Agrippa

Will do!

You da man! That's all I needed to know mate, much obliged to ya. I'll go ahead and get myself one of the 4-strap boxes from OT as soon as the next paycheck arrives. I'm thinking a gator, a shark and a couple of calfs (or bull leather, as they call them. Could well be that's what it is I guess), so I get a handle on how they all look and feel.

Ask and you shall receive.

Much obliged mate! That strap looks pretty good and no doubt better than the ones from BOB. Just about the same price as well. Could you possibly do me/us one more favour though, and measure the thickest point of the strap, near the watch head? Just so I can compare the padding it has with the BOBs and the rep I already have.

Can you get it in blue surround instead of black?

He says he can make Breitling straps from any of the materials listed on his site, so I imagine it only depends on what colours he can get or has in stock.

Looks like that's just what I'm after; thanks a lot! Is that in black buffalo, or something else? And is it machine stitched, or hand?

With VAT at 25% here, I always ask sellers (whether shops or individuals) to lie through their teeth when shipping my goods. Have done for years and years and I've never had any problems with customs. As long as it's sent as registered mail the chance of it being lost or stolen is miniscule (but still possible of course), while unregistered mail disappears far more often (in my experience anyway). If customs questions do arise, just make sure the seller has sent you an invoice via e-mail where your preferred value is clearly stated.

I have a couple shark skin straps from Official Time and they are heavily padded and slightly thicker then the Gen Croco. I have as well. Really impressed with Official Times products, nice craftsmanship and fit very well.

Great stuff, that's what I wanted to hear! I'll certainly pick up a couple then and see for myself.

BMike - pix of the strap mounted on a Breit?!...

I second that motion.

I bought my last deployment replacement for my Chrono Avenger from WatchNetwork. Not cheap but you can customise everything including profile shape and depth.

http://www.watchnetwork.com/ClassiApp/ClassiPost/Post?process=strap_color&StrapColorFamilyID=1&sid=81kZsu4TRqmig11hNsjHaxk3I.040901&StrapID=&dupid=81HHuiI59iBmU11lDuv.6FdVZ.044629&edit=

Thanks a lot mate, I'd not come across that site before. Any chance of a picture?

Not to worry, I found HK Tan (assume that's the guy?) over at RepGeek. I'll sling him a mail and see what he says. Thanks for chiming in and for the great photo Lani!

That's truly a fab strap Lani; had a good look at it earlier. Got a link to where I can get it?

Whatever do you mean? You do see I've got my slippers on, don't you?

Actually, Homer's the only candidate I've found so far, I just forgot to mention him. I intend to get a couple of his black pythons (lovely things...), but he had some kind of problems accepting payments, so I'm just hanging on for now until I hear he's sorted himself out.

Seems we're diametrically opposed as far as strap fasteners are concerned hackR, as I've concluded that Breitling-style deployants are the only thing that'll work for me. You do get that bulge, just like with ordinary deployants, but I can't say that's ever bothered me at all. On the other hand I'm very particular (just another word for difficult) about strap tension - I hate it when they're too tight and I don't like it when they're too loose - and the Breitling deployment is the only thing I've ever seen that'll let me adjust my straps just so, rather than in set intervals.

Well, we'll see what I end up with I guess. More rep straps probably, unless someone else chimes in with some straps I've yet to see. Once again, I'd be very interested to hear if anyone's tried the straps from Official Time and compared them against the rep straps or the genuine article.

A while ago I thought I'd check out the Breitling deployment straps from BOB and ordered a couple of them. Nice enough straps, particularly for the price ($29.50), but as far as I'm concerned they're not padded heavily enough, are too light and simply don't have sufficient "presence" to suit a large and heavy Breitling head. So I'm wondering - are there any OEM Breitling straps out there, at a reasonable price (say up to ~$50 or so), which compare favourably with the rep straps/original straps?

I thought perhaps I'd check out Official Time's offerings too, but like the BOB straps they don't really seem to be padded sufficiently in comparison with the gens and reps. Could be wrong though, as it's not that easy to judge from the pictures. Anyone tried them?

Anyway; if you know of any good (as in heavily padded + good quality) Breitling deployment straps which are reasonably priced, I'd be grateful if you shared it here.

Depends what you mean by a dress watch. Personally I think you can wear anything with a suit, just as long as you're ok with the combo yourself. Who cares what anybody else thinks anyway.

As far as "dress watch" is concerned, the term seems to mean just about anything that isn't a half pound diver's watch today, depending on who's doing the talking. If, on the other hand, you mean a dress watch in the traditional (and correct) sense, then it means a watch that is simple, lacks adornments and complications and does not in any way draw attention to itself (except the attention of watch aficionados of course. Classic examples would be Patek's Calatrava, Vacheron Constantin's Patrimony [basic model] and Jaeger LeCoultre's Master Control [basic model]), except by it's sheer elegance. Hence a chronograph cannot be a dress watch and the Hamilton you're after is definitively not one, but rather a sports watch.

My 2 farthings: if the Hamilton is the watch you really like, then get it and wear it with whatever the hell you want. If you want/need to be "correct" (in an old school kinda way), then you need to look elsewhere.

Exactly what good does a vasodilating drug do in bodybuilding? Anyway, I don't know the first thing about training in general or bodybuilding in particular, but I do know that sustained, elevated levels of Nitric Oxide will cause direct tissue toxicity and in severe cases may result in systemic collapse of the vascular system. Or as it's sometimes called: death.

I would say there's exactly no chance of getting a 7750-based watch at that price and that the watch most likely has a 21j heart and some faux functions.

The rear of a 7750-based Longines, the same model from their Master Collection:

The rear of "your" Longines:

It also looks to me like the latter has laser etched lettering on the back, instead of the engraved lettering of the more expensive rep.

If you're after a cheap Longines rep you might be better off here.

The IWC is very nice, but for my money Jaeger LeCoultre has the best one. I received two of those; a softcover English edition and a hard-back in French. The latter, although cool, is of somewhat limited use for someone who can only count to 10 and order beer in French, but what the hell.

Apart from those I've got several hard-backed ones, like DeWitt, TAG Heuer, Ebel, Ulysse Nardin and more, but none are quite up to the standards of IWC and JLC. UN probably slides into third place as far as quality goes. Haven't been able to get a Breguet catalogue yet, but I've not given up hope.

Patek Philippe and Vacheron Constantin's catalogues are piddly little booklets by the way. Quite disappointing. Then again they probably have better offerings for people they know to be loaded.

Hope you find what you're after and I'm sure you'll be as pleased as I was with what you get. Looking forward to the pics. :-)

Mad Dog's can be reached at maddog@aon.at. He makes excellent straps by the way, but you likely know that already, since you're interested. His buckles in damascene steel are pretty damn special too, if the price doesn't scare you.

Well...10-12 weeks later...no package

I've had stuff sent via surface mail from the US several times over the years and never once has it shown up in under 3 months, so I think it's a bit early to write off the shipment just yet Toad. The longest I've waited was well over 6 months (maybe more than 7, I lost track well before arrival), when USPS apparently decided Norway was a town in South Korea. Postal workers there decided it was in fact a small hamlet on the South African weld and sent it onwards. Fortunately some bright spark in Jo'burg seemed to have heard of my country and sent it northwards.

In other words: it really is far too early to give up hope. Surface Mail appears to mean that the parcel will be loaded onto the slowest ship available, preferably one which travels to the Far East first, or all the way down the coast of South America, before heading for Europe. Once it has put in to port as far as geographically possible from its destination, the overland leg of the journey is then made in the back of a 1964-model Tatra lorry with a top speed of 48 kilometers per hour (if the wind is right).

It'll probably get there, it's just hard to say when. In the future it might be best to use Surface Mail only for things neither you, nor the recipient particularly cares about. It really is more alike to an adventure sport than a postal service offering.

lol you dim bulb

The award has been about this group's view of international politics for a long time

That's just your opinion though and anything but a statement of fact, but of course an opinion you're entitled to. However, since the current committee is made up of people ranging from the political moderate left to the extreme right (in European terms, of course) it would seem to have limited factual merit.

It's not an American view, it's a well established general view today as well as at the time it was granted.

Again, that's just your personal opinion. My impression is different, but of course neither of us can prove our opinions right.

Begin was known to have previously been the leader of a militant group that carried out organized terrorist bombings.

More to the point, in my opinion, Menachem Begins's Irgun is considered the progenitor of modern terrorism. As far as I'm concerned there was far better cause to revile the awarding of the prize in -78 than in -94.

Even if you eliminate all the controversial winners of years past

Not sure who you are referring to here, possibly because the view of the awardees in the US and here likely differs a great deal. If we take the last 10 years for instance, I can only recall 1 price as being particularly controversial - specifically the one that went to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and Al Gore Jr. No surprise there, given that a large segment of the population does not accept that there is such a thing as non-natural climate change. In the preceeding 10 years there was Arafat et. al., but no other great dramas I can recall and beyond that my memory is getting gradually foggier, with the exception of the odd memorable highlight here and there.

you still have to question the importance and stature of the award when it is being handed out not on the basis actions or deeds but on the basis of well aligned speech writing

Again, that just your personal opinion, nothing more. Mine is pretty much the opposite, although perhaps not quite.

Anyway, I have no real opinion of Obama and probably won't have for another couple of years, so I'll bow out here.

No confusion here Freddy. Socialism and communism is in fact one and the same.

Socialism @ Merriam-Webster:

Main Entry: so·cial·ism

Pronunciation: \ˈsō-shə-ˌli-zəm\

Function: noun

Date: 1837

1 : any of various economic and political theories advocating collective or governmental ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods

2 a : a system of society or group living in which there is no private property b : a system or condition of society in which the means of production are owned and controlled by the state

3 : a stage of society in Marxist theory transitional between capitalism and communism and distinguished by unequal distribution of goods and pay according to work done

Communism @ Merriam-Webster:

Main Entry: com·mu·nism

Pronunciation: \ˈkäm-yə-ˌni-zəm, -yü-\

Function: noun

Etymology: French communisme, from commun common

Date: 1840

1 a : a theory advocating elimination of private property b : a system in which goods are owned in common and are available to all as needed

2 capitalized a : a doctrine based on revolutionary Marxian socialism and Marxism-Leninism that was the official ideology of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics b : a totalitarian system of government in which a single authoritarian party controls state-owned means of production c : a final stage of society in Marxist theory in which the state has withered away and economic goods are distributed equitably d : communist systems collectively

Or more exactly, communism is a form of socialism. Same difference really.

Where do you place Vermont Senator, Bernie Sanders, who describes himself as a democratic socialist, on the world political scale?

Without knowing Mr. Sanders' political views in more depth than I do I wouldn't like to say, but I would think that like most of those who are labeled "liberals" in the US, he would fall somewhere to the right of center. One thing he certainly isn't is a socialist, but then the term socialist appears to mean something entirely different in the US than it does anywhere else in the world.

Socialism, to wit, is the doctrine that the workers should themselves own all means of production, i.e. that everything barring personal possessions should be owned by the collective. A socialist state does not not exist anywhere, has never existed anywhere and to my knowledge there is no-one in the world today who is actually advocating the adoption of a socialist system. Well, except a few tired, old Stalinists here and there who no-one listens to and one or two dictators who say "socialism", but actually means "it's all mine!!".

yea im an alpha male and im sorry for you

Are you quite sure you're in fact not a zit-faced teen with no life, spending 21.5 hours every day of the week glued to a computer screen because no-one likes you and posting pointless and dimwitted stuff on a variety of internet fora in a doomed attempt at attaining something vaguely resembling self-esteem?

Just asking.

...the credibility of the left wing radical panelists who are responsible for distributing it...

Left wing radical panelists? Eh, what? Really Chief, it pays to do a little research before making statements like that.... Have you even checked who makes up the committee?

It probably also pays to be bear in mind that the most liberal democrat in existence in the US is still situated towards the very farthest of the far right as far as European politics in general is concerned, and for that sake in terms of the politics of the rest of the world's democracies. Which probably puts those whom you label left wing radicals just a little right of center in our terms.

As for the relevance of the prize in the world today, the fact that it was once given to someone most Americans didn't like means only that it has (irrevocably, no doubt) lost it's relevance in the US. But then the US would appear to consider all prizes not awarded by the US as being of little or no relevance in the first place, or indeed most things not of US origin, be they prizes or otherwise (well, except perhaps watches), so little or nothing was likely actually lost.

Divorce/separation/breaking up is a big, fat, mean b*tch man.... Feeling like that smelly something that someone wiped off their shoe on the curb doesn't last forever though - just take care of yourself and in a while it'll start to gradually wear off. A bit longer still and you'll see that it's not even close to the end of civilisation as we know it. The trick is to just hang in there and and try to not wallow too much in grief and self-pity. Eat well, don't get glued to the couch, but keep active and if possible make a point of doing stuff you enjoy and it'll pass much sooner than if you get bogged down in mental sewage and inactivity.

I've been through it more than once and I'm still around. If I could do it, so can anyone who ain't three quarters dead.

All the best man.

Sure thing, I too have read the same piece a few different places. Like I said I have no definitive info either way (obviously, since I know exactly nobugger in the watch business), but I've seen the ETA angle in print (or on liquid crystal) a few places now, so I'm not sure what to think. Not thatI actually care either way - in-house or out-house is all the same to me - except that it would be interesting to have the issue resolved once and for all.