TJGladeRaider

I'd have replied sooner, but I have been sitting here plumb hypnotized by your avatar for the last few days! And to think there are those who do not believe in God . . . who but God could provide that sort of angel? As for "too many reps," I'll have to find that thread. I can only observe that some of you people are truly sick. I mean, how many wrists does one man have? First, you go out and buy a couple of reps, searching for a decent Sub Then, you think you have to have a box to keep your watches wound up, and once you have the box, you feel obligated to fill it up with whatever you see. Then, having spent the rent money a few times, having been berated by the wife more than a few times, and sent the baby to bed hungry just once . . . believe me, you only do that once . . . and once you recover from that beating, your tastes become more refined, and you begin focusing on specific interests. What you may first get intrigued with, often gives way to other interests, and there is definitely something to be said for the Rolexes The problem with that is, the market changes, the product quality changes, and there are some things that are just too fine to pass up What can I say . . . I just feel sorry for those people! Bill PS: I am in the process of sending my last six Vintage MBWs off to the Zigster . . . once I have them all back, I am going to post one hell of a picture!

Well, ain't I jes dumber'n a box a rocks! I should have thought of that. Teach me to be away a while! Bill

Anyone have a clue why I cannot upload pics into my posts?? I am not trying to upload anything large (124kb). There is an existing message in the Attachment Editor that says: "Attachment space used 30.28MB of 2MB" before I even try to upload any pics. It also says "Attachment system ready" right below that. Then I try to upload a pic and I get a failure message that it was too big. Whassup? Bill

Hi, Just got an PM that reminded me to say Hello lest old friends think I am dead. I was tied up working that tax trial in Ocala Florida . . . what a media circus. The "Unwinnable case in the unwinnable place" but we won! Hope all is well. Bill

I'm doing just wonderful! How's everything with you and yours? Any new watches? Bill

I bought a couple of the new Sea Dwellers that Joshua is advertising. His pics are better than I could take so you can look at them. Joshua's Pics These watches appear to be from a better source than I am used to seeing. 1. They have a very small "AAA" sticker on the crystal 2. They come with a plastic bezel protector 3. The crystal seems THICK as pictured, much like some of the TW Best watches 4. The He Valve looks very different (I haven't seen a real one so I cannot comment) 5. Bezel feels like a TW Best with fine, precision clicks 6. Bezel is much thicker than on my Subs and noticeably thicker than on my SD's including the new model MBW SD 7. Bracelet - very nice finish, no gritty feeling, precision screws 8. Crown stem looks like OE - bright and shiny - and crown manipulates smoothly Seems like the best SD that I have other than the old TW Bests with the lug holes and the MBW vintages Bill

Let me answer you thus - I bought several of the old "Perfect SD" which were the same as the TW Best. They were beautiful, thick, heavy pieces. I have nothing for sale, but if I did, I wouldn't consider $500 for one of them.Bill

If I had a gen vintage, I would never swim with it. That's very true. On the other hand, I have a few MBW vintages, and I swim/dive with them without a second thought. Besides, that Ziggy lume means I need not bring a dive light! LOL Bill

It all depends. If you're object is to get to Florida, fly. If you're object is to enjoy time with your family, travel, and create a great vacation, driving can be a great option, especially if you identify the things worth seeing along the way and allow the time to stop. Bill

Just something I bought on EBAY. I have several of them, and they are very nice looking displays. Bill

I have a couple of those, I just hesitate to comment. Of all my MBWs, they impress me the least. They are not made on a 1680 case. They bear no resemblance in construction to a real 1675. I sent one to Ziggy and he sent it back. Bill

Ziggy was kind enough to take somre of my watches apart and try this. He says there is no way to put the 2893 in where the 2836 comes out. It made sense to try back then because there were no 2893's available. Now that we can buy the TW Best with the 2893, it would make no sense to spend a couple of hundred bucks on the movement and try to put it in a watch we paid a couple of hundred bucks for because the labor would make the whole thing ridiculous. Here's three GMTs and an Explorer II, all with 2893s. For Better Pics, see Josh. Bill

I am also a bit nuts over the GMTs - but you can have the 2836's. These (four on lower right) all have 2893 movements. They cost more, but I'd rather pay a couple of hundred bucks more and get a movement that costs a couple of hundred bucks. Bill

Nope -- I had a pair and let one go once. I thought I'd never be able to find another. The 2836's can be decent watches - MBW GMTs are 2836's, although I wouldn't recommend the vintage MBW GMT. The GMT Master II by MBW is a much better watch. When you consider that the 2893 movement costs more than $200, you can expect to pay a lot more for a watch with it. I have four of them (or I will have when number four gets back from Ziggy) and I also have the Explorer II with a 2893. If you read the reviews about the 2893 movement, it compares very favorably with anything out there - including gen Rolex. That's the way to go in my view. Bill

Get it with the 2893 movement and you won't have to worry about the modifications. Bill

I have all three versions of the 2893 GMT Josh is selling (and I can almost hear our residents saying, "so who's surprised). It's no secret that I MUCH prefer the 2893 in a GMT or Explorer II. I previously had two of the TW Best GMT 2893s, but I broke down and let a friend have one. I tried to replace it later, but couldn't. I asked Josh to see if he could get me the watch thru his sources, so when he made the connection, I bought three. It seems to me that some folks are going to criticize anything Josh does these days, so you might want to search and see what was said of the ones discussed previously - it is the same exact watch. I'll say this -- as much as I love some of you guys, don't even hold your breath waiting for me to let anybody have another one of these!!!! Ziggy has the 2893 GMT I had left before buying these, and he's putting a gen crown/tube in it for me. I hope it makes as much difference as it does with the SUBS and SDs. Anybody happen to have any gen 6mm crown sets? Bill

My question is this . . . because Lord knows Ziggy answered everything else. Not that it would matter to me, but just for clarity, EXACTLY how much price difference is the consumer looking at between these two methods? Bill

I love this place! LOL Bill

This has been a very fascinating read. I have listened to so many presentations by wannabe's, nitwits, and clever conmen, on one subject and another over the years, that I am realy enjoying an exchange by two very knowledgeable people, both making articulate arguments for their point of view. Business is properly all about maximizing worth for value, and those businesses that can demonstrate the best bang for the buck are the companies I would buy stock in. I don't know watches, but I do know machine shops and engines - there is nothing that our nation's largest and most successful manufacturers of "reman" engines do that could not be done better, but their mission is to do both a good job, and the best job that can be done at a competitive price. On the other hand, if I'm going to have one of my watches serviced, my precious MBWs go to Ziggy. I guess he has worked on about a dozen for me at this point, and I love the work that anal, meticulous, Rob turns out. I do not suggest that there is any reason to believe that Tech could not do what Ziggy does as well, or perhaps even better. That's not an issue anyone seems to be discussing, and I suppose anything's possible. As I read this, it looks to me like Tech isn't suggesting that he competes with Ziggy any more than Jasper or Recon competes with boutique performance shops who balance and blue print everything right down to the oil pump case clearance. Assembly lines vs individualized craftsmen -- comparing them is to compare apples and oranges. To Rob, I would say that you get my business because I like what you're selling and I am willing to pay for it - I personally wouldn't give a rat's patootie if someone could prove to me that the end result is precisely the same. If this lovely DRSD I am wearing suddenly goes "tic," but no "toc," I'll be sending it to you. it's worth money to me to know that you are going to personally, and individually inspect each and every piece as opposed to the more assembly line approach that might be offered elsewhere. On the other hand, assembly lines provide most of what consumer's consume for a reason. If I was in the business of selling "serviced" watches, I'd be having a hard look at what Tech advocates because most people are more interested in a balancing act - they want something that works at the cheapest possible price, and maximizing profit is the only thing any shareholder is concerned with. Mostly, I'm dealing with the Client from Hell this afternoon so I thought I'd take a break and this is the first post I have seen that I wanted to comment on! Cheers. Bill

I really like what you have done with that watch -- you're right about the insert, it looks MUCH better than the MBW. You may send it back now. LOL Bill

I sent it to him - he sent it back saying it was too sorry a POS to be worth fixing. Bill

Lately, I have been sending batches of my MBWs to Ziggy for lume and gen crowns/tubes. THAT damn sure gets expensive when you do the watches four or five at a time. On the other hand, he does the most incredible work. Bill

Thank you very kindly - they didn't show up in my google search for some reason. Looks like $165 ea for 5 of them and I found a hand stack for $25 so this may be doable, but the mark up must be extraordinary since you can buy entire watches (same movement and hands) brand new for not much more than that. In fact, that may be another option. Buy some of those scratch and dent steinharts, and switch the guts out. I look forward to hearing what the watch smythe gurus say. Bill

I am sick and tired of GMT JUNK, and even if Ziggy had not published various evaluations of the GMT movements, nobody would have to tell me that the 2893 GMT is VASTLY superior to the modified 2836. Does anyone happen to know of a good source for 2893 movements. I have searched the web and e-bay (I found the ones on EBay with the hour ewheel missing), but someone, somewhere must sell these things new. Have any of our watch smythe gurus installed many of the the 2893s where they watch came with 2836? Bill

Hiya Doc, I'd call it a very reasonably priced, mid-grade watch. There are better watches. Bill