Category 5

Perhaps auto wax. It is clear, polishes nicely, and would take most of the beating for the plating safely underneath. Obvioulsy space age polymers will outperfomr carnuaba wax producs as far as longevity goes. It's worth a try!

Splendid!!! Just beautiful!

No deceit in my house. My wife is as observant as I. I recently tried to sneak an HD-DVD player into our home theater system. It was the same color as our old DVD player which I hid. She came to me the next day and said "Did you know anything about there being an 'HD' DVD player where our old one used to be?" with a tapping foot. I laughed, told her I was amazed, and added in "that's why I married you...because you're the only woman that would pick up on that!" then I bought the Lake House on HD-DVD for her to watch. It's even harder to hide a new watch. She looks at my wrist whenever we go out to see which one I'm wearing, and she can tell on from the other from across the room.

For me the fascination (as much as the whole mechanical movement amazes me) is more of an affair with the concept of the balance wheel and hair spring. It's development changed the way timekeeping was approached. After all, initially timekeeping devices were fueled and regulated by the constant pull of gravity. With portable timekeeping devices the objective is completely the opposite - to counteract the force of gravity. It amazes me to no end that a device (even those designed and built today) can keep a relative constant oscillation rate despite their varying orientation to the gravitational plane, not to mention the variable amount of charge in their power source. Seconds will remain (for the most part) constant whether a mainspring is tightly wound, or almost unwound. Like a toy car, you'd expect a watch to run much more quickly when it is wound up than when it is half wound, or nearly wound down. The real technical achievement in the mechanical watch was to negate these effects of gravity and non-constant power level while keeping a constant rate of oscillation. Pure genius. I wouldn't expect the design to be easy to come up with even with today's technology.

Oil my friend. WD40 works...so does mineral oil.

Very cool work By-Tor! Care to share how you did it?

Thos guys must shave their freakin hands or something! Although I'll admit it does look much better than our hairy hands and wrists around here from the wrist checks!

I'd ask for a replacement dial for that. I wouldn't wear that watch like that. mine doesn't have the same issue and in fact looks practically like the gen except for the date font.

Anyone know where these date wheels can be sourced in the US. Ofrei doesn't seem to have them.

It's worth pointing out that the built in IS on the Minolta/Sony cams is sensor IS (meanin the sensor moved opposite camera shake) rather than optical IS and is about 1/3 to 1/2 as effective. It still makes a pretty big difference, and is as good or better than Canon's first gen IS lenses, but the newer Canon IS systems are unbelievable. IS isn't too important when doing close up macros as you'll be on a triopod usually anyway, but it does help. I do think Minolta's lenses can offer a better value for the money sometimes though. I hated giving up my Minolta system in favor of Canon, but I felt (at the time) Canon was too far ahead in digital tech to justify sticking with the minolta. Also, I always hated Minolta's proprietary flash mount. What a scam!

I got one of the 700is for my wife and we love that little camera. When we go on vacation that is only camera that gets used. The SLRs goes along with us with good intention, but they stay in the room thw whole trip. Beware though, the camera loves to overexpose greens. In the DSLR world, it's kinda hard to overlook the Rebel XT and XTi. Their performance is as good as the 20/30d for most applications, and you can start your lifelong lens collection. The XTi has the new dust removal feature (no more sensor cleaning) and 10.2 megapixels. If you want a hybrid bewteen P&S and SLR, the Pro1 can be gotten used pretty cheap, and will go down as one of Canon's best cameras. It has L glass (flourite lens) so it's contrast and sharpnedd rival (and beat in many cases) Canon's SLRs when L glass is not used. It also has a SUPER macro feature, but it only captures 4mp instead of 8. At any rate, it's a camera I'll not soon give up. In the realm of digitals Canon has two all time legends in it's history. One is the G2, the other is the Pro1 (excluding DSLRs). If you go the SLR route, get a macro lens. You can see from my other thread that I am in the market for one now. Gen purpose lenses "with macro" don't get anywhere near the sharpness of a dedicated 1:1 macro. If you're spending the money on a new camera keep this in mind!

Here is a great review of the Canon Macros, and there is an example showing the difference in background blur between lenses of increasing focal length when the subject and background remain a constant distance from one another. A fantastic example if you ask me. http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews...ens-Review.aspx This is why I was thinking the 50mm may actually be a better choice for watches.

Bodys will be 20d, 30d and Digital Rebel - depending on which lens is handy. I am a photographer by trade so I understand how depth of field works. While I know depth of field is directly tied to f-stop, background blur is a function of f-stop combined with focal length. Shooting a single subject with a fixed background with a 50mm will yield a lrger visible portion of the background, and less background blur than shooting the same subject with a 100mm lens if the f-stop is the same, and the subject is the same size in the view. This is because the distance between the lens and the subject increase by a larger order of magnitude than the distance between the background and the lens. I have quite a few lenses now, and have saved $$$ by going with Sigma in the past and been very pleased. Not all Canon lenses are superior. I have the following Canon - 50mm 1.8, 18-55mm 3.5-5.6, 28-135 is (3.5 - 5.6?), and 70-200 is f2.8 -- I have the following Sigma lenses - 10-20 4-5.6, 50-500 4.0-6.4, and 70-300 4-5.6. In order of overall sharpness they go Canon 70-200, Sigma 50-500, Canon 50, Canon 38-135, Sigma 70-300, Sigma 10-20, and Canon 18-55. The sigma 50-500 is the most impressive lens of the bunch though, because it is really tack sharp from 50-500. The 70-200 is an amazing lens, but it DOES need to be stopped down to match the Sigma 50-500. 2 of the Sigmas also have hypersonic focusing motors, which the macros don't, so I know I'm in for a disappointment in focusing speed. In my heart I know the Canon 60 will be my final decision, unless the 70 becomes available at Dell or somewhere for a huge discount. Optically, from what I've seen and heard, the Sigma 70mm is the sharpest of those listed above. Plus, on a 1:1.6 crop it would make a great portrait lens. ...not to mention the Sigmas are all usable with a 1:1 crop, which the canon is not.

Decided it's time to get a dedicated 1:1 macro lens and I have been looking at the options. I know the Sigmas focus more slowly than the Canon's, but I'm not really trying for action shots here. I have a $50 card for Dell.com so I am pretty much locked in to getting the lens from there The 60mm Canon does 1:1, has no extending lens barrel, and has a great rep for being tack sharp, but it comes at a price - $450 The Sigma 70mm might even be sharper, but with slightly slower focus - this is the one I wanted but it isn't at dell so no go this round. It goes for about $400 The Sigma 50mm also has a great rep as far as optics go, but the lens barrel extends quite a bit when you reach 1:1 and the focus is again slow. The good news is that this puppy goes for around $250 Lastly, the Sigma 105mm goes for $400 at dell, and has a great rep aside from focus issues, but i think it might me a hair long for watches. All of the above do 1:1 so I can easily fill the frame with 2/3 of the dial. With an extender I could fill the frame with a subdial. The only thing the 50 will cost me is working distance. I am sure it has the optical quality to do the job. The Canon is probably the most luxurious choice since the lens doesn't extend at 1:1 and it has a USM focusing motor. Optically the Sigma 70mm is probably the best (by a small margin though), but I wouldn't get to use my $50 off since they don't have it at Dell. Anyone have anything to add here? I have been using my existing Canon (with macro function) lenses, but the highest magnification I can get is 1:5 so I am looking forward to a dedicated macro. Also, the general purpose lenses require significant sharpening to resolve the finer details, and these macro lenses excel at capturing those without extreme post processing. Any ideas?

A client was wearing a SS Daytona, seconds at six that he claimed to be gen. He passed it overf and I operated the chrono. I'll admit to not knowing the tells as far as rep/gen go on this model. I have no experience. At any rate, while the running seconds were very smooth, when the chrono operated the chrono seconds ran very choppy. I remember reading the new 7750 reps have choppy small seconds, but this one's was fine. So I am wondering...is this just a trait of Rolex's in house chrono movement (choppy chrono secs) or is it most definitely a rep? I don't plan to call the guy on it, I am just curious. Actually, if it's a rep I'll be very impressed because the overall quality seemed fantastic.

Those datewheels line up correctly after the swap? (i.e. not to far right anymore?) Know of a source for them in the US? I'd love to have mine replaced. (who in the US wants to do it for me, along with realign the 12 marker - it's aligned like this |\ - how much?) As far as the ragged subdials go, they're really not. They are smooth as can be except where the concentric rings go through them. This doesn't appear as a defect to me, and without a loupe or getting the watch right up to your eyes it isn't noticable. It's really just that the concentric rings run into the subdial a hair. I can't confirm that the Gen is not the same.

Very enjoyable. My favorite way to clean a watch is with dish soap and warm water. I never wear my watches in the shower/pool/ocean though. Whenever I get a new rep I am always stressed about the first watch attempt. The watchmaker I used in Ft. Lauderdale told me totake the watch into the bathroom during a hot shower. He told me most will fog up if they have a leak. I have never had one fog, nor have I had one leak during washing, but I still get pretty nervous the first couple of times!

Sorry to hear about your circumstances. It is a risk we all take, but we sometimes overlook when we order. FYI, Asia is also a great place to buy discounted gens. In fact, Hong Kong is regarded by many as the ONLY place to get a gen Rolex, since they are discounted there and usually nowhere else. I hope Josh decides to send you another watch...and not FedEx this time!

How much can a Gen Seamster be gotten for? Still, it is one of the most popular reps ever. To be honest, I get more comments on my Aquaracer than any other watch I own. ...and the true way to be looked down upon by a real WIS...Wear a Sub!

Actually, this you are probably right. This is probably the MOST accurate rep made. It is the only one I can think of that doesn't have a "except for" attached to its' nomination. In fact, I frequently spot this exact watch on TZ in "Is this real or fake" threads, and it has ALWAYS been identified as real. How can I tell it's a rep that's up for discussion in those threads? The serial # matches the one on Josh's site! It helps that the real watch has the exact same movement, and the date font is perfect and I have never seen a pic with the alignment significantly off.

The Carrera will follow in the Link's footsteps, especially when the steel bracelet version is out. I have held the gen in my hand hand many times, and the credit card in the other. I never pulled the trigger. I just got the Carrera yesterday, and aside from the date font (wrong on the link too) this is JUST like the real deal. It will surely become one of my faves. Whoever is making these Tags needs to branch out and apply the same philosophy to some other popular watches...oh yeah, and to the Aquaracer too!

A very wierd thing happened today. A courier knocked on the door today, and delivered my watch. On Sunday! I couldn't believe it. It's here, and aside from a slightly crooked marker it is fantastic. Who ever heard of Sunday delivery, much less delivery when US mail had already left a notice stating that the package was at the post office for pickup on Tuesday. Maybe I married bewitched and she wiggled her chin to bring the delivery guy here this morning. I anwered the door in my underwear!

One of the best quality reps I ever got was from Niel. I hope we can find a US payment method with the convenience of paypal soon though. @Niel. I see you have moved to a digital SLR from the D7i. Which one, the Minolta or Sony? At any rate, you have no doubt discovered the detriment of dust on your sensor. You can see the gray splotches which are evidence of it. Don't Minolta/Sony cameras have the dust removal feature? Sorry for the off topic comments!

They look like decent watches at the very least, but no way I'd trust a skeleton back to 200m! Something's fishy there!

Well, even that wouldn't have been necessary. Not dressed means she was wearing her pajamas (long sleep pants and a button up shirt). Sometimes she just assumes that whoever it is will come back later if it's important. I need to break her of that. She WILL answer the door if she's expecting Chinese or a Pizza, lol. At least I know the watch is here and I can have it Tuesday. That's better than not knowing if it even made it through customs. I would have liked to wear it to the hockey game tonight though.