crystalcranium

And I did start another thread about genuine performance and price and what one is willing to risk. Water resistance ratings when expressed as depth ratings are meaningless in the absolute. A 30 meter rated watch will fail if you swim in it. Only dive rated watches for over 200M with screw cown crowns and screw on and gasketed case backs can be trusted with swimming and light diving. Companies like Bulova with their "Marine Star" line and Seiko with their "Sports 150m" line sell the public something of a false bill of goods with these watches. The Marine Star line even comes with a diver's extension on some of the bracelets even though the watches in both these lines are waranteed by the package insert only against casual water and bathtub submersions. I wouldn't tout the water resistance of a 50m rated Timex as something to have confidence in. I have had 150m rated watches fog while playing in the surf. Girard Perregeaux sells a 3000M rated solid gold Sea Hawk Tourbillon for around $200,000. Anyone who wears it in the pool is an idiot.

Thanks.....I'll be back in a few minutes.....err..seconds.

God almighty, who is the woman in your avitar???? I'd sell my watches for a few hours with her!!!

The lume is insane!

Looks anything but beaten!!!

Here's my beach watch, pool watch . Borrowed from PMWF For general work where scratches and abrasions are the norm, anything under $20 that tells time is the norm.

Not to doubt you, but the eye is very forgiving and filling with regards to the yellow color of gold and yellow colored base metals. My guess is if you put your 6 year old reps that get modest use next to new versions, you would see significant wear. It's like in woodworking when you put like structures close together, for example, spindle turnings for a railing, your eye looks for symmetry and can easily pick out variations. When you put some distance between them, like leg turnings for a table, your eye fills in the symmetry.

This one and others from Tissot. Hamilton also PVD coats in titanium nitride. Supposedly, it's as tough as other PVD scratch resistant titanium coatings. I have this watch and it's pretty spectacular. A gold colored coating that will last forever. Will this revolutionize the watch and jewelry industry??? This coating is already widely used in the plumbing industry to "gold" fixtures and by the medical engineering people to coat indwelling devices.

I want to know if I'm nuts or not... If I wear any of my precious collection to the grocery store, I take it off prior to removing the items from my cart for fear of scratching or banging it on anything metalic. I was depressed for several hours one day when I realized my GT caseback had been scratched by the speed bracelet. I already have re-plating options prioritized for my rose gold FA Jones ......that I wear for 2 hours a week to church. OK, I don't need any opinions on the nuts part...I think I just made an easy self diagnosis. Felix Unger lives! My question is where is the dividing line in genuine watches for you in terms of buying performance vs buying for the sake of having? I omit replicas from this question because the performance/collection aspects are skewed. I know, for me, having an SMP chrono diver genuine does not mean I'm ready for any underwater activity, it means I have a watch I always wanted. $200 for a dive watch I can play in the waves with or jump into the pool wearing is about all I'm willing to risk on performance. Has anyone paid thousands of dollars for a watch because you knew you could take it into battle and rely on it? Would anyone in their right mind pay $10,000 for a solid gold dive watch and wear it into the water when the only thing between the watch and the bottom of the ocean is a $0.20 springbar?????

Great post! I have a friend who bought a genuine Seadweller second hand on the bay for the sole porpose of its' performance. He is a surfer and a basketball referee and never takes the watch off except to sleep. The watch has never failed him in terms of time keeping and water resistance in 10 years of daily wear. It is a tribute to the excellence of this genuine watch. The watch also looks like [censored]. The pearl is long gone, the bezel has so many scratches the numbers are un readable and the case and bracelet look like they have gone through a cotton gin. I'm sure there are others like him who have invested thousands in their watches strictly for their performance and reliability but unless you are a sniper on tactical manuvers or a Navy diver, reliable performance can be had for far less money. I know watch collectors are divided into the two distinct groups, those who wear and those who own and display. I fall into the "keep my watches under glass" catagory. I think nothing suggests a fake faster than seeing someone with a Rolex working on changing their oil or loading plywood into the back of a truck.....or wearing one into the ocean. Want to impress your shallow friends with your fake watch? Treat it like you spent thousands on it. Take it off before you do anything the least bit risky and wrap it in a muslin cloth.

wahhhhhhhh!

Most gold plating on reps is crap. Base metals are sometimes a mystery and I've known rep platings to brown sitting in the box unworn. As stated, there are exceptions in certain manufacturing runs, but the general quality of Chinese platings on gold watches is pretty poor. I hope PVD golding on watches produces the revolution it has the potential to generate. A virtually indestructable titanium nitride gold colored coating that is beautiful and tough would be any reasonable persons preference over a real gold plating with a limited life span.

I agree whole heartedly. The MBW provides the most OEM modifiable starting point for watch constructionists but it is far from the holy grail out of the box. I do think some of Ubi's creations are beautiful but he's a far better craftsman (and must have far better eyesight than I do) than most and my money is better spent getting a 97% accurate replica I have to do nothing to rather than a $450 MBW that still needs $750+ in mods. I think the MBW legend is rooted in the "I'm getting something for relatively nothing" holy grail and not that it's the be all and end all of replicas. As touted as it might be, it's still just a fake watch that will fool just as many novices as a Noobmariner, and very few , if any, bonified experts.

I've got an answer for you and your inquisitive friends. Tell them its a fake and you have no problem with head scratching. I have two $2500+ diving rated genuines and I NEVER wear them in water. I save that honor for a couple of bullet proof and replaceable Seiko divers. If you wont tell your friends the truth, tell them they'd have to be nuts to wear a $5000 watch in the drink.

The strap looks a little thin for the size of the watch to me but I do like the color combo. ...but the replica....unbelieveable! These are some of the best detailed pics of the SMP Chrono I've seen yet. It is, except for the reparable bezel insert misalignment, it's a spectacular replica. Best of luck.

Ditto Don't like the feel of titanium watches in general. I like a heavy watch. The SS model is beautiful but it is a little hockey puck looking. I also would not order one if you have a large wrist. It is a small bracelet out of the box.

There are replacement Swiss decorated movements available also. They are not decorated like the asian version but they are beautiful.

Styles and tastes come and go but I wonder if some day these watches will be looked at like '70 hair styles or leisure suits. When I look at one and hear the passion in their followers,....I can't help but think of "The Emperor's New Clothes". Does anyone remember how you couldn't get a Cabbage Patch doll? The damn things were ugly as sin. Henry Winkler was the biggest star in the world for about 3 years. Sally Jessie made eyeglasses the size of the Hubble space telescope all the rage once.

What do you think this is ...Kmart????? Fine, your indignation with Neil's rudeness is logged and noted. What you don't get yet is that it's whether he decides to sell a watch to you, not if you decide to choose him.

Oh Man....INCOMING!!!!!!!!!! Neil is not a dealer....he is a procurer. If you read the 10 reasons objectively, you'll see that he provides a front line service in selection and filtering out of the [censored] that potentially comes our way. He is QC in the rep business. You don't get a sapphire crystal test, a small scale COSC certification, a 25X flaw examination anywhere else here. I'm sure he's fine with people going elsewhere. You can't get his service anywhere else. And if you dont like the fact that he's a little cranky about the crap with paypal...well...so be it. Neil's attitude is a legendary as his service. I'm sure hes fine with you not liking him either!!

Never understood it, still don't get it. I actually toyed wit the idea one day after reading the WT article comparing the Flyback Chrono with the Blancpain but it lasted a day... Looks like it was designed by a bunch of Navy Seals in a bar one night after one too many beers. The crystal looks like a 1950's TV, the crown guard looks like a watertight door off the Titanic and the numbers look like the large button phone I got my 80 year old parents. But I did almost buy the 212!!!!

Sorry to hear. Paypal is certainly easy for buyers but given the horror stories, I don't see how dealers like Josh still accept it.

A few in this thread sounded like prosecutors in ethics court. There were lectures about morals and character that had a disquieting tone. It sounds like the situation was handled to the satisfaction of both parties and some of it was done in the open which was optional. Hammering away and lecturing someone, who obviously had a conscience about the events as they unfolded, on the importance of character smelled of pious posturing. A number of threads here have a school yard tone that seems a bit silly.

What's lower on the "Can I pull it off scale"? An Omega or a Breitling? A Rolex isn't very high in the high horology pecking order. If you can't pull off convincing people a $3500 watch belongs on your wrist, a $2500 Omega isn't going to fool them either. Besides, the idea here is for you to enjoy the watch, not enjoy its effect on fooling others.

Say what you want about Raymond Weil but they do have some beautiful pieces. This one caught my eye a couple of months ago. ETA 2895 with a display caseback