jkerouac

Sorry, I wish I could, but my DVR is not connected to my computer or the Internet. It's a cable company service. As long as the question has come up, does someone know how to hook a Comcast/Motorola DVR up to a PC to download a recording from the former to the latter? I always assumed this wasn't possible, but I never had the urge or need to investigate.

Check the review section for info on TWP. He has had some ups and downs and is not currently listed in our Collectors section. The Chopard GMTs are available from a number of dealers. Check their Web sites and reviews. Cheers.

As long as prices are quoted in dollars and the dollar remains weak or continues to weaken, dealers will raise their prices somewhat just to stay even with the margins that they were earning just a year or two ago -- add to that the higher prices charged for newer models, and you get many of the pricing pain that we are experiencing now. This is probably OK for veteran collectors who already have a sizable number of reps and don't necessarily feel like they need many (or any) more, but more difficult for people still building their collections. As for reliability, if you really value a rep, particularly an Asian 7750, you should get it serviced early. So a $300 rep quickly becomes a $500 rep, albeit one that should be as reliable as a gen for many years to come. Used prices are a different story. There is so much hype about "modded this" and "modded that" that I think a number of people are buying watches and performing some level of modification just so they can charge an inflated price and make a nice profit off of fellow members. I'm not sure I would buy a modded watch from a fellow member right now unless I really felt that comfortable with that member and his reputation. If it is a watch I really desired, I would probably lean toward buying it new from a dealer and having the mods done myself.

Nice review, Stephane, and excellent pictures. Makes me want to put mine on, which I'll do after I post this. In my case it's the less expensive Asian version, which in my opinion is one of the best bargains around today.

Damn and double damn. The watch I most wanted to have the chieftang AR treatment -- my Chopard GMT-- is ineligible due to being a sandwich crystal. The Zigmeister's post forces me to select another good candidate. Greetings and best wishes to Rob, Jennifer, and the Chief.

I recorded this program, but haven't seen it yet. Unfortunately my wife watched it last night, and this morning she said she hopes I don't buy any more reps -- watches or otherwise. I should have known better, but I figured she'd rather watch whatever was on TCM, or any of the other movies we've recorded on DVR, than a documentary about the rep trade. Fortunately I don't have anything in the pipeline, or even anything specific on my wishlist, right now. But I need to watch this show so I can figure out how to address or break down her new-found concerns.

Thanks for the pictures. I have one cousin who lives in Basel and several others who live in Zurich, as well as even more relatives in the countryside between the two cities, so I visit every few years. Of course I have to cruise all the wonderful watch retailers in Zurich. This is why I refer to watches as my "Swiss disease"-- every time I visit, I want to buy a new watch! I have attended many trade shows in the U.S., including Consumer Electronics, Home Builders (50,000+ people!!!), Food Marketing Assn. (more samples than you could ever imagine), major auto shows, as well as many computer-related shows (last week the RSA security conference in San Francisco with 15,000+). But that watch expositions seems very, very different from any that I have ever experienced.

I used to like McCain when he actually stood for straight talk. The problem is that he realized the Republicans would never make him hteir candidate until he sucked up to Bush and his policies. So he parked the Straight Talk Express and is the real "say-anything-to-get-elected" candidate in this election. As for Obama's credentials, I kind of like the idea of having a former professor of constitutional law in the White House -- a definite change of pace from the current crew.

Did anyone catch the recent TR Reid documentary on health care systems around the world? My PBS station aired it last night. Reid profiled the pluses and minuses of the British, Japanese, German, Taiwanese, and Swiss health care systems, and compared them to the U.S. model. We pay far more per capita on health care than any other country, yet we rank around 30th in the quality of health care worldwide. There is tons of room for reform and improvement, and for years I have considered it the number 1 issue that US leaders need to address. The point is that McCain has no real health care proposals, Clinton has the most comprehensive proposal, and Obama proposes a plan that is less comprehensive than Clinton's. On that basis alone -- and the fact that I presume Clinton learned a lot from the drubbing she took during her previous foray into health care while Bill was president -- I would vote for Hillary. But Obama is the better all around candidate and, I believe, would make a more effective leader.

For the record, I know people with gens who have gotten $500+ services direct from the factory and still had reliability problems. So spending several grand for a gen is not an absolute cast in stone guarantee that you will never encounter problems. With reps at least the pain of having a watch fail is eased by the fact that you didn't spend a mint for the watch. I have had a few of my favorite reps preemptively serviced (both Asian 7750s), and others that I will simply toss or keep for parts if or when they break down. And for the record, in 3.5 years of collecting, only one really cheap (under $100) rep has died on me.

My parents gave me a Geneve for my high school graduation back in the mid 70s--brushed gold case and a very unique and stylish dial. I didn't take care of it properly and let it rust out from water damage during a Hawaii trip. In any case, I periodically browse ebay for the Geneve in brushed gold, but I've never seen one with the dial that I am interested in. As a fallback, I figure that I'll have dibs on inheriting my father's brushed SS case Geneve with the more frequently seen blue bullseye-style dial. One other thing -- most of these watches that I see posted on ebay are from sellers in the Phillipines, India, Singapore, etc. Even with ebay's so-called protections, I would be nervous spending $500 or more to one of these vendors for a watch that is more than 30 years old.

Scooters have actually become fairly popular in the U.S., particularly in cities where traffic and parking are major hassles. The nice thing about scooters is that you don't need a motorcycle endorsement on your drivers license to use one, although that limits you to staying off highways and squarely in the slow lane. When we do buy, it will probably be a Vespa because people pay a premium for the brand name alone. Honda makes some nice retro-style scooters that are a bit more reasonably priced. I'm curious whether other stateside forum members own scooters and what your experiences are with them.

The U.S. economy seems to be in a real bung hole right now, but we are not alone. Have you read or heard about the food riots in many third world countries because basic staple food prices have doubled? I balk when I look at produce prices in my local market, but at least I can still make intelligent choices (picking items that are on sale) and eat and drink comfortably enought to have to worry about my weight. What about places where staples such as rice or beans are suddenly out of reach? I just filled my wife's (Honda Accord) gas tank yesterday for $45+ bucks, and today's fillup on my Camry Hybrid came in at $49.95. Jeesh. I know these prices are nothing compared to what our friends in England, Germany, or even Canada pay. But I always thought only an SUV/premium gas person would pay prices like that. When I bought my Camry a few months ago I'm really glad I didn't opt for the premium-fueled and mpg-challenged Infiniti or Audi. And at least I have the luxury of saying I can pay these bills. I could join a van pool, but the schedule would really suck, so I choose to drive 18 miles each way solo (when I can't VPN and work from home). My "stimulus" check will probably go toward a Vespa or similar scooter. It won't get me to/from work, but my wife has wanted one for years and it will be a fun and fuel-efficient alternative for local/downtown trips. Still, the overall worldwide economic picture is scary. Prediction: Just wait until China experiences significant social upheaval around the summer Olympics. As for reps, my last purchase was in August of last year. Since then I've invested in service (thank you The Zigmeister and Jennifer) and a few straps, but I don't know when I'll make my next rep purchase, or what it will be. It certainly won't come from my stimulus check.

Two-part crystal. I was going to have mind done by ChiefTang, but it was a no-go. Someone had the creative suggestion of having each part ARed, then removing the inner-facing AR layers before reassembly. I'm not sure if this has been done. I love the Panda GMT, but you might want to check out reviews of the new special edition chrono models instead. I think they come with decent AR in place -- but they don't come in a GMT version or as a Panda

This is an amazing thread. Ubi and the bidders deserve major kudos for their generosity. When I put my RWG watch box up for bid I considered including the watch itself, but I just couldn't part with it. It isn't as flashy or dramatic as many current models, but it is a true piece of board history. I haven't worn my RWG Collaboration 1 in a few months, but I'm wearing it now and thinking, "this is a pretty nice watch." Who knows, perhaps one day soon I'll get to wear it along with my RWG decoder ring!

I'm in as well, but I also support TeeJay's suggestion of a more creative logo than simply the initials RWG. His rough draft is a good start, but I hope our creative types would submit additional options -- and not all merely based on the initials R, W, and G.

Probably just a minor Internet hiccup. Name servers are the "traffic cops" that translate the "friendly names" that we use, such as rwg.cc, into numeric internet addresses that allow us to access Web sites. There are numerous name servers, and replicas of their data, but if one or more become temporarily unavailable, you may not be able to access some Web sites. For now, I suggest that you rest comfortably in the knowledge that when the Internet connections once again become available, Joshua and Andrew will be more than happy to accept your money. Cheers.

I don't know where it started, but I just found this link that has some great examples of how gullible people can be: Top 100 April Fools Gags of All Time Cheers. Excuse me, but I have to go out and harvest some spaghetti. Sidd Finch is coming to dinner to talk about our trip to San Serrife.

None taken....................... ..................................... ....................................... What were we just talking about????

I was about to reply that the lume is pretty terrific already, that at 6 a.m. I could still make out the time easily ... but then I remembered how I'd had The Zigmeister upgrade the lume last fall, and how pathetic the lume was before The Zigmeister. (I wonder if he could relume my memory so I don't forget details like this?) Honestly, the subtle difference of the rehaut from the gen slate version is less of an issue than the lume. The lume, after all, makes a significant impact on the usability of the watch. Do that and you will have a fantastic rep.

This might be an excellent alternative for those of us who are drawn to the Portugese but stayed away because of the potential reliability issue. Gen dimensions: Case diameter: 41 mm Case height: 13.5 mm

I ran into this problem as well. This thread describes a possible AR strategy: Chopard crystal discussion

Hearty congratulations and many happy returns to you and your bride. Of course now we will expect similar wrist shots taken during your honeymoon... assuming you have the time to see some sites or relax by a pool or beach during your honeymoon.

I also have a fairly slim wrist, ab. 6.75" I believe. I love the bracelet. The use of a fixed endlink actually makes the watch-bracelet transition much smoother and tighter than on many of the bracelet watches that I own. Oftentimes when people with slimmer wrists wear a large watch with a bracelet, the bracelet can point almost straight down even including the endlink. This problem does not apply to the Chopard.

I'm wearing the white dial/black subdial Chopard as I type this. It is my current favorite watch. The one negative is the rather poor AR. Good AR would allow one to appreciate the stunning dial even more. I tried to get the crystal ARed in one of Chieftang's AR runs, but found out that this watch has a type of sandwich crystal that requires rather special treatment, so I decided to pass. It's a beautiful watch and dial either way, but I was very disappointed at this obstacle. Another really good white dial option to consider is the VC Overseas. The textured dial is fantastic. A great sporty dress watch.