freddy333

After dinner with a Newman Sunday evening Back to the beater tomorrow to begin another work week

Any spray water proofing treatment for leather shoes should work equally for your leather watch band. But keep in mind that these treatments are meant for rain, not underwater use, so I doubt they will fully protect your watch band if you wear it regularly in the shower or for swimming.

Kind of old news to anyone who has been following the Rolex forums on TZ for any length of time, but I am sure many others are not aware of this. Good post.

I see that Jos Nana is reading this. Care to chime in with some facts, Josh?

TB - I agree with most of your other comments, but 100-200?????? I think you have alot to learn about the greed-based pricing structure of the gen brands.

Off to dinner (Sorry about the color streaking, not sure how that happened)

flex - I may be misreading this, but which do you feel has the better finish or polish -- DW or Honpo? I have never handled 1 of Honpo's vintage Daytona reps, but I have built a number of DWs & the finish of his casework is quite gen-like (the fit, on the other hand, is quite variable). If anything, it may be too good (many modders choose to 'vintagize' DW's cases so they look worse than they do when they arrive). Based on Honpo's pictures, his cases look to be from the same source as DW's. Or, at least, they appear to be made to the same specs. 2 of them actually. As long as they can be gotten. The cases are the same that DW has, but I have never seen those particular dials (accurately made) from any other source (other than Rolex). And I think those 2 Honpos would look nice dangling off my bar

More than 4 years & still going strong (the 1st generation of secs at 6 A7750s seem to be the hardiest) This 1 is about 2.5 years old

Great collection & story. And congratulations.

Definitely a recent vintage (aftermarket) dial. But other than the too narrow markers at 6 & 9, it looks well done to me. Probably the same source as my last DRSD dial. If you can find an artist willing to try his hand at widening those markers & reluming (or repainting) all of the lume to a more realistic color, it could be a winner.

I realize what I am about to say will be considered heresy by many, but, other than the value of many homes, what is not going up in price these days? Petroleum is at record levels, food is following a similar trajectory & many of the gen watch makers increased their prices across the board late last year with even higher increases (due to higher transportation costs & the falling dollar) being projected for sometime before the end of this year. The fact is that rep watches, like their gen counterparts, have always been overpriced. And when we ask the rep factories to make us more accurate reps with more complicated movements for the same price we paid last year (or whenever), I think we are deluding ourselves. You cannot have it both ways. I have said it before & I will say it again - I think the price we pay for some of the better reps is a steal. Yes, there will be mechanical issues when we ask the factories to reproduce all of the functions of a complicated movement from an $8k-$10k+ watch that we buy for a few hundred dollars (the secs at 6 A7750 or GMTIIC immediately come to mind). But, overall, most of the reps we get from our in-house collectors are extremely accurate (visually & mechanically) & will easily fool all but the most hard-core WIS or collector. Man, I still remember the utter rubbish I was buying 25 years ago for $200 a pop (& that was in 1980s dollars!!!!!!!), but it was state of the art back then & we were happy to get that. (The 1st 'quality' rep I ever purchased & 1 of the 1st ETA powered reps with 'Real' gold plating to enter the US) (The watch above is 201-214 - 'L' = $225 in 1987) Todays reps have come so far that it never ceases to amaze me how gen-like some of these rep watches really are. Am I the only 1 who appreciates this?

This is intended to treat the problems relating to the additional gearing added to the A7750 used to relocate the subdial functions. If your watch contains 1 of these A7750 movements with relocated subdial functions, then this treatment will address the problems associated with the extra gearing (you should read Ziggy's reviews of the A7750 for a detailed explanation of the issues involved). Unfortunately, I am unable to take in any additional work at this time, so you would need to find another member or local watchmaker to apply the graphite for you. For best results, I would recommend that you have your movement properly serviced (disassembled, cleaned & lubed) & apply the powdered graphite during reassembly. That way, you greatly reduce the likelihood of your watch dying from some other problem right after it has been treated with graphite. Remember, these movements are often used & come from the factory without being serviced. Unless you service them, they have very limited lifespans with or without being treated with graphite.

I think you are correct. All in all, I think the original rep insert (on my watch) looks closer. But they (the factories) always get at least 1 thing wrong (probably as a marker or way of ID'ing their work).

flex - If/when you speak or meet with Honpo again, would it be possible to order 1 or 2 of his Daytonas for me (this 1 or this 1)? PM sent.

Just to update, I just checked with the owner of the 1st watch treated with powdered graphite & it continues to run within COSC specs.

Problem solved 2

Yes, I think you may be right about that. Our watches have 2 different inserts. Here is proof. Look at the bend in the '4'. In my watch, the bend comes to a point But in jiro's watch, the bend contains a small flat segment And which 1 looks more like the gen? jiro's. Here is a gen for comparison (note the '4') The font thickness is a known inaccuracy of the rep, but the difference is so small that it is not a good indicator of a rep vs gen. In fact, no one on TZ identified the bezel font when someone posted pics of their rep there recently (though there was alot of discussion via PM about other issues like the index marker width & bracelet finish that gave it away). I doubt that jiro will know anything beyond what he sees on his watch. But I think the more important question is whether & where we get these more accurate inserts? And is it me or do jiro's CGs look too wide (wider than mine)? Maybe a different (smaller & serifed) datefont also (the date wheel may be different for chs & ihs versions)? But to put things into proper perspective, I think we are all neurosing (even more than usual) over this watch. None of these differences will be noticed by anyone but WISs. Certainly, no one you may encounter in your normal daily activities, least of all the average gen GMTIIC owner, will ever call you out while wearing 1 of these reps.

Not to belabor this, but I have closely studied all of the pics in this thread until my eyes are & maybe I am just not sufficiently skilled to see the detail that you see, but the inserts all look the same to me.

Much to our collective benefit.

As usual, great tutorial, Pug. I will soon be retiring my trusty old Powershot A80 in favor of another Canon with a higher mp rating & larger LCD screen (the A80's 1.5" diag flip-out screen is minute by today's standards & nearly useless in the sun). Having cut my photographic teeth on a wonderful Contax for years prior to digital I would love to get a DSLR, but I have become too used to being able to slide a camera into my pocket (especially when I am on the motorcycle), so I can stop & snap roadside pics without having to carry a camera bag or going through the laborious process of unpacking a camera just to take a quick snap from a busy roadway. My ideal camera would be point-and-shoot like the A80, but with 10mp (or higher), a 2.5" LCD, RAW support & higher magnification macro. Does Pug or anyone know of a Canon model that fits that bill?

I am curious also. What happened?

I do not see any difference in the bezel/insert between any of the GMTIIC reps. I also do not think anyone would be able to ID these reps by the thickness of the bezel engravings unless they knew what to look for & had a gen on-hand to make a direct comparison with. I think the most obvious problem with these reps & something that is easier to see is the thickness (or, rather, thinness) of the index markers. The rep markers are narrower than the markers on the gen dial. And while the lack of AR on the cyclops is noticeable in some environments (under the right light), the marker width is always noticeable. That is the most telling marker on the rep, in my opinion. But none of the inaccuracies of out-of-the-box version of this rep would ever be noticed by anyone other than a hard-core WIS & no one here would ever think of posting pics of their rep on TZ, would they?

Best not to use it -- these movements, as they come from the factory, can be VERY problematic. As long as it worked when you tested it (once), I would leave the chrono functions alone from now on. That way, you are less likely to have problems (though the secs at 6 movement itself is prone to problems, but if you search for 'powdered graphite' you can read more about the issue). And I agree with most of the other comments -- a beautiful watch that looks great on your wife. I also agree with iceberg - check out white or blue straps also.

Great pics (as usual) jiro.

Decide on the Daytona model you want (116520, 16520, 6239, etc.) & enter it into the Search at the top of the page (in particular, search the Rolex & Watch Repair forums). You will find all the info you seek.