Agrippa

That was my first choice too, although with a blue dial, so yeah - an excellent choice mate! :-) A few more have followed and a few more have yet to be bought.

At 6.7" I think you may be right. My wrist is 7" and I feel the SOH is at the absolute limit of what I can wear without looking like a complete twit. Luckily it doesn't sport a chunky bezel, or it would have been a complete no-no.

Stunning indeed! Has to be my next purchase, I think, Chief's AR and all.

Oh to have a time machine and a bucket full of cash....

I'm not entirely sure how often you drop by here Vac, but I just want to say thanks for the very competent lume job on my SuperOcean Heritage. I received it a couple of days ago and if it wasn't for the fact that I've been working I wouldn't have been able to take my eyes off it at all. With your lume work and Chief's AR it's nothing short of a work of art!

A bit later, in 2007. The model it commemorates is the original 1957 SuperOcean though.

Yeah....I should possibly mention that I'm wearing the largest watch I own; a SuperOcean Heritage I just received. Utterly lovely, despite it's 46mm diameter.

I did read it, but my reply was still on the side of the topic, for which I apologise. It was Demsey who got me going to be honest.... You're quite right about large movements being used for their size of course, but those large watches were still just made for specific target audiences and for specific uses, until large watches became a fashion thing. Everyone still wore small watches, including those same professionals when they weren't working. A pilot, captain or diver of the 30s, 40s, 50s or 60s would likely not want to be caught dead wearing his big work watch outside work, since they would not have been considered particularly stylish, to put it politely. Hence I don't really see that there ever was an era of big watches; the era of big fliegers and Panerais was actually the era of small watches and those big pieces captures none of the zeitgeist of those times, except strictly in regards to the professional time pieces of the day. If anything, if the fashion for huge time pieces continues then this might be the era of big watches, far more than any other. Anyway, I should probably just shut up now....

I'm with Dempsey. Marketing is all today, whether we're talking detergent, cat food, clothes or watches. 50mm watches are in because people on the front of magazines, whom the media has told us are cool, are pictured wearing them. And because they're different from what has gone before, which is now dusty and dead. Out with the old, in with the new, so that the people keep wanting, lusting and, most importantly, buying, buying, buying. Then, a few years down the line, 36mm will once again be the in thing to wear. Back in the day, which for Panerai was what - 1900 to mid 1970s perhaps? - I'd say almost no-one was wearing Panerai, except those for whom Panerai was made: naval officers, divers and the like. I'm pretty sure no-one was wearing big fliegers either, except for fliegers and then only while actually flying. Back on earth, they'd be all too happy to switch to a normal-size 36-38mm, since who the hell needs a 45+mm watch under normal circumstances? Quite frankly, in my opinion today's huge watches are nothing more than a passing fad, created by marketing people in order to combat waning sales. But then, that goes for so very, very much these days....

I've no idea how often Patek make changes to their lineup, but in terms of their current collection at least this can only be an attempt at a Gondolo (ref. no. 5124). If so, I'm afraid its not a very good attempt at all. It could certainly be a stab at an older model, but nevertheless it doesn't make a very good effort at masquerading as a genuine Patek.

There was a great piece on BBC just recently about Lynn Rogers and "his" bears, entitled "Bearwalker of the Northwoods". Very highly recommended viewing.

The rep strap is pretty damn stiff out of the box. Spend a few minutes bending it to soften it up and it'll improve enough to be comfortable (at least on my wrist it is), but it'll never be as soft as supple as a quality strap.

From what I've read it seems the Navi actually always/often come with a shorter than usual bracelet. My wrist is only just over 7" and I couldn't use mine either without first getting hold of extra links.

Any and all dealers could get you a few links for your Navi bracelet - if they could be bothered. I'd have sent you a link or two myself if you'd had a two-tone Navi, but since you don't I would try Tony at www.asian7750.com. He's always been very obliging when I've asked him to get me something and his/their prices are about the lowest you'll find.

The subdials on mine (a two-tone with black dial) have no "lemony" cast to them, so my guess would be that you have a crystal with a yellowish cast to the AR. If so, then the Navitimer really, really deserves some better AR coating, like that offered by Chief. No idea about where to get gen straps though.

You might want to consider getting the suit in Thailand as well, as there is no shortage of competent (most often Indian) tailors there. One good shop in Bangkok is (or used to be at least) Boss Apparels, close to the National Stadium skytrain stop. I was told by British expats I met that it was where they got their clothes made and personally I was very happy with my purchase of some linen shirts and a linen suit. Not rock bottom prices, but more than fair compared to Europe and very laid back and competent staff. Might be worth a look.

I'd say it'll be at least another couple of decades before China is anywhere near the remainder of the developed world in regards to QC and business practices in general. Just like the Chinese cuisine is born from centuries of widespread starvation (hence they eat anything at all), Chinese business practices are a result of centuries of abject poverty for vast swathes of the country. Hence making a buck right here and now, in any way possible and with as little effort as possible, is still far more important for most, than cultivating good business relations and showing consistency in quality. Considering how deeply ingrained this still is in the Chinese soul, it'll likely take ages before it's no longer a problem in terms of their business relations with the world outside China. Then again, as China slowly improves their quality and consistency, the West appears to grow accustomed to, and be increasingly happy with, the amazingly low quality of goods we're now being offered across the board, so maybe China won't have to improve that much after all.

The most accurate dials vs the genuine articles are, if I've read the experts here right, the graphite (though I'm uncertain if it applies to the one you've linked, or this one) and the black "white-eye" versions. Can't remember if the white one's been mentioned, but surely it must be fairly accurate too. The rhodium, as mentioned above, is not terribly accurate (since the colour properties of rhodium can't really be replicated by anything else), but it's certainly very, very nice regardless. I have the rhodium dial and the graphite (the one I linked to) myself and both are very nice watches indeed.

Actually, the Breitling rep straps are pretty good when you see them in person. They're generally considered the best rep straps available and they're certainly a hell of a lot better than every other rep strap I've seen. As far as installing it goes, it couldn't be much easier. You'll need a spring bar tool to do it (or at least to de-install it), but if you're capable of using a knife and fork you'll be able to fit the strap without difficulty.

What Toad said. It's a very nice watch, but is there really any need for a mini-SA in the line-up, in particular when it means losing what was good about the Skyland?

The parcel should be tracked immediately upon arrival in UK. If it hasn't even been registered in the UK, then the seller will have to ask USPS to attempt to track it from his end.

Have you tried tracking it through Royal Mail? It it's arrived in the UK it ought to show up there.

Regular Air Mail US > Norway generally takes around 10 days, although f*ckups happen relatively frequently. That ought to be a lot less likely when the shipment is destined for the UK, but still possible of course. So basically, around 10 days should be the norm. 3 weeks = time to start worrying slightly, but not yet the time for outright panic. In any case, if you have a tracking no. you can just toddle off to the post office and have them do a trace. If they find it, then you'll have your answer; if they don't, then all may still be well since tracking info is lost right, left and center. If that's the case then give it another week, before marching back to demand they find it.

True enough, on the Ingenieur it would no doubt be nice. I see there are some IWC deployants for sale in the straps section too... My Breitlings, however, demand leather.

Thanks DaveC. Yep, I saw that hand stitching is an option, but yours looks good to me so I wouldn't bother with the extra $30. In any case I'll get those OT straps first, then we'll see what happens. Lani's HK Tan strap is awfully nice, but comes in at $169 (or $139 in calf). K. Wong has some interesting leathers I'm tempted by (elephant, horse and frog for example) and is cheaper ($89 for calf/horse, $95 for elephant, $125 for shark), but I've only seen his deployments in carbon, so that's a slight gamble. The carbons look well done, but they're not my cup of tea at all. Decisions, decisions, decisions.