txcollector

well when you pair two attention grabbers that would do anything for a publicity you end up with this tasteless ad.

even with the updated UPO (only real change was the logo that wasn't that noticeable in the first place) you will still have a number of mods to make it gen like: crystal (the rep is cloudy), dial color, lume (very noticeable even during the day), crown/tube (some folks had issues with cross threading). The Aquanaut is very gen like from the front like others said. You will never have a rep movement that will look like a Patek but how many times do you handle you watch for someone to inspect it?

interesting strap as well. Very nice. I'm glad someone got one.

somebody with too much cash and time to pimp a car like that

no good Calatrava available. Apparently not a whole lot of demand. The best ones are the Aquanaut and the Nautilus Jumbo. Here's mine.

well the buyer is the one to be blamed here. A clear how bad that rep is but the buyer kept going after it. With 475 feedback either the buyer won't pay, will dispute the payment saying it's a fake or is very stupid.

I have 2 Omega Planet Ocean - one franken and one gen. I wear the franken on rubber and the gen on bracelet. Too much of a pain to switch them every time. I rarely wear a rep that has not been updated/"frakened".

Big Boy Hublot

checking the wm9 forum (interesting enough still up) there's a post there of someone that was able to get a chargeback with his credit card company. It took 2 months but he did it. Maybe that's a way out for folks trying get their money back from George.

at a certain point George was asking for larger payment to get you on the list. By the time he claimed he had the He valve working he was only allowing you to enter the list if you paid $650. I almost did.

well I'd like to see your collection. Where are the pics? A link to another forum doesn't really help many members here.

hmm I don't know. If I put a watch inside a wet pressure chamber and I see a stream of bubbles at 5 ATM I'd be concerned. The receipt from Richmond doesn't specify what the generic service or which check was performed. If the watch fails at 50m that document doesn't say it was tested for water resistance or which method was used. I'm skeptical of Richmond on that one.

First, since I'm a diver and I have OCD I have to correct mastrmindalliance. You probably meant 12ATM for the Slevin and that the watch failed at 5ATM at the AD. Underwater 1 ATM = 10m. Above 10ATM the usual is to use dry tests first for water resistance. I'm not sure what Richemont did but if you have a certificate you should be protected. If the watch failed at 5ATM in a wet test (you mentioned a steady stream of bubbles) it's improbable it would pass a 12ATM without any changes. Maybe the Richemont's folks greased some gaskets to stop the leak. It's normal for an AD to charge around $50 for the water pressure test but to offer a service to fix a gasket leak is a rip off. On the Richemont's comment that the AD did not have the right equipment they were probably talking about the inability for the AD to test the watch at 12ATM (per specs). The AD probably can only go up to 10ATM.

All dealers carry that one. The same case as the $1500 is just marketing BS from Robert. Josh charges $378 and Tony at asian7750 $368 for the same watch. Again save a few dollars and buy a big headache. Like everyone says, caveat emptor. If you want to gamble with your money try Vegas.

while I agree there's a lot of markup with the big houses, what you gain by going VC, Patek and AP is longevity. Chances are 30 yrs from now those houses will be able to service a timepiece you buy today. The small boutiques may not so if you need parts or services you will be out of luck. On Hublot, granted they've done a good job a grabbing the attention, specially with the big bang. But after that they became solely a marketing machine and their value in the industry is dubious. I wish they would stop playing with a color wheel and get serious with movements and new designs.

best one to date

I think he's p1ssed because he can't create anything so unique (like a Patek, VC, RM or AP) to justify the mark up he puts on his watches. We can have the exact same watch (same ETA 7750 movement, parts made from the same materials) for less than 10% of what he charges. When that happens people start wondering why they are paying the markup in the first place. Granted they've spent a ton of money in R&D and marketing but talk about shallow. Hublots are nothing more than a marketing product with very little horological value. I think you need to be really poor to buy a gen overpriced Hublot. Poor in judgment

considering you will need to replace pick-ups, electronics, bridge and tuning keys plus get a better neck I don't see the point really. Grab a used Fender or the mexican one. It would be cheaper.

mine is, well, me (wearing a PAM with a PAM shirt with a PAM related background). Does it come across I like PAMs?

you are sure a very trusting guy. Good luck with your assumptions. The facts are PWC has the longest list of complaints of all dealers and the worst public attitude of all. A board that protects its membership would try to fix that and give the dealer warnings/deadlines/punishment so he would get his act together. Since the already vast number of members that will go out of their way to express their displeasure with Robert continues to grow just proves the point. Any other dealer would have been prevented from selling but somehow he manages to stay in business. Good for you all your deals so far have been without a problem. I hope your luck streak continues. Unfortunately for way too many that's not the norm.

Follow his payment instructions. What a joke. He's so disorganized he can't tell who paid what and when. And if God forbid your payment falls thru the cracks of his understaffed, manual, error prone operation, you are at fault and should die a painful death. He's just an angry and rude man that is enabled by people that feel his attitude is justified. His price is cheap because he usually deal with lower quality stuff and rarely accepts responsibility for the losses. It's usually the customer that takes the hit so he doesn't need a lot of overhead. To the OP, if you want to gamble $100s so save $1s and be exposed to a lot of grief, go ahead.

this is what the law says. "Information for private individuals - Counterfeit Goods Imports into and exports out of France of counterfeit goods violating trademarks are offenses under French general Criminal Law and such goods are deemed to be "prohibited" under French Customs Law. The introduction of such goods in France - even under cover of a customs international transit procedure - or their shipment out of the country are therefore subject to specific penalties under the Customs code, distinct and additional to those provided for under general Criminal Law. Since the act of importing or exporting counterfeit trademark goods is an offense under the IPR code and a separate one under the Customs code, violators are not in a position to claim double jeopardy. They are liable to customs penalties, as well as to penalties provided for under general Criminal Law. IPR violations (trade- or servicemarks, copyrights, patents, industrial designs, etc…) attract, under French general Criminal Law, a sentence of two years’ imprisonment and a fine of one million francs. Those penalties are doubled in the case of a repeated offense or where the violator is or has been related to the injured IPR holder. As far as imports or exports of counterfeit trademark goods are concerned, they are also offenses under Customs Law and attract the following additional sentences: - up to three years’ imprisonment; - forfeiture of the counterfeit goods, as well as of the involved conveyances (vehicle, vessel or aircraf); - a fine at least equal to the value of the goods, but not exceeding twice that value. With respect to the importation or exportation of goods violating copyright laws or copying protected industrial designs, Customs officers who come across articles which they suspect to be pirated copyrighted goods or to be violating industrial design laws, may detain those goods for a period of up to ten days to allow the right holder to initiate criminal proceedings or proceedings in tort. When instituting proceedings, the right holder is required to post a security to pay compensation to the owner, importer or consignee if no IPR infringement is subsequently established in court. " http://ambafrance-us.org/spip.php?article793 I highly doubt the French government will go after this (too small, not enough resources) but your customer may get a letter and you also if you are the seller (your OP mentioned a dealer here so I'm confused). Usually they also charge a fine in the amount of the original merchandise (around $3K depending on the model of the bracelet). Since you don't live in France it's unlikely they will be able to collect the fine unless you go there. PP can also be alerted. France is specially protective with counterfeit of French brands. If you ever travel to France with a counterfeit LV bag, they will confiscate on the spot and maybe all the contents. I'm not sure about brands owned by other countries but Cartier, Hermès, Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Yves Saint Laurent, Christian Dior, etc. are very targeted by French customs.

The same happened with me and at the end the customer is at fault. Public complaints about him are not well received over there. Don't waste your time.

Some people like him but his operation is just too disorganized. Add his "charm" and "good manners" and you just wonder why you wasted your time in first place. There probably a good reason why he's not a trusted dealer here. I'd just stick with the tried and true dealers here at RWG.

can someone PM me HKTan's email? I was able to check some of his work this weekend and it's very good.