ubiquitous

Maciek, The tubes need to be squeezed down. Somewhat of a difficult job to do with precision; but absolutely possible. You need the right tools to do this for the chrono hands since they are very small; or, maybe a pin vise might work (not sure as I've not tried one). I may have a set of chrono hands already reduced to the right size; I need to look in my spares. If I do, I'll let you know. That would make installing easy...

Gorgeous! Looks great!

I usually book a ticket once a week to NY to visit Canal St. to buy my best fakes. I typically visit this one particular dealer- He's kind of difficult to purchase through, but if you follow protocol, he'll provide you with the best that $15 can buy! First, I visit the third port-o-let over on the east side, and roll the toilet paper forward two turns; back one turn and then forward another 6. This acts as a sort of tumbler, which activates a rolling panel in the back of the stall to open up. Once out, I am led through a narrow alley way directly behind the port-o-let to the back of a Dunk'n Donuts location, which has a large dumpster to the right of the rear entrance of the building. There is a secret compartment to the side in which you can enter by pulling a nearby tree branch down to activate the switch lever. Once inside, travel through the tunnel in which the dumpster provides an entrance to and travel through until you reach a door that opens to the subway. Enter through the door and proceed immediately up the stairs to the street level. Right as you emerge from the underground entrance/exit, there will be a sewage drain immediately to the right at the curb. Tap foot three times, pause, three more times and whistle the National anthem. A hand will rise up from the drain, and at this point, administrate the secret handshake. Upon completing this successfully, you will be picked up by a taxi cab and delivered to the secret location after being blindfolded. Once arriving at destination, I am directed into a room, at which point I can buy as many genuine equivalent fakes as I desire for $15US per piece.

Thank you, sir! Just a few more pics... I think the wm's use unique s/n's? I believe mine varies from the others posted... Etched service crystal...

Nice gesture, Chris! Very generous!

ET- Thanks for the kind words! as of current, the watch is apart as I just installed my newly acquired gen 295C crystal; unfortunately, I need a different gasket as the gen retaining ring isn't fitting correctly; also, my baby girl got ahold of my insert and managed to twist it up into something that might better resemble modern art As for the links- I typically use a press to squeeze them back together. It all goes together quite easily with just a slight squeeze Rek- Thank you, thank you! It's interesting... The SS Sub isn't the highest on my preference list either, but I felt compelled to build one after many prior attempts with different versions of this model. I think every great collection needs at least one... Cheers! R

Mon: Tues: Weds: Thurs:

A few of the left overs...

The wm9 has certainly exceeded my expectations! It's gen construction is top notch! Plus, the staff and service there has been fantastic, catering to questions, etc. in a nice prompt manner. Some may consider the pricing to be high, but in my opinion is fairly reasonable considering the product they provide. It's very well done, and very easy to work with! Stephane- The gen bezel, in my opinion, is money well spent. The differences between the wm9 and genuine assembly are very similar, but there remain some subtle differences still. The entire feel, fit and finish is something that simply cannot be fully captured in photos. I ended up having to go this route as my gen insert wouldn't snap into the standard wm9 bezel; it was too loose. I really didn't want to glue it, and as luck had it, there was a gen assembly for sale for a very reasonable price. So, for me it was more of a byproduct fix; a solution to resolve another problem but the end benefit was a nice bonus I'm only glad that I secured the entire assembly; just the bezel ring alone would not snap directly onto the wm9 retaining ring. As for the gen 295C- I'll report on that once rec'd and installed All in all, I'm quite pleased with this one! And, I'd probably wear it if this snowflake didn't monopolize all the wrist time! Cheers, R

I will admit that.... A lot of you have some damn good eyes! Mr. Genzo and Co.- Did my attempts at thwarting and swaying your opinions on this watch work? The watch is indeed a newly minted wm9. Case is pretty damn good out of the box, but I did add the complete gen bezel assembly to give it a bit more precision and polish. So, the retaining ring around the crystal, the click, the washer, the bezel ring and the insert are all gen. The crown is gen too, but (until next week), that's where the gen parts stop (for now). The only thing I'm waiting on is a gen 295C, which should be here soon. Luckily, this watch is fairly easy to work on, and so it's easy to do some quick mods when I have 15 or 20 minutes free The bracelet, by the way, is a mishmash of parts as well. The three piece SELs are from an old, old TW Best bracelet. I modified them by taking them apart and filing them to take down the top surface; the result is a nice flat top with crisp edges on the center. The top outer links (connecting the bracelet to the SEL) are from the wm9, which I used as they did not have any ref stamped on the bottom. The main hollow links are from an old Noob bracelet I had sitting around and the clasp is wm9. Spring bars are gen. The fit is very nice, and very tight against the case. I still need to file the CG's but will wait until I have adequate free time- This is a job that (for me) requires some patience and a slow hand; with this particular piece, I definitely do not want to bugger this up. I was just about ready to buy a gen dial, but instead realized that the wm9 one isn't terribly bad in it's own right. I think it will stay BTW, if anyone wants to see the anatomy of a wm9 SEL...

Prices are up for gens as well; new and old! Everything is going up in price....

For the watches with rotating bezels (in my regular rotation), I always set the pearl to 5:00 as I like to use my watch as a 'GMT' more or less. While lacking the 24 hour hand and function, I can still quickly gauge GMT time vs. local time in a brief glance. Works well for me BTW, I will say this- Things have been pretty busy, and so I haven't had much time to work on watches much

Some new and better pics of a watch I've always found difficult to capture in photographs... And here's one I've never been able to achieve very well; signed Omega in the center of the crystal...

Yes- The ETA just drops right in. Perfect fit...

Many thanks, dani! The project wasn't exactly the most cost effective; a gen costs $3k - $5k depending for a 9411 (condition, provenance etc depending); I think I spent a total of $1500 or so on mine. Granted, it would have been easier to just buy the gen, the challenge for me was whether I could gather the parts I wanted and to build There were some unknown factors in the parts (i.e. the ETA 2783 (which is what Tudor used for the gen) was a movement I wasn't failiar with, and was not sure it would fit correctly), but all in all a fun project.

Thanks for the kind words. It took me a few weeks to accumulate most of the gen parts; the longest part of the project was waiting for the case to ship over (which really wasn't very long at all ). As for sources to find these parts; I have a short list of folks I buy from specifically, but lately, I've been having some good luck on the bay. Have to know what to look for specifically, as there are some questionable items that pop up from time to time, but the repainted dials, aftermarket hands and the sort are relatively easy to spot. Best of luck!

ZZ- Glad to hear that the damage is only temporary and not terribly serious! Good to know that you'll be able to continue painting, working on watches, remodeling bathrooms, riding your motorcycle and everything else you enjoy doing! Well, maybe some things more than others... Also, 'EYE' am glad to see that you haven't lost your sense of humor! All the best, R

I just recently finished mine... Basically, my ingredient lis is as follows: -Genuine dial (Leprelet) -Genuine hands -Genuine insert (with lumi pearl removed and old trit dot fitted in place) -Genuine Cyclope 125 -Genuine crown -Aftermarket 703 tube -ETA 2783 -Genuine 78360 bracelet -Genuine 580 end links -Genuine 93150 bracelet -MBW 1680 case (lugs drilled and CG's shaped). Alternatively, there is a 7016 (no date) MBK version that exists, though I'm not sure it's still in production. Cheers, R

I have these two... Both not gens ....Technically...

Problem solved: Buy gen!

Gen w/ flat S

Recently acquired... What does RWG think?

Thanks, gang! Appreciate the advice, and I'll check out those reverse adaptors for the lens! Think my next addition will be a polarizing filter... And, eventually a new lens. BTW... The Camera is a Canon Rebel XT EOS. Price was right, and after being camera-less for a few days, I've really come to realize how much I love having one! Even more so with the D-SLR... Pics are so much easier to take, and best of all, far less noise with this one vs. my last two. In the short time span that I've had this one, I can say that my interest is renewed... Thanks again, and cheers, R

One more pic that I forgot from earlier...

If you're able to source the parts... We can definitely discuss BTW, thanks for the kind words everyone! This is definitely goign to be a learning experience! Cheers, R