crystalcranium

It's the adequete QC, on site, that I'm wondering about. I recall many stories from manufacturers of woodworking equipment like Delta and Powermatic and importers like Grizzly and Wilke Machinery say that unless they had quality control managers on site constantly pounding on floor managers and part buyers, they could not expect a consistant reliable product from the Chinese. I'm having trouble seeing how they could take this sort of approach and apply it to the kind of manufacturing involved in making these movements.

In a previous thread I learned that "Swiss Made" ETA movements are actually made in China and shipped to Switzerland where some quick manipulations allow the Swiss to dub them "Swiss Made". Almost everyone here talks about the quality of the swiss movements especially the swiss 7750. If these vererable timepieces start off being mass produced in China, where does the quality get manufactured in? Are they produced as high quality movements or are they modified into high quality movements by ETA? Do watch manufacturers like Omega and Breitling who use modified ETA movements really get them from ETA or do they source them directly from the Chinese and put their own modifications on them without the ETA modifications middleman? I have bought lots of heavy woodworking machinery (my other inexpensive hobby!) from Taiwan and China and it is my understanding these manufacturers believe quality control is the responsibility of the buyer. In other words, if you are satisfied with us making [censored], we'll make [censored] and nothing more. Does this apply to the high end as well? Could a company like ETA demand a very high level of manufacturing compliance and get it from the Chinese? Any way we could get it in our reps? No, just kidding. That if you'll buy [censored], we'll make [censored] thing applies to us rep buyers in spades!

Agreed, that's a great price. I have 2 guys I take my genuines to and they charge $300 for a 3 hand movement and $400 for a chrono overhaul. Oh and one more thing, they won't even discuss working on replicas. That's why Ziggy is such a valuable resource. He could make a fortune socking those of us with few or no options for service but not only does he do it, but he does it way below the market price.

Isn't that response amazing? To me, a watch is a piece of jewelry first and a time reference second. Far fewer would look at someone's 2 karat engagement ring and say "What a stupid ring". When I got my first Rolex, a good friend of mine noticed it and showed me the piece of crap on his wrist and said "Rolex!!!! You idiot,...! Timex!" My wife often scoffs at classic expensive genuines as being too big, or too busy or the dreaded "It looks just like a Timex!" No dear, it's the Timex that's trying to look like this watch. I have another friend that shows me his LCD time display cell phone whenever he notices my expensive wrist candy and says, "What the hell do you need that expensive piece of crap for, this is all you need to tell time". They just dont get it and I don't get why they are so offended.

I was trying to be silly!

Daily beater defined as a watch you would use cutting the grass or working on the car engine: a timex that has a battery in it the size of a nickel and has been running for 9 years. Daily wearer for work, (white colar): Submariner rep and Omega SMP Chrono Diver genuine. Beach and swimming: Seiko Orange monster and Seiko Diver Yellow dial Rubber strap. I try to not even sweat in my reps. Funerals and Black tie: Raymond Weil Don Giovanni genuine.

Hey, can I smack this guy!!!??? Seriously , this is the kind of question that raises all kinds of hackles here. As something of a newbie myself, I learned this is not a marketplace but a site for serious discussion about quality and nuances. The long time posters here take what they do very seriously and they devote a lot of time and effort to reviewing and researching the good, the bad, and the ugly of the replica collecting business. Just showing up and demanding service and information is frowned upon here. There is lots of information available in the sections of this forum that can be accessed by the search function. Maybe it's a physician thing. I had the same baptisim here.

My wife and I do pretty well money wise but wearing a Vacheron or a Patek that go for $60-100K as a gen seems silly. I don't want to look like a rich pretentious total ass, just an ass with a nice watch. I stick to afordable Rolex, Omega, Breitling etc and nothing in gold.

I ordered a 2836 ss sub from paul on friday of last week at the Crazy sale for $120 with free shipping. I have not recieved it yet but I did get tracking information from him and something from China is in New York as of this morning. I'll let you know probably tomorrow.

Am I in need of new glasses or is this Seri Speciale from Joshua sporting a reversed B on the chrono second hand. http://perfect-clones.com/product_info.php...products_id=742

Thanks for the support! I've cooled down a bit since the original post and now feel like $45 is not worth getting my ass in a froth over. I do think this guy is a rip off artist. I believe he is doing exactly what an earlier post suggested that he is buying replicas and selling the parts to the un-informed for inflated prices. His 2836 qnd 2824 movements are going for $110, a submariner watch case bezel and crystal for $40 and lets not forget the outrageous shipping he is charging. The bezel insert I bought cost more to send than it cost to buy.

Just got mine from Josh. Unfortunatly, it has a mechanical problem where the second hand of the chrono gets hung up on the minute hand of the watch but only when the minute hand is in certain positions. Josh has agreed to an exchange. The watch itself is pretty impressive but needs some work to get it up to speed. There are little nagging issues all over it with date fonts and positions, subdials being applied on top of the dial instead of being recessed, wrong cg's, pushers and crown too short, oh and that little matter of the case back saying Speedmaster but overall, it's a substantial watch. The only glaring issue I have with it is the crystal. It is a domed crystal like the genuine but appears to be coke bottle thick. There is considerable distortion of the dial at angles like a plastic domed crystal. Maybe as a genuine owner, I'm being too hard on this rep. My wife actually likes the look of this $265 rep better than my $2500 genuine! Go figure.

Just heard from Mr Li who agreed to withdraw his negative feedback if I withdraw mine. No word on my money though

Yeah I've got two Seiko divers one of which is tha Orange monster and you can read by the luminosity. Is the crystal mineral? Seiko calls it Hardex.

I'm in the middle of my first transaction with Paul and he has answered all of my questons promptly and kindly. I wonder how long this "crazy sale" will go on. These deals are incredible.

Yeah I did tell him in the email that if he was going to scam customers he might as well say he's selling 7753s

Thats the guy. Actually, I threatened to let ebay know about his scam 7750 movements so we'll see what he does next.

I actually dont care about the money, it's the negative feedback Ihe left about me that pisses me off. I'm the guy who paid in full and got ripped off. What the hell is his complaint with me?

http://cgi.ebay.com/Swiss-Watch-Movement-E...1QQcmdZViewItem And he is a power seller

Guy who sells replica parts for Rolex subs and Omega SMP among others. He was also the jerk who was selling crap asian 7750 movements as Genuine Swiss for $199. I bought a green Sub LV bezel that was the wrong color green and a Sub crown that turned brown after a week. I left negative feedback and he emailed me and asked what he could do. I said "Refund my money and I'll remove the negative feedback." I heard nothing else from him until I saw three negative feedback messages from him left on my seller name with rather rude comments. I want to mess this guy up! I emailed him I would tell ebay about his less than honest sales but have heard nothing so far. He's not a power seller but he's close so I would think he's got lots to lose in a pissing contest. I'm wondering if just mutually withdrawing the feedback might be best in the long run but I'm so f%$#ing mad right now. What a jerk.

I wouldn't count on the rep factories doing anything similar. Your post does raise an interesting point. Replication of appearance is what we all focus on because we are a visual species. Replication of feel and sensation is for the most part ignored but would go a long way toward improving these reps. Replication of performance is the holy grail and the hardest to achieve. To me, modding a rep to have an adequete amount of WR would be an effort to make it a better rep by performance. Few will question the authenticity of your rep if you go diving into the pool with it and it remains intact. I just have my doubts about weather it's worth it. A 50m WR rep on your wrist in the surf is like modding your M-1 tank rep with a few 9mm hand guns and taking it down main street in Bagdhad. Underneath it all, it's still a chevy and no match for an RPG.

Absolutely no expertise here but my logic goes as follows. Three holes in the case, the opening for the case back, the crown and stem on a non chrono, and the opening for the crystal. A screw down crown and caseback it seems to me, should be easy to make reasonably watertight. Gaskets forgive a lot of machining sins and o-rings and case back gasket replacement should do the trick here. The weak link I would think would be the fit between the crystal and the case. On most of my reps, the crystal is pressed into a plastic retainer ring that is probably not upgradeable. Josh only guarantees his modded WR subs for 50M immersion which is really nothing in a WR watch. He mods the gaskets and seals so I would have to think the crystal fit is the reason he gives them a conservative rating.

Feel is the most obvious giveaway for a rep. Besides weight, a genuine bracelet has a silkier, more solid feel. If the guys running the higher end rep factories really want to improve these fakes, then the materials and manufacture of the bracelet has to be improved. Alas, this might actually cost something though. Heavier, berrer machined metal can't be faked so don't hold your breath.

No, just a mythical reputation. He's a shadow, a fog who, if you are worthy enough, might respond to an email or PM. I have yet to see him on this board but the replicas he can provide are somewhere between real Rolexs and the common fare we deal with here. On a somewhat more serious note, from what I've been able to gather in my short time here, this dealer, who obviously does not deal in volume sales, has access to very high quality replicas of Rolex watches (the even more mythical Maria's Best Watch produced by little elves in a hollow tree somewhere in south east Asia) including vintage reps of Rolex Submariners that will take original parts as replacements, ie. bezels, crowns, crystals etc... The accuracy and quality of these reps has been attested to many times here. What is less clear is the quality of, and the availability of, modern Rolex reps bearing the MBW blessing. I have seen several posts that say these watches are more flawed than the reputation of a MBW designation should permit. Weather they are worth the premium price is still not clear to me. Some of the best advice I've gotten here said all reps have flaws. Find one with flaws you can live with and buy it. None of these watches are going to pass close scrutiny from a true expert but I have passed my lousy Sub reps off to owners and un-enlightened jewelers too many times to count so why worry about splitting hairs you don't have to?.

Hey, let me amend and clarify my original statement. Asians do not get drunker and stay drunker longer than others as i might have implied in the first post. The lack of a fully functioning set of Aldehyde Dehydrogenase enzymes prevents them from metabolizing alcohols first breakdown product and its' most toxic. The sickness and vomiting is associated with this toxc accumulation, not with enhanced "spins"! It is not aldehyde that gets you drunk, that is ethanol and ethanol alone but accumulation of aldehyde, and those of us who have overwhelmed our normal capacity to metabolize this compound can attest to this, is what makes you sick when you drink too much. The hangover is another animal having to do with the interaction of dehydration and other breakdown products as well as accumulation of other toxins from alcohol compounds unrelated to ethanol metabolisim.