freddy333

I originally made this prediction while back, but as the global economy continues to teeter between doom & gloom, I am becoming more & more certain that 2009 will prove to be the worst year, profit-wise, for the mechanical watch industry since the Quartz crisis days of the 70s. As more & more owners of recently (within the past 5-7 years) purchased mechanical watches come to the realization that the engines that drive them require (regular) servicing (which is rarely mentioned at purchase time), especially when they are having to tighten the purse strings, I fear that many (non-collector) gen owners will decide to get out of the game & return to the sensible world of quartz/digital accuracy & (relatively) trouble-free ownership.

Great pictures.

You did, but only because I began work on this over the weekend

If the letter was registered (you had to sign something to receive it), I would speak with a local lawyer to see what he recommends. My guess is that he will tell you to write them back saying you never ordered anything &, therefore, cannot assist them with their investigations. However, if you did not have to sign for the letter (it arrived with the rest of your daily mail), I would probably ignore it altogether. If, at some point in the future, they contact you again, just say you never received the letter & know nothing about it. If you did not sign for it, they cannot prove you ever received it.

Ditto.

'My advice to you is to start drinking heavily.' -- Bluto (from Animal House)

The pushers on 2 of these are from Ofrei, the other set are gen. Can you tell the difference?

It may have been an Oysterquartz, which is a gen that ticks like a quartz watch (because it is)

Work a razor blade (I use a paint scraper because it has a metal handle) in between the bottom of the bezel & the top of the case. Work your way around the circumference of the bezel until it begins to loosen. Depending on the thickness of the crystal (how tight the bezel fits around it), the process may take anywhere from a minute to several minutes to loosen the bezel enough to be able to remove it. Use a crystal press or rubber-jawed vise to reinstall. There are a number of tutorials that describe the process of bezel removal (some may be pinned).

Wrong. The gen makers are very disturbed by the profits - real or imagined - they lose to reps.

True, we are talking about advertising here, which is generally designed to paint with a broad brush. But, in this case, I do not think you can blame Rolex for the (incorrect) conclusions that people draw (and I guess most people have never dropped a diamond (an even harder material)).

Your link does not work, but I assume you mean this watch Looks pretty good to me. But if you want 100% perfect, buy a genuine Rolex Explorer II from a vintage watch dealer. 1st, before spending $3,600 on a franken (that you did not build yourself), I would spend some quality time researching this model (EXII) yourself. Go to timezone, google & download as many good, clear pics of gens as you can (from all angles). Then compare the gens to this franken. Here is a gen to get you started (this model also has variations) 2nd, from what I have seen, most franken sellers like this advertise a nice, shiny watch that appears very well constructed & freshly serviced. But, from what I have seen, the watch you receive may not look quite the same. Think about the beautiful pictures of food that McDonald's & other restaurants use & compare those to the item you actually receive. This is frequently the case with franken sellers. Not that NDTrading does not have some nice items (I have purchased a few parts from them myself), but the old adage that says 'If you want it done right, do it yourself' was never more true than in the case of franken watches.

Thursday

I do not see how you can possibly call the GMTII a dress watch. On the other hand, I think most would agree that Rolex, with its current product lineup, has lost all pretense of being a maker of tool watches. To be fair, I think Rolex is suffering a bit of Bush-itis (having their comments misread or misunderstood & then used against them). The only comments I have ever seen coming from Rolex that relate to the quality or strength of their new ceramic bezels state that they are resistant to corrosion & ultraviolet light & scratch-proof No where have I ever seen Rolex suggest that this material is 'unbreakable', impervious to impacts or capable of withstanding abnormal abuse (like being dropped onto a hard surface).

1 of the reasons I began watermarking my pics was because they began appearing on TZ & other gen sites (not posted by me). Ultimately, our ubiquitous presence in Google is the problem.

Congratulations, but where is his watch?

Yes & this epiphany about using glue to install the ceramic insert does not strike me as the usual Rolex way of doing things. It sounds like someone put the proverbial cart before the horse - designing a new series of ceramic bezeled watches before realizing that, unlike steel, a ceramic insert cannot be squeezed (temporarily bent) to fit into a bezel. Reminds me of someone who comes up with a brilliant design for custom furniture, but, in his impatience to get it produced quickly, ends up finding out (the hard way) that it will not fit in through front door of his house.

According to the OP of the shattered ceramic GMTII bezel insert on TZ, Rolex glues the insert into the bezel (just like our reps). I do not know about anyone else, but this came as quite a surprise to me

If you have 2 small flathead jewelers screwdrivers, you can remove the hands with them. Place a piece of plastic over the dial so the blades do not mar its face & then slide each blade underneath the hand from opposite sides (come in with 1 blade at 3 & the other at 9 o'clock) & parallel to the plane of the dial. Then slowly rotate each screwdriver blade in an opposite direction. As the blades move towards perpendicularity to the plane of the dial, they will slowly & gently prise off the hand. This is how watchmakers removed hands before the advent of hand-removers. However, reinstalling the hands are a bit more tricky if you do not have the appropriate tools. So you may be better off waiting until you have the correct tools, or ask a local watchmaker to r&r the hands for you.

Great pic, Marty. Me likie with the steel bezel.

I highlighted the portion of your comments that I think is the most likely reason the factories are not producing truly accurate parts. Who, but us fools, would spend the amount of time it takes to truly research each model (not to mention all of the variations & versions of the same model) to get all of these details right. Based on my conversations with DW & Natalie, it is pretty clear that no one on the production side of things is willing to put this much effort into their work. Having said that, the factories will tell you that they DO research these things (whatever that means ). But, obviously, more is needed in order to please neurotics like us.

I do this frequently with many of my project watches (I have bought a number of reps just to get a single small part), but it is hard to call for someone else. Buying a rep is a great way to get pre-fabricated parts, but very inefficient from a cost standpoint. So I would just choose whichever option you feel gets you the most for your money.