morgan

I like the 3b the best! To each his own.

As far as I can tell it's not wood at all but likely a color photo of wood covered by what feels like glass? Could be mistaken.

As far as I can tell it's not wood at all but likely a color photo of wood covered by what feels like glass? Could be mistaken.

I got one too from Andrew... amazing watch. One of my favorite reps w/o a doubt! I've always wanted an IWC but they are so small and girly sized. This one is perfect at 44mm!!!!

Not often I get to ask and answer a question the same day. After trial and error I've discovered that in order to swap straps on the 46mm B&R you should:

1. Remove only one screw for each lug. The bar will slide out either end with some difficulty.

2. You must use something that is the same diameter as the lug in order to tap it through to the other end.

Looking at the lug ends w/ a 20X loop it's clear that the finish work on the cases are pretty bad with jags of metal

that may need to be hammered thru to get the bar out.

3. When you reinsert the screws into the bar don't be surprised if it doesn't tighten up as the metal is made of chewing gum I think. I've considered using spring bars and super gluing the allen screws in for looks.

I've got a couple 46mm serving trays and want to swap out the straps. Yes.. they're good quality but I don't like the way they taper at the end and in spite of Trusty's recommendation to never attempt a swap.. I must. The allen screws are soft and easily chewed away by the supplied tool but I was able to remove the 2 screws from one strap. It looks like the bar needs to be pushed thru one side or the other but it's not moving. Tried a tooth pick no luck. Anyone have luck with this so far?

Brilliant!

6-8 oz is good strap thickness IMO. That's about 2mm, so the strap would come out to about 4 to 4.4 mm in thickness. No internal filler needed. The straps with internal fillers tend to be stiffer and less comfortable. For example, HKTan straps are the stiffest I own. The greg straps appear to use an internal filler, but for some reason are able to remain pliable and comfortable. But the most comfortable straps I've got are the simple fold-over such as those from vintagerstraps.com. Light weight leathers just don't do the job. Also, the amount of labor necessary to build a strap with filler is probably almost double.

I spoke to Greg regarding his straps, he uses 3-4 oz and yes uses a filler. I bought a slew of different remnant leathers from Tandy since they are close by.. enough to make maybe 3000 straps if I had the time. I'm still working on my first frankenstrap 3-4 w/ filler and it's very pliable. Any idea where to source 24/26 buckles cheap? $20 is rediculous. Are you done w/ your first yet?

Ok, I let my oldest so, 23 years old, wear my PAM 50. I asked him about it the other day. How is it running? he said fine. Asked him to give it back then he told me he lost the " thing on the top"! I have it now and am in need of a CG. Arrrrgh

Grounded.. one week w/ no food.

I was just in the Tandy Allentown store on Saturday!! I met the manager "Jeff".. good guy and I'm sure he can help you out? Let me know if you want me to contact him. Shipping can't be that bad??? By the way.. 6-8 oz leather is pretty thick? You have to fold over the strap so you have a loop for the lug screw?? Might want to stick w/ 3-4 oz stuff as use a filler to beef it up.

Nice strip tease... gotta love the 196.

What I would do if I could only move to America... you guys have it so good over there. I do remember one time when I ordered something on eBaY and it took 6 weeks... that is my personal record. I guess China is shut down over the next little while due to festivities, but judging from some of the other things I'm hearing, it sounds like I've waited a relatively short time. But I can't help feeling a little worried since the address I shippied it to sounded so strange and make-believe. I even google-mapped the location but to no avail.... I did however find some interesting satellite photos of Guangzhou province... my God... looks, 'crowded'.

Oh yeah.. we have it great.. we have the most hated leader and we are the most hated people on the earth. Stay in Canada dude.. in fact move farther north so so you can escape the nuke blast.

Thanks! I'm also gearing up to make my own straps. Tired of spending oodles of cash for straps that just don't do the watches I put them on justice. These tutorials will come in handy!

That's excellent news Andrew! Reps just keep on getting better and better... life is good!

That's freaking hilarious.. I love the comment "how sad". Forget the crappy rep... I kinda like the strap.. it's simplicity and rough exterior is attractive in some way. Kinda of like a fred flintstone strap.

You will need to dress the threaded end where it screws into the crown with a conical geometry...i.e., not flat, for easier and safer fit to the crown. If you are not careful you can cross-thread the crown threads.

uh huh... conical geometry.. I wasn't very good at math in school so not sure I'll be doing much of that.

I hate to be the one to break the news to you, but your stem is too short...

RG

Oh yeah... my word.. no need to get personal zigmaster... how rude!

you can just use a heavy wire cutters to trim the stem. they cut easily.

How will I be able to determine the exact legth is should be??

If you are lucky you might be able to fix it by removing the stem and crown, then unscrewing the stem a couple of turns then reinserting it back into the watch to see if you can get all of the positions possible. If so, remove it again and put some glue on the threads and reinstalling the crown...them back into the watch. Try all functions after the adhesive has had time to dry completely. If this doesn't work, then a new stem is in order.

Edited to add: If you do get a new stem don't expect the length to be correct out of the box. You will have to size it properly for your watch.

I have a new stem on order. I'll try what you said... unscrew the crown from the stem a few turns to add some length and try the wind function?

I hate to be the one to break the news to you, but your stem is too short...

So yes, a new stem cut and installed to the correct length, will indeed fix your problem.

RG

I've been faitfully reviewing your incredible and detailed breakdowns Zigmaster and it looks like a stem swap would be pretty

basic? Unscrew the stem screw a couple turns w/ the crown seated and remove? Where can I get a proper stem the correct

length? Wouldn't mind swapping the crown for one more beefy whilst I'm at it.

My 196 changes date in the wind position and changes time in what should be the date adjust.. there is no wind position.

Will a new stem fix this you think? When I got the watch it was 2 minutes slow per hour probably because it can't get a decent wind w/o wearing it for a few days. Now that I've had it on a few days it's keeping up ok.

I just took ownership of a 196 old case asian 7750 and noticed that the crown only has 2 positions, in = date adjust and out = time adjust. So how do you wind this thing besides shaking it? Is the stem/crown screwed up or am I missing something with this model? The previous owner said it came to him this way.

This is a waste of space!

I have everything sent to work...

Me too! How many others have their watches mailed to the office?

That's hilarious that so many of us have to lie to buy our watches. My wife luckily doesn't know one panny from another and probably thinks I have 2 or 3 of them when i have 8 or so. When I got the B&R 46 she of course picked up on that one right away.."you got another new watch!!!?? I've had to wear xtra long sleeves some days just so i didn't have to hear the nagging. They will never understand. I have an omega PO and could easily get a PO chrono and she'd never notice. hmmmm