freddy333

I think he overbaked the hands & I would prefer it on a gen folded link or rivet bracelet, but I love the rest of it.

Well, nearly as good as new The shop that did the original spray, contrary to request to paint it the original color, mixed a custom color that seems to be impossible for the paint company to match. So, now, the car has a slightly off-color door panel (where the car wash damage occurred). By the way, the reason I only 'semi' restored the Z is because it has been my daily beater (& looked like it prior to the semi-restoration) for 3 decades & I did not want to end up with a show quality car that I would be affraid to drive or park. But, as my car wash experience illustrates, no matter how careful you are, sooner or later, they will get you.

I certainly feel for you. It is bad enough to have your car damaged, but the purposeful anonymity of the guilty party only compounds the pain. Depending on your will power & available free time, you could do some detective work & check with any of the businesses served by the parking lot to see if they either saw anything or have cameras that may have photographed the incident. Most likely, though, even if they did, pinning down the required license number would be a longshot, at best. My (semi-restored) Z was recently scratched (badly, down to bare metal) by 1 of the revolving brushes inside my local car wash & the car wash owner refused to accept fault &/or reimburse me for the cost ($1,200) of repairs. Unfortunately, in these cases, you just have to deal & chalk it up to another part of the rich pagent of life.

Wow. Enjoy.

Although I did replace the bracelet (with a custom rubber strap), crown/tube & xtal (with gens), my 3-4 year-old GMT2C is from the original run & I think it looks pretty accurate

Definitely the white hand (assuming, as it appears in the above pic, it does not look brand spanking new). Most (but definitely not all) of these early Subs came with white ss hands.

What about the current crop of GMTIICs is 'not accurate at all'?

Swapping the GMT for a Patek en route to a formal, last minute dinner date

Within seconds of seeing Butler appear on screen in 300, it was clear that he IS (or should be) James Bond. Am I the only 1 wondering why Gerard Butler has not yet replaced Daniel Craig (who, while a great actor & good in the part, has never had that X factor that Connery had) to play 007?

To be able to make any kind of accurate comparison, the lens under scrutiny must be the same (correct) distance from the datewheel. Otherwise, the magnification will be artificially increased (or decreased). For what it is worth, I would be very surprised to see Mr. Slimeball selling lenses with the correct 2.5x magnification. And I must disagree with Alli in that Rolex (& most who are familiar with Rolex specs) will be able to ID an improper cyclops mag when viewed from an arm's length away. I have also purchased gen Rolexes from long-time Rolex dealers that came with either the wrong gen xtal or an aftermarket xtal, resulting in weak date magnification &/or slightly off-center date positioning (both of which are remedied with the (correct) gen xtal). GMTs, DJs & DDs are especially apt to have been fit with the wrong gen xtal due to the number of xtals that physically fit the case, but, due to varying versions within a model range (each having a different movement), leave the date window slightly off-center. My Mystery DJ, purchased years ago from a well-known collector/dealer, had been fit (by the dealer) with a xtal that was made for a later DJ version & T116s are frequently (& incorrectly) cited by knowledgeable dealers as the correct xtal for 6542 GMTs (the T115, which differs only in the location of its cyclops, is the correct part).

nbtimes is an interesting example. Years ago, I suspected something was up with him because he always came to VRF with absolutely pristine examples of rare watches. Often, appearing with 3 or 4 new pristine rarities in the space of 3-4 days (1 new rarity/day). While not impossible, this was happening, it seemed to me, far too often to be kosher. So I posted a question on VRF about a couple of nbtimes' watches & got blasted by virtually the entire senior membership & then had my account deleted. So much for a free exchange of ideas. Then, a couple years later, I believe it was Philipp, 1 of the more salient regulars there, posted virtually the same questions I had, but it sparked an open debate instead of the lambasting I got. But, now, many are questioning nbtimes' & others who seem to have more luck in the hunt than seems realistic. Some years ago, it was heresay to speak openly about changing a dial or replacing any other component of a Rolex with a part or version of a part that the model was not originally fitted with. I cannot tell you how many times questions would be posted (often by what were clearly RWG members) asking where to source replacement dials, rotors, inserts, bridges, etc in an obvious effort to modify/upgrade a Rolex watch. These threads nearly always went unanswered or were deleted by the moderators. However, sometime within the past year or so, this line-in-the-sand seems to have been erased, as it is now commonplace for lengthy threads discussing how much better a Daydate looks with its 'new' Stella dial, or a Sub has been improved with its newly sourced 'chocolate' dial or sun-'bleached' insert, or how thankful a 1680 owner is for the assistance he received in sourcing the red dial that now makes his watch.

Yes, well handled by all.

Considering the seller, the most likely issue will be damage &/or loss during shipment. Be aware, too, that, to make a claim, most postal organizations require some type of provenance or proof of value like a sales receipt. The value declared on an export document or shipping invoice has little relevance if/when a claim is made. So, were it me, I would have the item shipped via Registered Mail with a relatively low declared value (to keep it from attracting the wrong kind of attention). Registered mail is notoriously slow, but, because the package is kept under lock-&-key 24/7 & must be signed for by each & every individual who handles it, this shipping method is, by far, the most reliable (Rolex requires ALL shipments to/from them to be shipped this way).

Exactly.

I cannot quite put my finger on what it is, but there is something (other than its pristine newness) not right about the crown. Other than that, the watch looks great.

It is a good match for any formal yg Rolex. It would work especially well with a Daydate to tone down the massive bling factor these watches have when worn with a gold bracelet, a la LBJ or ex-VP Cheney.

I have had exactly the same problem (twice) with Phong.

The Microstella system is better than most non-Microstella systems in that it allows a much finer adjustment, but I guess if you have no other choice.

When dealing with these high-profit aftermarket part sellers, you have to keep in mind that the factories that manufacture the parts do so with little or no QC (usually none). To complicate matters further, the beautifully accurate dial or case you salivated over on their website may have been a factory sample or best-of-run & may not reflect the design of the part you will actually receive. This is because these guys do not make their own parts. Instead, like all replica watch sellers, they buy them from factories or factory agents or, sometimes, from factory catalogs. What this means is that you may purchase a dial or case based on pics from a high-profit seller's website, but the part you receive is something of a crap-shoot. And, as has been said before, the only thing that separates a $1,000+ dial or $1,500 case purchased from a high-profit seller from the parts that make up a $200 replica watch is the price you pay.

Hard to tell from the pic, but does the red depth text have any 3-dimensionality to it? That is, if it looks like paint (as opposed to flat, 2-dimensional inkjet printing), if you have the index markers lumed properly, the end result should look like the dial in Minh's original pic. Certainly, the ideal would be for Minh to send you the same dial he has pictured on his website. But, as that does not appear to be happening, at least this would get you the same thing in the end.

Problem is not limited to Minh. Similar issues with NDT & Phong.