Jetsons

Keep in mind that NYC is comprised of five very different burroughs. Some are far safer than others. It would be more accurate to look at statics by burrough. Manhattan: Very safe, IMO. Yours truly, family or friends have never had any safety issues in Manhattan at any time of day or night. Harlem: Improving big time in no small part due to the real estate boom of the past several years, restoration of buldings and substantial new development. The economic delopment and rediscovery of Harlem has been amazing and continues. Certain sections are now considered as an attractive alternative as Harlem is home to some wonderful architecture. Bronx: Same as above for Harlem. Queens: Same as above. Brooklyn: Substantial turn around in the past few years. The better neighborhood are now considered to be desireable and have become rather pricey. Areas such as Brooklyn Heights are now seen as extensions of Manhattan. Staten Island: Not too familiar with SI but do not hear of too many safety issues. Taken as a whole, NYC crime trends have been very positive in the past decade or so. Most tourists will visit Manhattan and not much else, which is the safest. I suspect that with the continued trends of restoration and development of previously abandoned areas, NYC will continue on its path of significantly lower crime rates.

MJP, the vintage rollie sport models with the acrylic crystal do not click. There should be a thin metal washer underneath the bezel which as acts sort of a spring & provides friction. It should turn in both directions. With regard to the dial marker color or patina, it can vary quite a bit. The original new tritium dials were an off white. Given mother time, exposure to various temps, humidity and sun light, the patina of a 30 year old dial can be almost anything. I've seen brownish, yellowish and the very well kept examples, have an ivory patina. Glad that you like your new toys.

Interesting! My wife & I have visited their Paris boutique several times and have collected a few. Beautiful workmanship. Their sales ladies are drop dead gorgeous. Reg, no fatalities or injuries at our dinner table either. BTW, many thanks for the sticky ball.....works like a charm!

If your nuts about the watch, I would suggest springing for the OEM clasp. Last I checked, Ofrei had them as well. The OEM is one fine piece of engineering & worth the investment, IMO. Get them while you can.... Omega seems to be going rlx way (strict parts distribution policy) so sourcing original parts may become difficult in the not too distant future.

Awesome, Tribal & excellet work! I don't think you have much need for a gen. Yes, I do like! Cheers, Jet

I would welcome suggestions as well. I was looking at the Makita angle drill which has received excellent reviews. There is also a more powerful model but it is more expensive an the additional power probably is not necessary. http://www.toolking.com/productinfo.aspx?productid=20836

J, I received a nicely ground gen that needed a bit more sanding to achieve a perfect fit on my TWb. I used a sanding drum on the dremel. I held the insert between thumb and index finger and carefully ground the insert. I checked often (make that very often) to check the fit on the bezel. I takes time and patience. The back of the insert should be perfectly flat when complete. Congrats on the TW! Awesome little watch. Added: You guys are super quick! I didn't see the above posts before posting the reply. Glad to see that Ubi also uses the dremel sanding drum method.

I'm not anywhere the caliber of the very talented folks that we are very fortunate to have, but I get huge enjoyment from messing with these watches. I do easy stuff such as polishing cases & bracelets, taking the bezels and inserts apart, removing the case back and greasing the seals. I've gone as far as drilling lugs and bracelets. The second best part of it all, is hunting down difficult to source OEM parts. The learning curve for the past two plus years has been huge and a fun filled trip. I've become somewhat of a parts addict along the way as well. I'm also a big fan of vintage & rare watches as it takes effort and study to find an excellent original example at a reasonable cost.....ah, the thrill of the hunt. I've heard the phrase "reps are reps" many times on these forums. That may be the view of many but from my perspective, not so. The ones I have been fortunate to collect are terrific time pieces that have brought far more fun & education than many of the gens I own or have owned. Dropping the CC at an AD is just too darn easy.

I received the code on an email last night and noticed it this morning. This is the best I could do. I splurged & odered a second can. For $8, it's difficult to go wrong.

Too darn high! Seriously, use coupon code MP6W219 (source code box) and knock off an additional 20%. Valid thru 10-25-06. They always seem to be on back order but they do deliver. It took a couple of weeks or so to get mine. Fantastic deal! Good one, JTB! I totally agree.

Are you using a Bergeon or similar quality screw driver? If not, try with 1.4mm (I'm assuming you have a reg 44mm Pam case). The cheap ones are garbage and slip off the screw head easily. If you can get it out enough, you should be able to remove with needle nose pliers. BTW, the rep screws are prone to stripping......they're junk. Good idea to replace them with quality after market 316L which should eliminate this problem. Best of luck!

Vintage: New, well sort of:

Randy, the rehaut on the TW classic may be too deep for the 14060. That is one massive case. An option may be the more recent (revised) TW case which is shallower and maintains the side case holes. These are probably a heck of a lot easier to source as well. Regards, Jet

The 16610 deep heavy case used in the TW best and the old MBW has been discontinued. EL was the last to have access and his last piece was sold a few weeks ago. A year back or so, River and Sean also had access to them and these are all the sources that I was aware of, outside of the MBW. There was a later model TW best case with the side case holes & identical dial but the case was thinner and lacked the heft of the original. This case would be a good platform for a 14060 project. It's great news if Ruby has found a source with a few left. It would be intereswting to check out a few photos to see exactly what she has. Perhaps she can post them here as not everyone is a member at the Dark Side.

Excellent & very helpful comparison, baltic. The Speedy is certainly one of those rare watches with a timeless design, rich history and represents a darn good value for the $. It has always been in demand for a darn good reason. Very wise choice going for the gen. Congrats on your purchase. It's a gorgeous watch that you will enjoy for a long time.

Excellent comparison & nice photos! Thanks for posting this. I believe Hefland had or perhaps has, a generic T-39 superdome that looked very good on Nanuq's 1665. If still available, it is a killer crystal at a low cost. Perhaps Bob will come along and post a pic of the crystal installed.

Nice suggestion & great sub! I've done this to all my sub inserts including the vintage guys with clear nail polish. I apply it with the tip of a plastic toothpik or very small artist brush. For the vintage inserts, mixing clear polish with tiny bit of brown shoe polish results in a very nice patina, to taste. One does have a tendency to get creative messing around with these watches.

Nanuq, that's far more organized than I would have thought. I expected a couple of hammers plus a power tool or two thrown into the mix. Nice rep on the far left.

Excellent comparison & photos, Tribal! Saabin performed a similar comparison between the MBW and Paul's CN 1665 (double red) at RWG1 a long time ago. He dissected both watches and posted a direct photo comparison which clearly illusttrared the differences of the individual components. The differences between the two were night and day as it is with yours. An eye opener for sure. Upon studying Saabin's comparison, I began the hunt for my first MBW. They are amazing watches and very well constructed (exactly as the gen). Their downside is that one cannot help making a great clone into a fantastic one which unfortunately, can substantially add to their cost specially if sourcing OEM parts. IMO, well worth it! I'm a huge fan those white letter dials. Cheers, Jet

This is something I posted at TRC a while back. My thinking may be all wrong but it is one way to rationalize why an accurate sub case is so darn illusive. ------------------------------------------------- It occured to me that the CN manufactures may not be trying to replicate an accurate rollie sub case at all. The CN thinner case with the shallow set dial seems to be used by a host of gen manufactures that have sub look alike models. I suspect these cases are manufactured along side those utilized for the reps. Why go through the trouble & expense of manufacturing an accurate specific Sub case when it's not widely used or required by gen manufacturers? It then becomes an exercise of adding the different dials, crowns, case backs and bracelets to a common case and out the door they go, in mass. Just a thought on my part but economics, practicality & legal issues may explain why an accurate Sub case is not readily available. The accurate case itself should be simple enough to reproduce if any manufacturer cared to do it. The exception to the above is the old & now discontinued "Taiwan best case" which was used in the TW and MBW 16610. IMO, these are the best platforms from which to begin. They also have the accurate cyclops placement and date mag. My TW:

It's been over two years since my first purchase. I read and read at RWG1 for nearly six months before pulling the trigger. I recall not being sure what to make of it all or what I was looking for but finally decided to join the fun. TW Best Sea-Dweller-one muscular watch From Mr. Sunshine-Excellent purchase experience which no doubt encouraged me to do it again. Ordered two months after placing an order with Paul (FM for my sister) and Eddie's arrived much sooner. Gave it to a family member so I still see it from time to time. Great thread. One never forgets their first purchase.

Thank you Rob for posting this and to the owner for insisting that his watch be used for the illustration. I was aware that prices quoted for works package were ridiculous but this level of workmanship at any price is downright wrong. It is disturbing that so many members wrote glowing reviews of the work that had been performed so often here & TRC. Not much else to add as your excellent write up painfully makes the point. This is truly amazing & hope that all those missing their watches get them back asap. Regards, Jet

I had been hearing rumors of an upcoming price increase for months. I am surprised that rlx increased certain models to this kind of price point but as they sell all they manufacture, what's to stop them. I haven't noticed a bump in the advertised prices on second hand models at TZ but I suspect that will be coming shortly as the word gets around. If someone is looking to jump on a used model, it may not be a bad time. They are expensive but given the legendary resale value of at least the sport models, it doesn't necassarily make them a bad investment, if purchased used. I hope the rep manufacturers don't get the idea & jump on the rlx band wagon.

supermanx, I've noticed the same. Not sure why this is considering the numerous threads & tutorials on cleaning watches. I've done the following and the results have been very good also: For the bracelets, thoroughly clean (liquid soap & water) with a tooth brush. Do the same with a quality Carnuba wax/cleaner. For best results, work the wax/cleaner throroughly between the links. For the links, brush in the same direction as the finish. Presto and the bracelet looks terrific & feels silky smooth. To smooth the sharp inside edges of the bracelet, I use this rig & it works great plus it is easy as pie: http://www.rwg.cc/members/index.php?showtopic=9599&hl= BTW, car wax/polish also works great polishing cases. Simply apply with a soft cotton cloth after cleaning the case.

Great watch and strap, rolli! I'm wearing mine as I type. I also a big fan of the not so run of the mill tuxedo dial. I find the 029's dial less cluttered than that of the 063 and the larger hour markers of the 029 are also a plus. I have both (gave the little lady the 063 which she loves) and have received more compliments on the 029. Both are superb watches specially with the silky smooth and super accurate 2893-2. These guys are keepers for sure!