jkerouac

Holy crap.

I, too, have been contemplating adding a gold watch to my collection -- and I have been eyeing the Mille Miglia GMT.

Plus I love GMTs (although I am wary of chrono/GMT combinations).

This is going to require some study.

Interesting theory.

Of course, if you subscribe to the notion that gays have a greater fashion sense than the normal person (i.e. Queer Eye for The Straight Guy), then the purest "straight" watch you could wear is a Timex (shades of the US Cowboy in Chief).

But that might also call into question the leanings of such notable gays as James Bond (why is he always so happy to see his friend Felix Leiter?), Paul Newman (Butch & Sundance), Steve McQueen, Pablo Montoya, Ayrton Senna, Tiger Woods, and on and on.

Now let's see who all runs to the Trading Forum to unload all of their reps.

Crazy? His new Web site name isn't crazy.....is it? http://www.pam111.com/

I agree with all of the above suggestions.

I also like to try them out on small tasks to get a sense for whether or not I want to trust them with something more complex. For example, there is a guy a couple of miles from my house who does watch repair but I would be reluctant to let him do much more than resize a band (if I am unable to resize it). Farther away, but not that far from my office, is an independent watch repair guy who I will use for slightly more substantial projects. I've talked to him a number of times about watches and reps, and I think he enjoys the projects that I have brought to him. I'm still not sure whether I would use him for an overhaul, though. For that my first choice would probably make The Zigmeister my first choice.

I love AP but for this kind of use its a joke that its only "water-resistant up to 100 meters"

You are thinking perhaps that the watch should stay water-resistant even if the boat goes down?

Does anybody really watch yacht races? I suppose it is one thing to be there in person, but I've tried to watch them on television and even using interactive Web apps, but in my opinion watching is not much higher on the excitement scale than watching golf. The difference is that with golf you have lovely super-natural parklike environments, and in yacht racing you have the beauty of the open water.

In any case, being American and as there are no remaining American entrants (and I can't ever imagine cheering for Larry Ellison's boat), I find myself solidly in favor of the Alinghi team. First, they are Swiss, second they have the coolest watch affiliation (does the New Zealand/Emirates team even have a watch affiliation), and third, the Alinghi offices in Switzerland are within a few miles of my cousin's home in Switzerland.

Go Alinghi!

Anyone not famiiliar with the name William Randolph Hearst should note that he is generally considered the model for the classic movie Citizen Kane. A more recent movie, The Cat's Meow, is based on a supposedly true story of a death during a yachting journey where Hearst hosted notables such as Charlie Chaplin as his guests. Kirsten Dunst plays Marion Davies, an actress of the time who was Hearst's mistress. Supposedly Hearst bcame jealous at the philandering Chaplin's attentions to Davies, and accidentally killed another guest when he actually intended to take a good whack at Chaplin.

More info on Hearst Castle

The coast between Monterey and Hearst Castle that Muttsta described is the Big Sur coast, one of the most scenic drives in the US, if not the world. Big Sur on Wikipedia .

What an awesome trip.

Damn. I hope you feel better soon, Sash. Best wishes.

I'm in a similar position right now, but not as bad as you. On Wednesday I took a "misstep" and tumbled off a 4 ft. ledge onto my driveway.

I am fortunate in that I "only" sprained my Achilles tendon, rather than breaking an elbow, knee, or skull.

But I, too, have to stay off my feet and ice the ankle until the swelling goes down. I also have some lovely "road rash" and cuts on my arm and knee, but I was relieved to see that the new watch I was wearing didn't take a scratch. I think scratching a new watch would have [censored] me off more than the road rash.

When I have a beer later, I will toast to your fast and full recovery.

Those are lovely pics. They make me want to go and wear my SMP. (For some reason I always have the hardest time deciding on what watch to wear when the weekend approaches.)

As for the bracelet screws, I share your sentiments about the poor quality of the screws and the need for a more configurable bracelet.

Good thing I didn't respond to this thread when it first came out because I added some strong role players since then:

Daily beater: Omega Speedmaster or Omega PO

Dress watch: Breitling Evo or IWC GST

Smart casual: Pam 192 or VC Overseas

Sporty watch: Chopard Gran Turismo XL or Seamaster Pro GMT

Lol: I just realized that my perfect list of 4 contains eight watches.

I believe I saw that on his site for a while now.

I guess it's been a while since I studied all the options Paul has to offer.

Now he is selling memory cards as well as watches? Are the memory cards genuine or reps? I wonder....http://www.pam111.com/index.php?cPath=125

SQL_PL is a cruel, cruel man to tease us this way---------- but thanks very, very much for doing so.

By the way, I think you ought to buy her a nice ring to go with the Navi.

I didn't intend any comment or critique of any dealer in my comments. I'd probably go with Ken before anyone else, if I was to purchase rep clothing on line. But where fit and comfort are critical, I really, really want to try on exactly what I'm getting before I put down my credit card.

Buying clothing online is particularly difficult because size and fit are variable.

I purchased Levi jeans online and no problem, they fit just as I expected. I purchased Ecco shoes online from a regular store and they were/are the most uncomfortable pair of Eccos that I have ever owned. If I had purchased them from Nordstrom or Macys I would have taken them right back.

I can't say for sure whether these Eccos are or are not reps. But I would never under any circumstances deliberately buy a pair of rep shoes.

A belt or wallet, probably. A suit or sport coat definitely not. But a shirt, especially a casual shirt such as a polo, perhaps.

I am late to this thread, but as I play catchup I still haven't seen anybody really nail what I consider the number one problem that we face today ---> ourselves. We pay for the watches, we obsess about every last detail, we boast about the mods such as date wheels, lume, bezels, etc that we paid for. And in the process we are basically yelling at the top of our lungs that we will pay whatever the dealer wants for the next really, really special rep.

So the dealers asked us, "Hey, what do you think of this new upcoming model?" Move the logo, darken the font, etc. and etc. we give them our feedback, which they incorporate, and in the process we get our collective juices going to the point that we cannot do anything but pay for the latest Evo or Big Bang or Cousteau or whatever.

The dealers have us by the balls because we handed our balls over on a silver platter. We're drooling over the next opportunity to fork over our money, so charge whatever you want and we will pay.

I have an Evo, and I have an Inge (with a lovely Lello date wheel that my local watchmaker charged $70 to install!), so I am not a pure virgin in this "ultimate" premium rep process.

But when tempted by the Cousteau or most of these other super reps I really try to remind myself that 1) I got into this sport in part because gens are too expensive, and 2) I like variety. Well, after a few years I have variety. Perhaps I don't have all the reps that would be at the top of my shopping list if I was starting out today, but I have quite a few extremely nice watches that I struggle to give wrist time to.

So I'm, stepping back from the expensive ultimates and hoping that my fellow collectors do the same. If they do, the prices will come down to levels we feel more comfortable with. And the sad fact is, I will probably end up spending more money on reps than if prices continue to go up and up and up and ......

If you have a chrono, be sure to restart the chrono functions before you get serious so you can record how many seconds you last.

It will be a sure-fire conversation starter/mood enhancer after you have done the deed.

Just curious. Has anyone ever done a rep (even a bad one) of the smaller 41mm Big Bang? Here's a link to the gen:

hxxp://www.lacotedesmontres.com/Hublot-341-SB-131-RX-PdN.htm

As always, replace the hxxp with http

Still not sure about the whole Big Bang thing. It's one of those watches that I can't make up my mind about. First time I saw it, my immediate reaction was that someone vomited on an AP and decided to market it. But, I have to admit, I continue to be drawn to this ugly watch. And let's face it-- it is ugly. I think it's kind of like a car wreck-- you know you shouldn't be interested in looking, but you just can't help yourself. I do know, however, that the 44mm is just WAY too big and ugly for me. Not even tempted on that one. But if there was a 41mm out there.... man, I dunno. Just not sure I'd be able to respect myself in the morning.

Interesting. Perhaps it should be called a "Little Bang" or "Not So Big Bang?"

I don't have one, in part because I think the 44mm would be too large for me, but these watches have a lot to recommend them:

Obviously the occasion has an impact, so if I am going to a concert or dressy occasion I will wear a dressier watch.

However, in general I wear one watch for a given work week. I then switch off for the weekend, and often switch several times during the weekend as I move between chores, relaxing, or going out to party. But during the week I have other things on my mind than what watch to wear, and don't like the idea of drawing attention to myself by wearing a different watch every day. Sure, I wear different clothes every day as well, but somehow that doesn't seem as fussy as deciding each morning what watch to wear.

By the way, I believe watches are to be worn, so I try to wear all of my watches during the course of a month. There are a few watches I don't get to as often, but my main watches do get fairly even play.

The winning baseball pitcher for the Seattle Mariners on Sunday was a young guy named Ryan Feierabend. His first major league victory. We were grateful that he didn't decide to quit working before the game was over.

(If you don't get it, pull out a German dictionary.)

There are lots of skinny wrist guys on the board, so you really do have lots of options.

As others have mentioned, browse for wrist shots to get a feel for whether a given model wears "large" or not.

It isn't just the diameter that makes a difference.

How a watch looks on the wrist can also be affected by its width, countours, bezel design, and even dial layout.

Good luck, and enjoy your explorations.

I am really surprised that no many members have payed attention to these new chopards.

These are brand new ones , not "collected" yet .... the pages from king's site are hidden (HTML not updated yet).

These babys look like the also have Double AR ..... and to be honest dont know how they have managed to combine chrono functions ang GMT hand under an asia 7750.

Chrono and GMT have been combined on the Navitimer World. As much as I like GMTs, I don't know if I would want to tax a 7750 further by adding GMT on top of chrono functions.

Beautiful watches, though.

What I would like is the MB GMT with the silver/white dial, but every time I have asked the response has been that this option is not available. It's a shame because I don't want a black dial MB and I don't really want the chrono. And I like GMTs (wearing a Pam GMT as I write this).

It depends on what kind of event the first date is -- dinner at a nice restaurant? Bicycling? Day at the beach?

It also depends on who the date is with -- an environmentalist? A model or fashion designer? Poet/writer? Commodities trader?

I'd want the watch to express my good taste, but not be too showy -- perhaps a notch more showy than for a business meeting.

It's ok, you can say Cartier. Nothing bad happens.

Rumor has it that a large meteor is speeding toward impact somewhere in Scotland!!!