davewe

I think the Maxi Marine Diver is about the most beautiful dive watch in existence and to hear about such customer service is extraordinary. Of course, you could say that for the price you should get this kind of treatment but we know in the real world it doesn't always happen that way.

I own 2 gen Anonimos: The Militaire Chrono and Millemetri Trilogeo. Incredible casework!

Wearing this one today: 1943 Omega.

I don't believe that the PC analogy is a good one, and I work for that giant company that makes those pesky processors that run your PCs. Maybe a better analogy would be the 20 year battle between PCs and Macs. I'm a Mac lover, but often their alleged superiority was overhyped. And PC manufacturers and my software friends in Redmond used their dominant position to maintain the belief that only a PC was a business-worthy product. It's about marketing, baby. Sometimes the MBWs have been overhyped and sometimes they've been damn nice watches. A guy I recently met is a Panerai collector and interested in the rep world. I told him about a few of my panny reps (mostly sold now) including my Davidsen 201a. He remarked quite logically that no matter how accurate the 201a looks it would never fool a Paneristi. Why? Because it's a freaking 201a! The same goes for my DW Paul Newman Daytona. No matter how well modded it will never pass that I'm wearing a 100k watch. My stock options aren't that great! Bottom line for me is that if the watch is solidly made, runs well, is accurate and looks good, then I'm happy. The few reps I've kept meet those criteria. While I respect the skills of the modders, their interests are different than mine.

Man you got to work on the DRSD quickly. I had a feeling it got into the right hands. Dave

Here's a Bond sub you might not have seen. From Watchmaster 2 years ago. Dave

Thanks for all the kind words. I am touched. I won't completely go away - mostly lurk - though who knows when the call will pull me back in. And for those who purchased pieces from my rep collection - thank you for your words - and hard earned cash. I want you to know that I didn't do anything foolish, like spend the money on food or mortgage payments. Of course not. I spent it on watches! First I got a Stowa Prodiver and a Bathys 100 Fathoms. And today I scored an Anonimo Millemetri Trilogeo (I think there's a rep of this out there). http://gallery.mac.com/davewe#100104 And there might even be enough in the paypal account for 1 more of something. Life is good!

Over the past month I

This discussion hits home pretty well. I purchased several MBW and Watchmaster watches 2 years ago and have enjoyed them very much. This past week I put 2 up for sale. The first, the legendary MBW double red seadweller, flew out the door and had several offers within an hour. The 2nd was the modern seadweller. Imagine my surprise when I got slammed for it because there's now the "super" seadweller that's better (at least supposed to be). I distinctly remember posting pix of my new baby after buying it 1 1/2 years ago and getting emails from more than one guy saying, "hey Dave if you ever want to sell it..." But now it's a POS, so I've withdrawn the sale and will keep it. It runs to COSC standards and is waterproof enough to swim with. In the 3-4 years I've collected reps I've watch the whole MBW thing go up and down: who is he? (or is Maria a she), where is he, when will he come back (when he's been gone), yes he's back - hurray, to "oh, they're just the same reps as everyone else has." I'm sure that at times MBW and Watchmaster sold pieces that could be gotten by other dealers, but I'm also sure that there were times they were first. We'll never truly know because that's the nature of this business - it's got to be kept secret. I'm also sure that some dealers have a vested interest in making sure everyone believes that "we all get the same reps." All I know is that that POS MBW/Watchmaster SD is the only Rolex rep I've been confident enough to show to Rolex collectors who shook their heads in awe. I've used the same watchmaker for 10 years; a skilled but dour guy. I bring him all my watches - reps and gens. Never impressed. My MBWs are the only watches that ever made him smile in admiration. I think he likes taking them apart more than if they were genuine Rolexes. I made the mistake of showing him my DW Paul Newman and he practically laughed at me, remarking that it was "held together with glue and chewing gum." As you can tell, I've grown tired of the whole game . What started out as fun has turned out to be as often as not a "my watch can beat your watch" sort of pissing match. I own one more Watchmaster Rolex. It's a vintage Bond Sub that I got directly from Watchmaster, ex-Watchmaster, Kenzo - or whomever he is. It's a killer and I love showing it off. It's different that other Bond reps I've seen. But I no longer post pix of it on the rep boards cause i think that the moment I do some a-hole will go "that's the same watch that King sells for $99 and his bezel is better." Neil used to say, "hey remember, they're only reps." Too many of us have gotten away from that and as BB King sang "the thrill is gone."

Watchmaster vintage Sub or Muller Conquistador. Decisions...

I just received mine yesterday. It's really nicely distressed and I put it on my Davidsen PVD. I will be buying more. especially with the 35% introductory discount they are running.

Here's my LV Stealth:

If the watches are new, 15 seconds a day is not at all bad. New movements need weeks or even several months to break in. I wouldn't even think of having the watches regulated until then. Dave

I have this watch and bought it from Neil. While I agree with you and normally try for an ETA movement, the Asian auto in mine runs well. SInce the movement is never gonna look or function like the gen, I'd say save the money, spend it on a really nice strap and get the Asian auto. Dave

Stealth Davidsen 202 A on Horween Cordovan.

Before collecting reps, I collected vintage gens. With the exception of a few collectible brands like Rolex, vintage gens can be gotten for about the same price as decent reps. However, I always budgeted in at least a cleaning to the cost of ownership. As wonderful as genuine mechanical movements are, they are mechanical and all will need service sooner or later. If you think you are tired of replicas which break or have poor QC check out the genuine watch boards and see all the owners of 5k watches who have problems, sometimes immediately. And to get serviced, you generally have to send your watch halfway around the world and be without it for a couple months or more. Panerai customer service is notorious. I recently purchased a genuine Sinn U1 for about 1k. It's wonderful. However, if it every needs servicing, I will have to send it to Germany and be without it for a long time. It's not like the AD is simply gonna replace the watch. We get better service from dealers such as Eddie Lee, than you'll get buying a gen. One of the keys to collecting any kind of watch is to develop a relationship with a good service person. That saves me a lot of grief. dave

I may be in the minority but I don't consider this PM to be very threatening. Elliot has been subjected to a large amount of attacks and flaming on this board and the old RWG, and let's be honest some of it has come from you. So, all he's saying is he will dish it out too. I hope he doesn't but i understand. Of course, I grew up in New York and Philadelphia and so my notion of a threat is - well a bit more threatening. The rationale for all this crap always seems to be "well Elliott sent that nasty letter to us last year, so we can say anything nasty we want." I have a 6 and a 10 year old and I hear that reasoning all the time from them. Elliott's made a nice home for himself at RWI and if things get too crazy on RWG he knows he's welcome there. Dave

I removed my DW bezel with a dull butter knife. Place it under the bezel, pull up gently and it should pop off. Dave

Hari: Thanks for nailing it on the head. You effectively said what I was trying to say earlier, but did it much better (and [censored], I'm supposed to be a writer). Thanks for having the balls and the wisdom to sum up this inane thread. Dave

There must some weird stuff traveling through the ether today. In the last 24 hours on one or more of the boards I have seen: a rehashed (again and again) attack on Elliott; a bizarre attack on The Zigmeister; Klink dropping off RWG; and now this. I have never had work done by Joe and we've only exchanged an email or 2, but I have a couple things to point out, in no necessary order of importance. 1. Joe has come on the boards several times recently to apologize, say that he is ill and he will get back to work as soon as he can. Most guys have to have something falling off to admit they are sick, so it's quite possible that Joe is more ill than he's let on. For you young guys in the audience - it's something to look forward to. 2. I have a real problem with Namor's titling of his original post "This SCAM has to be stopped - NOW !!!" and then the first sentence, "or let more people get into trouble and being scammed." Even if everything that Namor said is correct, referring to someone like Joe as a scammer is way off line. At worst you didn't get the quality of mods you were hoping for. 3. In reading the original post, Namor says that Joe "just said "send it back, I'll see". Knowing well that I'm extremely aware about customs (I paid him extra money for secure shipping firstly to someone else in EU - than to me). If i interpret this correct, Joe told Namor to send the watch back and Namor didn't want to because of customs issues. So, if Joe said he'd look at the watch and rework it, how is that a scam? Anyone, in any field who does not perform service to your satisfaction is gonna ask you to bring it back and they'll fix it. They are unlikely to refund money. As to the potential customs issues, this is one of the problems inherent in dealing with illegal goods. 4. Like The Zigmeister has said on several occassions, there's a real problem with someone buying an inexpensive Chinese rep and then paying triple the price to have it modded. Something about making a silk shirt out of a sows ear. In the Rolex rep world, unless you have an MBW or WM or DW with 1:1 cases where you can substitute gen parts, no amount of mods is going to give you a perfect sub. 5. The waterproofing issue has been beaten to death on these boards. I don't care if someone water tested the watch or not. Once he shipped it to you and it got bounced around from the U.S. to the E.U, any water testing is irrelevant. I've got a watch repair guy who I've used for years on gen watches who tells me constantly that wearing any watch in water is a crap shoot. Check the genuine boards for the number of people who have ruined genuine submariners in water. Again, I don't know Joe and haven't used his services but this thread has gone over the top. Let's rethink our views. Dave

Here's my Kon tiki.

I have one (though i didn't get it from Josh) and love it. As you'll see from his website, there are three versions. Several of the dealers sell them. The biggest complaint is the strap. Even if you like Pilot style straps (and i do) it's not a very nice one. At the time i bought mine, i could not find a 26 mm pilot style strap. i contacted several strap makers to have one custom made, but finally got radical, pulled up the lugs, installed a Mario Paci, and epoxied the lugs back down. However, lately I have seen a couple of makers with a 26 mm pilot strap. Bottom line is, I love the watch, the Russian movement works well and one of these days i'm gonna get the california dial version too. You can see pictures of my original strap and how I installed the MP here: http://web.mac.com/davewe/iWeb/Site/3646.html Dave

You might want to contact Edge.

This one's been posted by Puretime. he's says it's Asian 7750. Opinions? Dave http://s16.photobucket.com/albums/b14/pure...nt=DSCN0017.jpg

You can get quantities of tubes and/or screws on ebay for a little less than you might pay the dealers. The money adds up quickly when you have multiple Pans. I just boght a set of a dozen screws and tubes (enough for 6 watches) for $36 on the bay. Good quality. Dave