freddy333

No experience with that site & I have never come across any rep watch with a Seiko Kinetic movement, but I suppose it is possible (though I doubt such watches would be selling for typical rep prices). I have also never seen a complicated Patek rep that looked like anything but a rep. Some of the better Nautilus reps are quite nice (if you like that style) & if you check with some of our collectors, they can probably source 1 of these (though the black dial version seems to be far more prevalent than the white)

For the middle of the week, I am wearing the middle watch (my daily beater)

I assume you mean this 1 Not my cup of tea, but I am sure our collectors will have it soon, if not already. If you are in a hurry, you might order it from eta911 & report back here with pics & a review. With a bit of luck, you might actually receive a watch that looks something like the watch pictured on their site.

Palo Alto may have 1 or 2 left (Rolex part 7090). They also show up on ebay every once in awhile. Be prepared for sticker shock.

It is a gen watch site & my pics have not been modified (the watermarks are still there), so, in this case, no harm done. I am actually quite flattered that a gen site liked my frankenwatch enough to steal my pics of it. This reminds me of the old Woody Allen joke about 2 Jewish people who, after being accidentally shot by a hunter while they were wearing a moose costume (having just left a costume party dressed as a moose), had their heads stuffed & hung on a wall (still inside the moose costume) in the New York Athletic Club, which, at the time, did not permit Jews. So a gen Rolex watch site has now proudly hung my franken 'Jews' on their wall. Trailboss - the prices listed are current ebay auction prices, not sale prices. In the case of the $108 1570, the actual selling price will be about a grand or more by the time the auction ends.

I guess another option would be to buy a set of gen clasp & end links & perform a bracelet-ectomy. But, considering the cost & relative rarity of finding the correct gen parts being sold individually, you are probably better off just going with a gen bracelet.

The 24-hour gmt wheel.

I see nothing wrong with sending other collectors a (brief) email asking if they will sell you a bracelet (be sure to include the style & model number of the bracelet you want). But you should know that rep bracelets all tend to be of relatively poor quality. If you want a bracelet of truly higher quality, you have 2 choices - an unsigned Italian-made aftermarket Milano (or similar) bracelet, which is every bit the equal of a gen Rolex ($225 for a ss Sub/Seadweller style), or a gen Rolex bracelet ($500-$1,200+ on ebay).

UPDATE Amazingly, I have been able to amass all but 1 of the parts (24-hour gmt wheel) I need for my 1030-to-1036-gmt conversion & most are NOS

Wearing this the day after the anniversary With 1 gen part standing between me & the completion of Phase2 of my 6542 project

Go here for the insert & here for the illumines dot (pearl). Replace the pearl that comes in the insert with the dot, which snaps perfectly into the insert without any cement. This information has been posted here many times, so please use the Search if you require further info.

Ordinarily, I avoid bling like the plague, but, when it comes to Daytonas & the marking of an important day, an exception must be made Here is the background on my watch.

I wore something special today in honor of the 28th anniversary of John Lennon's assassination (Dec 8, 1980) This is an unpublished pic of JL, taken shortly before his death, that I got from a close friend of his All you need is love.

Ziggy - What is your connection to the watch or its owner?

To the trained eye, there is definitely a perceptible difference between white gold & stainless steel. But the differences are slight enough so that the average Rolex owner or man on the street would probably not be able to identify 1 over the other.

No pressure on Sunday

Yes & all you have to do is open your local phone book, look under 'Watch & clock repair' & ask if they work on rep watches.

Ditto, but I have also had to reduce the hole size for some aftermarket Daytona hands. This tells me that the ill fitment is due more to the usual (overall) lack of quality control for rep parts rather than an inherent size mis-match. The point is that, once again, it may be luck-of-the-draw -- some hands are too small & require broaching, while others are too large & require reducing. The only near constant I have seen is that most aftermarket Daytona hands have loose joints (if you have trouble getting the hands to set back to their proper null position, this is the most likely cause) & require either mechanical tightening or a small dab of metal epoxy at the joint to stabilize them (Avitt & others have posted pics & comments detailing this that you can Search out).

They are referred to as bridles in Rolex manuals, but they are usually called anything but that by everyone else (including the parts houses, which assign any number of different names to them - clamps, tabs, straps, etc).

If the pearl is an undamaged gen, it should snap in (by hand) perfectly without the need for any cement. On the other hand, if the pearl is not gen, any epoxy or cement that is made for steel & plastic should work.

I saw this as well, but immediately dismissed it because the auction has all the hallmarks of a crooked deal (unsubstantiated 'one-of-a-kind' story, distant or blurry pics, seller with poor sales history (mostly/all private sales), etc). Add to that VRF's similar conclusions & I just hope Rolex's attorneys find this before it gets sold.

Until 1 of the factories gets the 'Original Gas' & 'Ring Lock' engravings right, how can you even think of using the term '1:1' in reference to these reps?

They are as common as house flies. All of the Rolex collectors sell them (check the Collectors' forums).

Every parts supply house (for watches) sells them (ofrei, cas-ker, cousins, borel, etc). You can probably get them from most watchmakers also.