NaviChief

I still get the occasional PM asking me about AR services. I haven't seen chieftang active in a long time. There was also the Taka AR.

August 2006 join date for me. I remember buying by first submariner from m2m on TRC (RIP) however. In my early years, RWG was the best source of knowledge IMO. However once RWI and RG came along I was drawn to there for posting for some reason. Perhaps it was the active m2m sections. Perhaps it was the age demographics, as I was in my 20's at that time. I took a couple year break from reps, but it has been the VSF Omega's that drew me back in. That led to a new buying spree. [img]https://i.ibb.co/C9X0p8k/gray.jpg[/img] [img]https://i.ibb.co/Ks6fKfP/brown-00904.jpg[/img] [img]https://i.ibb.co/fQvJpLm/POgmt-00829.jpg[/img] [img]https://i.ibb.co/8NFNVv6/DSC00390.jpg[/img] [img]https://i.ibb.co/F7zXK5Q/blue-3.jpg[/img] [img]https://i.ibb.co/DG6JDJf/green-00938.jpg[/img] With more on the way. As you can probably tell, I've also worked on my photography skills as another hobby. As my career began, I've also been lucky to put together a nice gen collection, and have been active on gen forums, but I will always prefer the folks on the rep forums. My greatest watch accomplishment has been buying a destroyed 2531.80 Bond Seamaster and using all of the skills I learned on rep repairs over the years (and parts sources) to resurrect it from the dead. It is now my favorite watch. Not only does it just feel perfect when I put it on, I have the personal satisfaction of rebuilding it by hand. [img]https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/46790277325_2f29de1c11_o.jpg[/img] [img]https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/47927328327_6b9db7641b_h.jpg[/img] This year I was able to trade for one of my dream brands/watches. A Glashutte Original. As often can happen though, I find it more of a box beauty queen that I get more fun out of photographing than wearing. I plan to have her for sale soon. [img]https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50047940248_43bcd452d1_h.jpg[/img] [img]https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49830394118_08c9fe59bc_h.jpg[/img] My deep thanks to all of you for your sharing of knowledge over the years. I would not be in the same place with my collection or this hobby without RWG and its members.

Thank you both for the compliments. The watch in the top 3 pics is the closed rep case, which had a normal seamaster wave caseback and did have a serial number. dutchguy2 originally put it together, and one other owner and myself improved upon it a bit. It is the case that dutchguy mentions a few posts down in this thread. Here is what the back of the case looked like: As you can see, I sold it last year. Compared to my gen, it was very close. A bit thicker case due to the 2824 vs 2892, and the crown guard shape was a bit pointier. The bottom two pics are a 100% genuine Seamaster. Other than the dial, the rest of it is standard 2831.80. The story of its restoration is over on RWI: https://forum.replica-watch.info/forum/omega-replicas/7738314-destroyed-genuine-omega-seamaster-bond-restoration-story-and-pic-heavy The connection to this thread, is that the gen 40th dial and bracelet I used for that watch are the ones from dutchguy2 that he mentioned in post #1. I did not win that eBay auction, but now I'm curious what it went for. I did try to sell this dial on eBay a couple times years ago.

I think I can help a bit. I'm fairly certain that I bought this watch from the person that dutchguy2 sold it to, in its eventual closed factory case version. Here is what it looked like when I had it: The 40th anniversary dial had been swapped to a old tritium gen dial, and I installed a gen insert with pearl. The 40th anniversary dial and gen bracelet, ended up getting re-united with a genuine 2831.80 that I restored from the dead, and is one of my favorite watches I wear to this day. How is that for 18 years of closure! see above

For that money I would want more than a Rolex sport model. The PanoMaticLunar can be found for $6k used, in fact there was just one up with both the metal bracelet and strap/deployant. That was for SS of course, not the pictured gold.

Wearing heavily modded 300M today. Took me years to procure but it's a highlight of my collection. It's so worth the trouble to research and mod! Good luck. The ceramic version is great as is though,

First edition Navitimer Serie Speciale case and chapter ring Swiss 7750 Gen dial Gen strap Chieftang AR Old factory case Gen dial Gen hands Gen crown and tube Gen insert and pearl Gen bracelet and clasp Eta 2824 Unknown aftermarket AR

Every bracelet could use a little restoration after awhile. If you get your watches from sales forums and m2m like I mostly do, you'll want to freshen up things when they come in, and make them look their best before you sell them again. A bracelet that is all scratched up can mean a great discount when buying, and likewise a little bit of work on your part before a sale can net you a better return on your sale. I've worked on several bracelets in the past couple weeks so I figured a how to thread might interest some folks. First off, these two threads are what originally I read to know what I'm doing. Frankly, they are all the tutorial you will need. http://www.chronomaddox.com/article/mason_a/bracelet_refurb.html http://forum.tz-uk.com/showthread.php?66280-Refinishing-a-Bond-Omega-Seamaster-bracelet I've found that the polishing step isn't always necessary, because if you do enough brushing, small surfaces scratches will get erased anyway. For deeper scratches, I do use a dremel and polishing compound to take the scratches down as far as I can. The best advice for rebrushing is to figure out a way to keep each pass straight and parallel. If I don't use some sort of guide, I found that at the ends of my pass, I would always hook in one direction. The results would look terrible. My favorite way is to set up a right angled surface and wall. In the picture, I am just using two different sized cardboard moving boxes. I taped the bracelet down so it won't move and is parallel to the vertical wall. The parts I don't want to brush are also taped over. I then use a sanding block (made for sanding paint off of walls usually). I make sure that one side of the sanding block is always along the vertical wall, that way the right angle is always maintained and each pass I make is perfectly straight. If I need a different grit of sandpaper, I just tape a piece onto a sponge or something else that is easy to hold but has a straight edge to line up against the wall. I've read many times that scotch-brite pads are the way to go. I tried it, and frankly I didn't find it did things fast enough for me. I couldn't see any difference after about 10 minutes of passes. Perhaps I had the wrong kind. Be sure to wash the bracelet afterwards to remove all of the little particles. Here is the before and after of my gen SMP bracelet. On my modded closed factor SMP: Good luck! If you screw up along the way, just keep going and usually your mistake will be erased. At least they have for me!

I was searching google for that watch and low and behold it brought me back to RWG! I really like this model, and plan to pick one up once more trickle to the used market. Congrats on yours!

This is my classic SMP chrono rep with ETA 7750 on a freshly repainted back yard bench. BONUS SHOT OF ITS 3 HAND BROTHER

I've got over $500 into this fighters-turned-old navi (including straps) and its worth every penny to me. The OP does have quite a bit of work ahead of him but there is a lot of potential for learning and fun as well!

Couldn't have summed up my thoughts better

Thanks everyone for the comments. The bezel has not gotten loose in the slightest. There never was a sunken datewheel issue with the serie speciale that I am aware of. The movements are basically identical. Maybe more pictures of your problem would help us figure it out?

Thanks everyone for the comments. The bezel has not gotten loose in the slightest. There never was a sunken datewheel issue with the serie speciale that I am aware of. The movements are basically identical. Maybe more pictures of your problem would help us figure it out?

This watch started life as the original run of the black faced slow beat A7750 Serie Speciale. It was featured on RWI in a tutorial by Bignasty as he installed a Swiss ETA 7750 in it. Here is the link way back from 2006! Too bad the pics are gone. http://www.replica-watch.info/vb/showthread.php/special-movt-for-my-serie-2526.html?t=2526&highlight=navitimer The watch was traded to geopatr69 who later sold it to me for the biggest watch purchase of my life to that point. It arrived just a day or two before Christmas 2006. I wore it as is for a couple years before deciding to change it up. I bought the beautiful blue dial from sixbennets and switched over a rep Breitling engraved rotor from a Navi TT I briefly owned. Also the crystal was sent off to Chieftang for double AR and the best $50 I've could spend on it. Chieftang AR on the left, regular Navi AR on the right (my original older crystal had no AR at all) Thanks to pokerpot for the last piece of this puzzle (for now, never say never). With the addition of the Breitling font datewheel, I consider this project done. I could brush the case, but honestly I love the polished look too much. I've also considered a gen dial and rep "plain" caseback, but $125 for the dial is too much. This is and likely shall remain, my favorite watch.

I've thought about brushing it, and I know its been done to good results (there was a thread on here I believe with someone who did it years ago). I've brushed bracelets and it was shockingly easy, but I imagine the pushers and crown would be pretty delicate work. For now I'm content with the polished look....I'd have a gen dial if they weren't $125+. Frankly now I just wander the forums looking for an V3 Breitling datewheel for sale. I missed one last week and felt none-to-good about it.

Great choice! This guy started out as a black faced Serie Speciale....then it got a Swiss ETA, blue dial, chieftang AR, and God willing....a correct datefont will land in my hands some day!

looks beautiful. The white strap is quite perfect as well. Congrats

for tiny subdial hands I usually pry the whole watch dial up and let it pop the hands off. Just make sure they don't go flying off into the great beyond.

I might have a couple days in Manhattan and I was wondering if anyone could give me some locations to stop by to see some great watches. I know there is a Tourneau, Wempe but there must be other upscale shops. I love the second hand shops too. Let me know your favorites! Thanks.

I've been looking for a non rep branded version of this as well, I've always wanted a mechanical moon phase

If anyone has an extra rep Breitling font datewheel I would be happy to buy it for my 6-9-12 Navi! It is the last thing about my favorite watch that bothers me (and yes I know the rest of the flaws with the SS)