NRG

Truly a great post The Zigmeister, thanks. Gives me a very good perspective of where we are today not having grown up with the 'industry', only coming to the rep scene recently. You said: 'will the supply houses like Otto-Frei carry Seagull movements and parts??? I hope so?' I thought they already did carry some? Cousins here in the UK seem to have a very good selection...

Apologies for hi-jacking this thread. Here are some pics. of the '21j' Asian, couldn't find many with it in bits. And also the CG's which, like Rob, I've decided not to touch. In the above you can see the back of the CG is sharp and the front rounded due to the milling diameter/position. Nice sharp CG underneath... Here's the '21j' dial side with the date ring and plate removed. As the date is an overlay on the existing date ring it is substantially larger than the date ring itself which causes a problem with the plate screws by overlapping them. So removal of the plate screws becomes a PIA and refitting an even bigger PIA. If you have to get to the Keyless works and dial side gear train be ready for some frustration! Can you spot the missing spring? If you ever want to see a magic trick close up then these hair springs are great, one moment it's there on the end of your tweezers and the next...... ping! It's gone! No where to be seen or heard of again! Here's the Cousins movement DG2831M, Some difference can be noted for the date advance mech. but hey this one has a spring!! In fact I'm not sure if this is a newer version, different version or older The Zigmeister any ideas? Anyhow, it seems slightly better put together and is correctly oiled... all for $9! Looks like a direct drop in replacement... I achieved what I set out to do, get the cyclops/crystal aligned and get the date more aligned in the date window, it's not perfect but...what the heck! With the Keyless works and date mech correctly lube the movment feels much nicer to use, silky smooth as a babys bum! One last problem, the rotor is wrong for this movement. It has a flat key and the movement doesn't! Still works though.

I've got my Noobmariner apart at the moment to correct a small crystal alignment problem and also to improve the seating of the insert IE lower it. The Date wheel is slightly out as well. I was also looking at the CG's and noticed they are fine at the back but not at the front. Not sure how to tackle them at the moment. Getting the bezel off is a pain, it does not come off easily, I managed it with a lot of fiddling and I think it has become slightly distorted in the process... I've not noted the crystal having a step on mine, just straight sides. I managed to loose a date wheel spring so ordered a new movement form Cousins for US$9! Not bad.... I'll get some pics up when I have more time...

Thanks for sharing Rob, my work area is a little more cluttered than yours but I'm still new to this stuff!

Your choices are: a ) Sort it out with the dealer or b ) Send it to The Zigmeister, stump up more cash but live with the knowledge it will have been correctly serviced and should last a long time.

Two identical feedback posts on the 6th October both at 11:44 also screams scammer to me plus the 16610...

Will be interesting to compare it to my TTK LV when is get here....thanks!

I think it's incredibly clever and skilled to come up with a design like this, a unique one at that. However, for me part of the lure or attraction to this hobby is being able to see the movement in action and marvel at its precision, not guess at how it works... You're sort of short changed a little with the Quinting...IMHO

If she's a keeper buy her a gen, if she's not don't....simple!

Thanks for sharing! I see you use a Microset timer. Do you happen to know if it does amplitude measurement without the PC software? IE standalone amplitude measurement....

Be patient fellow noobs, it will turn up. Here's a pic to keep you going, last week it was in the USA, tonight Oslo, tomorrow even further-a-field!

Hmmm, not sure if this is the correct forum to post....oh what the heck... I completed the TZL1 course a while back, basic stuff disassembly and reassembly of a 2801-2: I'm now coming to the end of the TZL2 course where lubrication and regulation has been the focus as well as getting to grips with a daydate movement (2836-2). I put what I learnt into practice on the 2801 to get some more experience and now have it running +/- 2 secs a day on and off wrist, so very happy. Taking a break from the TZL2 stuff I put together this watch based on a 2824-2... The dial is different to the ones from Ofrei and has great lume, however, I was not sure about the black date wheel. Also the watch was running way to fast so time to apply my infant watch skills once more. The 2824-2 was supposed to be new (from a UK source) but I found it dirty and dry! With that fixed it seems to be running a lot better and I fre-fitted the white date wheel, I think this makes the watch more balanced visually. I now just need to learn how to put my initials on the dial! oh and finish the TZL2 stuff. I can recommend the the TZ course, it's not for the faint hearted though, some of the parts are mind boggling small! You will need a steady hand and be prepared for failures along the way. As an introduction though to basic horology its great

Send it to The Zigmeister. 5 mins a day is not going to be correctable via the fine rate adjustment....

Thought you fellow noobs/guys/gals might find this interesting. I had a chance to compare my 16610 from TTK, the so called ‘noobmariner’ against a gen today. I’m currently on an internal company training course in the USA and my US boss (I have a UK and a US report) was wearing a gen 16610. We got talking and I asked if I could have a look and showed him the ‘noobmariner’. Comparing the two was interesting, I did not let on mine was a rep until after I had a good look. First the ‘rehaut’, my word guys you are obsessive! Yes there is a small difference but….really! It is so small that only, and I mean only under close examination would you note the difference! Secondly, the ‘pearl’. It is larger and more ‘glossy’ on the gen but again only the obsessive would notice. The dial, hands, fonts and Cyclops where all spot on. The straps where near enough identical. I’d already oiled the rep strap and smoothed down the sharp edges, they where identical as far as I could tell. What was obvious though was the beat rate of the second hand, the gen being higher and therefore smoother. And the CG’s, these stood out IMHO as the most obvious difference, the gen having smaller and straighter internal and external sides than the rep. I could not tell the difference between the crowns. Lastly the bezel rotation was smoother on the gen, but as it was a few years old this could have been down to use and slight wear. Anyhow all this obsessive analysis was worth it! The look on his face when I told him it was a rep was a picture to behold!! He just could not believe it!! Even better was the second whammy when I told him how much it cost! Priceless!! Thanks TTK!

Just an idea, how about putting some Lume markers in? Say at 12, 3, 6 and 9....

Whoa! My 16610 arrived! Just as I was emailing to Neil about 075, 074 dropped through the door! Thanks Neil, well worth the wait, I must be more patient in future I've sized the bracelet and oiled it a little seems very good, I'm a happy noob with a noobmariner!

It's misleading, you don't have to buy a toolkit!!

Excellent work, great effort! I too have done the TZ courses very worth while IMHO Supermanx wrote: That really is amazing. So I take it you would recommend the timezone courses? I noticed now they require you to buy the movement and all your tools through their store, but I do not think that was the case 3 months ago when I was first looking. I would sign up now, because I have a spare 2836 and more then enough tools and parts.... but wife would kill me if I have to buy everything again. You don't need to buy all the stuff through OFREI/TZ, if you have the tools/oils etc then just enroll for the tutorials....$50 per course...

Neil, please put me out of my misery, when will I see mine?

Great review and great watch , I'm still waiting for mine to arrive .... the wait is killing me! How long does it take?

Nice one, my mate at work has one of these very nice! He talked me into getting a midsize Bond SMP last year....

Pic quality is not so good, sorry!

I have this watch as a Gen. It's my favorite watch! This rep is very good, obviously there are some differences... The date should be white numerals on black background. The minuet hand is too long. The watch is 5ATM not 3 The Crown is a smaller diameter and height The movement is obviously different!!! I'll try to post some pics for you...

Beaten to it....nevermind!

Exactly! Is there a way of putting a nag popup or nag screen up each time a none-member visits the board after say a months free 'grace'