lhooq

[censored] smartass.

Chiang Mai is also where you get to ride the elephants. It's not nearly as fun as it sounds (Harrison Ford's chronic back pain? Elephants did that.), but you'll do it anyway. The night market is a novelty only if you've never been to a night market anywhere in southeast Asia. Good nightlife, heavy European presence. You might want to consider Hanoi as a good side trip that will give you plenty of bang for your buck. No, I don't mean that as a double-entendre; it's incredibly cheap to eat, sleep, and get around. I was satisfied after a couple of days in Hanoi's Old Quarter, but I wouldn't have minded a couple more. I was not able to see Ha Long Bay, and that gets recommended by many people. Singapore gets a lot of hate (well... maybe more of a cold dislike) for being a boring, globalized, no-fun police state. While it's true that they're never going to shoot Hangover 3 there, it's a handsome, modern city with lots of great shopping, good food (for cheap!), and exotic culture and history, if you're willing to go off the beaten track. Which isn't hard, since the island is rather small. Stroll down Orchard Road for can-get-it-anywhere shopping, head to Marina Bay for the showpiece architecture and casino, see Little India and Arab Street for the aforementioned culture, then go down to Sentosa Island for Universal Studios. (That's why you went there, right?) Subways are cheap, clean, and efficient. (Police state, remember?) Taxis are also cheap --and fast-- by international standards. But whatever you do, do stop for lunch at any hawker food stall and pay SGD 3 for terrific Hainanese Chicken Rice. Seriously, I've taken trips to Singapore just for the HCR. But Hong Kong? Yes, definitely. Do not cheap out on your hotel, and try to get a location that's ideally situated to maximize your time there. Think Tsim Sha Tsui in Kowloon, or Central/Causway Bay if you're on the Island. Familiarize yourself with the subway, as it will get you where you need to go. You can see quite a lot on foot, given the density of the place. Farther north, you could try Hong Kong Disneyland (That's why you went there, right?), or take a cable car to see the giant Buddha, also on Lantau Island. At the end of that ride is a traditional Chinese village, with Starbucks and Haagen Dazs outlets. If you want to get out of HK, you could always arrange a day trip to Macau by hydrofoil, or into China by rail. I've never been, but Shenzhen is supposed to be nice, and there's always Guangzhou if you feel the urge for a pilgrimage to The Source of Most Reps. But anyone you drag along will hate you for it. Those are just small tidbits from each destination. Dash to the bookstore and see what Lonely Planet suggests, and I'll tell you if they're full of it. Or pretend to, at least. Finally, if you ever wind up in Manila by some accident, send me a PM. I'll buy you a Coke.

When did the forum software start censoring "handsome"?

You have to excuse my lateness, but I'm dealing with a workplace firewall. iPhone browsing to the rescue... Let me try to address the different points here: -I'm certain watchguy51's rep is from Darth Trevor. Only HIS numerals could be so bold! Seriously... I've never seen those fat numbers on any other rep. -I'm not sure when the Frog dial started showing up, but I've seen one on a 1969. It's definitely most associated with the early to mid-70s. The indistinct and low-contrast white print is something you'll also see on contemporary Sub and Exp II dials. Even black Daytona dials of the early 70s have that same milky look to their printing. Did I mention that this is my favorite dial? -The 80s dials are definitely cleaner, and the 90s service units are super-crisp. However, there are more dial variations than these. I'm sure some Japanese book has cataloged them all. -I don't like Dell Deaton. Comes off as a jerk on the forums. Just thought I'd throw that in. -The case of that bottom 1016 looks good, if a bit slim at the points. Endlink fit is, sadly, not unusual for a 1016/7206 combo. Bezel seems OK, but may look taller due to its beat-up edge and a very buffed crystal. Lughole size may be accentuated by the use of full-length Sub springbars, instead of the shorter bars specific to the 1016. -ChiMan12, who has leafed through a Japanese reference book or two, notes that there are at least two distinct 1016 cases over its long production lifespan. (Very subtle differences, though.) Analogous to the way the Daytona 6263 case became pointier, slimmer, longer as it entered the 1980s.

From the pictures it looks like a good genuine Mk I, or a very good reproduction. It might help to take very detailed macro shots, so we can better assess the quality of printing. Maybe an extreme close-up of the 'UNITS PER HOUR'?

I responded to the OP in Repgeek (reprinted at the bottom). The DW crystal doesn't much resemble the genuine Cyclope 128. It's a smooth dome with a very tall cyclops, while the gen has a beveled edge and sits lower on the case. (I used to think there was an older type of C128 based on pictures I'd seen, but I think those were just overpolished crystals.) Also, the DW crystal is optically poor, and a bit brittle. Unfortunately, swapping in a genuine crystal can be tricky. You have to trim the bezel by about 0.5mm, and the crystal fits loosely on the lip of the rehaut. How loosely seems to vary from case to case, but I haven't confirmed this yet.

Imagine how that 7032 will look once you're back to 100%, J!

I took Air Asia for BKK-CNX last November. Short flight, cheap tickets, and no problems. I'm not aware of any airline that flies from Chiang Mai to Hong Kong. I like Hong Kong and Singapore, but if it's your first time to either city, choose Hong Kong.

Wish you were here.

Thanks for the link, Ylfig. Gorgeous watches, good history and pictures of Caracas in the 50s.

Another windowless Sub:

Big contributor on the Replica Plowshares forums!

I've got a few more pictures of that transitional, tracked dial in my HD. Let me know if you need them. (No prizes for guessing where that last photo comes from!)

Oh, fine... Let's have the minute track on the gilt, then. As long as I get one from the first batch!

Isaiah 2:4

The problem is that a good, basic Explorer dial is not being sold by anyone. If I could choose representative dials for the 1016's long history, it would be an early-60s gilt (but no minute track--that's more of a pre-1016 hallmark), an early-70s Frog per the OP, and a mid-1980s example with superfine print quality and serifs everywhere. But if I had to choose just one, it would be the Frog--with its hazy, low-contrast text and slab serifs.

Beefy! Can't wait to see the better pics, R.

Feels like Friday.

Club! Club! I think there are a couple more guys with the Deep Stream...

A fake gray croc died for my Overseas:

Sheesh... How does RG maintain its 45,000-strong membership with all the people it's been turning away?

J, speech recognition software is pretty good these days, so you shouldn't even need a keyboard! Get well soon!

HartDoc, I was talking about the reps, not the U-1 you'd posted pictures of. I do read the threads before posting, y'know.

Just some first-class patination by C! More pics here.

Speaking as someone who owns neither gen nor rep of the U-1... I think the only reliable, at-a-distance tell is the blunt trapezoid on the bezel's zero. Replace the rep's bezel with a genuine unit and you've fooled me completely.