chubbchubb

I got two from the good 'ol days....

Carbon Dial for me today...

Can you guys decipher the lingo... JzF???AFAIK??? /Where? I dont get it

Thank you

EC

AFAIK: As Far As I Know - a commonly used abbreviation in internet fora of all kind

JzF: jiimmyzfu - a watch collector (mostly vintage Seiko) and former seller of high end PAM Cases, Crown Guards, hands and crystals. Out of (this PAM) business, though.

Damn, that dream lasted about five seconds....

What tool did you used to remove these bolts? A normal screwdriver will not do the job. Can you show the picture of the tool you used?

Thanks.

I actually used a very small (watchmaker) screwdriver. The slotted nuts on my watch have a tiny groove on either side. This is where I placed the screwdriver and carefully pushed the bolt couterclockwise. They weren't too tight...

There are of course professional tools (spanner screwdrivers) for this type of nut...

hxxp://www.wiha.com/germany/Onlineshop/Schraubendreher-Schraubenzieher/305-Wiha-SoftFinish-R-Schlitz-Mutter

This what they look like:

Great team effort resulting in an excellent review. Thanks, guys.

Hi and welcome. For a noob, there are many nice reps around but be prepared that your understanding of "flawless" will change as you read, observe and understand...

Great side by side review, thanks for taking the time to put this together...

It might be the lighting.... but in addition to the mentioned flaws it seems to me that the dialcolor is different - at least from the gold Rubberclad that's on AP's website.

I like the Rubberclads a lot, but the single biggest turnoff for me is the crappy rubber bezel - unless that gets permantently fixed, you spend a couple of hundred bucks on something that turns into a paperweight within a few weeks.

That's true classic...

I think the problem you will run into is that most of the "smaller" watch companies do not really do their own top down designs. There are companies - like the one you spoke to - who will deliver to you a personalized (branded with your wiseman watch co. name) batch of watches but the underlying design of the watch is from their catalogue and might be sold at the same time - in a similar combination of case, crown, movement, strap.... - to another customer somewhere else.

It is all about money - the more pieces you sell of any give design, the better the profit and the quicker design and manufacturing cost are amortized. Think about it - if you gave them your own design - how many pieces would you order of that watch? What would you be willing to pay to them? What could you resell them for? What would be the cost to do (cnc) a watch (just case, bezel, dial, crown) from scratch? Add movement, hands, crystal and assembly, packaging....

i know there is a step by step tutorial on how to replace the bezel. But how hard is it to change the bezel? Is it something any watchmaker can do? Or is it easy to DIY?

I took my RC apart yesterday. Major steps in removing the bezel are: opening the caseback (eight screws), removing the movement from the case (which requires removing the stem) and then unscrewing eight little nuts that secure the bezel screws in the case.

That is really a great find.... thanks for sharing this info, Tribal

Some1 pointed out that u should push down on the bezel (in the direction of the case) instead of out to remove ROO crystals.

That some1 was wrong. It only works in the other direction.... and if you think about it, it makes a lot of sense....

I have a Rubberclad sec@12 which - like many others - developed severe cavity on the rubber bezel. Today, it had gotten so bad that I decided to totally remove the remainder of

Removing the Rubberclad crystal is no brain surgery.

If you don't plan on doing this for a living.... direct sunlight and some patience will do.

That's an amazing piece... RWG hall of fame stuff...

The rubber strap is actually pretty comfy... but if you have large wrists (mine is 7.9"), it might be on the short side...

rhak1, welcome to the club....

Your source for finished PVD cases would be Davidsen. You could also take any PAM case (and buckle, crown etc) and have it PVD'd by one of the members offering this service (like Rolli). If you want a nice PVD crown, I would try to get a T (he's also a member) crown. The PVD movements you refered to - there where PVD'd Seagulls (Asia 6497) on German Ebay for some 90€.

Dials you could get from (again) Davidsen, who also sells hands and buckles. You could also try to get a FGD Dial (expensive, but very nice and accurate).

Replica Watch Group...

Hm mm, so what I heard at a NAWCC meeting last fall may be correct. The movements are being repped.

For the potential spread - I wouldn't be surprised at all....