ubiquitous

Nice set up! It's always neat to see the behind the scenes glimpse at where the magic takes place

Nothing genuine or authentic about it. At all.

That 212 is definitely killer!

Last year I built a Franken Muller for a friend; started with a not-so-accurate rep and added the following:

-Gen dial (relumed by Zigmeister)

-Gen 2892

-Gen crown and tube

-Nice ostrich strap

Turned out quite nice; this seems to be a daily wearer for my friend as it's all I ever see on her wrist

Started here... Gen dial with dirty markers, badly in need of a relume:

Quick test fit in case; notice the huge rep crown:

2892:

Gen crown and tube:

All finished up:

So, if you can't find a decent out of the box FM to simply wear, there are other options. A bit more expensive, but not terribly so. Certainly less than buying the gen...

Lovely mate

Thanks, Pete! Indeed- I am absolutely loving my 201A! Have had some nice comments and compliments while wearing it... It's definitely a watch that gets noticed

...but you still have a strap and buckle worth a good bit of money even though it has an additional hole...

I just posted a reply on your other thread discussing the Dirk v2 straps... I did have to have an extra hole punched, as it was originally a bit too large for me. Not that it really matters much since I've no intention on ever selling the strap But it is always nice to know that such things retain their value

but you also get the Dirk 2nd Generation Dirks these arent Dirks but are made by the same guys who tried to pull a fast one on Dirk... so to speak... these can be recognised by the stitching on the straps by the buckle, instead of 5 stitches the stitches go right round the strap and also because the buckles themselves are rejects from OP...

That is what I have...

Quality of the leather seems on par with any other Dirk I've owned in the past...

For me... I couldn't do a build these days unless it was with a gen movement. So much easier to work with than an ETA in many regards. Plus, gen dials can retain their original dial feet... If I were to ever break a build back down into parts to liquidate, there would be no issue or hassle in getting my money back out of those items.

And a gen 1570 need not cost $1200 either. I've picked up several for under $900...

Keep up the fight, Cats!

All the best,

//ubi

Glad I never signed up for that junk.

Wow... Pretty dang good for 2006! Not to mention the stellar job Zig did on the lume!

I bet Eddie's jet setting the globe, visiting the finest strip clubs on Earth He was quite the connoisseur when it came to gentlemen's clubs!

What's the amplitude doing?

I think the overall goal of this initiative is to stub the saturation of new emerging brands within the watch industry by curbing the availability and ease of ‘manufacturing’ watches (whereas that ‘new’ brand would have no other expertise or knowledge of watchmaking otherwise) and to motivate other brands to develop and manufacture their own movements and products in-house to become more independent (which is a good thing). Oh, and perhaps to also eliminate the proliferate usage of ETA movements in the replica segment, but let’s face it- The replica segment won’t be affected or impacted by this as they’ve already started moving to non-ETA based solutions quite a while ago with actual clones of ETA movements

I think Hayek’s intentions were largely market share driven in the sense that new brands found it very easy to get into the business of making and selling watches, and usually at a lower cost. After all, ETA had already done the hard part of R&D of the most complex aspect of the watch; all that need be done from there is design and manufacture a case, dial, etc. This would in effect undercut the Swatch Group’s market share with their competition being the very watch brands they are supplying movements to. So in theory, the easy way to curtail that is to stop supplying those movements and strong arm the little guys out of business as they’d have no other means to produce their product.

The larger, stronger brands would of course remain, and even have the option of having ETAs supplied to them as finished calibers instead of just ebauche kits. But it seems like a lot of the big brands are working towards independence anyway with in-house being the goal (as they should; they certainly have the capital to do so, and with an in-house movement, they’ll be able to command a higher retail premium, control parts distribution and servicing post sales, etc).

Also, there’s something to be said about exclusivity as opposed to ubiquity. It’s hard to peddle panache when the heart and soul of one’s product is everywhere from low cost fashion brands to replicas.

“Hey, check out my new ‘Joe Mamma’ watch! It’s got the same ETA 2892 as the one in your Omega Sea Master Pro!”…

In the end... Zigmeister is absolutely right. The need for that entry level movement will be filled with lesser priced alternatives from Asia. History repeating itself? Maybe... Perhaps a bit of irony as I believe it was Hayek that saved the Swiss Watch industry from the quartz revolution, wasn't it?

dluddy- I suspect you might be a magician; I believe you have a crown up your sleeve?

Gen dial need not run thousands.

I picked this one up for $450; there have been other examples in the same price range as well...

If you look hard enough, they're out there...

Back when I built my pair, I spent a total of $9k to complete both. Still $2k less than what a single gen would run. I'll take that any day.

Plus, building them was just so much more fun to do...

Left wrist:

Right wrist:

I'm just cuckoo like that.

Personally speaking, I don't think there's anything terribly crazy or beyond the reason of logic when it comes to a good 16520 project

Very nice. You're at the Happiest Place on Earth during the Most Wonderful Time of the Year. Happiness overload!

I was quite bummed when we left. I usually feel a little down and blue on the day that we depart, but perhaps even more so this time. I just didn't want to leave (my wife and kids felt the same; we were all kinda just bummin') But I always feel a little better knowing that we'll be back again soon

Now that I'm older and jaded, I figure I'll only be good for three days at the park.

The only thing I think I find myself jaded with these days are the long lines. Well, at least this time anyways. The Holidays are a very fun time to visit, but the crowds are pretty crazy. I'm glad I got to experience it at least once though. Next year, we'll be visiting during the usual off-peak times methinks

Hopefully some day, when my kids have kids of their own, they'll continue on the tradition...

Dunno what it is... But after a couple of months living with the 1665, I am just not feeing this one. Mrs. Ubi says I need to give it more of a chance... But the 5514 just monopolizes all of the wrist time.

As parents, my wife and I love going to Disneyland... But for me, the magic is experiencing it all with my kids. They're only little once... And in a way, I feel as though I'm reliving my childhood with them...

Who did the work on the CG?

Unfortunately, I cannot say. The individual responsible for the CG wishes to remain anonymous for very specific reasons. What I can say is that only 10 of them exist, and it's an amazing work of art! I feel very fortunate to have one of them on my watch

Ehhhh... I just checked a couple of boxes that I thought the clasp might be in; all I I have are a complete bracelet for a 38mm, and a complete back up bracelet for a 33mm (which I can't part with as it's a spare for my wife's watch).

I'll keep looking, but I'm afraid I may have thrown the old clasp out (it had a cracked link if I recall correct).