jkerouac

Overall I agree with Insane's advice.

I myself am partial to the Ingy, and think it is one of the most distinctive watches available. It's also a very substantial, solid watch.

There was a flurry of interest in the Inge when it first came out, fueled in part by a group buy. A number of those watches have appeared on the resale market, so if you are interested in trying it out you might monitor the member resale forum and you can easily save back the premium that your dealer is asking.

I just received my one-year anniversary notice as well, and thought that I might be able to beat the Austrailian, European, and US east crowds to the punch in starting this thread. But somehow it doesn't surprise me in the least that Sir Pugwash beat me to the punch by opening this thread.

Compared to Pub and many others, however, I will always be a Noob.

Happy Anniversary to everyone who joined RWG II on the 17th of March last year. And may the fates bless the Replica Watch Group and our admin, Admin.

My 7750s take a lot of winding -- as Bignasty said, 40-50 turns. After that, I usually don't have to worry about them until I put them in the watch box again for a couple of days while I wear something else. But the watch will die overnight on me if I skimp on the turns, so my conclusion is that you should build up a good reserve by manual winding, and then my normal hand-arm motion will keep it wound. But if you skimp on the initial manual winding, then hand-arm motion will likely not get me up to the 80-90% power reserve range.

If you do the thorough winding bit and still find your power reserve to be skimpy, then I would probably concur that you have a service issue.

Do you get regular maintenance on your car, or do you wait until it runs dry of oil, the tires, fall apart, or you find yourself on a country road without a working headlight? In any of these situations, wouldn't preventive maintenance be less expensive than waiting until something catastrophic happens? So why should other mechanical devices, such as watches, be any different?

It also depends in part on how much you value your watches. Some reps, I will admit, will disappear from my collection when the watch breaks down. Others that I cherish would be irreplaceable. And finding replacement parts for reps with generic Asian movements may not be as simple as for a genuine.

The Zigmeister has discussed this topic a number of times, from the perspective of someone who sees some severely broken movements. In his opinion, and I am sure it is not just to promote his business because he has all that he can handle. preventive maintenance is far less expensive than waiting until there is a catastrophic breakdown.

I was going to tack this article onto the "stealing" thread, but decided that it deserved the visibility of its own thread. There isn't much here that we haven't heard before, but the statistics the reporter quotes are interesting.

Let me highlight one graph in particular:

At the high end, watchmaking remains a thriving business, as the global wealthy spend consistently for lavish watches. The Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry 2005 report notes that Swiss manufacturers have suffered a long-term decline in unit volume: Exports fell from 28.2 million units in 2002 to 24.3 million units in 2005. But while they're selling fewer units, Swiss watchmakers seem to be selling more high-end watches. Sales data from January 2007 (a month when Wall Street hotshots were spending their massive bonuses) indicate that while the volume of U.S. purchases was down marginally from January 2005, the dollar value in francs was up nearly 14 percent. That can't all be chalked up to a weaker dollar.

moneybox

Takes a Licking and Stops Ticking

Why you don't need a watch anymore.

By Daniel Gross

Updated Friday, March 9, 2007, at 7:33 AM ET

The 1969 Chicago song "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?" couldn't be written today. Everyone knows what time it is, even the people who aren't wearing watches.

These days, the correct time is everywhere: in the corner of the computer screen, on the television in elevators, on cable news channels, in train stations, as well as on car radios, microwaves, ovens, and in all sorts of public places. And, perhaps most significantly, on cell phones, BlackBerries, and iPods. Most people these days carry a highly accurate and durable time piece, but it isn't a watch.

All of this is bad news for the watch industry

People quibble about the accuracy of the graphite and grey dial versions, but in my opinion the differences from the gen are so small that you ought to simply get the version that appeals to you most. In my case that happened to be the grey dial and it is a stunning watch.

I'm glad I asked, your points on the Rolex and the "its a rep" crys are well taken and have steered me away from a Rolex rep for her.

A gen is out of budget ... her mom (my sis)is disabled and father has nothing to do with her, so she is stuck with me. I got her scuba diving trained/certified when she was 10 ... and plan on taking her on a another dive trip and she wants to join me skydiving. I'd rather drop the bucks on experiences and memories that will last a lifetime vs. a gen watch.

Thanks for the thoughtful recommendations ... I'm out shopping around now, and will narrow down my lisk and ask for your opinions.

Thanks again!

Cheers.

She is fortunate to have an uncle like you. Best of luck.

HS Graduation would be a perfect occasion for a genuine watch. You can pick up a ladies' constellation for around $1,000. Nice to have something that will last a lifetime. If that is out of the budget, I would just get her the blinged out rollie, she'll enjoy it and there are many young girls in south florida with genuine $20,000+ watches so if you are in the right neighborhood most people won't ask about the authenticity. But then again, I get every woman I know a blinged out rollie.

I have to agree. If you can, a reasonably priced gen would be a much better tribute to her graduation than an extravagant looking rep.

But if you do get her a rep, be sure to tell her that is what she is getting, because if you do not and she is called out, then that would be very, very bad.

My parents gave me a beautiful brushed gold Omega Geneve Dynamic, which I really wish I still had. But I got rid of it after I let the movement rust out. Today the same watch with the same dial is at the top of my wish list, but apparently it was a rather rare dial, so I will probably "settle" for my father's Geneve Dynamic with a brushed stainless case and the most common dial for this watch. The plus is that it will have been my father's watch, when he decides to hand it down.

Sometimes watches are more than watches, and graduation is one of those times.

I suggested virginity-related phrases at one point, but in keeping with the pulling the trigger theme, how about the following?

"I swung the axe on a new Sub"

"I loosed the bow-string on a One-Eleven"

"I was considering pulling the pin on an Ingenieur"

"Has anyone pulled the trebuchet release lever on the HBB yet?"

"I entered the launch codes and turned the gold key while my second-in-command turned his key simultaneously on a TAG Link"

What do you say? Do these phrases have legs?

Like I said, another quick menu below the smileys. Hey, it might even help me get my post count up when I'm strapped for time, which is almost always.

The same watch but a different dealer attitude:

WO-MART: You save $200 and are treated as a stupid if your watch has any problem.

JOSH-ANDREW: You pay $200 more (plus delivery), so you are treated as a stupid from the beginning.

Pithy. I don't know on what experience or evidence you base your comments, but I have never been treated as stupid by any of our dealers, including Paul, Andrew, or Joshua, and this includes when there have been issues with watches or delivery.

Another one pulling the trigger. Why don't you hear this phrase from anyone with over 200 posts? Is there a way to block this phrase from being posted? It's like nails on a chalkboard to me.

How about, "He pulled the trigger on a rep that was spot on" ??? We could put stock phrases in a menu on the left right below the smileys.

VC Overseas in black would also be a very stylish option, both in casual and dressy situations.

Listed at 42mm diameter, but only 8 mm thick.

Joshua's VC Overseas in black

One returned because the chrono did not function. One asian automatic died after a couple of months.

That is out of ab. 17 watches over the last 2.5 years.

I consider myself fortunate, because both of my defective watches were inexpensive, in the very low $100 range. And since the dealer refunded my purchase on the first watch, the total out of pocket loss is quite low.

Of my better reps, only two have required minor ($50 or less) mechanical repairs, which I probably could have handled myself if had the eyes/dexterity/knowledge/tools.

I don't know what the thread total is.

Do you travel with your rep ?

When one of them allows me to travel along, then yes.

Dang. I live on the US west coast.....so I may have to skip sleep....and work on the 7th.

In advance, congratulations to Admin, the Admins, Veeps, and rest of the membership on the great occasion.

Alas I don't spend much time in the board room, so it probably doesn't matter. In my company even the top execs are relatively casual and seldom wear suits.

Aside from the question "can a PO be worn with a suit?" I think you also need to ask what kind of business you are in. If it is a conservative financial business, you should be more conservative. If you are in engineering, then a more technical look might be just the ticket. And if you are in the fashion business, then a more explicit style is appropriate, but explicit in terms of the nature of the business. Say you work in an art gallery. I would argue that even the type of art gallery (conservative, traditional, avant garde, pop) would allow for a different answer to what kind of watch to wear with a suit. Dare one even utter the word Silberstein?

It is generally agreed that there are moles on the forum. It would be almost impossible, considering the size of the community and the number of people who come and go all the time, to single out any one or more individuals -- unless of course the dealers compare notes and identify individuals or mailing addresses that seem to be involved when trouble hits.

Also. someone asked by what rights Paypal can kick someone out based on the type of business they are in. Answer: it's called Terms of Service.

Perhaps they can slow down and make it a bit more expensive to buy and sell reps. But I'm sure that we'll adapt and continue on our harmless ways.

Doesn't Apple make a washer and dryer? I'm surprised no one has suggested that you get an iWash and Idry with proprietary and eminently cool settings for nightclub or graphic design duds.

I haven't been following the Tour de California, so I don't know who is competing. But isn't it a bit early in the season to be hailing Levi as the next coming of Lance, or even Landis. I know he's an excellent rider, and team Discovery is excellent as well, but it seems to me that there is going to be huge shakeup in the standings during the coming European cycling season. That's when we'll really find out who the new top dogs will be.

If you are talking about the screws for the small links directly on either side of the clasp, remember that you can't just tighten each side separately. Rather, you have to hold one side still with a screwdriver while tightening the other side with a second screwdriver.

Alternate is to claim that a friend travelling in the far east sent it to you -- you didn't even know that he had purchased the watch for you or that it was coming.

I started to ask myself whether there might be alternate resources, such as a different supplier of arts and crafts supplies, closer to me. No luck.

Then I decided to check e-bay. Have you checked this guy out: http://stores.ebay.com/CMH-Leathercraft-Guy . He claims to ship world-wide.

Here is an ebay listing for the book alone: http://cgi.ebay.com/Al-Stohlman-Tandy-Book...tem200080169997

Hey don't worry my friend..

I would prefer someone to buy it from the store and save the 10$ postage cost they charge for a US adress..

If no one else is in close proximity of a store I will let you know maybe next weekend

I understand. And I will contact you in case my schedule changes and I can get over to the store sooner.

I agree with Sir Pug. A watchwinder makes it easier to just grab a different watch, put it on your wrist, and go without having to reset the calendar functions as well as the time. On some watches, complex date functions can be a pain to update.

V,

I wish you had posted this request on Friday or even on Saturday, as I was out and about running chores all day Saturday and could easily have swung by one of the locations on your list. As it is now the start of the work week and the store is not in ready proximity to my home or my office, the best I could promise is that I would be glad to stop there for you .... some time within the next two weeks.

How fast do you need this kit?

The alternate strategy, if no one else steps forward and you can't wait, would be for one of us to purchase the kit for delivery to our homes, and then forward it to you in the UK. I've forwarded several packages in the last few weeks to my brother in London, so I'm getting rather used to the customs forms and the folks at the post office.

PM me if either option works for you. Cheers.