PeteM

You have got to say more about what you are looking for mate... Size, Style, Accuracy, etc etc Why dont you search the trusted dealer sites for the styles etc and then come back with a post listing what you are after mate and most importantly your budget..

Thanks mate I really appreciate an extra set of eyes !!

I have managed to source some gen NOS parts for this model.... yet I dont have one !! First time I have started a project [censored] about face !! I have done some research into the variations and makers versions.... However I can only find the dirt cheap version in stock anywhere... the one with no plate markings and heavy blue AR I know there were a few versions... The original 2006 version with crystal instaed of the mineral that they all have now and then the ones with the Aqua Terra movement that Reg used to get and then the others with slight variations usually in the movement..with the markings to the CDG plates.. Do any of you guys know of any that might be available or in stock anywhere? Especially the better versions? Any pointers would be appreciated... Thanks in advance

If you have pid for the triangle shipping service then you aint responsible for any surcharges mate.... thats down to the dealer and his drop guy in UK..... however if you were in UK and you got these charges then unless you have specifically discussed customs and declarations etc then its down to you.... For that amount you will find the charge isnt customs but rather VAT...as the VAT threshold is lower than the Customs levy.... the thing to remember is that the shipping charge is considered in any customs charging... so if you state item at $30 but shipping is $50 then you will get a small VAT charge plus the £13.50 Admin charge from PF or RM... they both charge the same fee.... The thresholds are written in stone but PF and FedEx etc do like to interpret the regulations and the thresholds..... I have had stuff delivered to me with value stated well over the thresholds and didnt get charged... I have had stuff thats only 99p over threshold and had about 40p charged plus the £13.50 !! Its hit an miss how these will be viewed by the courier.... as it aint customs that state the charges most of the time.... I recently found out thats its the courier staff who undertake this for all packages wheras only a selected few go to customs officials for scrutiny...and charges.. Its a great way of making money for them because they take responsibility for paying customs along with declaring how much should be paid.... this is done on a schedule rather than individual so payments are made on an interim basis as a bulk payment.... its a nice earner...a friend at FedEx really opened my eyes to the abuse of this part of the shipping process.... although we are usually incorrectly charged most of that variation goes in the couriers pockets not the Governments!!

Totally agree mate ..... but if you listen to the guy although the visual aspect is more obvious for explanation his comments still say he relies on that sort of touchy feely approach..or as he says trust and misdirection... In respect of phones and wallets... those I am sure could be taken from the most aware of people... But I would think guys like this are few and far between in the skills.... Most picks are good but rely on teams to carry out the misdirection etc.... these are what you hear of most in the crowds and tubes etc... And any of the guys at this level arent going to be wasting those skills in town high streets etc.... they will be in monaco hotel lobbies etc !! I did read somewhere that the likelihood of having your watch picked off your wrist is less likely than you losing it yourself !! So its a minimal risk.... however getting forced to remove it..ie Mugged etc is much higher location depending

Hell

Wish I could mate but the Doctor only allows 2 passes per year and both are accompanied !!

I was watching this short video about stealing watches...although I am really impressed by the guys skills and deft movements..I am not so sure I would ever allow or have ever experienced anyone shaking my hand in such a manner nor have I experienced someone whom I dont know or even someone that I do know get so touchy with me...without me either stepping back or telling them to stop..indeed if anyone did that to me I would become immeadiately suspicious regardless of seeing this video.... Maybe its a Bristish cultural thing and maybe in other countries such actions by strangers are more acceptable..I am not sure... ? http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=UyVFG1CCDco

I can assure anyone here that what I have written can be substantiated simply by checking other threads and comments made by all those effected with this issue so to simply say its BS is wrong and I stand by my comments... However if you can substantiate your rebuttle then please do so..it is easy to reply with a statement like that..but from your other comments you have not substantiated any of it or that any of what I have said is incorrect. Indeed your further comments seem to imply you havent even taken the time to read what I have written much less taken the time to consider it... given your reply does not relate to my comments.. Your comments regarding deposits etc are once again incorrect ..from it I can only assume you have never dealt with N or indeed have any knowledge of how this type of work on these forums work.. I appreciate thats not your fault but perhaps you might take the time to find out before you make such unfounded and illogical statements..you seem to resort to personal attack and ridiculous statements..that are nothing short of inflammatory for the sake of it.... and your input underlines my comment regarding the villagers with pitchforks and torches... and for reasons that are beyond me you seem to have taken this whole situation personally and have invested an emotional haze to your views... But I ask if it is as you say incorrect then please set out your points in respect of my comments... I will happily take back all I have said if you can do so As for the deposits...you state that the deposits were spent..... yes they were ...but to suggest it was spent by N for his own personal use or enjoyment is wrong and again underlines your lack of knowledge of dealing directly with N or in any similar undertaking in this hobby... The deposits were used to pay for the parts,donor watches and for making upfront payments to Tex .... so indeed N is out or has been scammed for more than the extent of the monies lost by members... to suggest N has profittted over the years and in its implication suggested it has been of a high order is again incorrect.... you fail to mention the overheads and time associated with such undertakings as well as the low margins that such work can attract especially when dealing with another .... you could well argue that Tex would have made more by way of profit given his overheads were less committed as N was undertaking the 'dirtier' aspect of customer service etc However this work in this hobby does not start because of the profit that can be made or becaue of the easiness of doing it...it starts with a guy getting contacts and finding sources for his own projects who then starts to get requests from others for help and this slowly grows into a 'business' in the loosest sense of the word.... in this game the margins only just about cover the time and effort made by the individual..talk to any member on here who does similar work will only tell you how hard it is dealing with guys on here and thier expectations and how the whole thing grew from a simple love of the hobby and in this case IWCs etc... The idea that when N was shafted by Tex that he could just miraclously cough up all the monies owed is both niave and completely foolish... comparably speaking any business in the real world would have entered into administration to avoid all those debts.... thats because they are a business and they play the game that entais... however N didnt do that... he took money from his own pocket and by selling his own watches...which you appear to belittle..without any thought to the situation as a whole; or to ensuring that everyone one owed was paid as and when money became available... rather than pay one guy at a time ..N paid across the guys owed so none were paid back before others...so again if any thought is given to this situation then any reasonable person would see by looking at the whole picture that N has acted with honour and accepted his responsibilities openly and as quickly as he could. Once again from simply checking other threads and posts/comments by those effected you can see that all those involved have now received their monies back.... I can only say that from what I have read and taking the time to check; that N has acted in a manner that can only be applauded and respected ..and certainly is by me.. he has proved himself to be a stand up member and honest... I am also not sure where you see that I have insulted Ingenieur..... it only underlines again your lack of understanding about what I have written and makes no sense at all. I also stand by my statement that those comments were ridiculous.... on the basis that they were unfounded and unsubstantiated and were designed only to personally attack another member who was from simple research clearly trying to do the right thing by others.... N actions after he discovered that he had been shafted are admirable and say an awful lot about him not only as a member here and elsewhere but also as a person and his character.... in the same way comments made here and on RG say a lot about those individuals both as members and as people.... I am sure others reading this will make thier own judgements about those people and the worth of thier comments and thier real motives....

wife

I might leave it to you when I die.... but other than that no hope And I would be surprised if you get a bite at the moment but good luck in your quest mate

And another thing I forgot to mention is that N is also repaying guys that got shafted directly by Texski..... because he recommended him.... They asked who could do the sort of work they were after and he suggested Tex as well as a few others ...some of them got burned and he is paying them back too... Now I am sure most of you will admit that if you said to another member to try a particular modder or dealer etc and that guy got scammed you wouldnt consider it your responsibility to reimburse that guy yourself...? @Ingenieur..... you might not have realised mate but you recieved that final payment of 250 Euros the same day and within a few hours of Concepta selling his UberFranken Skyland. .......rather than because of any ridiculous comments made by others !

I only just saw this thread and knowing of N from this forum and others over the last couple of years, I was a little taken a back by some of the issues raised so I thought I would take some time to research the issues raised here and on RG etc ... What I found was a guy who had trusted someone else whom he had known for some time and built up a relationship with and had then been completey shafted.... not just on the part of the guys he was doing work for but also for himself and not just hundreds or even a few thousand dollars.... but well over 10k So what does this guy do? Does he run or shaft those guys like he was shafted.... like I guess most guys would and I include myself in that comment as I am not sure I could have stood up and held my hands up to my peers here... No he doesnt.....what he does is... He sells his collection of fantastic frankens and modded watches and as he raises the funds he pays back those that have lost thier money... of course not all at once... I mean this is one guy and there are a few guys who have been shafted by proxy..so he spreads those payments across all those involved and as his collection is sold..then in the mean time he carries on doing work for others (those that know who this guy really is and who trust him) and he uses the funds raised to again cover those payments... he then still takes part in the forum posting those projects he is doing on behalf of others and still helping out with general info and specific details relating to this hobby.. To be honest when I first read this thread and some of the comments ..I thought that this must be the forum version of ' the gathering of villagers with pitchforks and torches' Personally I dont see the evidence here for some of the comments made and with a little research I found most to be unfounded and unwarranted.... I can only say that I applaud the efforts of N through no fault of his own to rectify this situation and make things right.... I am sure if any one effected by this situation took the time to consider what N is going through and what he is having to deal with in terms of not only the personal financial cost but also the stress of dealing with some very upset and relentless messages on a daily basis.... and the fact that he is slowly but surely resolving matters...they might reconsider what they expect in the time they expect it... I hope that makes sense guys

Decorate

Englebert

Thanks so much guys for the great replies.... The analogy was brilliant thank you and so clear..I could visualise it as I read it.. As always you cant beat this place for great guys and great info...Thank you

Not as Powerful as....'Would you mind picking up my soap..luvverboy ?'

Now this one is more of a 'SteamPunk' that has been truly punk'd !!! But as for gubbings I do prefer the Hyt and its Hydro Mechanical movement

For an OTB rep then I would recommend the Hublot Big Bang King Black Magic from the H maker... its the most accurate of the BBKs and KPs... by a mile.. Avoid the KPs as these are very inaccurate or wait as there are a few coming soon The Blacksteel is nice too and so are some PAMs... but you need to have more of idea what you want in terms of size and design/brand..then I am sure you will get a better more detailed answer..

The new RJ 'Steam punk' Chrono !! 'Steam something' !! thats for sure with that bezel !! But I must admit I like the dial ...

Well at least it aint 'Grey' !!! That would be another forum !!

I have experienced the same ill manners from noobs more times than I care to mention and yes it does grind you when there is no acknowledgement let alone any courtesy... indeed you can see that lack of courtesy in the initial PM and you know there and then that this guy is one of those described above....but regardless I still reply..in the hope that maybe I am wrong but mainly because they maybe like that but I aint so i aint going down to that level... BUT..... I have also experienced the same discourtesy from the more senior members on the forums..one of them was even a mod on another forum!! With him I sent some very long emails with diagrams and photos with annotations etc and ..after that ..not a word not a nothing!! And to add insult to injury using my advice he had gone ahead and then posted about all about the research he had done and used all my info to beef up his thread and then took the positive comments.... I dont care if he doesnt acknowledge his sources or that he only achieved what he did on the back of others..that never bothers me but all I would ask is a simple thank you just something to acknowledge the time and effort I put into giving him the best answers I could... So although I agree with the OPs initial comments I dont agree we are just talking about noobs.... I have dealt with a few noobs who have been great in their quest for info and advice.. and just as many ignorant 'senior' members as noobs...and its been like that for a few years not just recently...

Its funny you seem to have the same cycle of emotions as I do...and similar experiences...then go back to what you know and wonder why you left it in the first place..after all it only ends up being for the sake of a few dollars and for something you wouldnt have been bothered about had the situation never arisen !!

But is that it transformed? and if not what does it transform into.... maybe a Timex

Not my taste in terms of the watch mate...but I must admit it does really look lovely with that strap...and I could see exactly what you were after as soon as I saw the first pic and that high turned stitch... Congrats and wear it well Post Script... Why cant I write S.T.I.T.C.H ??