ubiquitous

Happy happy birthday!! Man, time sure does fly when you're having fun!

Just checking back in... Wow! I posted this just a little while ago and we're already at 33 replies?! Figured I'd add some vital stats: -MBW case, salvaged from the dead -jmb crystal ring -jmb fixed lug bars -ETA 2783 -NDT 5517 dial -Omega vintage SM300 rep hands -Genuine insert -MBW bezel ring -Genuine T-19 -Unknown 702 crown (gen? it was in the parts assortment sent to me by justasgood; if the man wants, I can swap to the 703 instead)... -Maratac G10 strap in military grey You know, these projects have always been about the path to get there for me, but in this particular instance it's more about the watch leaving my hands and arriving at it's new destination that means the most to me. I've put a lot of my time and effort into this one, and I hope it shows; I wanted to do the best that I could for Kurt, and I couldn't have done it without the great help of my friends jmb and jeff g. They have played a very significant role in this endeavor, and this piece wouldn't what it is without them. I would love to see Kurt take this to the next level with a gen movement and MilSword hands for a 1520; I can't wait to see it once fitted with the 60 tick insert! This has been a fun (if not trying at times) project for me and I am honored that Kurt would entrust me to help him with it. I didn't have much time to snap new pics tonight; the sun was going down when my camera finished charging and so I only have a few to share... I'm looking forward to seeing a few pics of Kurt's in a few days as well Cheers and all the best... //ubi

Thanks to jeff g for providing me the opportunity to compare the rep and gen SM300 (165.024). Not a whole lot to compare- There's quite a lot of difference between these two! The rep appears to have a larger case body than gen, and it does! By about 1mm or so (I can't provide exact measurements at the moment as I don't have a digitcal caliper on hand). However, despite the larger case, the bezel on the rep is about a mm too small Case body is a bit thick in profile (the gen is a relatively thin watch). The rep's lugs are shaped incorrectly, thus giving the appearance of being even larger than it really is. The lugs on the rep are 21mm, whereas on the gen they are 20mm. Plus, it's quite light in weight... Almost feels like you could float this thing on water A very odd case... The dial seems to be a bit big on the rep; the gen has a little metal ring around the outside diameter that acts as the rehaut. Fonts are, of course much different in size, color and appearance. The rep crown is a bit thin and sits a little too recessed in the guards. The bezel feels flimsy and not very confidence inspiring. It also has a very modern Rolex-like feel rotating the bezel, and has 120 clicks (my gen has only 60 clicks of the ratchet). The insert of the rep is a painted metal insert, not bakelite like the gen. Bezel teeth are incorrect as well. All in all, I'm feeling... underwhelmed Anyways, before I pulled this thing apart for the hands, I snapped some pics... Not much else to say that the pics don't say on their own. Hope this little comparison has been somewhat informative... It's a bit terse as I don't have the time at the moment to really write a ton about this watch, but if anyone has specific questions regarding this rep, I'll answer as best as I can Cheers, //ubi

A few months ago, my good friend justasgood had sent me some bits and parts that he had sitting around; the task was to try and salvage what I could from this grab bag of stuff to see what we could build. For the past few weeks, I had vaguely alluded to some projects I was working on, but never provided much in the way of specifics; one such project is still under wraps, but the other, which is for my friend justasgood, can be seen herein below I should preface this by saying that justasgood has had no idea what I've been up to. No information, pics or detail has been provided; he's been essentially kept in the dark as I wanted this to be a surprise. I haven't even PM'd him yet about this subject, so he is more or less finding out about the results of this project along with everyone else here on RWG I know this has been driving him crazy, but I felt that the surprise would be fun. Plus, I'm a little sadistic like that So... In the above mentioned grab bag of bits and bobs, there was a case that stood out as... Interesting... To say the least. An MBW case, in fairly nice shape, but missing the crystal ring and another issue- the lug holes drilled way too large: The above pics show said lug holes- Those are aftermarket 2mm springbars in there to give an idea of scale! They're swimming in those holes! So... I spent a few days thinking of these lug holes, and contemplated as to whether the case was even worth using. Then it hit me... I knew exactly what this case was destined to become. I contacted fellow forum buddy jmb, and bounced a few ideas off of him. After a few exchanges of PMs, the case was on it's way to his shop, where a proposed solution was to be applied. However, before the case was shipped, I started some preliminary work on giving the case some clean up. First the CG's were shaped up a little (they were uneven and the inside corners rounded): And I took the dings out from the underside of the lugs: Okay, then... Case shipped and now it's time to wait. While jmb had the case, he also worked on fabricating some crystal rings as well: Let me just say... jmb is quite handy with the lathe! After a few short weeks, the case found it's way back to me; the modifications made to fix the holes completed and successful! So, what was the fix? We'll get to that in a sec... First, I had some more work to do on those CGs Sat down and spent a couple of minutes to turn these out: Okay... Now about those lugs holes... I asked jmb to essentially drill the existing lug holes larger and press in some fixed lugs, which he custom fabricated from 2mm steel bars. He turned these bars down to 1.7mm, and pressed those suckers right in. I think you see where this is going now Here are the crude beginnings... And roughing out: Finishing up with flush lug bar ends and I brushed the sides as per gen: Next, I purchased an NDT dial, as it had the nicest circle T, and overall, very pleasing to look at. I removed the dial feet and secured the dial to a 2783 movement; test fit in the case to ensure proper fit: Alignment grid: And, the next step was a set of hands. Finding decent hands was perhaps the most daunting task of this project. I purchased a couple of sets; one seller sent me the wrong hands TWICE, and the other dealer just couldn't find what I was looking for. This is where my good friend jeff g stepped in and helped me with a solution. He had a vintage Omega Seamaster rep that he wasn't too pleased with, and he provided this watch for a hands donor (thanks buddy). I still have to figure out a way to repay him for saving my skin Hands arrived today, and now it's time to get things together... Yeah... Hands are a touch too long, but they do the job and they do it well! Quick and dirties... There are a couple of small issues that still need to be worked out; of course, the insert is not a 60 mark example as found on most MilSubs, but I've seen plenty of 5513/5517s with the standard insert installed. The hands, dial and pearl are all mismatched... And no engraving on the caseback since this started as a standard MBW case. These are all things that I will leave to justasgood to do if he feels that such items need to be addressed. For now, I'm just happy to see it all in one piece and ticking away... This has been quite the ongoing project for me, and I have to say, it's come a long way Better pics to come... I need to clean the hands off a bit; for the time being I'm stress testing it to make sure everything works as it should, nothing touching or overlapping etc. I purchased a nice, new Maratac G10 strap to go with it for my buddy; for now it's situated on my own strap so his will be minty new the day he straps it to his wrist. If you've managed to make it this far... Thanks Apologies now for any incoherent sentences, grammatical errors, etc. Long day today, and so I sort of breezed through this write up... All the best, //ubi

There's the 34mm Date... As well as 1002/5500 Air Kings, Explorers, etc. Those are all 34mm with a similar style case...

I had one of these from a few years ago, actually! Purchased from an old dealer (Adam) back when he was around; think I paid all of $30 for it at the time Great watch for the money...

Finding a nice classic Royal Oak is difficult these days. Most of the current offerings are not great; case shape isn't quite right, poor bracelet transition, etc. etc. Back a few years ago, there were some fantastic TW based classic Royal Oaks; nice thin case with correct shape/taper, perfect transition into the bracelet... Sadly, those pieces are long gone. This is one such example: Took me several years to track one of these down again; I had a few back when these were readily available on the market place, but foolishly sold them. Now that I have one again, I find that I rarely ever wear it. But it's nice to have in the collection none the less And it's definitely a keeper! Comparison to gen:

A quick comparo... V1 dial (modded; stock markers removed and new markers built up with lume): Gen dial: V3(?) dial (markers straightened by me): **NOTE: The rep dials have some extraordinarily thin paint; notice the rubs along the edges where the paint has chipped off. Luckily, these flaws shouldn't be visible once installed, but pretty annoying none the less... Now some additional details of the gen dial: Significantly better finish and paint... Deep subdials... Note the dial texture... Hope this comparison helps... //ubi

The ideal method would be to use a collet, but if you crimp the tube just enough and equally all around, you can reduce the size using a pin vise, tweezers, etc. Just an FYI, crimping hands in this fashion can crack the tubes if you're not careful. In addition, the hands may be prone to slipping as well...

Well, there are a couple of differences- V1 has chalky plastic markers applied to the dial. These can be removed easily and cleanly without hassle, which makes this version so appealing; new markers can be built up with lume, thus providing a more gen like appearance. The V3 has the luminous markers applied in a different manner and/or with different materials. This makes removal a little more difficult as there is risk of damaging the dial. Fonts should all be pretty similar if not the same (if comparing V1 to V3 to gen, omitting V2 which has every numeral marker lumed). Color- I don't recall V3, but V1 is a little more grey in color/tone compared to gen. AR may play a role in this as well for V3 dials, as they appear a little more black in color; I don't remember anything striking out to me as different from memory, however (the dial I have at home might be a V3). Texture is off on all the rep dials, as they are too smooth. I can work on some comparison shots...

The big issue with the markers is how they are applied. The V3 has little plastic markers that are glued to the dial; they are either infused with some sort of luminous material, or lumed directly on the dial with a little plastic marker 'cap' placed on top of it (I've seen both of these versions first hand and have fiddled with trying to correct them). The markers can be removed, but this requires great care, as removal can also result removal of dial surface paint as well. This is ultimately why I went with the gen dial on mine... The V1 dial was nice, but lacked the texture and the color. The V3 dials I had were troublesome because of the markers. Last resort... Gen parts I do have a somewhat decent dial and hands at home I think. I'll snap some pics and if anyone wants them, I'll probably be giving them away...

Thanks, sir I don't have a huge collection (total of 10 or so pieces), but I try to keep it tightly focused. I try not to exceed the 10 watch limit, but sometimes it happens I would say that the watches in your planned list would make for a great roster. With regards to more IWC suggestions, I think the Slevin is definitely one to add! Or, if you like larger cases, the Cousteau ATs would be a great choice as well...

Ultimately it depends if the movement is a sealed pack from ETA, or if it's just sitting in the plastic holder/container exposed to air. If the movement is in the sealed manufacturer's pack, you don't need to worry about servicing; the packs are vacuum sealed and hence there is no air to have any detrimental impact on the lubricants. This is why the sealed packs cost more than your average surplus movement from supplier 'xyz'. Their shelf life is longer...

I think a lot of the issues you have listed are more or less luck of the draw (things like the dial lume/markers being uneven/crooked, etc). Some 3717 examples are better than others with this regard, but as you mentioned, some of these items should be expected and modified accordingly (things like the datewheel, crystal AR, and yes, even luming) in order to make this a great rep. Personally, I always consider reps to be 50% complete when rec'd; I think of them as incomplete 'kit' watches that are fitted with temporary parts and waiting to be completed by the new owner, hence the reason why I mod and build frankens Just about every rep watch that I've received in stock, out-of-the-box condition has been underwhelming to some degree or another; it's just something I've come to expect. The great thing is, they don't have to stay that way

I've got 3 on that bottom row and a few others that have come and gone... 14790ST (with arabic dial, old out of production thin case with silver bezel screws): 3717 (franken with Swiss 7750, gen dial and hands, ETA German DDW, Chief AR): 16520 (franken with El Primero 400, gen dial, hands, case, bezel, crown, tube, etc. etc.): The above are keepers in the collection, IMO. At least, they are in mine And these are two more that have been in my watch box at one point or another, but are no longer... 16610 (modded WM9 with gen 295C crystal, bezel assembly, crown, tube, modded bracelet, etc): 16710 (out of production TW Best; been so long since I've had this one that I forgot it was even in my collection at one point. Sub par pic is sub par...):

In the end, and if you're like most of us, one watch isn't going to cut it for very long This hobby is easy to get addicted to, and before long, you'll have one watch for casual wear, one for formal situations and one for in between. Or multiples of each...

9411 for today...

16520 here: Have a great week!

Happy Birthday, gents!! All the best... R

3717 franken for Sunday...

I used TW Best SELs for my WM9; I filed down the tops of the center link to reprofile them and to give them a nice, sharp edge: I added noob hollow links and the WM9 clasp to finish it all off. I would have used the WM9 SELs, except they had some gaps along the lugs; the TW Best SELs fit nice and tight; no gaps, no spots.

Today has not been a great day for me. Having to work with problems related to a friend's watch, and yet once again further delayed by having the WRONG parts sent to me, TWICE (I made the mistake of giving these people the benefit of the doubt once already). Not anyone from this forum, but elsewhere... I don't know why getting the correct parts is proving to be so difficult; dealing with these people in trying to get it corrected (i.e. refund) is an even bigger hassle. So, I was quite surprised when some treats showed up from my very good friend valerian; thank you! You've managed to turn a rather cruddy day around, and I want to express my gratitude and appreciation. It means a lot, my friend, and you've managed to help save my day. More over, Mrs. Ubi and the kids are especially smiley... And that in turn makes me smile. Thank you! //ubi

I vote the Simona...

Excellent write up/comparison! Thank you for taking the time (and subjecting your watches) to these tests! Very well done!

Must be an Omega day...