calatrava

Thanks, that's certainly one attraction of this Reverso Duo, is that it has two faces (black and white), and is almost like having two watches for the price of one. It has the JLC Calibre 986, which is a hand-winding, 28.8kbp movement, with 19 jewels, and 48 hour power reserve. At the first stop, the watch is in winding mode, in the second stop, you can move the hour hand backwards and forwards on the white dial in hour increments, and when one cycles the hours over a 24 hour cycle, then the date adjusts (backwards and forwards). In the third stop, the time in freely adjustable, and adjust both the white and black dials (synchronized, up to the hour offset set at the second stop). This is a recent review of the watch: http://www.ablogtoread.com/jaeger-lecoultre-grande-reverso-duoface-watch-review/

I just wanted to share some photos of my second high-end watch, a Jaeger-LeCoultre Grande Reverso Duo, which takes its place next to my Vacheron Constantin Overseas.

There's no decent Tank Francaise replica, all of cases I've seen lack the elegant curves of the genuine watch, and even the best have issues with the location of the date window. I would recommend the Ballon Bleu for a good women's sized replica that isn't too masculine looking (like the Santos).

I think it's just an issue that the Speedmaster is one of the few modern Omegas with a plexiglass crystal as opposes to sapphire. I'm sure you'll see this across the entire range of vintage Omegas with plexiglass crystals.

Yes, I have this on my vintage Omega De Ville, but it was installed upside down.

Did the crown threads get stripped? I'm always a bit nervous when unscrewing the crown on my VCO replica.

I've got a feeling they're a bit harder to find. Marvellous Replica used to have them, but it's currently listed at $8888 (was $218 before), so that might indicate that it's out of stock on their website.

Some options based on the Seagull ST19 manual-wind column-wheel chronograph, often inaccurately described as a Lemania chronograph movement. It uses the original machinery used to build the Venus 175 movement. A. Lange & Sohne Datograph Rolex Paul Newman Daytona Patek Philiipe Moonphase chronograph Vacheron Constantin Patrimony chronograph

The watch was discontinued due to issues with the bezel driven chronograph pushers.

Okay, so after a day in my watchbox, the watch has lost maybe 5-10 seconds, it's difficult to be more precise than that, since there is no seconds hand. But in any case, this seems like a perfectly acceptable level of accuracy for a watch without a seconds hand.

There is also a Piaget Altiplano that uses the same movement. http://www.watcheden.net/piaget-altiplano-automatic-stick-markers-with-white-dial-leather-strap-i-128650-p-1.html These are photos of a similar watch owned by iggi, which he bought in 2004 in the Czech Republic. Interestingly, this one has a central seconds hand, but appears to be the same movement as the one in my watch, so I guess this movement is capable of driving a central seconds hand. I wonder who produces this microrotor movement, someone suggested that it is a Ronda microrotor movement, but this does not appear to be quite the same. Ronda Harley 2538 Seagull microrotor movement Gen Patek microrotor movement (Calibre 240)

Some dress watches. Patek 5119 (asian manual) Patek 5127 (asian 21j) Patek 3520D (quartz) Patek 5127 (asian ETA clone) Patek Fantasy Calatrava (microrotor movement) Patek Calatrava Glashutte Original Senator Sixties Vacheron Patrimony Chronograph Vacheron Patrimony Contemporaine Jean Muller Reverso

That is interesting... if it was a large watch, I might have thought it was some sort of pocket watch conversion, but this is a small ladies model. I can't imagine that would be comfortable to wear.

HKTan's email: aarontanhk@hotmail.com

Okay, I decided to try using Kello to time the rate of the watch, and if it is to be believed, then it varies from -4sec/day to about -20sec/day depending on position, and it has a 21.6kbph movement. This seems pretty decent, particularly for a watch which doesn't have a second hand, and which has a significantly smaller balance wheel than normal, which I think accounts for the larger than average position variance. Even the photo on the dealer website has the regulator and stud very close together in essentially the same position as mine, so my guess is that it's unregulated from the factory, and just manufactured with the regulator and stud in that position.

I don't know how the timekeeping is, since I just received it today, and the lack of a second hand makes it more difficult to tell. I'll keep an eye on it, and see how it looks in a few days.

Thanks. Here are a few more photos. Closeup of the microrotor movement Wrist shot

I just received a Patek Philippe Calatrava with a microrotor movement and Breguet hands. As befitting a watch with a microrotor movement, it is impressively thin at 8.2mm. It is clearly a fantasy watch, combining design elements, such as the shiny (enamel like) dial, fonts, and case shape of the Patek 5959, and Breguet hands which appear on the Patek 3939, and adding a date window at 6 o'clock. It comes with a generic crown, which looks a bit like the crown on the Patek 5959. Patek 5959 Patek 3939 Anyhow, here are some photos of the watch which I received. It feels nicely made, and comes with a Patek Tang buckle with the correct engravings (on the inside, as per the gen). While it is definitely a fantasy model, it does seem like a watch that Patek could plausibly have made, inasmuch as the design elements used are concerned. It is a surprisingly nice watch for the price of $108 (inclusive of shipping) which I paid for it (use the $20 coupon at the top right corner of the Watcheden website): http://www.watcheden.net/patek-philippe-automatic-with-white-dial-brown-leather-strap-i-121934-p-1.html I had originally bought the watch simply for the microrotor movement, but the rest of the watch is nicely made as well, and is an excellent value for the price.

I buy replicas of watches I'm considering getting the gen of (think of it as an extended test drive), watches I would never want to buy in gen form but are fun to play with (Franck Muller Crazy Hours), or watches which are way out of my price range (PP and VC chronographs, JLC tourbillon) where I'm concerned about plausibility and quality, but not obsessed about absolute accuracy to the gen.

Realistically, how much would you get from selling the watch? Probably less than $1000. Do you really need the money? It's one thing to sell the watch for something truly significant, say for your own child, but I wouldn't sell a gift for such a significant event as your 21st birthday just for a few replicas.

Another view of the domed crystal. A shot of the solid caseback. It has only a very subtle engraving at the bottom stating the model and gold hallmarks. Some of the buckles I have on my Patek replicas. This is the standard Patek Tang buckle, note that it is not supposed to have engravings on the outside, only on the inside (some replicas incorrectly have engravings on the outside). This is a fantasy Patek deployant. The actual Patek deployants have either the Calatrava cross, or the look of the Tang buckle. I've been unable to locate a replica Patek deployant suitable for the smaller Patek replicas. The ones I've seen are 20mm and 22mm across at the buckle end, which means that the strap is probably 22mm or 24mm across at the lugs. In practice, I tend to just wear my replica Calatrava 3520D on a plain push-button double butterfly deployant.

Thanks for the comments. The best part of it is the nice caseback, which is plain, except for some minimal engraving of the model number and hallmarks, which is accurate to the gen. The watch is on the small side at 33.5mm across (not including the crown), and I originally purchased mine from Taobao.com, but the seller there no longer seems to have it. The only current source I have been able to find is from diystorm.com: http://www.diystorm.com/product/BrandProduct.aspx?bid=216&dt=52254 Item: PHW:212 But this is not a trusted dealer, and I haven't purchased from them, so I can't vouch for them.

I have a Patek Philippe Calatrava 3520D replica with a 2 hand quartz movement. The quartz movement isn't such a major tell, since Patek did produce Calatravas with quartz movements, and in any case, the 2 hands mean that it's difficult to detect that it's quartz in any case. Having looked at several Calatravas from the same era, I noticed that most of them came equipped with a domed crystal, so I decided to embark on a mission to replace the flat sapphire crystal that my replica originally had with a domed sapphire crystal. So begins the journey... The watch has a pressure fitted back, which was quite a pain to remove. I ended up scuffing the caseback, but was able to polish out the scratches using some Cape Cod cloths. Kapton tape is excellent for masking off parts you don't want polished (like brushed surfaces), and can be obtained for cheap from Dealextreme (search for "high temperature tape"). It had a 29.2mm flat sapphire crystal (measured using digital calipers) installed with crystal glue, which I was able to remove with a crystal press (from Harbor Freight Tools). I ordered a 29.2mm domed sapphire crystal by SternKreuz (from TwinCitySupply), and some UV crystal glue. Most domed sapphire crystals are only available in 0.5mm increments, except for the one from SternKreuz, but TWC only had one in stock, so I'll only be able to do this mod on one of my 3520D replicas. Anyhow, this is the 3520D in its component pieces. The original residue from the old crystal glue was scrapped off, and I cleaned the surfaces using some rubbing alcohol. The domed crystal fell right in, and I applied the UV crystal glue using the syringe the glue came with, and it has the consistency of water. In any case, I applied a generous (perhaps too generous) amount in the small gap between the bezel and the crystal, and cleaned up the excess using an alcohol swab. The crystal glue was then cured under a UV lamp, and the excess glue was again cleaned off with more rubbing alcohol. And now for some shorts of the watch with the domed crystal. These are some side by side photos of the replica 3520D with the original flat sapphire crystal (left), and the new domed crystal (right). Side view of the flat crystal. Side view of the domed crystal. Finally, this is a photo of a gen 3520D. and some additional photos of gen Pateks, notice that the reflections suggest that the crystals are domed.

I would like a Patek 5396 Annual Calendar, which is similar to the one wat44 showed, but a bit more affordable (okay, less unobtainable).

But who's going to call him out on it?