sssurfer

Ooops... too late! ...Not such a stupid question anyway.

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No problem. If all my English mispellings were that little, I would be happy.

I know Archibald at least a little and if he says it happened, it happened. Period. I too had only good transactions with Andrew and he has always been more than helpful and responsive. But noone is perfect and errors may occur. I am confident that Andrew will rectify the issue now that it has been brought to his attention again.

Hi ryaku, sorry to hear about your trouble. Really, troubles always come in unexpected ways: as you know, my concerns were about the movement -- no thought about the dial. You may look for costs of shipping to China in the Poste Italiane website: http://www.poste.it/online/pacchi_estero/privati/index.php http://www.poste.it/postali/pacchi_estero/...nazionale.shtml It seems as cost can go from as low as about 30 EUR (via EMS to 1st group countries) up to as high as 63 EUR (pacco celere internazionale, 0.5 Kg weight, to Guangzhou). I was unable to find which EMS country groups is China. My best wishes.

A good investment anyway, IMHO.

Question #4: It is a rep of PAM 183, but it shows significant differences when compared to the gen. (Main differences: gold - inscriptions on the dial - color of hands - size [gen is 45mm, not 44]). It seems like bastardized with PAM 197 or PAM 231. Question #1: better asking the dealer. Questions #2 and 3: better asking a future teller.

Btw: it is 'maiale', not 'magiale'.

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I recently purchased on ebay a tool set composed with two tools: the Diamond Selector II and the Moissanite/Diamond Tester. (WARNING: there are replicas of those tools around ) They are primarily intended to distinguish diamond from synthetic diamond (moissanite) and other imitators, but the seller claimed they are able to tell sapphire from glass too, and they were priced about 1/3 - 1/4 of other similar professional tools, so I decided to give them a try. Well, they work. They told all my 4 sapphire crystals and 8 glass crystals. As I had to do some web searches and some trying to figure out how and why they work, here I am sharing my small experience with all members. First of all: to detect diamond from imitators they are to be used together, but to detect sapphire from glass each of them proved reliable on its own, so one can use them to confirm each other. Diamond Selector II: This tool works by measuring the thermal conductivity of material (that of sapphire is higher than that of glass). 1 - Turn the instrument on by rotating the Off/On/Volume wheel. 2 - Wait for the "lamp on ready ok" led lightens. 3 - Rotate the Off/On/Volume wheel until the color scale shows all 4 green sectors lightened (this is not critical, less sectors or more sectors are also ok, but this way makes it easier reading the scale later). 4 - Touch the crystal with the tool's tip placed vertically. Glass does not make any further sector lighten on the scale, or at most 1. Sapphire makes 3 or 4 further sectors lighten on the scale. Moissanite/Diamond Tester: This tool works by measuring the electrical conductivity of material (that of sapphire is lower than that of glass). The instrument emits a low current, that usually has to go through the examinator's body to re-enter into the tool. So, in theory, the examinator has to touch the object in test by his left hand in order to close the circuit. But in practice this is necessary only for small objects like gems; for bigger objects like watch crystals the object's mass is enough to dissipate the current even if the circuit is not closed. Anyway, if one wants to be sure not to get sapphire as a result when it is glass instead, he'd better follow the following instructions also in points 2 and 3. 1 - Turn the instrument on by rotating the Off/On wheel (it does not matter how much you rotate it, once it is On it just affects the sound volume). 2 - Hold the tool correctly, with your right forefinger on the button on the backside, so to also touch the metal plate around the button. 3 - Hold the crystal with your left hand, or - if it is already on a watch - simply touch it. If you don't want to leave fingerprints on it, touch it with a metal object you hold in your hand, like a pair of metal pliers. 4 - Touch the crystal with the tool's tip placed vertically and push the button. Glass makes the red leds lighten (possibly after a brief flash of the green leds) and sound a beep. Sapphire makes the green leds lighten (possibly after a brief flash of the red leds). In any case, after 2 seconds the measurement stops. ------- For the curious, here are some physical values: Thermal conductivity (W/m/K): Diamond: 630-1000 Sapphire: 32-35 Glass: 0.8-0.93 Electrical resistivity (Ohm/m): Diamond: 10^16 - 10^18 Sapphire: 10^16 Glass: 10^10 - 10^14

Uhm... site is chinese, but chicks are japanese... is it like posting pictures of genuines on a rep site?

Brown dials, gold cases, PVD: straps. Blue dials w/ SS case: bracelet. Black dial w/ SS case: any (currently: bracelet on PAM 027, 050 and 090. Strap on my two 104s -- one of them having gold hands).

V, they complement perfectly each other!

Taxes. Taxes.

I was just about to scream SCAM ALERT!, then I saw you seem a honest hunter. Welcome, you are going to find quite a bit to read and enjoy!

Uhm...

Mine lasted 1 week. Serviced. After that, 6 months now and running great.

Welcome, I hope you feel as good here as I felt on TRC

Did he unregister?!?

Great!

Thanks all for your kind words and appreciation. No street hubbub for me... until two weeks ago, I wasn't even supposed to scream in front of a TV screen

Zidane must have lost his mind. I suppose that such a great champion should be forgiven for his one-time madness. I also feel that soccer players should get a little training in martial arts at least (just a little elbow parry by Materazzi, and good old Ziddy would have spent his next days in a hospital room... ) Thanks to the Frenchs for this great and honourable match. And to the Germans for their flawless organization (as well as the previous match, naturally). And to all other teams for having made this world event memorable. I know nothing about soccer, but on what I saw at least four teams deserved to win and they would have played head-to-head with the Blue Team -- like Germans and Frenchs did, too. But the ball is round and rules are that only one goes to the gold. It seems that, after 24 years, it had to be Italy's time again. Thanks all for this great time.

I know very little about Polexes, but I suppose that reluming is not very different in different brands once the relumer knows about the needed nuances in different models and vintages. Then it all comes to hand precision and skill. And, as for that, I can add my witness that Finepics is second to noone (with all my respects to The Zigmeister), on the gorgeous job he made on my best watch.

Great link, offshore, thanks!

...and you couldn't have worse choices than those...