NaviChief

In fact, the silver hands are correct. The genuine Serie Speciale has been seen with both colored hands as seen in a thread I started at RWI. Here is my original post there: "There are two Serie Speciale Fighters on sale on Ebay right now. One has silver chrono hands like the rep, even though it has a brushed case. Could this be a long lost genuine version, meaning our reps are correct? Or this guy could have dressed up one of Josh's super swiss versions with convincing paperwork and boxes. The other one for sale has the black hands that I have seen on every other gen. Very interesting..... Silver hands: http://cgi.ebay.com/Breitling-Navitimer-Fi...tem140096444089 Black hands: http://cgi.ebay.com/Breitling-Navitimer-Mi...tem160095831369" The rest of the thread is here, where a bunch of people confirm that both watches are genuine. Where is the original citation that the silver hands are wrong? I've looked for it so it could be corrected but could not find it. The hand color is a matter of personal choice now since both seen to be correct, but I think people should not think it has to be changed. Beautiful watch OP, it is my favorite!

The PO bracelet snapped my eBay link remover clear in two! The bracet is evil I tell you.....

I believe some of the old 21k asian 7750's had the correct Breitling lettering on the rotor. You could try asking around if someone doesn't mind trading for a blank rotor. I have seen the gen rotors on eBay, but very rarely.

Don has rave reviews..... hxxp://www.homestead.com/rlx/DON4.html

Congrats Sir, you'll be very pleased! I'll be looking forward to the pictures. I hope the shipping goes quickly for you.

TWP isn't in the dealers section here, but he is a member. Search for him in "members" and send him a PM, its all downhill from there!

I believe every dealer has the same supply of the fighters edition, however prices will vary. Read up on the dealers in the review section and pick your dealer as the "service" and reputation tends to vary. For personal recommendations, the dealer TWP (he is a member here, and dealer at RWI) is in the US (although the Navi's are dropshipped) and has them for $220 with excellent customer service reviews. Also Ruby in China has good reviews and usually the near the lowest prices, inspects the pieces for you, and sends you pictures of your watch before you pay. Here are some pictures to further entice you, you picked a great piece! http://www.rwg.cc/members/Breitling-Naviti...T-1-t25597.html http://www.rwg.cc/members/Breitling-Naviti...T-2-t25806.html

Good eye. That is a wonderful store, I saw a lot of watches there in person for the first time in my life. Candystore!

b16a2 is right, that kinda subdial stuff is usually on the very cheap asian made automatic stuff. If it really is a dealbreaker and you don't care about accuracy, you can try searching iOffer for what you want, but be warned, that site is not approved and you may get ripped off. It is a gamble, be sure to read the seller's feedback. Here is a version of the watch you actually posted, although it has the chronograph instead of what you wanted. This is site is also not "approved" but members have purchased from them without problems: hxxp://brand9avenue.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=21_37&products_id=827&osCsid=79c7b5eafc5f2e63697e6d853527c738 change the xx's to tt's good luck, I hope you find what you want!

The subdials on the current 28k version are not overly shiny, they are perfect. Also, you might hear that the subdial hands should be black, but the genuine did come with silver hands as well, so that is your preference. The Zigmeister could superlume the hands and dial if you like, however the navi does not have much lume on it anyway. Servicing the movement would be great, but some say wait for the watch to start showing problems before you spend the money to service it....it might just last five years as it is! Brushing the case and bracelet is something you could do yourself, but perhaps you could persuede The Zigmeister to do that as well. Finally, the AR on the reps are not close to being as strong as the gen. You might consider having The Zigmeister remove the crystal and sending it for a double AR coating in one of chieftang's runs. Perhaps there are a couple more things I am forgetting, but that is a pretty good list of what The Zigmeister might do for you. I am not saying that is what you will need to have a beautiful watch.....that comes standard! Be sure to let us know what you choose.

This is the old 21k version with the ETA swapped in before I bought it in a private sale. According to The Zigmeister the 28k serviced by him should run just as long and well as the ETA. The only thing I would be worried about is the availability of parts if something breaks....now and even more as each year passes. ETA parts should be around for a long time unless they replace the design soon. As far as the brushed versus polished thing goes...I think the brushed looks great and is true to the original. However, I have no plans to do it to mine as I love the polished look. I actually give it some extra shine pretty often! The Navitimer and SFSO are both beautiful watches, in fact I would own every Breitling if I could, but the Navi is a very different style watch from the SFSO. I guess the first one to buy would be the one that "speaks" to you most!

Thank you Sir! You do the same with that Aerospace I've been envious of...

If you don't care about the waterproofing, perhaps you could cut down the stem so the crown sits next to the case without screwing in. It would be just like a Navitimer or other watch without screw down crowns. That would be a no cost option.

Ouch, that is the kinda thing everyone thinks in the back of their mind, but it is like a kick in the gut to hear confirmed.

Rob it sounds like that will be one incredible Navi. The double sided AR is on my list too. I think that will make a world of difference. I can't wait for you to get it back and put up some pics.

Part 1 is here: http://www.rwg.cc/members/Breitling-Naviti...T-1-t25597.html Enjoy! Part 1: http://www.rwg.cc/members/Breitling-Naviti...T-1-t25597.html

lol, thanks everyone. I won't have any time to try some more this weekend, but I'll let everyone know how it goes. Keep the tricks coming if you have any. Thanks.

I've seen a few on eBay saying they had asian 7750's in them. Also, there is the brand Seagull that makes alot of the chinese movements that also makes watches. I see alot with the "lemania" style chronograph from them.

I tried the soldering iron with no luck unfortunetly. I'll look for my blow torch this afternoon, but I am not sure I feel comfortable using it with my magnifying eyepiece in Any more suggestions out there? Thanks!

I would love some helpful suggestions here....I am taking apart the keyless works of an ETA 7750 and I have run into a stuck screw. It still has a slot on the head, but it is starting to become worn from my attempts to undo it. Also I can see it is wearing down the tips of my screwdrivers. What do you all do when you run into a tough screw? I am trying to selectively work on the keyless works so I don't want to have to soak the whole movement in a solution. Thanks for your expertise!

I don't believe it has been corrected in the rep world, so I guess a genuine from eBay would be your best bet. I am guessing that would be extremely tough to find though. If someone notices the tiny word is spelled wrong on mine, they could have the watch as a prize! I understand though, even the smallest flaws can eat away at you... Good luck on your hunt.

Yep, the makers really did some good work on this one. I have 100% no doubt that the linked strap is the rep. The underside is a huge give-a-way. The color is off and the leather just doesn't look quite right...hard to explain. Also the marking says Cuir Veritable....or genuine leather. This is just like my straps from Ruby. To my knowledge Breitling does not make a leather croc pattern strap..so it should say Croco Veritable. Last off is the price......cause if that were genuine....that's some huge savings!

They are chinese made replicas. You can get them from Josh, Paul, Trevor, or Ruby. I have 2 of them from Ruby for less than that eBay seller shipped EMS and WU fees included. The leather is decent, not gen quality but really good. Stitching might not be arrow straight all the time, but the stitches are thick. The deployants are great, gen quality I would say. They snap together very tightly and with no gap. I remember someone saying the straps are actaully a hair thicker than the gen. The printing on the inside is close, but you could tell the difference next to the gen. You can see mine in my photos here: http://www.rwg.cc/members/Breitling-Naviti...T-1-t25597.html

Thanks for the kind words all. @sammalone The photo software is photoimpression 4. I would say it is definitly not a program for professionals, but it does have a couple neat effects and is fine for resizing, touchups, etc. The camera is an basic olympus I got for around $50 on clearance...haha. It does have a pretty good macro mode though! @andreww I'm glad you like the pics and watch. It is one of the new rep straps and deployant. I got both the black and the brown from Ruby, they are a bargain in my opinion, especially for the high quality deployants. I also bought some 2mm thick springbars off ebay. They feel much more solid and don't leave any play at the strap which is nice. The watch I bought from geopatr69 and I believe he bought it from bignasty. It is the watch bignasty transplanted the ETA 7750 into and showed in a terrific thread over at RWI (I couldn't find it on RWG but it might be here too). So it is one of the old batch with correct sliderule but too shiny subdials. It is only losing a couple seconds of time a week. It is my prized piece. Here are a few pics from when I first got it, and had it on the older rep strap.

Hope you like it, I split the set to help with loading times. and I usually like to throw in an effects shot: