Jkay

I bet the gen owner was thinking "I PAID $27,000 DOLLARS AND I RUN INTO A GUY WITH THE EXACT SAME F'ING WATCH. DAMMIT!!" Poor guy.

Welcome to the Forum!!

All replica watches bought from a standard dealer have new-old-stock or used movements inside of them. Now knowing that every mechanical watch whether it costs $40 or $400,000 needs to be serviced every 3 to 5 years, it is very possible that a replica you buy will need service within a year. So even using the "most trusted" sources is no guarantee that you wont be visiting a service shop in 12 months. There is also a very nice Ceramic Submariner in Blue.

Servicing a basic ETA movement is less than $100 .. That being said, you need to contact BK directly and tell him what has happened. I am %99 certain he will take the watch back and fix it, since you have had it a very short time. That is the point of buying a BK watch ... you pay 2 or 3 times what that watch would normally cost for his personal assurances.

One is on a bracelet and the other is on a rubber strap?

Your watch needs to be serviced. It is either dirty or dry inside.

My goodness ... you're a brave man. And apparently have a big brain to match! Go for it.

What is your price range? You could buy one off the shelf, have one made, or anywhere in between depending on your spending limit.

And a Franken uses genuine parts from IWC to make the piece more "perfect" .. from hands to dials, to movements .. everything and anything.

I received this lovely Franken 1665 from builder Highoeyazmuhdee today. I think my other watches will be rather lonely for a while. I'm actually in bed with just a table lamp for taking this pic. Excuse the quality.

selling "ice" in Alaska?! GENIUS!

A 3M finishing pad (scouring pad, yes) for the large areas and a fiberglass tipped "finishing pen" for the tight areas.

LOL Oh my lord, E .. that is an awesome photo of you. Well done! and of course, congratulations on the fine vintage builds .. the watches and the case!

Nice!

Oh that's funny. The rep from Perfect Clones has the same movement serial number as the reference photo supplied by the OP.

Thanks! I bought this one used, but in as-new condition from sgtguk. It seems to be a very solid piece; the GMT hand is independently adjustable, just as in a rep GMT IIc .. pull the crown to the date change position but rotate it anti-clockwise. The crown is unique, in that it does not "screw down" per se .. you line up the crown and the tube via a red dot milled into the crown, then you press the crown all the way in towards the case, and when you can not press any further, you turn the crown clockwise 180 degrees and it locks into place. It's much like a twist-lock aerospace fitting, or an electronic BNC fitting. The dial looks 100% great to me .. overall, I dont see any flaws that I can find. The deployant could use a bit of softening on the edges, but what rep could not? The leather strap? Hm .. not bad but not as great as the rest of this watch. I'd replace it when I have 150 - 200 to spare for a dual color gen croco. The AR is single-sided, as most Panerai is nowadays .. The lume is better than standard rep lume but not up to high quality lume strength overall, I like it a lot.

Thanks .. many more experienced members of the forum fade from view over time, but I remember what they teach and Im happy to pass it along to people newer than me.

That's all I am saying, Z. They should log into their PP acct and check. Never do what an email tells you.

Folks ... go to your PP home page, view your accounts, and try to determine if it's the real deal. Don't FAX your bank history to anyone without knowing who they really are. And BTW .. who the fuck does PayPal think they are, asking to see what you have spend your money on for the past month via your complete bank statement?!

Probably quietly mandated upon PP by the USA government to discourage it's use by terror types to xfer money.

May I point out that the Swiss ETA 7750 changes dates slowly over the course of 3 hours. The Asian 7750 copy has a unique improvement wherein the date snaps over neatly at 00:00 hours. Does Officine Panerai also install this improvement in their modified ETA 7750 movements? But what about the engraved serial number on the winding bridge ... if it's an Asian movement .. what then? And why isn't the Cannon Pin ground flat? Only stock ETA/Clone movements are pointed as this one is. disclaimer: I am no Panerai guy .. I just know as much as I know.

Thanks for all the well-wishes, everyone. They mean a lot.

Ok Vac just replied, and was able to get the watch to pass at 7ATM after he reinstalled the AR'd crystal. He did not say where the issue of bubbles was appearing. I won't bother him again with the question but I'll post this all to his Forum area (Vac's Watch Garage) and if he has time I'm sure he'll respond there.