? Rant over.

It looks like a Richard Mille designed by a Chinese businessman

Who took '666', damnit?!

I have the same problem with a PAM203 from one of our dealers, unfortunately the only CG he can get hold of is for a 127 (same as I was mistakenly sent on the 203) - it seems the factories are running low!

I've had a few dealings with Palo Alto, they seem to come up with good prices, but they're happy to send you anything in response to your request (I've had wrong movements, missing hands, wrong dimension parts turn up). I'd say they're worth the risk for buying components on the cheap - they had a pre-Moon Speedmaster for $325 the other week, shame I missed it!

You blanked out the name, and left in the logo of one of the UK's best known high-end watch dealers It sounds like a great event, although best to wear flame retardant clothing for the inevitable interactions with *the purists*.

How about the infamous multi-millionaire jetmid?! Could be an interesting meet.

Has anyone got a link to the genuine? If he's selling fake PAM's, I think we have reason to suspect the AP! (provided the suspect looking 183 is actually a rep)

As 'lionsandtigers' pointed out, Brands of The World have all of them - they're downloadable in eps (vector based) format, so you can turn them in to a jpeg at whatever resolution you desire! Alternatively, here's a Rolex one (I don't have time to host it at the moment, so sorry if the link isn't working)

Looks good. I've only ever seen Reg selling the ones on Rubber. I got one from another member a while back, they're amazing watches! Funny thing is, I went to Turin few months back and there was a Chronofighter in every shop window, I must have seen 30+ during my visit.

Check out the knife-edged original GPF buckle, so cool!

I've never understood how they can make complex CAD files to CNC a 1:1 case, yet can't get simple things correct like the font - all they've got to do is play with existing fonts, or spend 5 minutes tracing a high-def picture. The 201A is in huge demand, and they still can't rep it accurately - yet the original blueprints exist on the net. Surely this makes their work easier?!

I've sent him some links to Antiquorum and a vintage Rolex catalogue, hopefully he'll recognise it easily enough if he sees it! The pocket watch sounds nice, Mark - I've got a couple of old PW's kicking around, no idea of what they're worth though (they are silver English pocket watches from the 1850's). I've just about got that Tiffany travel clock I told you about up and running, I think it'll be going on ebay before the month's out. I'll post an update when I get the pictures of the watches, they certainly sound interesting

My parents came to visit yesterday, having just returned from seeing my Grandmother in Scotland. Whilst they were there, it came up in conversion that she is having a 'clear out' and taking some of her brother's old clothes to the charity shop (he died some years ago). He never married and liked to gamble - so presumably could affford the occasional luxury. In one of the boxes for the charity shop was two watches, my Grandma decided they were old and worthless - thinking one was a novelty Jaguar watch, the other a cheap gold watch. After my Dad opened the boxes, it turns out that the 'Jaguar' was in fact a Jaeger LeCoultre, and the cheap gold one was a 50's Rolex with seconds @ 6, unworn in original box with papers! He's driving up again next week, and is bringing them back to be valued. I'll ask him to get a couple of photos as there are plenty of 'experts' that may recognise them here! It got me wondering though... what else has been thrown out as useless junk? My Grandad was in the war (based in Africa and India if I recall correctly) and after he died, I was asked if I'd like some of the things he saved from the war - to my surprise, this also included many 'found' items from the Italian Military. No Panny's this time, although it got me wondering how many valuable items like this are thrown away? The watches may turn out to be nothing special, who knows. Has anyone else had any similar experiences? I'll post some photos when I get them.

To remove the crown, (depending on if it's ETA or Asian) you press the small button next to the stem or untighten the screw and release the crown. The dial and movement then pop out easy enough. I removed the existing lume on the hands with pegwood, and repainted them using a 'blob' of lume on a jewellers screwdriver. The markers were painted using a very fine brush - I didn't tape any surfaces off, this is a pointless task (you'll never mask it well enough to have sharp edges) - any lume that went onto the edges was gently removed with a clean stanley-blade - with hardly any pressure, to avoid scratches! I'm sure there are better ways to do this, but we all have to start somewhere.

No, that's a Psti GTG joke... $20,000 more than the Asian 21J. Damn nice watch, but I'm sick of hearing about it!

I appreciate the comments, not quite up to your standards though, The Zigmeister - maybe one day?! I wouldn't want to get into modding other peoples watches - especially not until I was confident with what I was doing. If you offer a professional service you become personally liable for damage (which is very easily done with watches, as I'm sure we've all found the hard way!). I've relumed 3 Panerai's, one in a vintage lume - I'll try to get some pictures this week.

Thanks for the comments - I'm pleased I didn't ruin the dial. The close-up lume shot shows up more imperfections than 'in the flesh' though - I guess I'll need to get used to using a loupe!

Ok, so this probably wasn't the easiest watch to relume for a first time, but it was the only one I wasn't worried about messing up. This is a black PO from Cony512 - it's an Asian 21J, it's actually keeping very good time and it's reliable despite it's cosmetic flaws! Here's the watch before I started, the standard lume wasn't that bad - but at the same time, it wasn't that good... The one thing that I really hated about this watch was the pearl. So I attacked it with a pin, here's the result: Once the old lume was out, I carefully placed a 'blob' of lume in the container and waited for it to set. I then added another layer whilst I was luming the hands. I had to put about 4 coats of Humbrol Gloss Cote on the pearl to protect it, the lume seems fairly delicate and the varnish also seems to make it appear smoother. (The photo was taken before the varnish was added). And here's the final shot. There's no Photoshop involved and I tried to keep the exposure time down to give an 'honest' indication of what the lume is like. It's far from perfect, and the hour markers were such a pain that I don't really want to have to add a second coat! Any feedback would be appreciated, including ways to improve my lume technique - I assume it's good practice to add a second or third layer of C3 to improve consistency and longevity of the glow? The more I wear this watch, the more I want to get rid of it and find a Moon Watch - odd, as two months ago I couldn't stand Omega's!

If you hold on a month or so, you may just be lucky...

I know there are a few knock-off PAM's sporting cheap labels (Next are the main offenders), but this one went one step too far. I think the 'Comic Sans' font on the guarantee card compliments the fake tourby perfectly! RRP £650? Better start saving.

I know Enzo attempted to make a black PAM dial tobacco by using a coloured varnish, although I've not seen the results. I just wondered if anyone else has tried to artificially fade a black dial - I don't know what would happen if you submerse it in bleach, but it'd be interesting to find out. Maybe a UV lamp will fade it, but I guess this would be a slow process. Any input would be appreciated before I destroy too many dials!