freddy333

According to Rolex, the only AR used on their current line is on the GMTIIC (in the area of the cyclops). Unfortunately, they refuse to provide any details beyond that. However, according to J Dowling, Rolex will not consider widespread use of AR until/unless it can be made both scratchproof & impervious to normal cleaning substances like ammonia (used in Windex), which is known to smear or remove AR coatings. For that reason, I doubt Rolex applies AR to any of the external surfaces of the GMT's crystal or cyclops.

So much for AR'ing the cyclops..... But, at least, no one has to worry about having to remove a cyclops now. Any idea whether your AR can be applied to the underside of the crystal below the cyclops? I think that would probably achieve the correct effect.

I think it is time to come to the realization that the Emperor has no clothes. After spending ALOT of time looking at both cyclopses on my GMTIIC's crystal under varying light conditions -- outside, inside, incandescent, florescent, etc -- I cannot tell the difference between them either. And therein lies the rub. I think we have been barking up the wrong tree. But I finally became convinced after just returning from a reconnaissance trip to my local AD to compare the AR'd rep cyclops with the 1 on the gen watch in the store. (Yes, I took my rep GMT into an AD, but it was strictly for scientific study.) Although (& I think this bears repeating) I would still be hard-pressed to ID 1 of these GMTIIC reps in the wild (fitted with its original oem, non-AR'd cyclops), when viewed under the right lighting conditions, there is a striking difference in the way the gen GMTIIC reflects light above the date window.........or, rather, I should say the way the gen does NOT reflect light above the date window. No matter what angle I looked at the gen from & no matter where the light was positioned relative to the watch, the date window area on the gen looks like a black hole compared with either rep cyclops on my watch. The difference between the gen & rep cyclopses was/is consistent & unmistakable (assuming you know what to look for). Here is the bottom line - I still believe that the AR coating on the gen is applied solely to the underside of the crystal (within the confines of the real estate taken up by the cyclops) & nowhere on the cyclops itself. In addition to seeing reflections from both of the rep cyclopses that I did not see in the gen, I also noted that the AR'd rep cyclops produces prismatic effects that neither the gen nor the non-AR'd rep cyclops generally produce under similar lighting conditions. In fact, out of the 40+ pics I took of my watch with both cyclopses installed, only the 5 I posted above did not contain this. I purposely did not post any of the others because this rainbow effect from the AR coating makes spotting the AR'd cyclops quite easy (&, again, I rarely see this on the gen & when it occurs on the gen, it occurs throughout the entire crystal (see Nanuq's posts about this effect for more on this)). See if you can spot the AR'd cyclops in these pics.........& no, I did not reverse the positions of the cyclopses Again, this is what it should look like Here are the 2 rep cyclopses from a similar angle Early on, around the time the 1st ceramic GMTII reps arrived at the beginning of the summer, someone (it may even have been me) suggested that before any group buys of AR'd cyclopses get started, someone (I think Lani was the 1st to send his cyclops in to Chief for the AR) ought to have a single watch fitted with an AR treated cyclops & post some good, clear pics of it so we can all see the results. Then, if the date window on the test watch looks like the date window on the gen, it would make sense to proceed. But I think we all got ahead of ourselves, because I have yet to see even 1 rep watch so fitted with an AR'd cyclops that looks any different than the oem rep cyclops. If I am wrong, please point me in the right direction. p.s. The AR'd cyclops was the 1 over the 9 o'clock index marker (it has now been removed). p.p.s. Even though this road turned out to be the wrong 1, I think Lani & Chief deserve thanks (Thank you, Lani & Chief) for all of the time & effort they put into this project. Sometimes these experiments turn out & sometimes they do not. But the only way to know is to try.

Anyone else care to spot the AR'd cyclops?

Unless your threshold for satisfaction is low, you may not be very happy if/when you receive anything from either of those sites. But most of us learned similar lessons along the way to rep heaven, so you are not alone.

Hi Kevin, Welcome to the fold. I just did a search for 'idolreplicas' of just this 1 forum & you should begin by reading the 2nd item in the list (of search results) - Idolreplicas

I am not aware of any rep pearl database & I hate to sound like a broken record, but you should do a bit of research into how the gens look 1st. Select a single model & collect as many pictures of gens as you can. If it is a modern/current model, take a couple of trips to your local AD & try the watch on to see how the real thing looks & feels. Then, if you have a question about a specific model (that you cannot find answers to via the Search), other members will be more able to provide you with useful info.

Someone in the Rolex forum recently (past week or so) posted an inquiry about a new rep website. Sorry, I do not remember the site, so you would need to search through the recent threads to locate it. But I did notice that the site listed individual Rolex rep bracelets for sale. Be careful when ordering from non-RWG listed rep sellers, because experience has shown that what you see often has absolutely no relation to what you may (or may not) get. Have you tried contacting any of the collectors listed in the Collectors section to see if they can get you a bracelet? If you do contact them, I would suggest being specific about the exact bracelet you want. Otherwise, you are likely to receive little more than silence.

Most likely, the answer is no. But the datewheel is made for a specific movement, so it is impossible to tell you if the datewheels can be swapped. If you are able to post good, clear macro (close up) pictures of both your current movement's datewheel & the replacement movement's datewheel, someone might be able to give you some answers. Without that, that is all I can tell you.

At long last, my AR'd GMTIIC cyclops arrived from Chief (my thanks to Chief & Lani). But, since I have yet to see even a single completed/installed AR'd cyclops on anyone's GMTIIC, I thought a test (to gage the effectiveness of the AR coating in reducing the reflectivity & glare that some have found to be a 'give away' identifier when comparing the gen GMT to our Super Rep versions) was in order. Can you tell which is which? For reference, here are 2 gen GMTIICs

Brilliant project, Stilty. About time someone was able to get this done correctly. Please count me in for at least 2 for my 2846-powered frankens.

Me too (like it). DWs often turn out to require a bit................alright, maybe alot more work than you had planned for. But the final results speak for themselves & the ends, in this case, definitely justify the means. And an engine overhaul should keep this beauty running in (COSC) time for years to come. The only thing you might consider doing in the not-too-distant future (before the economy rights itself & Rolex bracelet pricing picks up where it left off & heads back towards the stratosphere) is to swap the franken solid link bracelet for a gen folded link 7835. But that is just my personal preference. Definitely a classic & a keeper. Congrads Diesel.

Thanks. I dabbled with Linux (wrote some early help guides) very early on (pre 1.0 kernel), but have not been involved or had much time to dabble in *nix recently. Unfortunately, unlike bicycles, if you stop riding for long enough, you forget how to get back on. We run a number of proprietary scripts on our web server that need recompiling after every upgrade, which, in addition to the general foibles we tend to run into with major os updates, is the main reason I had relinquished the reigns to someone with significantly more experience than I currently have. Since the guy left, we have been just floating along following the if it ain't broke axiom.

No & it may be awhile before we upgrade. Our mail server is running 6.3 &, with some embarrassment I have to admit that we are still running 4.11 on our web server. The guy who handled our server updates left, unexpectedly, & he/we had major headaches (including nearly a week of downtime) the last time we did a major version upgrade on our web server. You? Saturday

Good eye, but the os is BSD.

Ditto. I have absolutely no idea what I might wear tomorrow, let alone for a holiday that is still a week or more away. I have never understood how people can know what they will be wearing days in advance. Do people lay out a weeks' worth of outfits in stacks with watches on top of them & then actually stick to the plan?

If you sold that watch, you could probably buy a power plant or a really good flashlight.

Within reason, the camera does not matter -- any digital point & shoot with at least 4 megapixels & a macro (close-up) function will do. Your ability to learn & master YOUR camera's features are far more important (in being able to produce great pictures) than the camera itself. Buy whichever camera you like & READ THE MANUAL. Then practice taking LOTS of pictures until shooting comes naturally (think of how much better you can drive a car when you do not have to remember where the brake is or how much the steering wheel affects the tracking of the front wheels). Learn how to compose pictures & how lighting effects the objects in them. There are many tutorials online (some on RWG). A skilled photographer with the world's cheapest camera can always produce great pictures. An unskilled newbie with the world's greatest camera will not. Me, I use a cheap Canon point & shoot

A mere detail of insignificance that pales within the shadow of that marvel you are wearing today, oh Great Watch Crusher of the Northern Plains

Currently, wearing 1 of my few nods to modernity, the fabulous (& still COSC spec'ing) chs GMTIIC

Currently, wearing 1 of my few nods to modernity, the fabulous (& still COSC spec'ing) chs GMTIIC

Today, le Beast Tonight, leCoultre

Here is the gen Jaeger Master Minute Repeater Close, but no horseshoe.

Here is a non-PDF option for those (like me) who prefer to avoid running any of Adobe's system hogging apps - click me

As has been suggested, 'rolling your own' adds a value that does not easily translate into a dollar figure. On the other hand, a quick perusal of 16520s for sale on TZ shows a current average asking price of $10k-$11k for a 16520 in excellent condition (some with box & papers).