phillycheez

Stunning and a huge congrats! These inserts are ridiculously expensive and hard to come by in this condition. You must have paid a pretty penny... No cracks or chips and a beautiful pearl to boot! So jealous. When it comes to vintage, fat font inserts really make it or break it for me.

Jacek is awesome to deal with. I also highly recommend going to his store in the mission. Gotta make an appointment though. Holding gilt dial 5513s, trying on double red sea dwellers, vintage Daytona, AP's, 1680s, 1675s, tropical dials galore... It's just an amazing experience there. I was just returning a 5513 for a different 5513 and he gladly showed me all the above just for fun. Such great guys to deal with and congrats on the purchase! Looks beautiful. Here's a crappy pic of just one of the cases...

Yeah... The issue is, there's a certain threshold amount where only few members would be even interested... $1,500 and up are tough sells no matter the parts on it. You are limited by these rep forums... Now unless the gen vintage guys start deciding vintage prices are just too ridiculous they may wonder into these forums (I'm sure some already do). Now parting a vintage franken on the other hand... Opens up your avenues in places to sell. You can definitely recoup a profit that route. Getting around the $2k+ is when rep members start weighing in favor to just get a gen...

I'd just keep it as is. It looks good. If you start sourcing parts like a MBW case.. Might as well just start a new build.

Beautiful. Great pics too. You may be interested in this estate sale : http://forums.watchuseek.com/f29/fs-extensive-vintage-watch-estate-collection-ny-metro-area-over-200-watches-all-brands-862660.html Some really nice vintage pieces in there.

http://www.replica-watch.info/vb/showthread.php?t=141045 I would never buy a swiss from the rep factories... Ever. If you want swiss buy the movement separately and have it installed.

To be honest... I'm repped out for a while. I just lose too much money on reselling reps. I'm pretty much broke even on flipping gens so while the the price to enter is higher.. As long as you buy at a fair price it's likely you will lose little if any at all. And at times even profit which I have done on a couple. Plus... There are definite quality differences between even the super high end frankens with their gen counterpart or gens in the same price range. Just because it "looks" 99% the part doesn't mean it functions or feels the same.

The Sellita has been repped so it's definitely no guarantee.

That's looker right there

I never say any of my watches are keepers or grails unless I mean it. Only two pieces have been kept in my collection for over a year and they aren't even that great. A classic G-Shock with screw down caseback and a ginault that I plan on having my family crest printed on the dial. The ginault will end up being the pass down watch, not some fancy smancy Rolex (seriously be original people). I've learned that you end up eating crow at the end whenever you bought your "grail". Especially if you are part of any watch forum. The forums are the reason we have the urge to buy and sell so often.

RA's lume work is looking real good.

You can get another variation of caseback too.

You Looks like a MKII paradive... Always wanted one but it's a tad big for me. They go for $1.3-1.5k on the market depending on the bezel. Edit: I was ninja'd... I do own the Davidson version. The real thing can be had for maximum $2k depending on condition. Thought about selling it but I'm thinking of sending it to vac and getting it relumed, dial and bezel.

I don't understand why you would want to do this? I must be missing something here..

I would ignore them

I tend to leave work early when I got a watch waiting for me! I just get too anxious.

I would ask for a pic of the serial number. Then check if it has the period correct parts... like the dial. Looks all gen to me but if you are buying vintage, that isn't the only thing you look for. Just some quick vintage advice that I posted on the Rolex Forum and what I have learned from my experience and mistakes. There can seriously be a freakin book on "How to buy a vintage Rolex" ***When I say "franken" it has a different meaning there by the way. It could be all genuine parts but a mishmash from different models. "Don't buy into that NOS and never polished crap. Have a model in mind and dig deep into the different variations of that model. Choose one and know all... down to movement, dial variations, correct crown, correct insert, correct endlinks, bracelet and insure it's as original to the period it reflects. You will NEVER know if it was swapped for another dial or any other period correct part. You will never be 100% positive but research, research, research will help you lower the risk of buying a franken. See with your eyes and know what the model SHOULD look like. The more original the higher the price. Know what RSC Service parts look like... Service dials, hands, insert, crystal, crowns, datewheels... etc. drive the price down. Know what those individual parts go for on the market too which will help you justify prices... for ex. a service insert can cost as little as $100-125 while an original fat font insert can go for $500+! That's a big difference. Other characteristics that significantly drive price up and down is case condition (over-polished? chipped? deep scratches?), patina color, matching hands, dial and pearl, faded insert, dial texture/color, rarity... you'll figure out real quick and it takes and eye and many sales ads to figure out the "formula" in how these prices come about. You will begin to understand what's over-priced, what's a good deal and what to stay far far away from at just a glance. Beyond the model, understand the maintenance side of it... Some movements are so old that finding parts is rare and/or expensive and can also result into getting parts custom made as the only solution. Watch for rust that can be commonly found around the rehaut and caseback which can lead to failed pressure tests. Watch for bracelet stretch as well. Biggest advice is RESEARCH and patience."

Awesome thread! now I will know a comprehensive list of members that I will bug for days on end until they sell it to me.

Probably get too tired of people calling it a fake.

The relume is definitely one of RA's top work. Looking real good

Yup. Triplock crown is genius.

When fat font inserts starting hitting $500... Then $800... Now a few for $1000.

I would say "heavily modified" is pushing it.

I believe the problem is that an IWC AD would likely send your watch to IWC for service. And who knows what would happen.... Nobody really knows where concepta gets his cases and it could come out to be an issue you don't want to deal with. I've only read that IWC keeps good logs of their watches and serials but who knows? I've actually thought about it before when I owned a mark XVI genestein (full gen) . To be honest... Why pay the premium? It's just an ETA.. Any competent watchmaker could help ya out.

Agreed... Getting ridiculous.