TJGladeRaider

As I said when I posted, this was between us privately, and he specifically indicated that the issue was closed; unfortunately, he did not leave it that way and began trolling for concerned citizens he could whine to behind my back with his "I have been so screwed, I'm hurt so bad, thumbs down" nonsense. When I see someone report that they have been victimized, I tend to reach out to them for further information, and I think many of us do that too. Rumor, gossip and untenable allegations fester and grow in the dark like fungus -- I'll not have anyone talking behind my back about a "wrong" they cannot take public if I can help it. I've made my point and done what I set out to do here. Bill

This is just fun for me - I love to see the enthusiasm. I get impatient with the something for nothing, niggardly (just to be clear, that's a bona fide word with no racist implications) pikers, but anytime someone is willing to fairly pay for the work some of these people do -- you cannot help but enjoy that. Ben is going to create an heirloom. Bill

Hey Ubi -- so good to see you on here. As you may recall, I've always been one to send people things I had lying around - gratis. It doesn't make conomic sense to spend a couple of hours negotiating a deal on small money for something you have lying around, and I don't sell used cars for a living. Haggling isn't rewarding to me. On the other hand, I have also been known to pay silly money for things that were important to me - especially if the THING came from a PERSON important to me. In my view, this is the one most bizarre hobby in the world. People work hard to develop the ability to assess rep vs gen on a scale that has no real value to anyone anywhere else. People spend a small fortune to make a counterfeit version of something they could have bought gen for less. I'm wearing a 1680 MBW I have put stupid money in, but I could read a newspaper in the dark with it, and it's got a bunch of gen Rolex parts on it - the crown is silk! Where else in the world do I go to find people who understand - even if they disagree with my choices? Send me an email when you have some time. I'd really like to catch up. Bill

Yes, you summed it up concisely - at least from my view. I'm still waiting to hear what Peter has to say. Bill

Yes, he wanted to buy one, but I gave three away instead - one was the chinese version to supply an extra Swiss movement and hands if he should need them, and two were MBWs. They were mine, I paid a lot for them, and it seems to me that I could bury them in the back yard if I wanted to. As far as all that goes, I had someone else recently offer me a ton of money for something else that I wouldn't price, and declined to sell, and then I gave it away instead. I think I can do that. Bill

Yes, I had spent about a thousand dollars on that junk. Without the dials, there was nothing about the MBWs I liked, and I was anxious to see if a person with skills and the proper equipment could make something nice out of them. Although the smythe did offer to buy one, I didn't want him sending me money without knowing if the watches could actually be done up right, or what kind of work would be involved. If he finds out that he can do what he thinks he can do, I'll get him to do one for me. If not, . . . it's really all about the game here isn't it? There's another piece of information. There were actually two dials I have that he wanted, but not knowing what was fair, I asked him to make me an offer on them. The other is a new in the box MBW Singer 1680 dial that I haven't offered for sale, am not anxious to part with, and haven't priced either. When he got all wound up and upset that I let the GMTs go, I asked him if he was going to be all upset if I let someone talk me out of the 1680 -- he declined to make me an offer on too, so I told him he could have it for $100. I have no idea what it is worth, but I wouldn't price that at $100 - I suspect a Singer with the feet would sell for a lot. With all the talk about "stiffing" him and "shafting" him, I thought that was a favor because no matter what it's worth, it's worth more than that to me. He passed; frankly, I hoped he would! Bill

That's just it - I don't understand why he is so vehement that I "stiffed" and "shafted" him - his words in the emails. I have no idea how any rational man could claim to have been "stung," when he just saw that I had the dials, I never offered to sell them, I never priced them, and he never offered me a price. All I can do is tell you what the facts and circumstances were and give him an opportunity to give us some cogent explanation as to how I treated him badly, so I can point specifically respond to it. The bottom line is, he did make it clear to me that he wanted the dial off of one of those watches (as did several people,) I declined to put a price on it and he didn't make any offer. Meanwhile, someone I know does good watch work asked to buy one because he thought he could make something nice out of it. That idea appealed to me so I gave him the three I had. You see, my thought process was this. 1) I didn't want to put them back together and sell them as MBW Vintage GMTs (which they are) because they really are junk. I have no doubt that someone expecting MBW quality would have bought them at a high price, but they would have been sick when they found out that they don't have cases like the gens. 2) I didn't want to sell them to someone else either for fear that they would just assemble them and sell them as MBW Vintage GMTs - here or elsewhere. It would be predictable that someone might pay MBW money, and be as disappointed as I was. 3) I didn't want to sell the dials because that's the only real bright side of the watch - and Peter never mentioned any figure except to tell me about some dials that were available for $30. You're a call it like you see it guy - did I do something wrong here? Bill

I have been going round and round via email with a member who feels that I "shafted" him. I thought he finally saw that his position made no sense - his last email to me said: "Thanks Bill - good luck with the remaining sales. I will take it no further. My comments are private to you. I do not thread crap, or mud sling or even 'cause a stir'. Reputation is everything, it takes years to build and minutes to lose. Just wanted you to know my frustration at missing one of these!" Now, I see that Peter has alluded to this in the other ethics related thread - it's an assumption on my part, but I sent him a "WTF is this" email and he didn't deny it. I regard this to be a slimy invitation for people to wonder who treated him badly, and inquire privately, so he can report how I "shafted" him behind my back. If a man's got a problem he wants people to be aware of, he ought to articulate it up front, and give the other party an opportunity to respond. I don't like back stabbing. I posted a request for help and advice regarding a couple of MBW GMTs I bought years ago that turned out to be junk. That wasn't a "sale" post, but several people expressed an interest in buying those dials, and several people had the same opportunity to make me an offer that Peter did, but a watch smythe known to me with tool & die capabilities that most of us don't have, wanted to buy them thinking they might be made into something nice -- an offer that appealed to me, so I GAVE THEM TO HIM - actually three vintage GMTs. If I had been so inclined, I could easily have put them back as received, and offered them for sale as MBW Vintage GMTs -- which they were. People would have expected the product MBW is known for and bought them for serious money, only to be as disappointed as I was. I didn't want to sell them, and I made it absolutely clear to anyone with the intellectual acumen of a house plant that they were junk. I didn't offer them for sale, I didn't price them to anyone and the watch smythe was the only person to respond to me with anything that appealed to me. So Peter, if you lost out, and it "hurt bad," that's not my fault in my view - but if our peer group sees it differently, I'd like to know that. If you want to allude to this in public, that's fine, but I will not let you air your petty BS little grievance behind my back. Suppose you tell us: 1) Did I offer it for sale, or was I asking for help? 2) Did I reach out to you, or did you reach out to me? 3) Did I, or did I not, invite you to make me an offer? 4) Did you, or did you not, make me an offer? 5) Instead, did you, or did you not, offer me some general observations that some other dial was available for $30? Frankly, I wouldn't go to the trouble to ship an empty box to the UK for $30 - and your most recent communications to the effect that you were not suggesting that my dial was actually worth $30 is not persuasive. If it wasn't intended to be relevant, why did you mention it? I spent an enormous amount of money on those watches, junk that they turned out to be - what obligation do you think I had to make the dial available to you at any price, just because you wanted it so bad that you didn't even make me an offer. If you feel you are aggrieved, say so, and explain why. If not, get you a nice big block of cheese and a box of Ritz to go with that whine. Honest to God, if anyone thinks I'm in the wrong here, I really wanna know. Bill

Oh yes indeed. Given that an item IS commonly available enough that a seller might have two: 1) If Buyer 2 is looking to buy a second item, he hopes to buy it at the same giveaway price as Buyer 1. 2) If Buyer 2 is looking to buy the original item that Buyer 1 contracted for, he offers the seller more for it. If there is no reasonable likelihood that a seller could have two, Buyer 2 is thoroughly exposed. If it is true that he modified pictures to try and hide what he had done, he indicts himself. I'll offer you an observation behind which there is a lot of professional experience. Good people sometimes do bad things - who among us would like to step forward and say they have never done anything they seriously regretted in retrospect? The distinction is often a spur of the moment decision versus a deliberate scheme that was planned. Those of you who know who the parties involved are (which I do not) should carefully consider prior reputation. If I were mediating this situation, my decision would be to require that Buyer2 surrender the item to Buyer1 at the price he contracted to buy it for; B2 absorbs the difference he paid to induce the seller to engage in these shenanigans. If the list members concur, I would encourage you to say so. You may find that Buyer2 made a bad spur of the moment decision he is anxious to find a way to redress. If so, I'd forget about this unfortunate affair. If not, someone should identify parties B2 and S. It's not my place to judge, or dictate, but that seems to me to be the best alternative there is at this point. Bill

Thank you very much for that information! Bill

Gentlemen, I do thank you so much for your replies. Bill

I have read the other posts, and I disagree - to some extent. Probably because my profession may cause me to look at things differently sometimes, and more probably because I was recently in a similar situation. My assessment: Buyer 1 did nothing wrong. He tried to buy X and got screwed. Buyer 2 did nothing wrong, according to the facts and circumstances as described. Finding that X had sold, he reasonably and appropriately contacted the seller to see if more were available - someone explain to me how that is wrong? I have a NIB firearm for sale on GunBroker.com as we speak. When it sells, an interested party who contacted me would find that I have three of them NIB under my bed. On the other hand, if that movement was rare, and if there was no likelihood that a seller would have two (which I don't know enough about to assess), then one might reasonably question his motive and intent - how this whole thing came to light would be an interesting piece of the puzzle. Further, but conversely, if Buyer 2 is the one who came forward to expose these events and offered B1 the movement at his cost, it would seem unlikely that B2 had bad intentions. The seller was the scoundrel. I recently found myself in such a situation. I made a sale, and was contacted minutes later by a potential buyer who was very anxious to acquire that particular watch. It would be easy to tell buyer one that I tested the watch and found the movement to be too dry to run - or some such thing. Had I done that, it would seem to me that the only party at fault would have been me. Given the scenario as described, if I were Buyer 2, I'd explain the situation to Buyer 1, and give them the option to have the movement for the price I paid for it. Bill

Can anyone tell him if a gen Swiss 2836 will drop right in. I am sitting here looking at one complete with red sub dial, silver datewheel and handset. That case isn't even a little bit like a gen. I don't know how a 127 is ever going to work. I have a Chinese 5513 case here on my desk and a gen top hat 127 - it won't fit, but there's a crystal here that looks like a 127 (maybe the one that came of one of the Chinese vintages) that does appear to fit - I don't know how they mount it thogh - maybe a press in with a gasket? It's a tight fit so maybe a careful application of glue would make it work? Why not get the new cartel vintage 1680 sub that comes apart like the gen and start with that? A gen crown/tube would make a pretty nice piece out of it without all the work and it should be waterproof. Bill

You're Jason aren't you? Send me an email - TJGladeRaider@aol.com. If you're Jason, you took good care of a friend of mine - what I need is your physical adress for FedEx. Bill

What r u trying to do Joe? What is it that want to put a gen crown on? Gen crowns are THE mandatory upgrade for any Rollie rep in my view. Bill

Yep, I agree, especially since these things are MBWs. Since people have a certain perception about MBWs that these things simply don't meet, and never did, I don't think they ought to be in circulation. Frankly, it looks to me like they just sourced some parts and cobbled these things together to trade on their name. Since the real Swiss ETA 2836 GMT vs the clone 2836 GMT is a about a $100 difference, and all things genuine ETA are becoming harder to source, they are probably worth holding onto wouldn't you think? The two dials without the "date" seem to be pretty good from what people say. Anyway, they'll be right at home with all this other stuff I have saved. New in the box Singer 1680 MBW dial anyone? Bill

Probably the best idea - I actually have three genuine Swiss 2836 GMTs for parts, but two are in these MBW cases, and one is in a Cartel case. Only two of them have the correct dial without the "date" on them. Sooner or later, someone will need some parts. Bill

Also, they don't say anything at all between the lugs. They were not even a little bit waterproof, which is what caused me to take them apart and try to figure out the problem. They'd cloud up on a rainy day. Bill

I have two MBW Vintage GMT's that need to be put back together. These seem weird to me. First, instead of crystals that press down over the rehaut to be held in by a retaining ring, these have press in platic crystals with plastic gaskets. Second, the bezel assembly has a wire spring in it - what's up with that? Third, the crystal looks a lot like the 127 top hat - which looks silly to me on these watches. Fourth, the inserts (which I cannot find) glue in. Would I be better off to send this to a watch smythe in the US (recommendations??) or just sell them as is to someone wanting a project. The crown guards look pretty good according to the real ones I've seen. Thanks, Bill

I just went back and looked - I priced it to you last night once I had figured out what it was. I priced it to someone a few days ago very cheap. Bill

I have a Seiko I bought back years ago when they came out with their 40th Anniversary Diving watch - they only made 2005 of them. I still have it here new in the box. Since my pics are always lousy, I stole one. Bill

I like that Pro Hunter DSSD. Is the lume as torch like as they say? How would one put a gen crown on it - can a gen be PVD'd by someone, or are they available? Bill

No seriously - I'm not teasing you guys. I've just been away from watches for a long time, and I've gotten a bit confused about what I've got here. Besides, aren't you the one I priced the gilt 5512 to cheap, before I figured out what it was? LOLLLLLLL Bill

Oh what a difference a couple of T-39's can make. Perfect fit - tight, but not too tight. Dust is on the outside. I'm thinking I almost made a very serious mistake! LOL Bill

I can get testosterone cyp, but I have been using the Sustanon 250 for a year - I got that prescribed for me while in Dubai, but it would be cost prohibitive for me to go back there. Since that's what I have been taking, my local doc wrote me a prescription for it, but we found that Sustanon 250 is a testosterone blend that isn't available here in the US. There are a bazillion places that you can order them online, but most are scams targeting the body builder crowd. Either they ship nothing, or the product is fake. A few years ago, a list member was able to direct me to a source for something else I was looking for - I am wondering if anyone might know where I can fill this prescription online without getting ripped off. Please email me at TJGladeRaider@aol.com - unlike PMs, I can check that from my iPhone. Thanks, Bill