redwatch

Thanks K! I just finished installing the seconds hand and re-casing it. Unfortunately, as I was quick setting the day of the week, for which you turn the crown in the same direction as you do to un-thread the crown...... I think you see where I'm going here Crown popped right off. Dammit! I even used thread lock on it which surprised me that it came off so easily.

Thanks! It is a very nice Rolex and I have you to thank for that!! It sure does photograph well!

My new IWC Regulateur from Trombone This is the watch that I joined RWG for!

Another update: seconds hand has arrived. Still waiting on the strap from HKTan, although last email said it should be completed and shipped this week. I'm going to case up the movement and pick up a new battery for it today so I can get it ready for the new strap when it arrives.

You're welcome - although from the shots I saw of your Tudor this morning, I'd say you don't need my help by any means

Wow that's a great price with a 2893-2 movement in it! I kind of like it a little more than the MkII LRRP. The dial is very, very sparse on the LRRP. The Avier has just enough other text on the dial to really balance it out nicely. And again...the price! Wow!

Amazing photos K! Well done! And of course, the watch is just A piece like that is likely to stay in your possession for a long, long time!

What's the new lens & camera combo?? I love the pics!

Hey where'd you find a video of my girlfriend trying to park??

Fortunately she wasn't off the plane yet, so I got to ogle his watch before ogling his daughter when she came outside

BTW, he was at the airport picking up his daughter Dominik Garcia Lorido, who is quite stunning

I was at the Burbank Airport yesterday waiting for my bags. A worker at the airport ran past me with a Godfather box set and handed it to a gentleman and asked him to sign it. I looked up and there was Andy Garcia! Of course I took a look at what he was wearing and too my surprise I saw a bright orange GMT hand that looked very familiar! When I had a chance to get a little closer, found him to be wearing a MkII LRRP

That top hat is very, very nice!

Like the work on the case engravings, but wow....you sure did a number on that dial! It's fun though, isn't it???

Traditionally yes, it would be easier, but not every camera has that ability. I thought this was a nice and easy way for anyone to do it. It's not perfect by any means, but given the amount of time it takes to do, and how ridiculously crappy the ambient lighting is in my office, I just wanted to show that you can still take decent shots with any camera in any light. This tutorial was meant to show what can be accomplished with just the neutral gray card & aperture (or any other editing software).

Agreed with both Ubi & Stephane. I wear what I like and could care less how I'm perceived by anyone who happens to notice my watch. In my year and a half since I joined this forum, I have only ever had one comment from a stranger and that was when I was wearing my old Bell & Ross BR-03. He said "cool watch" and that was the extent of the discussion. I don't wear my Datejust because I want to feel like I'm a member of the "special club". I wear it because I like how it compliments the look of what clothes I am wearing. I wear a watch as an accessory and to express a mood. I wear my Tudor to work most often because I feel it is a great every day tool watch that states I am ready to tackle the next big job. Actually come to think of it, there was one other time when someone commented on the watch I was wearing. I do remember one time I wore my noob mariner to a strip club and one dancer immediately thought that I should get a lap dance from her because with my Louis Vuitton wallet & Rolex that I was clearly wealthy enough to throw some cash her way. Rolex does have a brand name and with that name comes a certain perception with some people, but I have never really had an interest in what other peoples opinion were about me (especially based on which watch I was wearing at the time).

I live this forum every day through the "View New Posts" link at the top so I can get a nice overview on what's going on. Occasionally, when I want to find something more specific I will go to that particular forum. That being said, if there was a vintage forum (or sub-forum) for each category, that would be pretty sweet IMO. I like the idea dieselpower!

Thanks guys! Ubi your shots are pretty amazing as they are. You shoot with natural light, don't you?

I have not been a photog for very long, but I have been extremely lucky to have some great friends, both here and in my life, that have taught me a lot of great little "Tips & Tricks" to getting great shots. I am, by no means, an expert and I still have A LOT to learn, but I thought this little guide would be of benefit to all you lovers of photography - especially when shooting shots of your new timepieces! For this tutorial I have used my Nikon D90, but for the sake of this lesson, please note - the camera is totally irrelevant! Of course, if you have a camera that shoots RAW, it's best to keep the pictures in RAW format, but JPG will work in this as well. As I mentioned, the camera is really not important in this situation. I will demonstrate what I do each step of the way in both the setup & staging, taking the picture & processing the picture after the fact. I will be using Apple's Aperture 3 for this demonstration, so for you PC users out there, you will need to source an equivalent program - I am pretty sure Adobe Lightroom will do the exact same thing, but I have never used it so I can't speak for it's abilities. Before we begin the tutorial we need to have a basic understanding on color and how light can severely impact the accuracy of color when taking a picture. For this, we need to have an understanding of White Balance. From Wikipedia: In other words - the light you shoot with will have a great impact on the reproduction of the colors seen in the digital image. How many times have you taken a shot using indoor light and it looks really yellow and completely off? That is the White Balance at play, and how inaccurately the camera's Automatic White Balance setting reads the available light. There are many many different types of imaging software for sale and each of them does different things well. However, without having a base-line to go off of, you can never really accurately represent the color of an object in a picture. This is the primary discussion of this tutorial. By using a neutral gray card or object, with software, you can easily adjust the color of your picture. For this tutorial, and my every day use, I use a WhiBal Certified Neutral Gray card from Raw Workflow. You can find information here about it. This is what they look like: By inserting this card into your first shot, you can use this as your neutral gray base-line to which you edit all of your photos that are shot in the same light. This is an extremely handy little card to have, and the one I use is the size of a credit card. Now that we have a basic understanding of light and color and how to correct it, we can proceed with the tutorial. Step 1 - Staging the Shoot So we are going to take a picture of a watch. For this tutorial, I am going to use the following: Photo Tent (Purchased on sale for $9.99 including the lights and background) Super Cheap Tripod Nikon D90 w/28-80mm AF Nikkor Lens (Purchased new for $99.00) Here's a basic shot from my Blackberry showing the basic setup: By placing the WhiBal card in the first shot, we get this: After you have taken the WhiBal shot, set up your watch and take some pictures. I have the camera in Aperture Priority mode, at f/16, but everything else is set to Auto. White Balance, ISO, shutter speed & focus. Once you have taken your shots, load your pictures into Aperture 3 (or any editing software) and go to the first shot. Here is my first shot, un-edited: Ok, so it's not too bad looking to start with. Having the gray background in the light tent has helped the camera along with setting a decent white balance setting. However, lets look at another set-up. This is just my desk, and overhead CFL lamps. Again, my shot of the WhiBal Card: And a picture of a watch: Pretty horrible looking, isn't it? Let's move on to the next step... Step 2 - Editing your Pictures in Aperture 3 So we've taken some pictures, and loaded them into Aperture. Now we need to start editing them. I am not going to go into any other adjustments at this time. All I am looking for at the moment is accurate color representation. So, first we need to go to our WhiBal shot. So we've got our picture loaded. On the left side, there are three tabs. Library - Metadata - Adjustments. Click on the Adjustments tab. Next, we want to set our neutral gray setting. To do this, we go to White Balance, and click on the eye-dropper: You can see it is asking you to choose a neutral gray in the picture. Choose a gray spot on the WhiBal card. Now we have adjusted the white balance of this shot to an accurate 18% gray and you will notice the color has changed: Excellent. Now we need to save this as a preset so that we can apply the same white balance setting to the actual picture. To do this, we go up to Presets and Select "Save as preset" Name the preset (in this case, I called it "WhiBal Light Tent"). Next, go to the picture that you wish to adjust. Go back to Presets, and you will now notice that there is a selection named "WhiBal Light Tent". Aperture 3 will give you a little thumbnail preview of what the change will look like before you click on it. If you like what you see, click on it and you are done. You have now edited the White Balance of your picture to a neutral gray base-line. Here is a before & after shot: Now, remember those really bad shots with the CFL lights? Again, here is a before and after shot using the same technique: I mentioned in the title that this is something you can do cheaply. Camera cost aside, you will need Aperture 3 (or other editing software) and a WhiBal card. Apple sells Aperture 3 for $199.00 but for you internet nerds out there, I know there are "free" copies floating around If you are able to find an Aperture 3 license, you can download the free 30 day demo from Apple and then just enter the serial number and you are good to go. So, basically the only cost you are looking at is the WhiBal card I hope you find this tutorial interesting and beneficial!

That dial is just......Wow! Beauty Freddy!

Hi Nick, Glad you found a new home here with this wonderful community. A community bound by the love of watches and so much, much more! I'm honored to be a part of the group which will be there with you as you recover from your surgery. All the best and sending you positive vibes from across the globe!

Excellent side-by-side! You do this community proud!!! I'm guessing there will be a few more of these appearing around here for the next few weeks For the sub-dial hand posts, I'd use a small refinishing pen. I'd bet that would take the little bit of paint off nicely.

Yeah me too. That is one beautiful Autavia, isn't it?

Agreed!!! Of course, it would be for purely educational purposes as we all try to improve our photography skills

I can think of no one more deserving of such generosity! Nice acquisition Ubi! Definitely loving the Ti PAM's lately. I love the 040 and I really love LHOOQ's Ti PAM 082 Amerigo Vespucci