gioarmani

Lol!

Oh yeah, and if you've never had sukiyaki (light beef dish you cook yourself @ the table, in a sauce of soy, mirin, sakes, & brown sugar) you have to eat it at Ran-Getsu. It's phenomenal.

#1. If you're into electronics & watches, check out the Shinjuku district. Akihabara district is also HUGE on the latest electro toys & gadgets. #2. If you're into shopping, the Ginza district is the place to be. Found some fantastic clothes at the Mitsukoshi department store there. If you're American or Canadian, you'll enjoy the Roppongi district, definitely. In Roppongi, you'll have to check out a pizza joint called "Nicola's Pizza"; it was started by a gangster from the Gambino crime family in NY, who left NY after WWII to make a [censored]-ton of money off the post-war Tokyo black market. He was involved in a ton of shady deals with the Yakuza, and eventually became the richest white-guy in Japan. Long story short, he was a stupid gangster who made some wrong friends, hired the wrong lawyers, had some real-estate nightmares that went [censored] up when the bubble burst, and died penniless as his ex-wives took everything from him on his death bed in the late 90's; I think his last wife still owns it. Good pizza though. If you're into the old culture, make sure you see Mt. Fuji in the day, and a Kabuki show one night. Uenno Park has zoos, gardens, museums, etc. Some great restaurants & little shops in Omote Sando. Ameyoko is the "black market area", that is tourist & Western friendly, where you'll find some items that you'll find here on RWG. Tokyo tower is cool too--looks like an Akira version of the Eiffel. Velfarre is probably the biggest nightclub in Tokyo--generally for the under 30 crowd, but Thursdays are for 30 & over--more of a sophisticate & professional crowd rather than teenage & 20-something clubber types. Chiba's right outside of Tokyo--dated a foreign-exchange girl named Satomi there when I was in highschool--talk about beautiful. Depending on your budget, the Park Hyatt is one of the nicest (modern) hotels I've seen in all of Japan. Everything in Japan is expensive (as I think Tokyo's the 4th most expensive city in the world, behind Oslo, Zurich, and I believe London), but the Park Hyatt is up there--good thing it's off season when you're going. Some other nice hotels--in order from most to least expensive--are: The Imperial Hotel The Keio Plaza Inter-Continental and the Crowne Plaza Metropolitan You might even want to spend one of those off-nights in Kyoto--only an hour or two on the bullet train from Tokyo. We stayed in a traditional style "Ryokan" Inn--looks like something out of a Kurosawa film, but service for an Emperor, and food that will literally make you weep it's so good--they serve it and cook some of the dishes in your own room. You're waited on hand and foot by Geisha types, and you get a kimono and geta, th wooden clogs to walk around in. And peaceful (even in the proverbial Zen sense), like you can't imagine. We stayed at one called the "Gion Hatanaka". It's the stereotypical old-world Japanese experience, but quite good.

Call around to your little, hole in the wall watch-repair places. See what they have (i.e., Bergoeon, AF Swiss, etc.), how deep they test to, and how much they charge. ADs are ass rape when it comes to petty thing like that, so avoid them. I was nice enough to make an acquaintance at my AD who was kind enough to test my SMP & Subs for free (I'm sure it had nothing to do with the $$$ I dropped there over the years...)

Fugedaboutit.

Works good. I don't think it's steel wool though--synthetic I believe--I got mine here, though: http://www.bostonwatchexchange.com/servlet/Detail?no=56

No offence intended, and thanks for the reply--didn't mean to disturb you at work. But I don't quite see how what you're saying (specifically above) differs much from the "experts" description. Looking forward to the rest of the story.

Possibly a bit too forward and brash for someone with such a low post-count? You might want to send this to Omega & Rolex if it's wrong (considering they invented the HEV in 1954), because most of this came from my gen's instruction manual...

Riiight... Edit by Admin: Scam Site Removed - No need to confuse the noobs! Deals are hot, so snap 'em up while you can!

lol--very true!

The third return of Daunwaun? Oh, I can't wait for this one...

Exactly--it's all about marketing & PR. The almighty image. A gen sub can go to 1000 ft, but has no HEV, even though you need one after 200 feet? And even though you can't breath regular air w/ nitrogen after 200 ft--not to mention the human head implodes at 600 feet--the wonderful Submariner will still go to 1000 feet, though... It's all about the sales. PS: My SMP chrono from Josh tested solid at the AD to 300 feet! And thank you guys very much. I sincerely appreciate that.

And I've never had a problem, touch wood.

I've only had two returns, but I always ship them in relatively small boxes, wrapped & labeled nicely & neatly. Even non-rep items that customs might still have a a beef with, like the cigars I mailed to Thor in Germany. I use my home address right there on the front, with the same custom-made labels I put on all my packages. Essentially, I make it look as if it's a gift for someone; less likely to be nabbed by customs than a shady looking box with no address, or the wrong address. On the customs declaration form I check "gift", and label it as a "child's toy" worth $20.

On a movement that old, I wouldn't personally touch it; if it were mine. I'd definitely let a watchmaker handle that one. Probably just needs a lube or a simple adjustment--a click wheel or something small like that.

I know for a fact, yes. My Daytona's movement quit working. The watch is now almost 6 months old; I just mailed it back to Josh last week, and he's replacing the entire movement for nothing. And I'll probably have it back to me in less than a week. I know for a fact Andrew would do the same for me, without question. If there are only certain dealers on multiple boards that all hold virtually unblemmished reputations for outstanding products & service, they have them for a reason.

Of course they are! Their pictures are also stolen. Not only from other rep sites (and factory stock gen photos as well), but also from individuals who are certified gen dealers. A guy I know in NY, has asked the [censored]-bags at globalreplicas a thousand time to stop using his pics and they just don't give a [censored]. It's just not worth the $ and trouble for him to pursue it legally, supposedly. Check out the pics at these scumbags shitty website. See the section below, to the right, of multi-angle shots of the Sub? : http://www.globalreplica.com/replica-rolex...riner-steel.php Now see if you can recognize the same house--his NY house in the backgoround--here, where the real pictures came from: http://cgi.ebay.com/Rolex-Submariner-Date-...1QQcmdZViewItem Bait & switch--the oldest trick in the book. [censored]ing scam-artist douchebags.

*sigh* What is it with newbs and this same thread...

Andrew, no question.

The purpose of an HEV (Helium Escape Valve). Certain watches designed primarily for prolonged, deep sea diving (e.g., the Rolex Seadweller, Omega's Planet Ocean & Seamaster, etc.) come with HEVs, generally located on the left-hand side of the case, opposite the crown side. Air cannot be used for deep-sea dives, since nitrogen (the primary constituent of air) becomes toxic at a depth of 60 meters (aprox. 197 feet, below sea-level). Therefor, when carrying out work at great depths, professional deep-sea divers stay in a bell (above water) for several days, breathing a mixture of gases, containing a high proportion of helium (instead of nitrogen). The pressure is gradually increased inside the bell to equal the same pressure at the working depth below. The divers--still inside the bell--are then lowered into the water, and down to the working site. Only then are they safe to leave the bell & perform their work. Once their work is complete, they re-enter the bell, which is then raised back to the surface. After emergence, the pressure inside the bell is then lowered (returned back to atmospheric pressure) and it's during this stage that the HEV must be opened. This is the only proper time an HEV should ever be opened--only for deep-sea dives lasting for several days. Opening an HEV after regular swims and dives is essentially pointless, and does nothing for the watch. However, if your HEV valve is opened while you're in the water, you'll run the risk of flooding the movement with water, ruining the watch. Once opened, the helium molecules diffuse and then penetrate the material of the gaskets. If not released via the HEV, the quantity of internal pressure inside the watch--after prolonged deep-sea exposure--is sufficient enough to explode the crystal out of the watch during the de-pressurization of returning to atmospheric levels. To avoid this situation, this is why true, deep-sea divers watches are equipped with an HEV. Thusly, an HEV on a rep is only for decoration and serves no functional purpose, as no rep watch could ever dream of going that low. So, long story short, no need to ever open your watches HEV; make sure the gasket inside is silicone greased and your HEV is securely screwed down before each swim. And don't swim in a watch, unless you've paid the $15 to have it pressure tested. Ciao.

Definitely the first.

I don't know the group, but it's actually anzen chitai. I believe it means "safety first", in Japanese. http://www.jpophelp.com/scripts/proddetail...ng=Anzen+chitai http://us.yesasia.com/en/PrdDept.aspx/code...pid-1004071519/ Google is our friend.

I'm surprised the Ulysse Nardin "Trilogy of Time" wasn't in there. I could have sworn those were well over $250,000 a piece.

Excellent! Now the burglar will know exactly what to go for.

Exactly. Some mark-up is acceptable & inevitable in sales; no question. But extreme mark-up is a scam, as it's a con in definition and principle. Practically robbery. When as a dealer you paid around $150 cost for a watch, and sell it for $300--that's an acceptable and understandably justifiable margin. Caveat emptor, of course, but when some [censored]-wart buys the same watch for the same price (from the same supplier in Guangzhou...), and sells it for $1000, that's not mark-up, that's a proper ass-[censored]ing. To Dwight, on the subject of adjusting your movement, 20 minutes a day is a bit extreme for a simple balance wheel regulation--essentially impossible on an ETA or other Swiss movement--but for the price you paid for this one I'll lay dollars to donuts it's an Asian 7750 movement. If it was a Swiss 7750, they'd have [censored]ed you for at least $1,400. To start, if you don't have a case-back opener for Rolex, buy one of these immediately: http://cgi.ebay.com/Watch-Back-Case-Opener...VQQcmdZViewItem or http://www.trustytime.com/index.php?main_p...fac8ed15f023e83 Second, open the back and look at the movement inside. DON'T TOUCH ANYTHING. If it looks like this, it's Swiss (ignore the writing on the rotor): It will say "25 JEWELS, TWENTY-FIVE JEWELS, SWISS" on it: Again, I doubt yours is Swiss. If it looks like this, then it's the modified Asian 7750 for Daytonas: I've found the Asian 7750's regulation to be extremely sensitive & touchy. You might actually be able to slow this movement down substantially--much more so than a Swiss movement. The part circled below is an arm on the balance wheel to regulate the movement's beat: If you move it to the left (clockwise), it will speed up the beat, making the watch run faster. If you move it counter-clockwise to the right (illustrated by the arrow) it will slow down the beat: Without touching any other parts, try moving that arm almost all the way over to the right, to the position illustrated. Now synch the watch (or at least take notice of the difference in times) with your computer's digital clock. Screw the case-back back on, and come back in 24 hrs. How much has the watch slowed down? This should help quite a bit, but I'd bet the reason it's running too fast is because the movement is properly lubed--namely the balance's cap jewel (the translucent, pink stone shown below): If you (or your local watchsmith) can apply a minute amount of watch oil to that jewel (as The Zigmeister says, about the size of the period located between the parenthesis here>>> (.), it will allow the hair-spring/balance to swing it's full course, instead of stopping short and causing it to "tick" too fast. Of course, over-oiling will also cause it to run extremely fast. Hope that helps.