sssurfer

BUT I've never heard of an instance where he didn't deliver goods as promissed.

Well, to tell the truth he did not deliver to me a crown that I had paid palpatine for, and he did not answer my questions about it.

(I am aware that I had paid palp rather than PAM, but it was at an early stage of the project, just before PAM took over as a seller. And palp and PAM were supposed to be partners on it).

Naturally I offered PAM to exhibit any evidences of my payment. He simply did not reply.

He did not even reply my messages to buy new crowns leaving that first one down.

I've never quite understood why people want a box and papers for a rep. Can you help me get it?

Just to get a look and feel of the real thing about this too, nothing more.

As you cannot wear the box and papers around, it's usually a thing to those who buy reps to delight themselves, not to impress others.

Nice!

I have to say, after reading over this entire thread, that although this stuff might be crap (to paraphrase some of the ideas presented) as a luminous agent, it might be worth the $30 or so just to get and ruin a couple of $20 watches. I mean, *if* you're thinking of trying this out as a hobby, you'll probably ruin 2 or 3 watches before you get one that's even acceptable from arm's length. Forget about being good at that point. So if you're going to practice on a crappy watch that you don't care about, why use the good stuff? When (if) you get good, spend the $100 or whatever SL costs and then do up your favourite PAM or whatever.

Using cheap luminous powder instead SL to ruin cheap dials and getting experience is a good idea, it is exactly what I did (I just used Ready Set Glow pigments rather than Noctilumina).

Just be aware that the grain of the powder and the density and look of the varnish may be not the same as SL.

Btw, my obvious conclusion was that there is nothing like SL and noone like The Zigmeister.

I will try my best, Sssurfer! Already did it above for you.

Really thanks, Vicky!

It worked perfectly. Now I can see your pics.

Thanks, Vicky!

Any chance you start posting pics in img format rather that url format?

img format:

[img=http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/6571/pricelistpage1ph9.jpg]

[url="http://imageshack.us"][img=http://img81.imageshack.us/img81/8706/pricelistpage2mw0.jpg][/url]

You get img format by copying the very last line of the several options that Imageshack offers you, and pasteing that line in the box that opens in your RWG post editor when you click the "Insert Image" button.

That would make much easier for me to see your always interesting pics.

Thanks!

Things that should never happen. My most heartfelt condolences.

As you exchanged thoughts and friendship, something of him will live in you.

Thanks all and especially to The Zigmeister who agreed to make the relume when right time will come. I already saw his work on the orange lume in another thread, but I am amazed at his larger picture here!

A relume in light blue should be a solution for both the low visibility in daylight and the no-glow in the darkness.

@Everythingape: the lume on my watch is not just bad, it is substantially missing. After full exposure to sunlight and going into a completely dark room, you can barely see it a few minutes.

Still unsure on what you need. Especially unsure that you have to remove the bezel in order to remove the crystal.

A tool to remove and reinsert only the crystal might be the Bergeon 4266 Crystal Lift or the GS Crystal Inserter and Remover, in this page from ofrei:

http://www.ofrei.com/page_208.html

A large selection of presses and dies in this other ofrei's page:

http://www.ofrei.com/page236.html

You may also try and have a look at cousinsuk:

http://www.cousinsuk.com/catalog/6/1290/1605.aspx

Sorry, I don't know exactly which die size you need (I suppose that you just have to masure the diameter of your fiddy's bezel), but I also doubt that they sell single dies.

I would also try a search on ebay.

Are you absolutely sure it is sapphire? Imperfections that kind are more frequently seen on glass crystals. On ebay there was a seller who was selling glass crystals as sapphire, and his crystals also had those imperfections (no, he was not Jimmyzfu).

In any case, only solution is getting another crystal. Even if those imperfections are on the very surface, getting rid of them on sapphire is a nightmare, and on glass it's not worth the hassle. Sorry.

Fine (600+) sandpaper, followed by some paste if you want. Not fine polishing paste though, or you will end up with a polished bracelet while it is brushed.

Or simply wear the bracelet looser.

Stay assured I'll let you know, W.

Argh!

Can't see your pieces that often, kruz. They give me some heart attack.

Ssurfer - not that mystifying about the PVD claims - he's just playing politician and changing his tune...

I'm sure at the time, he was told PVD conferred greater scratch resistance.

But I agree, it does leave a bitter aftertaste. He should admit he/they were wrong and apologise. Never going to happen although it is not without precedent.

Well, my wrist is barely 17cm and the 42mm BR looks ok (to my eyes at least).

Pix, that strap from Gasgabones looks beautiful! Thanks once again for pointing to him.

And congrats on that gorgeous combo, wear it well!

I'll try a few different cases as soon as I'll get my 090 dial back (currently on reluming).

Maybe you are not getting replies as this post is a little confusing... or at least I got a little confused by it...

If you need to remove the crystal before removing the movement, how can a press help?

Do you mean some special ring, or just normal dice but of correct size?

Sorry if I asked something stupid, never opened a fiddy so far.

Congrats, please show us some pics when you are done!

Are you going to keep the CG fixed to the case by one screw only?

Thanks for your kind words!

@Pix:

Definitely your strap must be made with some different rubber than mine. Mine is so stiff that it doesn't even follow the curved line of the wrist, that is oval, it wants to stay round.

Really thanks for the heads up about Gasgabones, I'll check!

I actually told something about the lume, check thoroughly and you will find it!

---

Btw, i just noticed another flaw in this rep if compared with the gen: the hour and minute hands are inverted!

Thanks for the answers SS. I think I'm going to end up botching this together using some hand tools

Best wishes, capt. Let us know how this comes out.

I recently got a Bell & Ross BR03-92 Limited Edition from Joshua.

I choosed a 03 model because it had a date window and because of its size (42mm vs 46mm of the 01 models), and I specifically headed to the 03-92 because I liked its simple face more than the 03-94 chrono complications.

I got it from Joshua because he is one of my preferred collectors and because he was able to provide the watch with two straps (nylon/velcro and rubber).

The Limited Edition has been sort of an obliged choice as Joshua was not selling the 03-92 normal edition. This was not a problem to me, as I wanted the model with blue hands and marks -- that is incorrect both for the 03-92 (that only comes in white hands and marks) and the 03-92 LE (that only comes in orange hands and marks).

When the watch arrived I realized that I had taken one good choice and one bad choice.

The good choice was about the size. Boys, these beasts are HUGE! Even the 42mm is just a little less than oversized on my wrist, I could not even think of how a 46mm would feel.

The bad choice was about the color. The blue color proved to be a so dark blue that it made for a very poor contrast on the black background. The watch readability, that is the very best feature of any BR, greatly suffered from it. I am actually able to easily read the time only under full light conditions. To give you a hint about it, the following two shots show you the watch in flashlight and in natural light. I assure you that even the natural light was not poor light. Under really dim light, reading the watch becomes a nightmare.

(All other pics that follow are taken in flashlight unless otherwise stated).

A front view of the watch, side to side with the gen:

As you can see, this is a pretty decent rep. The only glaring flaw is about the position of the four small screws on the dial, that are placed a little too close to the dial's border so that the minute marks near them look a little shortened.

Other minor differences are in the height and position of the logo and text, but those are very small differences, only detectable on a side-to-side comparison or if you are a BR geek for real.

Also The case and crown are very well replicated, and the PVD is absolutely believable. Here is a pic in natural light in order to make you able to compare the PVD look of the rep with the gen already shown above:

I am not at knowledge on how the caseback should be. The one on the watch I got is this:

(A quick comparison with the same watch offered by different collectors shows that the general arrangement and nubers on the caseback are exactly the same).

About the crown, it is almost perfectly repped, but there is a problem. Contrarily from what advertised on Joshua's site, the crown is NOT screw-in. I suppose that this affects the water resistance of the watch, and I am soon going to have it tested.

On the other hand, I already tested the crystal and it resulted to be true sapphire as advertised.

But the weakest point of this rep (apart from the color that was a free choice by myself) is no doubt the lume, that is absolutely non-existent. Relume on order.

One last shot before going to tell about the movement:

The advertised movement is the mysterious "Asia 4813 Automatic Movement, 28800bph". I did not open the watch yet so I cannot provide insights on this movement, but I can tell that the seconds hand runs smoothly, the crown is a pleasure to wind, the power reserve is more than 40 hrs, and the auto gets easily winded by the wrist movement (I do not move my left wrist very much but the watch keeps running).

In the first few days the watch stopped two times and I was going to ask for a replacement, then I realized that the crown just needed a little care when you put it back in after winding the watch or setting the time or date. All my other watches either have a screw-in crown or a lever pushing the crown, so I simply was not accustomized enough with a crown this kind.

Ok, to the strap now.

As I said, I got this watch with two straps: nylon/velcro and rubber.

It also came with a kit to replace the strap, kit made of two keys to remove the lug screws. As a matter of fact, those screws' heads cannot be screwn/unscrewn by ordinary screwdrivers (neither cross screwdrivers), as they have a hexagonal hole that you can rotate only with the proper key. And you also need two keys as you have to act on both the ends of the screw, that is a two-headed screw.

The nylon/velcro strap proved comfortable and it is the one that I am currently using.

On the contrary, the rubber strap is stiff and unconfortable. It also has only one ring to keep the exceeding end of the strap once you close the buckle, and that ring is not freely positionable along the strap, but it is solid with the strap near the buckle end. The final result is that if you, like me, have a small wrist, the long exceeding part of the strap is not kept flush to the strap and it tends to get entangled everywhere, besides of looking ridicolous.

I came to hate the rubber strap at the point that I don't want to take pics of it. So I'll put an end to this review with a pic of the buckle of the nylon strap in natural light. Oddly it displays "BR01" as if the watch was not a BR03 (I wonder whether that same buckle is used on the BR01 models, that are 46mm though so that a 24mm strap should not fit).

Thanks for looking,

:sss:

The L SWISS MADE L appeared during the H series, so the one photograped in the comparison pic is late H or later. The scan which you have posted is one of the long arrow G series and all of the G series plus part of the H series had just L SWISS L.

This thread is very useful as you can compare the shape of the normal 005 logo in the first post, the long arrow logo in your post and the 5218/201A logo in the signature of one of the other posts above. It should be fairly obvious that the 195 and 'long arrow' 005 logo is similar to the historic 5218/201A logo but different from the later 005.

Within a few hours of me posting on a thread on this forum, discussing the logo shapes someone started a thread on Paneristi asking for comparison pics and opinions but it was concluded that all 3 were different. I'm not so sure that I agree that the 5218/201A is different from the 'long arrow' used on the 195 and early 005.

Wow, thanks!

I hope one day to get to 1% of your knowledge about PAMs.

This is the best one of all.

My favourite is:

P: Test flight OK, except auto-land very rough.

S: Auto-land not installed on this aircraft.

I bet it was very rough!!!

After every flight, Australian Qantas pilots fill out a form called a "gripe sheet" which tells mechanics about problems with the aircraft. The mechanics correct the problems, document their repairs on the form, & then pilots review the gripe sheets before the next flight.

Never let it be said that Aussie ground crews lack a sense of humour. Here are some actual maintenance complaints submitted by Qantas' pilots & the solutions recorded by maintenance engineers.

By the way, Qantas is the only major airline that has NEVER had an accident.

(P= The problem logged by the pilot.)

(S= The solution and action taken by mechanics.)

P: Left inside main tire almost needs replacement.

S: Almost replaced left inside main tire.

P: Test flight OK, except auto-land very rough.

S: Auto-land not installed on this aircraft.

P: Something loose in cockpit.

S: Something tightened in cockpit.

P: Dead bugs on windshield.

S: Live bugs on back-order.

P: Autopilot in altitude-hold mode produces a 200 feet per minute descent.

S: Cannot reproduce problem on ground.

P: Evidence of leak on right main landing gear.

S: Evidence removed.

P: DME volume unbelievably loud.

S: DME volume set to more believable level.

P: Friction locks cause throttle levers to stick.

S: That's what they're for.

P: I.F.F. inoperative in O.F.F. mode.

S: IFF always inoperative in OFF mode.

P: Suspected crack in windshield.

S: Suspect you're right.

P: Number 3 engine missing.

S: Engine found on right wing after brief search.

P: Aircraft handles funny.

S: Aircraft warned to straighten up, fly right, & be serious.

P: Target radar hums.

S: Reprogrammed target radar with lyrics.

P: Mouse in cockpit.

S: Cat installed.

P: Noise coming from under instrument panel. Sounds like a midget pounding on something with a hammer.

S: Took hammer away from midget.