TJGladeRaider

I would say the bicycle. Bill

Dear Neil, I would gently and respectfully suggest that you seek competent psychiatric help; it is my observation and belief that you have trouble expressing your feelings, and some support and encouragement in asserting yourself might be beneficial. You cannot expect miracles, but in a matter of weeks with the right therapist, you might very well find yourself able to look a waitress in the eye and protest that your steak was not cooked to your request. Although you may find it difficult to imagine as you stifle your objections while home alone in front of the TV, within a few short months, you could hope to attend live sporting events, vocally protesting bad calls as you boldly root for your favorite team. There's hope Neil, truly there is. Bill

I compared this to my fiddy from Josh and I don't see an improvement. My movement is all engraved, the swan neck works, the screws are all blue and the crystals are sapphire - front and back. Bill

That is totally hilarious. Lord how I love that! Bill

There's two sides to every story and I'm glad you came forward with yours. The problem is, one of you is full of [censored]. He claims that there were no communications whatsoever, and you claim a littany of e-mails and PMs. Frankly, absent proof one way or the other, a reasonable person would find it difficult to believe that he would lie, leaving you free to forward copies of your e-mails to list members exposing him, and demanding that the admins verify the PMs. That being said, IF you made a diligent effort to communicate via EMail and PM, and IF he ignored your efforts, that means he outright lied to us so I'm on your side - $5 or $500, a buyer has a right to expect a seller to communicate and an effort to communicate thru PayPal is no big deal - unless you said something about reps, which you apparently did not. That's a big "IF," and I cannot help wondering why you're not waiving those e-mails around if they exist. If they do not exist, you probably ought to take your toys and go home because you are not going to be very popular around here. Bill Bill

I wondered when that was going to happen. Bill

Well my pugnacious friend, I have searched thru Joshua's site and I see that he has a number of watches that are advertised as having synthetic sapphire crystals - and judging by the price of the few I looked at, I would expect them to be the "bottom of the food chain." Evidently, you got me there - I must admit that I was mistaken. The thing that sticks in my mind, is when so many people were complaining that their Fiddy from other dealers came with a mineral crystal, I had a 127 on the way so I asked J to clarify and he assured me that mine was sapphire - and it is. Bill

I don't know what 1:1 means, but I can assure you that Joshua sells nothing with mineralglass as sapphire - synthetic or otherwise. I would expect that all "real" sapphire crystals are actually synthetic. Bill

USSS Counterfeits 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20500 Be sure and put "Counterfeits Wanted" on the envelope. Bill BTW, I hear they have the best Subs too. Bill

I'm in the US and I always buy several at a time. Three different Rolexes would be a lot less suspicious to Customs than three identical watches - that looks like a dealer as opposed to a collector. Bill

Mine is from Medelin, CO Wife With My Boat Bill

At his suggestion, I bought a couple of bands from Joshua with the Omega deployment clasp. I don't know whether these look like anything gen or not, but the quality of strap and clasp is very impressive and they certainly look like something gen. Omega Straps via Josh One thing - the way the clasp works should be obvious, but for some reason it took me a while to realize that the male end fit down between the little guides and if you don't put them in there, the clasp won't close right. It is really stupid obvious, but I mention it anyway. These really are a very nice touch. Bill

I'm sorry that you see it that way. I don't knoiw Andrew, and I never bought a thing from him, but I know the Gospel truth when I see it. I think you are missing the point of this post - there is no reason to suggest that we see this from the buyer's perspective - we are buyers, how else would we percieve it but for the effort of a dealer to share with us theirs. As for the assertion that the Customs story doesn't wash, I find that incredible. The best dealers do replace watches that are seized, and that number is a variable they can neither predict, nor control. Enforcement efforts are on the rise, and I suspect they will continue to rise, so let's not pass off an effort to be frank about a problem as a sob story. Bill

OK Faker, since it can be hard to read the intention behind typed words, let's be clear that I am being completely serious. I agree with you in that I do believe that some of the replies you got were from people who took seriously something that you intended to be in jest - and with that in mind, I want you to take a deep breath and consider the dynamic involved here, and "dynamic" is a word detectives use to reference the flow of events and interactions attendant to a given set of facts and circumstances. Bear in mind, that when I wrote my post, the thread was just "you and me" from my perspective which is to say, you wrote a post I took as being humorous and I replied to it in the same vein . . . hence the emoticon. Now, unbeknownst to me at the time I wrote my post, other readers interpreted your post differently and responded accordingly. Their posts were not intended to be humorous, and I am sure they hurt your feelings as that was their apparent intent, and you are an unusually sensitive person - probably due to the fact that you don't communicate this way very often. You read their posts before reading mine, and after reading a series of negative posts, interpretted mine to be going along with that flow. A person who rarely communicates via message board could easily fail to realize that the fourth, or fortieth, reply in a series may well have been written by someone who read nothing other than the post they replied to. By the time I read your reply to my post, I too had read thru the others, so I made it clear that my post was intended to be funny, and I agreed with you that their comments were unwarranted which you, as a somewhat "self-sensitive" person percieved to be a pitiful attempt on my part to "make nice" with you and you further flatter yourself to percieve that you have forced from me some sort of admission. These are the sorts of conclusions that only an overly "self-sensitive" person could reach -- anyone else would find it highly unlikely that a sycophantile "suck-up" would be critical of posts by several people who are known here, in support of one person who is not, and one does not admit anything by acknowledging the obvious. I have been a criminal investigator for about thirty years; I have dealt with a lot of people and seen a lot of life which has, on various occaions, been neither kind nor gentle. Were you to crack wise about the size of my "wee wee," I can assure you that it would not pierce my delicate psyche, and shatter my self esteem. Enjoy your watch. Bill

I'll leave it to others to speak for themselves as to their interpretation of my post, perhaps I should have included a smiley emoticon cartoon character to make my intention . . . oh wait, I did that didn't I. By "e-mails," I was referring to your follow up rant here which, for all I know, you may have sent via Pony Express. If anyone construed that to mean that you were communicating with me directly, while I was replying here, I should have been more clear as I am pleased to report that this is not the case. This petulant purveyor of pustulent prose has not seen fit to afflict me elsewhere. As for "protecting your name," let me see, that would be what, "Faker." Ah yes, a name that you have no doubt felt blessed to wear proudly, for all it is and means. Why do I see a vision of a little old fat bald guy, sitting in his Momma's single-wide in sweat stained BVD's, sucking down cheap suds and popping lithium? When your Momma finds out what you bought with her Social Security check, Im betting that she's gonna be really mad. Rant on Sir Troll, tossing you beenie weenies has been fun, but I've grown bored with it. Ciao, Bill

I gotta jump on Randy's bandwagon here as I didn't realize that you were in the US. As I posted sometime bank, Congress recently (last May I believe) amended the statute that applies to trafficking in counterfeits and one of their findings was that the trade in counterfeit goods finances terrorism -- whoaa now, before anybody starts arguing. The reason that this is significant is that their "finding" provides the link that will bring these cases within the jurisdiction of Homeland Security - even if your efforts do not result in the sale of a single watch, you could be charged with an inchoate offense (like conspiracy) and the sale of just one watch would be enough to support the charge for the substantive offense. Randy is giving you some good advice here - buy all the reps you want to, and there's no US law against it, but as for this marketing idea - don't even think about it. Bill

No, as I am sure anyone with the intellect of the average house plant could tell, my post was intended to be a joke, but upon later reflection, and in light of your subsequent e-mails, I can see that you have some serious issues and my comments must have struck closer to home than I intended. Unlike you, I do post a lot and I believe our regulars will bear witness that if I was out to insult you, the difference would be readily apparent - even to you - and there would be nothing apologetic about it. Enjoy your watch, I am sure it's a fine piece, but if you are going to post I would suggest that you try and keep in mind that this is about watches - and whether you are talking about your wonderful new gen or the sorriest junk Rolex rep that ever was, it's still just a watch and nobody with a life, and any sense, gets all worked up over them. Bill

I got it from Joshua. It seems like a pretty nice piece. Mostly, I just wanted it because I didn't have anything like it in my box. Bill

I gotta agree with ya - Wow. I took it as a humorous post and intended mine to be funny. Even re-reading the post, it still seems humorous to me so I cannot see why the hostility. Maybe others are privy to info I am not - would you mind shaving your head and telling me if you see any numbers there? Bill

I have two MBWs I bought second hand, I tired to buy a new one recently but had a terribly unlucky experience, and I am currently trying to obtain two new vintage MBWs thru other channels. I have a large box of Rolex reps including some of the TW Best from EL, and all that Joshua sells, as well as some from Ms. King. I also have three other boxes of reps and gens - the point being, I have plenty of things to compare here. While I am sure some may feel differently, I don't see any reason to buy the new style MBWs when Joshua, EL and now Andrew are selling a virtually identical watch, and both Joshua and Andrew offer it fully serviced with none of the worry about being screwed that has been the problem with some MBW sources. The vintage MBWs are special, but the thing that makes them special is the fact that they can be modded using gen parts. $380 is a lot to pay for a watch just so you can pour money into it but it's worth that to me as a collector, but $500 is WAY to expensive for me to justify - although, as I said, I am sure some will see it differently. A reasonably priced source that accepts PayPal and can be counted on would be a great thing. Bill

Don't worry, in a few weeks you'll realize that most people are not really impressed by a watch, and the few that are, were the same ones who were impressed by your rep. Bar stool babes will still ignore you, your taylor will report that you really haven't gotten any taller, and your doctor . . . he'll still smirk and shake his head. Bill

I have a PVD Pam28 that I bought from Joshua with the 2892 and his service package. It keeps time as well as anything I have, gaining somewhere between 2 and 5 seconds a day. I also have a 2892 in a FM Conquistador that keeps time almost as well but I do not believe I paid to have it serviced. Bill

While these are interesting arguments, I cannot help but wonder how you determined that there is no "watch cartel," especially since the government, using a legion of professional investigators with subpoena power and an unlimited budget came to the exact opposite conclusion. The problem that you are overlooking is the fact that it is the manufacturers, not the market, commanding the prices. The reason that this is a problem is that we have a law against it - the Sherman Anti-Trust Act. Perhaps this introduction to the situation from my investigative web site will help clarify things. On October 19, 1954, the United States filed an anti-trust complaint in the United States District Court, Southern District of New York, under Section 1 of the Sherman Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1, alleging a wide-ranging conspiracy between Swiss and United States watch companies to fix prices, terms, and conditions of the sale of watches and watch parts, restrict the manufacturing of watches and watch parts in the United States, and control the export of watches and watch parts into the United States. The complaint named more than twenty defendants, including Rolex's predecessor ­ the American Rolex Watch Corporation. On March 9, 1960, the United States, and eleven of the defendants named in the complaint (all of whom were United States importers of Swiss watches or watch parts), including the American Rolex Watch Corporation, entered into the Final Judgment. The purpose of the Final Judgment was to prevent the defendant importers from engaging in certain collusive and unilateral conduct that was causing significant competitive harm at the time the Final Judgment was entered. Section VI.C of the Final Judgment states, in relevant part, that each defendant importer "is enjoined from. . . restricting or controlling the use by any person in the United States of watch parts or watchmaking machines purchased from" any defendant importer named in the suit, and Section VI.H of the Final Judgment states that each defendant importer "is enjoined from . . . entering into any agreement or understanding with any reseller of watches, watch parts or watchmaking machines to fix or control the markup or the maximum or minimum price at which, the terms or conditions on which, or the customers to whom any such product may be resold." Most recently, the government has determined that since 1996, Rolex has required watchmakers to agree to adhere to Rolex's Policy Statement which included certain provisions that the government has alleged to violate the Final Judgment. Specifically: a. One of the provisions in Rolex's Policy Statement, under the heading "Rolex Trademarks and Goodwill," states: "Parts may not be used in any watch that has non-Rolex parts or accessories (such as generic dials, bezels, crystals or bracelets)." This restriction on the ability of watchmakers to use parts purchased from Rolex to repair Rolex watches that have non-Rolex parts or accessories violates Section VI.C of the Final Judgment by limiting the use by watchmakers of the watch parts purchased from Rolex. b. Another provision in Rolex's Policy Statement, under the heading "Terms of Sale," states: "Spare parts are sold for end use by the purchaser only. Spare parts may not be resold under any circumstances." This restriction on the ability to resell parts violates both Section VI.H of the Final Judgment by limiting the circumstances under which watch parts may be resold, and Section VI.C of the Final Judgment by limiting a watchmaker's use of the watch parts it purchases from Rolex. c. A third provision in Rolex's Policy Statement, under the heading "General Policies," states: "To the extent that charges for spare parts are itemized, the markup shall not exceed fifty percent (50%)." This maximum pricing restriction violates Section VI.H of the Final Judgment by fixing the maximum markup that watchmakers can charge (when itemizing) for watch parts when performing repairs. Anyway, everyone is entitled to their opinions, and I certainly respect yours. Bill

True, but most of the other statements I would wish to make don't look right on my wrist. Bill

In light of all the recent rhetoric regarding the usage of the word "perfect" as it relates to certain replicas by some of our most trusted dealers, and keeping in mind that most of the most trusted dealers that we have here do not speak English as their natural language, I do not think criticism is warranted. It's not for me to speak for anyone but myself, but I don't see his use of the word "perfect" as an effort to convince me that these watches are literally perfect -- maybe there is someone on this board who believes in the existence of such a thing, but it certainly is not me, I don't think it's any of you that I know, and the suggestion that anyone is using the word in an effort to deceive is insulting to our intelligence, and theirs. In trying to be fair, I think we all would readily acknowledge that Eddie Lee has been using the word "Best" to describe his Subs and SD's for some time now. If a dealer were to take a comparable product, and then have it properly service, timed and waterproofed, I can see why he would choose to call it something better than "Best," especially if he was explicitly offering a replacement waterproof guarantee. I have to ask myself, assuming I could manage to learn to speak Chinese at all, "How long would it take for me to master the distinction between various shades of meaning?" So I postulate this question to any English speaking person who would be critical of our dealer's choice of words as being tantamount to fraud, "What word would you use . . . in Chinese?" I have never bought a watch of any kind from Andrew, but I have read enough reviews to know that his reputation is excellent, and I have no doubt whatsoever that the watches he is selling as "serviced" have, in fact, been serviced and it seems a no-brainer to me that his claim that they used imported Swiss lubricants is true. If they are actually going to tear down the movements and guarantee their work, why wouldn't they use the proper lubricants? If, as others have reported and I suspect, Andrew is selling a serviced version of the TW Best I bought from Eddie Lee, it has to be one very nice piece and it may very well be as nice as the serviced watches I have boought thru Joshua. Considering the completely crooked nature of most of the rep industry, I think the fact that dealers like him (and Joshua before him) are doing everything they can do to make the best possible product available at a reasonable price is commendable. If they want to call these things "Pope perfect," that's just fine by me. Bill