freddy333

Thanks. All gen in a Phong mid-case (bezel/insert are gen, too). If you like this, you should check out Ubi's pre-Comex, which inspired it.

I had MBW in mind when I wrote my comments. For the money, MBW is the best buy, especially since you can fit many gen parts to them & end up with a credible franken. My Double Red 1665 & phase I 5514 both used MBW mid-cases, which looked good & worked well (with some modifications to get gen movements to fit), but neither have quite the fit, finish or heft of Phong's case.

automatico - This is 1 of those rare cases where I have to disagree, slightly, with you. Phong's cases, while his prices bear little connection with reality, are constructed to gen specs, which means gen parts, including the movement, will drop in without modification. They also tend to weigh a bit more than the average rep or aftermarket case & are machined to a better fit & finish. Certainly, this is not something that most people will notice (or appreciate), but, if everything else is gen, it gives the watch that Rolex-like tactile feel & indescribable x-factor that only a gen has & this can make all the difference when you hand your watch to someone with experience. It also comes through when photographed well. Just look at Ubi's pre-Comex if you need further evidence. I considered using a gen 5513 case for my pre-Comex Sub, but, in the end, I could not bring myself to modify a gen Sub case, which would have cost about twice (or more) what Phong's case cost anyway. Bottom line - Phong's pricing is beyond ridiculous for anything other than an all-gen (except for the case) watch, in which case, it may make sense

I have not done this myself (so do not carve this in stone), but I am pretty certain the date will be slightly misaligned. It may only be .5mm, but I doubt it will align correctly since the movements are different.

Ditto & the reason I rarely get any of my gens wet. A watch might have passed a pressure test yesterday, but tomorrow it may leak. When it comes to watches that are important to you, better safe than sorry.

Please post all blogs here

Sealed Rolex packaging & purchased from Rolex. Anything less than that & you cannot be sure.

Regardless of how you wear a bracelet, it gets stretched when the links are placed under tension. If you bend your wrist & the bracelet is in a position where it is placed under tension, that, over time, will stretch or wear the links. A number of hears ago, I posted a thread detailing how I restored 1 of my jubilee bracelets, which had become loose/stretched, which you may be able to search out. It contains a number of before/after pics that show what wear looks like close-up.

Edgematic1 - Please post the pic you sent me of a strap you believe is a rep. I have no experience with straps & little with AP, so I would not be able to tell or verify it either way. 1st, we need to determine with 100% certainty that the strap is a rep. Assuming it is, then it must be determined the date on which Sql_pl made aware of this. 2nd, if someone can cite a specific example where Sql_pl placed another ad for that same rep strap after that date he was informed it was not gen, we can then consider action. In my view, until/unless both of these benchmarks have been met, there is no (actionable) case. These are the rules as I understand them - RWG will ban a member who knowingly & willingly runs a scam here. RWG will ban a member who runs a scam elsewhere, if it is proven that he did so knowingly & willingly. RWG will NOT ban a member based on hearsay. So, again, prove the straps are fakes & prove Sql_pl sold them as gens after he knew they were fakes & we will quickly hit the ban button. Fail to prove both of those & quick is not an option, regardless of where things ultimately end.

I remain ambivalent about this entire affair, but I will leave the thread open so the subject can be debated.

You know I have the greatest admiration for you & respect your opinion. But, in this case, you are wrong. I, speaking for myself, am just trying to be fair to all parties involved. No decision, beyond that of locking this thread (pending some game-changing event), has been made beyond that.

Either my watch is banded (which it is), or this man is genuine. rogerthat - some good points. Thanks.

Mike - Generally speaking, I agree with you. But when emotions start heating up, causing private email addresses & other personal information to get posted, especially when I am not convinced that a scam (which I define as knowingly & purposely misleading a buyer into purchasing an item based on a fraudulent description) has occurred, I think little good can result. Especially, in this case, where the issue has nothing directly to do with RWG (the transaction in question occurred on another website). I realize others may view this differently, but that is my take.

Gentlemen - Am I the only 1 who holds down a full-time job &/or cannot just pull old sales records out of a hat? Like I said, I will leave the thread open until the end of the day (another 10 or 12 hours) to give him time to publicly respond.

I have 2 questions that would clear alot of this mess up (please keep your answers short & concise) - 1. For edgematic1 - Why did you originally tell me you never received the item from sql_pl & then tell me it was not gen? How did you know you were scammed if you never received the item in the 1st place? 2. For sql_pl - Are you selling rep items as gens?

robertb - Maciek said he would look into your claim, so please give him the chance to do so. All - The more I discover about this the less I understand. Look, scammers take the money & run, they do not hang around to debate & answer questions. It seems to me that Edgematic1 (& possibly others) was on the receiving end of a less-than-satisfactory deal & I can certainly understand your frustration. But we, the RWG Mod team, were not involved & the transaction did not even take place here on RWG. So this is what I recommend - since Maciek seems willing to address complaints, anyone who purchased something from him that was unsatisfactory, please PM him directly. Maciek, please be reasonable in addressing whatever complaints you may receive. If both parties are unable to come to a mutual agreement, please either move on or refer the complaint to the site where the transaction took place. 1 more thing - if 1 of the other Mods do not beat me to it, I will be closing this thread at the end of the day.

In general, I think Logan & Automatic are both correct. There is definitely a market for older Rolex movements & movement parts, which the Chinese (& others) will eventually address, if they have not already done so. However, as is the case with most time-limited legislation, Rolex is often excepted from the rules. Although their patent may have run out some time ago & in spite of the fact that they neither make, service, nor provide new parts for their older movements, my guess is that the US & EU will continue to treat clones (with or without Rolex branding) different than clones of other Swiss-made movements (eg, ETAs).

edgematic1 - Along the same lines, how can you be certain whether a strap is gen or fake if it never arrived? Did I miss something?

Just past midnight here, but I will probably end my work week wearing the 6241

Assuming you have the tooling, cloning the movement is relatively easy. But creating an accurate clone that can be sold for $200 (the average price of a good rep) is not quite so easy.

Nice pic. Too bad you were not wearing a GMT. Please do not repost an entire set of pics just to add a line or 2 at the bottom.

Ditto Alligoat (as usual). I would BIN. I remember being able to pick up 10 mint/used 703s for $100. Ah, the good old (pre-Revolution) days.