lhooq

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Great watches AND great food!

Nanuq, I'll break out the measuring tape when I get home. But realize that you could buy 2-3 of these 7836s for the price of one Yuki 7206, and fashion a bracelet that would fit the wrist of Andre the Giant (RIP).

Amazing. That whole complex was still under construction when I was last in SG... and that was just five months ago! Me, I'm holding out until I can get a suite with an infinity toilet.

Sorry, but I'm not that interested in Hublots. I'm more of an Omega guy, so for me it's Bob Terminator all the way: He's REALLY into that Seamaster!

Another lump of titanium here:

I would've thought Peter North would be the LAST guy to wear a rubber strap.

Here are the pictures of DW's Pre-Daytona case, which killed my dream of building a "George Lazenby" 6238: As your eyes scan from left to right, everything looks good until you get to the outer edge of the crown-side lugs. It's not a tumah, it's excess steel. When viewed at an oblique angle, there appears to be a big shelf below the bezel lip. It also looks as if DW's bezel is slightly off. The thickness is OK, but the edge looks higher than it should be. Trust me... I've looked at many a bezel. Compare the above with the first 6238 pic in this thread, and with the photo below:

I have a feeling that J already has a bezel design that will fit a Tropic 21 rather well! Here's the problem with plopping a smooth bezel onto a 6263 mid-case: The crown side of the 6263 case is significantly thicker and aligns with the outer edge of the 6263 bezel. Replacing the flared tachymeter bezel with a thin, smooth bezel reveals a large, unsightly lump on the side, and puts the crown and pushers farther away than they should be. You would have to do a whole lot of work to trim the sides down, and it might be easier to reposition the reset pusher on a different rep! Not sure how you'd go about doing that, though... Unfortunately, I'm at work and behind a firewall, but I'll try to post pictures when I can.

Maybe this center link was improperly copied from the version of the 7836 that has non-detachable endlinks? I can only compare it with the final center link on my 7835, which is a similarly pinched loop that fits into the endlink's narrow slot.

Thanks for all the compliments, guys. This is a much bigger reaction than I expected to get for a rep bracelet review! (And the biggest reaction I get out of the major rep forums, I wager...) rosnik: Watch International's dealer section is here, though this 7836 isn't listed as a product for sale. When I visited Guangzhou earlier this year, Mary said that I could contact her not just for reps, but for spare parts, tools &c. So I did, and she delivered!

Jewelryandwatch can help you if you've got a few thousand dollars lying around. Otherwise, you can find decent 6238s from dealers like Trusty Time and Perfect Clones. Mind, they're not nearly as close to the gen as, say, DW's 6263. DW sells a 6238 case (but no dials, as far as I know), but I believe it's just his 6263 case with a plain bezel. You get the asymmetrical pushers, but it's a poorer replication overall than the cartel offerings.

Feeling blue.

As Jkay noted, that's a Yuki bar--also 2mm thick, but with 0.9mm pivots. Bad mistake on my part, as it hurts the comparison. However, it does clearly demonstrate how much nicer a properly sized bar -one with rounded, 1.2mm pivots- looks in the lugholes! Note, also, that this spring bar is a 23-9293, which is shorter than the 23-9291 found on Subs. The ends of the bars should be recessed on 1016s, though you will find gens with protruding tips.

The acrylic crystal is average, and scratches easily. But it also polishes easily, too. Davidsen doesn't offer a sapphire for these Blancpains, and I haven't looked into replacing the crystal. If you want sapphire and don't mind an homage, you could look at the Precista PRS-50, the Mk II Stingray, or the Corvus Bradley. I think all of them have sapphire crystals; the Corvus even has an optional sapphire bezel insert.

Well, since you asked so nicely, here's a link to Davidsen's section. The Lip-Blancpain is in the "Blancpain Fifty Fathom Vintage Watch FF95" thread.

It's from Davidsen. He has several variations of the FF in his section. It's only a 41mm, though; I just have small wrists! Hike: That third pic isn't part of your diving weekend, is it?

The symbol, "Fu", means "F.U." to the Paneristo who's gotta catch 'em all! In Italy, they call it the Edizione Limita Trampa Stampa.

Like Ronin, I'm going to get flowery and watery:

Yes, it's finally here: This is the review you've been waiting for all year long! The "Steve Freccione Orange Hand" is a fine watch, but when Josh first released pictures of his new 1655, I was more excited about the bracelet than anything else. I love the look and feel of folded links, and I nearly blew $400 on a genuine 7836 just a few months ago. When ~$100 7836s started showing up on Honpo's site, I racked my brain trying to figure out how to order from it. And then this showed up. Reviews of the vintage Explorer II have raved about the bracelet, but I was concerned about an early review by pismo, who said that he had to modify the band for genuine spring bars. However, the bracelet does have detachable endlinks, so I wasn't too worried about the whole assembly deforming if I attempted to widen the loops inside (as they would on, say, Yuki's old 7206). I don't want a 1655 just yet, so I asked Mary of Watch International to source me the 7836. She didn't find one until weeks after the Exp II's release. But when she did, the price was right. So, does a "gen" springbar fit? Maybe mine came from a different batch than Josh's, or maybe I got lucky, but... yes, and without any modifications. There's plenty of clearance within both the endlink and the middle loop. Both springbars pictured are 2mm in the middle. The Yuki bar on the left has a 0.9mm pivot vs the 1.2mm pivot on the right. Now, onto the rest of the pictures: The coronet is reasonably defined for a rep, but there's a bit of an "aura" around the stamping. Not too bad. What looks like dings on the sides of the clasp are actually residue from sticky tape. The only downside that I observed -and a minor one, at that- is that the "358" endlinks don't fit too great on my Datejust case. Observe the pronounced mid-lug bulge below... ...and compare that with the perfect fit of our old friend, the "455 B" endlink. The sharper-eyed among you might suspect the needle-nosed Yuki springbar as the culprit, but I assure you that it makes no difference. (Also, that scuffed-up crystal has got to go.) Verdict? Great rep of a very desirable bracelet at a reasonable price.

Very sensible, but "This is the best there is and ever will be"!

Firefox does that for me, too, once the images have finished downloading. If you didn't notice anything, I envy you for your superfast connection!

Thanks, BT. It hasn't been getting too much wrist time lately, but I've been chatting with someone who is very interested in buying one. Talking about it reminded me of how much I love the Speedmaster!

Sunday with the Speedy, mounted on serious-looking gray NATO:

Longines Legend Diver: Poljot "Hanhart Fliegerchronograph" relumed by Goin: