praetor

which model?

It just has to convince yourself, not others. Try this: when you look "defects" in your watches, what part do you tend to see first? Me: I'd first look at the dial> insert > crystal > crown > case shape > hands > lug holes >the back, in the order of importance.

this is a schematic of a 701, which is practically a 702 in case you want more detail. you can see how a 703 tube is different in two places, how it screws to the case (flat), and how it screws to the crown (bottom vs top)

I only have two belts, I put them on coat hangers lol

Talk about frugality, buying reps had made me realize two things: 1) I don't ever want to buy a genuine watch (other than a vintage patek philippe dress watch) 2) that I'm never really satisfied with the quality of replicas when I know that I build a better one . This led me to the path of building my own reps &frankens, often with expensive parts and equipments. So for the past 2 years, I've attempted to make my own dials, only to find that my equipment needs some upgrading to do it more consistenly, my methods take too much time and has a failure rate more than 80%. I think I can build parts for my pad printer to increase its consistency with a good enough lathe but that's another topic. I see myself 10-20 years down the road building an atalier in my basement with watchmaking lathes trying to re-create a patek philippe movement from scratch and this will be very expensive. Call me crazy, but that's what I enjoy doing. That's after I establish my own career first of course. I'm trying to emulate Dan Spitz, who left his music career to pursue watchmaking. Oddly enough, he doesn't collect the expensive watches even though he could. But by being a watchmaker, he can appreciate the art of watchmaking more than the wealthy collector who normally see nothing more than the case, dial and provenance. Here's his interview from hodinkee: http://www.hodinkee.com/interview-meet-dan-spitz-anthrax-guitarist-turned-master-watchmaker

if you still want to be able to turn it around then buy an eta datewheel and stick a DWO, save the tudor datewheel. Then you can use the 127.

For me, once you go gen 702, you can never go back to rep. Unlike 703s, the back crimps on the 702 and or 8mm brevet crowns are really visible and addictive. It's only a matter of preference. I'm fine with rep 703s lol

you can defininitely get a used 702 crown for less than 150 dollars.

the bank job-- jason statham's watch

personally, i don't like 1675s, something about the depth of the dial. I found a great website with 360 degree views of vintage rolex Here's the 360 for the 6542 http://www.watchguru.com/WatchGuru/Watch-Details/Rolex/GMT-6542/12792

it's not really that hard to find as for the genuine. A 1675 two tone. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Rolex-GMT-1675-two-tone-oxblood-nipple-dial-root-beer-bezel-/290768917472?pt=Wristwatches&hash=item43b32d93e0

if only there's a good rep

I got a bottle of unopened bowmore 100 degrees proof. it's got a really good smoky bacon character to it but saving it for a cold winter day. Also, johnny walker isn't that good, it's meh/bad. I want to try more of the fruity scotch kinda like Tobermory, any suggestions?

can't get enough of explorers eh? the dial has a very nice texture and lume to it.

Ontario

seems like the quality is in the same ballpark with DW at three times the price. I'd pass.

except for the part where I don't have the money to buy this, good job

looks like they missed a spot

it never cease to amaze me how you find all these parts ubi.

While traveling through London, I happened to stop by Burlington Arcade in Mayfair. Let's just say it's vintage heaven. I hope I don't look weird staring at the watches for minutes and snapping tons of photos. But it gave me a chance to actually look at the real thing and finding out stuff I like/don't like in vintage watches. Don't let the prices give you a heart attack. New crystals on the explorer looks ugly oddly enough. funny thing is, I like the 5513 on the left and hated the one on the right. (weird i know) mmm Daytonas, love the superdome on the PN, but the new crystals look good on the non-PN. Also, from what I notice, no matter how close I try to look, there's no "ridges" visible on the subdial and it's matte compared to my shiny PN from DW vintage pateks (look so nice in a suit) cheers

back from vacation, thanks for the bezel jmb

wow, you went all out

I bought the #55 drill, which is 1.32mm heh. these drill bits are hard to find in hardware stores

there's always next time hm, i'll make one last batch in sept and see what happens

decided to put all my parts together before my 2 month vacation. gave up on trying to make dial blanks