Agrippa

Hard to say really. To be sure I'd need to see more, or possibly even conduct a hands-on examination.....

What are all of the unnecessary numbers for?

From this place:

"Framed by its stainless steel case of 47.50 mm of diameter, Longines' Lindbergh watch shows the hours and minutes with a pair of blued steel "Breguet" style hands plus the seconds on a white lacquered dial, protected by a scratch-resistant sapphire crystal. Along with black painted double minute track and Roman numerals, the dial features twelve blue painted Arabic numerals serving to calculate and display longitudes. The seconds hand is synchronized to a radio time signal via the silvered rotating center dial featuring a black painted double minute track and red numerals. The blue and black Arabic numerals engraved on the case's rotating bezel serve to adjust it to daily variations in the equation of time. This model is equipped with an L699 selfwinding mechanical movement beating at 28,800 vibrations per hour and providing 42 hours of power reserve. A hinged and engraved back cover can be lifted to reveal a transparent sapphire plate through which the movement's sparkling dance can be observed."

Rather cool in my opinion, even if the funtions are more than a little superfluous for most.

Excellent guide! I'd love to hear about the Montbrillants in particular and hope they're added soon.

There is a trojan downloader embedded in the opening flash sequence. I'd stay away.

The absolute best site for video conversion problems is www.videohelp.com. The download section has tools for everything and the forum will assist you with just about any problem you can come up with. Every time I've been stuck with something, that's where I've had it resolved.

Unfortunately I doubt anyone here or elsewhere has anything new to teach me on that particular subject....

All we get in the UK is the stuff in a packet, I'll bet the home made stuff is outstanding!

No need to go without mate - I order mine from Vermont Beef Jerky Co. on a semi-regular basis. I've tried 8-10 other places, but have stuck with VBJ for some time now. Highly recommended.

Hopefully not the whiskey makers.

I was half expecting a law suit to cease and desist, but it hasn't materialised so far. Possibly because no-one's aware of the site, as I've never publicised it anywhere, ever. Just a little thing I did for my own enjoyment.

Hi-Fi and history.. Not as interested in that as I am the sound of that drink.

Fair 'nuff. And what a dull and dreary world it would be if we were all interested in the same things....

So then, I'm logging off and running to the store. Cheers!

Hope you got an Islay one, and that you enjoyed it!

Congratulations on the best intro thread I have read so far. My original reply was going to be about how I disagree with your original posts, but after reading further I decided it really is a moot point. Anyway, I have really enjoyed this thread, you are obviously a talented writer, articulate, and witty. If we are lucky you will stick around and bless the forum with great reviews on all reps that you aquire. Good luck, this forum is great, except for the time and monetary investment required to play here lol (shoulda read the fine print)

Thank you so much for those flattering words. With luck I'll be able to make some slight contribution myself in due course, but for now I'm content with hoovering up all the knowledge already lodged on these pages. Hopefully by the time I get around to actually doing some shopping I'll be able to make an informed choice.

if you have a preference from 1 to 500 just post.

Ok then. Can I have 13, 113 213?

Thank you kindly Sir. Mine's an Arbeg please; what's yours?

And here's my Single Malt site for reference: Master of Malts. Not quite finished yet (hey, I only started it in 2007....), but who's in a hurry anyway.

Yo!

After looking at, and drooling over, far too many watches since I joined RWG I've decided that my first purchase simply has to include a Navitimer. There's way too many of them out there, particularly for someone as terminally indecisive as myself, but I believe I've finally landed on the Navitimer Montbrillant Datora and I wonder if somebody here owns one already and can comment on it? Just so it's said I'm not all that concerned with accuracy vs. the genuine article; to me build quality and durability is far more important.

Like most watches they vary quite a lot in price, but this is the one I'm thinking of getting: Montbrillant Datora @ PureTime costing $285. The problem is that in my noobishness I can't tell if that one is the same as, for instance, this one @ Watcheden at $325, or if they're not the same, whether the more expensive one is any better.

If anybody out there can shed any light on this I'd be most grateful!

The man speaks truth. And remember - the net is free only if you're content to surf on the efforts of others. To make a place worth hanging out at requires regular contributions of one kind or another.

Presumably Manifatture Firenze ( ) is located in Florence, so you could sling a mail their way and hear if they welcome visitors. They have no shop address on their web site, but most such places tend to be happy to show off their workshops and traditional skills. Maybe bring the camera and give us an illustrated report after?

Andr

Women have it easy on the 'net, no doubt. Now if I was to register at the L'Oreal or Tupperware forums, as I have so often wanted to do, I somehow suspect that the effect would not be quite the same. Maybe someday I'll get my courage up and find out....

Sadly I must inform you that both your guesses are wrong though, as in fact I don't even have a driver's lisence and haven't touched a gun of any kind for about 14 years. As far as cars go my only interest in them is aesthetic, in as much as I love old Jaguars and such. And guns...., well, I used to be pretty good both with an assault rifle and a hand gun, but for reasons not suited to an open forum I decided I'd had enough of them. Instead I enjoy talking about Hi-Fi and history here and there. I love music and a fascination for the boxes that (almost) allow me to hear the artists perform in my living room when I close my eyes sort of follows naturally from that I guess. History has always been another interest of mine, particularly the ancient era and also in particular ancient military tactics, strategy and organisation. My "specialty", if it can be called that, is the Middle East, where I have a fairly firm grasp on things from ancient Sumer to the fall of the Ottoman Empire, as well as the history of the current conflict between the Palestinians and the Israelis. I'm a bit sketchier on the pre-Sumerian civilisations, but then so are the real historians. I also used to write articles for quite a few historical and military journals, or fanzines, back in the day before the internet killed off most such publications.

All of which makes me a big nerd I suppose, but that can only improve now that I have joined RWG, right? Right?? Anyone?

Thanks for the before and after strap-pictures mate, that's something I really wanted to see. The pictures at the dealers' sites rarely give you much of an impression of what the straps are really like, but now I know. Undoubtedly an after-market strap is a necessity and Strap Culture certainly one of the places I'll consider. On the other hand a bespoke strap from Red12 or Savage is even more tempting, but I guess that'll ultimately be decided by the tax man. Until then I'm limited to pouring over pretty pictures, since I'm pretty much flat broke until June.

Anyway, must go and earn my pay I guess (I'm at work right now). Thanks for the friendly welcome!

PS: yeah, I guess it might seem as though much of the above is written under the influence but that's not actually the case. However, another "hobby" of mine are Single Malts and I like to think I'm a little bit of an authority on those. At least that's the way it feels when I'm half way down the bottle....

Weheeey, I'm a celebrity!!!! If I can keep this up I'll surely be doing the rounds on all the big talk shows sometime next week. "Hello Larry, nice to see ya!"; "Not at all Oprah, it was no trouble getting the day off to come see you"; "My pleasure David, I've always been a fan"; "Please keep that naked woman away from me Howard, remember there might be children listening!".

Now where did I stash the tuxedo again.....

Thanks for going Platinum agrippa

Sir, my pleasure entirely Mr. Moderator Sir!

Huh? You mean me? Did I bore you to sleep?

Valerian, apart from being a great forum nick, is also a perennial herb commonly used in concoctions against sleeplessness. I've got a few older ladies at work who swear by it.

Thank you kindly, oh sleep-inducing perennial one!

Don't forget to go HERE to register for the lotto and get your free ticket for the raffle of the PO chrono.

Done; and I even bought an additional ticket. Not quite sure why, since quite frankly it's not a watch that a stylish, olde worlde gentleman like yours truly would been seen dead with, but there you go. Then again, if I'm "lucky" there's always the Trade section I guess....

Edit: spelling error (oh the horror, the horror!!)

Surely the genuine manufacturers and any other groups with an interest (in a manner of speaking) in the replica business have people who are members on this and most similar boards? For that not to be the case makes no sense at all really. If watchmaking was my business and my babies were being replicated left, right and center I would most certainly want to be in the know.

Go on, use my hanky.

I'd certainly not turn down a free present, but new watch or no new watch, this place has to be worth a tenner a month simply because of all the cool and friendly people who hang out here.

Thought I'd get myself a shiney new badge below my name....

Welcome aboard.

Thanks a lot mate, glad to be here!

And yet I might suggest you to look at this Breguet as an alternative to your list: http://www.exactreplicas.com/breguet-silve...ca-Watches.html. This guy runs a campaign with 50% off (cupon code lastchance), bringing this watch to a total of app $110 shipped.

Thanks for the link, some very nice watches among the Breguets there. Reading what the other guys say I think there's no option but to get my primary purchase(s) from the guys represented here on RWG, but what I'll probably do is add on one of the Breguets from Exact as well and pretend I'm at the dog track, putting $100 on "Limp Larry" to win. The one you linked to is indeed a lovely piece and I also quite like this one. I'd actually quite like to get one of the tourbillion models, but I kinda assume that would only increase the risk of receiving nothing at all?

The watches you have been interested in so far

You really don't want to know how many watches I've been interested in so far.... For that sake, nor do I.

The one question no one has answered is about winders. The watches you have been interested in so far all use the Sea-Gull ST19 MVT. Thi sis a handwind not an auto so a winder is not necessory. A hand wind is more suited to occaisional wear than an auto so is proberly a good choice for your "three times a year" dress watch. If the bug bites and you get some autos a timer is nice to have if you chop and change you daily wear. Try acetimer.com for the best deals on quality timers. Anything sold cheaper than theirs is most likely not going to last and/or be noisey. The Ace ones you can barely hear in most cases.

Col.

Seriously though, thanks a lot for that info Col. The prices at Acetimer are certainly a lot better than anything else I've seen so far and if you say they're good then I'm sure they are just that. Quiet is certainly nice too. I'll likely get the smallest one and hope that I manage to stop when I've filled it up....

Do you have any idea if they watch straps are any good at all? Hard to see from the pics, but they look rather like the ones included with the replicas and which everyone state to be crap.

While I'm at it I I guess I may as well get a link adjuster and a spring bar tool, after which I'm hopefully all set and fully loaded. Or have I missed something?

Thanks folks, the info you keep pouring on me is deeply appreciated!

HAH HAH HAH HAH HAH...and if you have a wife/girlfriend/partner...you have to start buying them stuff too so they don't get [censored] off at you buying lots of watches. Then you get a watch box to hold her jewellery in class...I mean the watches...and then you realize you have spare spots in the box...can't have that...back to the watch sites...

You know, that's my one consolation amidst my current misery and self-loathing - at least I'm single!