Dudemeister

I agree with Toad. The Link's band is one of the most unique bands around, and one of the most comfortable. And these new replicas have managed to do it justice in nearly every detail.

Unfortunately, while there is a Tag Link Chrono Quartz, it's no the same. The sub-dial layout is completely different. With regard to the reliability of the A7750, with all due respect, I think that the newer 28K hi-beat models are very reliable. A lot of the problems you may have heard about were related to modded movements which are usually required when the sub-dial layout is different than the standard 7750 layout. The Tag Link sub-dial layout is identical to the native one on the A7750, so no modifications are needed. Therefore reliability is very good. Yes, there are a few do's and dont's (you can read The Zigmeister's A7750 review HERE), this is rgeat movement, that is currently powering most of the replica clones out there and is still in service after many years. I have a Ayerton Senna signature Tag Link, and it's a beautiful piece, which I love. So in conclusion, if you ever come across a A7750 powered Tag Link, don't be afraid to take the plunge.

Today I find myslef wearing a pretty nice Breitling SFSO I just got from one of the RWG members. It's the "lite" version with the Asian 21J movement, but it seems OK, and at first glance it nearly impossible to tell it's not a hi-beat movement, the seconds "sweep" is pretty smooth. For the last month, prior to this, I've been wearing the new orange PO Chrono with an orange leather strap. That's a beautiful watch, but boy does it attract too much attention. The SteelFish on the other hand blends in. I'll probably wear this for a few weeks, then try something else.

I for one was looking at buying a display case, but I ended up buying a "cheap" chinese made display case and winder on eBay. The one I got is about $100, winds 8 watches on 4 turntables and has 4 more display slots. Yes it made cheaply, pressed wood with burlwood veneer, and plexiglass windows for the display, but hey, it works. I've had this now for about 3-4 months, and still works fine. No noisy motors or anything like that. It winds the watches for about 2 minutes clockwise, then 2 minutes counter-clockwise, then another 2 minutes clockwise. It does this every few hours, I'm not sure of the interval (I haven't sat there to time it). Anyway, the only thing I found, is that some watches (not all) were not winding properly, so they would stop randomly, then restart. Apparently this has something to do with the angle turntables are at. They are a bit too flat, (about 15-20 degrees off the horizontal). After I propped the back of the case up to increase the angle by another 20-25 degrees, now all the watches are staying wound. Here is the one I got. Just a word of warning: this box is HUGE !!. You might want to consider a smaller version with less turntables. 8+4 Watch Winder on eBay

Sorry, but I'm not sure I know what a sausage dial is. Are you referring to the stacked dials like the Panerai?

A few weeks ago I decided that I was going try my hand at re-luming some of my watches. Specifically I have a couple of older Seiko Chronographs from the 70's that I wanted to bring new life into. At the same time my wife had been complaining that she can hardly see any of her watches in the dark. So I first bought a complete AF Switzerland Lumi set from Ofrei. I mixed a small batch as per instructions and applied some of this mix to a test watch. The paint was fairly easy to work with, but the results were only marginally better (brighter) than the original lume. After searching around I found a place which specializes in the sale of Glow-In-The-Dark materials: www.glowinc.com After trying a variety of their powders as well as their pre-mixed paints, I think I have found the proper combination for me. The best/brightest powder is the Ultra Green V10, Grade 0, 10-20 micron particles. There are other particle sizes going up to 85 microns, but while that stuff is very bright, it's just too coarse to be useful for watch re-luming. they also have 8 micron stuff but the brightness is lower. Anyway, I found the 10-20 micro stuff to be a good compromise between brightness and smoothness. The best binder I found (other than specialty stuff like NoctiLumina or AF Switzerland was Tamiya Acrylic clear (X-22). Using a pipette, I first add a couple of drops of clear paint, then mix in the powder. The amount of powder I mix in is about 1/2 the volume of the liquid. I then use a toothpick to mix it thoroughly, then apply it to the surface using either a sharpened toothpick or an oiling pike. The hands are removed and the original lume stripped, then the new lume is applied from the back. For the dial markers, I don't bother to remove the old lume, I just apply the new lume on top. The ultra fine oling pike helps spread the paint into tall the areas of the marker. The stuff can be applied fairly thick because when it's fully dry, it will shrink substantially. If yo need to thin the paint (it will start to gel as you're working with it), you can use a drop or two of rubbing (Isopropyl) alcohol. The results a very satisfactory. The stuff is brighter than anything else I have seen, including the lume that Seiko uses on their latest chronos. The dials in the pictures below were kept on the work table under normal fluorescent lighting for about 2-3 hours, then left in the dark, and after about 2 hours, the dial was still visible. Now without further ado, here are some shots of the work. You can click on each picture to enlarge it. So if you were thinking about re-luming but didn't want to waste 30-40 for a luming kit, or pay $150 to have someone else do it, you can try your hand at it for very little investment: 1/4 ounce of Ulra Green specialty powder = $7.29 23ml jar of Tamiya acrylic clear paint = $3.00 Cheers.

I'm about to pull the trigger on the SMP Chrono. I'm getting mine from Tony Feng at www.asian7750.com. You can check out the model OM041. This is the "older" version but with the new, 28800mps A7750 movement. It has the older style white lettering, but it has the correct Omega logo and hand size. The newer version with the red lettering has a completely wrong Omega logo script and the hads are shorter than they should be. So after reading a lot of reviews, and looking at every detailed picture I could find, I think that the OM041 is probably the best and most accurate one currently available. Anyway, check it out here: http://www.asian7750.com/cn/product_show.asp?big_pid=&ps_id=103&P_id=446&ti= Good luck.

Wow... Looks like I created a monster. Next thing someone's going to post their M134 Vulcan Mini-Gun along with their Bell & Ross or Breitling B1...

I thought it would be cool to post a few pictures of James Bond's weapons of choice, the "Q" modified Omega PO with laser in the crown and his Walther P99. Before someone points it out, yes I'm aware that JB didn't wear a PO chrono, nor did he use a P99c (compact), but it's a fun pictorial none-the-less. I suppose I can always redo the pics once I get my SMP (and my Aston Martin DBS ). Dudemeister