mbjoer

Could that machine make engravings on movements and plates?

If Torro is involved in this I do hope he will show prototypes here before actual production. Angus did so with some Pams on RWI and the end result was fantastic. In particular I hope that they will pay attention to the back and to getting all the stamps correct (750 if it is titanium and spelling errors are high on the suspect list... ).

Custums risks?? Britain is (still) a member of EU .... I have used Domi a lot. The main problem with him is that he has too much on. It can take ages to get your watches back.

Interesting. Certainly I find the case and bracelet excellent. The dial also has a great finish, all of which makes me forgive the incorrect position of the DW. The sticks on the dial could be better and the the clasp has a fairly shallow engraving. All in all close, but not quite there yet. A bummer as it would take so little to sort the remaining bits.

WM9 Nautilus:

Good old Hublot Big Bang: (Strange: I cannot size up the font ..... Hope you have sharp eyes....)

Never heard of this brand, but the watch is basically identical to a very cheap Breguet I have: I guess the one you have is the one for the "official" market. Mine is one of those which look a lot better on photos than in real life.

In answer to the OPs question, I would agree that Rolex and Panarai in general terms offer the best options. There are good reasons for this. The two brands have a large and highly vocal following who scrutinize incredibly small details on each version of each model. Also they can both be manufactured in large volumes and so come down to an attractive price level. But occationally there are other watches such as the Breitling SOHv2 which blow the market. Unfortunately very hard to get hold of. Also the Ebel is a great one as many have pointed out already. I would like to add an unusual and little known IWC. It does not quite fit the bill, because it does need a new strap, but still: IWC Antione de Saint Excupery RG: What makes this a good option is the attention to detail. It is nicely built (good case, nice dial and deep engravings), accurate to Gen and it has all the appropriate markings for a gold watch. Most gold reps do not. It is an unusual rep of an unusual Gen (only made in 500 copies). I don't think you can go very wrong with that one.

These two Nautilus versions are not the same. The MBW has an incorrect placement of the date window (negative), but closed case back and superior finish (positive). Personally I think the finish is by far the most important aspect of a watch in the Patek class, and for that reason think the MBW might be worth a close look. It is available from Narikaa. I have yet to see a detailed side by side comparison of the two.

My latest thoughts ..... they take some time to come through!!

Breguet Ref 3237 Classique Chronograph:

LOL

Hmmmmm Perhaps it looks better in real life, but on pics I am not so sure. Just too much gold. I does help when it is on a leather strap. But the gold bracelet is horrible. (Sorry to your freind ......... hopefully he is not reading the forum... )

On what do you base that? I have been wondering about the reliability of tourbys, but have not seen anything to substantiate what you say here.

Wow. Quite a beast you have there. I never liked the KC that much, I guess mainly because of the size and because I never saw the black version. But this combo makes me change my mind.

Which way does it set the date?

To answer your question I would have to physically see the rep in question. For quite some time I have been on about the generally low quality replication of high end watches. I have the same Malte you show here, and nice as it is the dial is not fantastic. If I could be convinced that a watch has a sharp case, beautifully made dial and deep engravings, etc I would be interested, even at this price. It makes no sense to me that very expensive Gens are replicated on the cheap. To be convincing the reps also have to have a high level of quality in the build, not just correct placement of subdials. In fact at this level I would not care much about dial placement if the finish is top notch. At least this one seems to have engravings on the rotor. That is a step forward from the usual sitckers. But it is impossible to make out from the pictures in Puretime if the watch is that much better than other VC reps.

That is not even a rep. It's just fake....

That orange strap looks pretty good.

Great thread and interesting info here. One aspect which has not been covered is the construction of the watch. From comparisons of other H/N Pams I have noted considerable differences inside the watch. For a dive watch that really matters. I would like to see which is the better internal construction and which would stand the pressure best ... if at all (!). To me functionality is far more important than thickness of the numbers on the dial.

Rolex Datejust in the office:

How very true. More information is required about this one. And I do agree that one should not look for similarities when turning the watch over. Hope someone will jump to get one and provide us with a review.

Just spotted this one from Watchedehn: http://www.rwg.cc/topic/142860-patek-philippe-swiss-eta-2836-movement-with-black-dial-leather-strap-308-shipped/page__fromsearch__1 From the pics it looks like a pretty good version of the Patek 5130 Platinum. I cannot tell if/how the world-timer works, and the dial looks black instead of blue. But first impression: Interesting!!

Fantasy? Yes. But pretty good one which looks plausible on the wrist and has good engravings on the back of the case. The case itself is not up to Patek standard and the guilleoche is not that deep. Still I like my white gold version:

What is Tritium Tubes? Sounds like it is not a powder based product.