crystalcranium

Oh God, my sides are hurting. Cracks me the [censored] up!!!!!

If you consider the rep disposable, go ahead and swim. Many can attest to good water resistance but only after some owner checks first. Greasing o rings and making sure the caseback is tight are essentials. Remember, water resistance ratings are relative. Bars, meters or feet of water resistance are static pressure measurements. One can put a 150m rated watch through enough pressure to breach the seals simply by diving into a pool.

Getting flamed by Neil is something of a rite of passage here. Consider yourself hazed and a member of the fraternity!

Hey, stop sugarcoating it dude and tell us how you really feel!!!!!!

I think companies like Rolex see non threatening parts of the replica business as a flattering annoyance. Some of the most blatant open market selling of cheap Rolex replicas occurs in NYC around the corner from Rolex USA corporate headquarters. Were talking $30 quartz crap Rollies though. Intellectual property is IP no matter how you try to rationalize the rip off. If counterfeits really helped "spread the word", the corporate world wouldn't be doing what it is doing to limit the comerce. I doubt very much if the best business minds in these companies are overlooking the selfless favor we are doing them by promoting their brands uncompensated. Somewhere deep in the analytical spreadsheets, there's probably a bottom line statistical fact like for every 1000 counterfeit Submariners sold, they loose one genuine sale so the cost out of pocket to Rolex is $5 per replica sale. That kind of hard core bottom line is more than likely what is behind genuine producers continuing to chase down counterfeiters. If the numbers told them every 1000 fake Subs sold gets them 1 genuine sale they wouldn't say a damn thing.

I was out there for a conference the night they opened the new Bloomies in late September last year. The Tourneau is so big they have an overflow bargain store where they sell the cheap brands like B&R and Oris et al inside the mall. The Bloomies opening night was a black tie affair. My wife and I wandered over in shorts and t-shirts and were actually asked to leave the sidewalk area near the store!!! And I remembered the hotel wrong, it was the Renaisance Parc 55.

WOW!!!!!!!!

She's a Psychiatrist Neil. There's a far greater chance of her having me put away!

There's a Tourneau in San Fran right across from the Double Tree hotel. Lot's of candy.

Agreed, I missed #4 4. Spend it on something other than watch addiction (perish the thought)

1. Buy 3 lights out replicas. 2. Buy one prized replica and mod the crap out of it. 3. Buy an entry level brand automatic genuine from Hamilton or Tissot et al.

I showed my wife that picture of the movement in the new chronograph hoping to impress her. "It looks like a plate full of worms" was her reaction. I have quite an uphill battle acquiring high horology pieces.

MMMMMMMMMM Good Interesting thing about the ML106 movement. It's huge, about 36.5 mm and locks Maurice Lacroix into serving dish sized chronographs for a long time to come. They better hope the inevitable downsizing of these platter sized pieces doesn't leave them out in the cold. The have a Venus powered solid gold chrono that's so very classy.

The TT subs have some issues that make them further from ideal than the stainless subs. The best TT subs seem to be a rare animal. I wont get into the wrapped center links bologna, but be aware your winding crown and bezel are plated for sure. Plated crowns have a short wear life. Many of these have blue dial color issues as well. The curved endlink that's plated can be a dead giveaway. The cheaper stainless sub is usually a much better, closer replica. A full gold sub? Echhhh. Way too much gold or my tastes.

He might be too visible as a jewelry manufacturer to do anything of significance. If he were to produce a quality replica product, he'd be an easy target.

They make some gorgeous watches. Pick up an issue of Watch Time or IW. The trades are very hot for them.

I actually tried this logic on my wife...but to no avail especially on the heels of spending $2300 on the Masterpiece Grand Guichet. I agree, as a LE with an out of production movement, this watch will only gain value.

I agree, the sky's the limit for them. Very sexy brand

www.mauricelacroix.com They are at the low end of the high luxury brands. Tough to compare them to their contemporaries in this spot; Rolex, Omega and Breitling because the make primarily, dress watches as opposed to tool watches. They're maybe a notch below Zenith. They've been around since the mid 70's and started selling in the US about 12 years ago. They are a true manufacture with their new chronograph movement that debuted at Basil 2006.

Here's another shot of the ML 63 movement And a bit more description. Looks like it was produced for the Asian market only "Masterpiece Reveil AS1931" is the limited edition of alarm model equipped with AS 1931 by A.Shield. A.Shield is a movement manufacturer existed during 1896 - 1978 in Switzerland. The AS1931 was produced in the early 1970's, but stopped production in 1974. This model is equipped with such a limited caliber refined. Movement is decorated with Cote de Geneve, or perlage, and can be seen from the case back. Limited production of 500 SS case and100 pcs. of 18KPG case. Individual numbered. Manual winding movement with hand engraving decoration ML63 AS1931 base Alarm function, date (pointer indication) 21,600 v/h, 17 jewels, 46 hours power reserve Silver925 dial, guilloche decorated, blue steel hands Case diameter 40mm, 3ATM water resistant Yen 556,500　(tax incl.) BTW about $4700 New

It sure is. $2700 is absurdly cheap for a watch of this quality and rarity. but, this is Zeetan!! In his dark hole somewhere in Malaysia!

I just broke the bank last month for a Maurice Lacroix and now our friend Zeetan has this limited edition mechanical alarm ML Masterpiece. It's #3 of 500, has a rebuilt and completely accesorized Schild manual wind movement (yes, one of the one's they salvaged when Schild went out of business in the 1970's and people were emptying defunct mechanical watch companies with a shovel and putting ebauche's into landfills!!!!!), and it's a friggin alarm!!!!! Look at he damn dial and movement. I have an errection The link is http://collectorstime.com/

Bring the girl in your avitar and it's a done deal Clemenza.

We're talking about QC of parts and assembly manufacture, not pre shipping screening for function. Most replicas are assembled in mom and pop shops in the basements of houses all over China where output is the name of the game, not quality. Corgi, your love of replicas is obvious in your posts and it's refreshing but,...I was there once too man and be forwarned, replicas will let you down. I once thought I had found the Holy Grail, a shortcut to high quality time pieces, but it turns out these watches, in general, have some gaping holes in quality that will lead to annoyances and sometimes to failure. If you buy enough of them, the numbers and the percentages will flush this fact out. Once I lowered my expectations and developed a more reasoned relationship with replica watches, I had a more satisfying experience.

I you are a replica collector, it's almost necessary to develop a few rudimentary watchsmith skills. A small screwdriver set and a magnifying loupe will go a long way toward averting most bracelet disasters. I always tighten ALL screws on the watch on delivery. Make sure all casebacks are secured. Inspect all applied parts, like bezel pearls, for adherence. I've had to crazyglue on a few. DOA movements are another issue, but poorly misregulated movements can be adjusted. I had a Datejust arrive with the corinet and second hand dislodged rom the dial and mechanisim but was able to repair in less than 15 minutes. They aren't supposed to be "fixeruppers" but I've had to fiddle with more than just a few. There is NO QC in the rep world.