freddy333

The producers certainly did the usual over hyping & blaming the counterfeiters for just about every ill under the sun. But they do make 1 good point -- if you wanted to sneak something dangerous into a country, there is probably no 'safer' method than to include it in a shipment of 'Big Bang' rep watches.

Pre Daytona 6236 'Killy' $130,000. A really nice 6234 pre Daytona just sold for $28k, a bit below the min estimate. 6238 $30k. 1st Newman, a white 6238 (like my DW franken) went for a measly $60,000. A black Cartier 6239 fetched $120,000. Black Newman 6239 $75,000. White 6241 Newman $100,000. White 6262 Newman $80,000. Black 6240 $44,000. Black 6263 $40,000. Silver 6263 'Rambo' $48,000. Black 'Tiffany' 6263 $70,000. Silver 'Tiffany' 6263 $100,000. Black ROC 'Mayer' dial in gold case 6265 $105,000. White 6265 Newman $115,000. Gold 6265 with gold dial/black subdials & gold jubilee bracelet $60,000. Gold Newman 6265 with black dial $140,000. Two tone 16523 with black 'floating Cosmograph' dial $14,000. Black 'Patrizzi' 16520 $26,000. Black 16520 '24 Hours Race Winner at Daytona Speedway' caseback $29,000. Two tone 16523 with black dial $7k. Two tone 116523 $10k And the hammer fell on the last item up for bid -- Black 116509 $116,500. Amazing day!

Comex up next A 16610 with 'Panama Canal' insignia is up to $70k, with a max estimate of $15k. It just sold for $75k. A Comex 1665 in OK condition just went for $210,000 .... WAY over estimates. One thing is pretty clear -- while modern watches may be in fashion at the lower to middle levels of the luxury watch market, the 'small', classic pieces are the most valuable & sought after among serious collectors & nuevo riche. Prototype no-HEV DRSD sold for $200,000. MKI DRSD sold for $200,000. MKII DRSD (closest to MBW dial design), with a max estimate of $15k, sold for $40,000. MKIII DRSD $60,000. Incredible. MKIV DRSD $37,000. Another MKIV DRSD $55,000. A nice GW 1665 went for $16k. A Cartier branded GW 1665 went for $100,000. Nothing monumental appears to be happening with the rest of the standard 1665s, but the Daytonas are up next in a few minutes.

The bidding is just absolutely out of control. In all the years I have been collecting Rolex watches, I do not think I have ever such a demand for vintage Rolex. And they have not even gotten to any of the serious pieces yet..........

If it says 'Rolex' it usually does.

Red dialed Subs & Seadwellers are especially going through the roof today. A red 1680 just exceeded its already optimistic estimate of 9k-12k & sold for an astounding 18k. I cannot tell who is bidding in the Antiquorum bidding rooms, but a good chunk of the online bids seem to be coming from Hong Kong & Japan (no real surprise there). I am really surprised at how much these items are actually being sold for & how aggressive the bidding is. Wow. ____________ While I was writing this, another red 1680 just went for $24k. Amazing.

I have been watching today's Antiquorum Rolex auction and, so far, many of the Rolex watches & related materials are going for amounts that exceed their original estimates. I have not been seeing any kind of trend in downward pricing at all. In spite of the supposedly ambivalent global economy, there is obviously alot of discretionary income sloshing around in Rolex collectors' pockets.

Good point, but this has been a problem for the past 20 or so years, ever since the rep factories started advertising reps with 'Swiss (ETA) movements' & charging buyers significantly higher prices for them. Unless you have the tools to open the case (& know what to look for when you do), the average rep buyer never knows what he is actually getting. I am sure we have all seen more than enough expensive 'Swiss Grade 1' that turn out to be powered by cheap, Asian POS movements to drive the point home. So this recent wave of questionable ETA quality is just a new tear in the same old cloth.

Car not running? Why the bus? Not that everyone who takes a bus MUST take a bus, but I think most would agree that it is a VERY rare case for most who can afford gen luxury watches to be riding a bus.

How often do you do what you need to on a bus? The point is that people who can afford the finer (gen) things in life usually carry some of that refinement with them wherever they go (and I still have trouble imagining someone with a gen Pan using public transportation). If you pay attention, there are almost always small hints & giveaways that belie financial status. My daily beater car may be a rust bucket, but there are a couple of "XX Automobile Owner's Club" stickers in the windows that make gen sightings on the occupants' wrists nearly inarguable. If that young-in with the Pan sitting on the London bus had been wearing a pair of Church's shoes or carrying his school books in a Crocodile Skin Italian Attache Briefcase or gabbing to his friends via a Diamond Crypto Smartphone or something like that, my impression might be totally different.

I think they would be quite striking with an aluminum, gold lemay or (fire retardant) plastic suit But not so much with casual wear.

I have been seeing the same thing that Ziggy described, albeit on a much smaller scale (I repair far fewer watches than Ziggy does). None of this comes as a surprise to me, at least not since ETA's parent company announced that they would be curtailing the free-flow of bare ETA movements next year. For this reason, I have been stockpiling slow-beat 2846s & moving away from reps & concentrating more on building frankens (mostly out of gen components). Yes, the build cost of a franken is considerably higher, but I know what to expect with gen parts & the growing threat of exposure/seizure of reps by postal inspectors is not an issue with gen components (though customs fees can sometimes be). This is not to say that reps are going the way of the dinosaur, at least not unless the global economy suffers are serious calamity that might force gen makers to start getting serious about battling counterfeiting of their trademarks & products. But I fear bumpy roads are ahead, at least for awhile.

Defintely, a rep. The telling point for me is that he was taking the bus instead of driving a luxury car, appeared to be a student & was wearing not just casual, but non-luxury brand casual. Not that everyone who can afford a gen Pan necessarily drives a luxury car everywhere they go or always wears 1-off designer threads. But, generally, people who own expensive watches tend to live the part. Taking the bus, wearing casual clothes & being, presumably, a 20-something student type, is not what I would call living the part of a financially successful gen luxury watch owner. I have seen my share of the uber-wealthy when they are 'slumming it', but there is always something about them that belies their true social status & wealth. Based on the original description, my Holmesian gut tells me that this chap was wearing an unexceptional rep that he purchased via a promotional spam email. Nothing more, nothing less.

Same for me (usually).

A beauty. What is the source of the dial & are you going to relume the hands to match the dial lume? Looks good either way. Another beater day for me

If it gets stuck at approximately the same time, then the hands may be coming into contact with each other, something on the dial or the crystal (if the hands are not installed far enough down onto the pinions). If this is the case, you can probably see what is sticking if you view the dial through a loupe. If everything is clear up top, then the movement may need another servicing (not all watchmakers do a proper service).

Fake Trade was BBC (UK) & this 1 is PBS (US).

If it was a gen, the case would be made out of a precious metal (not steel) & it would retail at closer to $40k+ than $3k.

Just placed another order.

@ 8pm EST tonight. Check your local PBS times.

Good luck & do not forget to post pics when the project is complete (or even before then).

The most expensive watches -- both new & used -- tend to be Pateks. I do not know the most expensive watch ever sold, but there are a wide range of Patek reps sold by most of the collectors here. Browse the listings at Antiquorum.com & then search the rep collectors' listings for a match.

Parts for a 2836 are relatively commonplace, but I have never seen that part in the red circle before. Have you tried contacting the seller you got the watch from? Maybe Ziggy or someone else will recognize it.

Offshore is exactly correct. Cleaning gold plated or tree lined or whatever marketing hype the seller uses to describe his wonderful 'gold' reps is always a bit tricky because anything abrasive or corrosive (like skin oil) will eventually wear away the gold. Safest way to clean it is with a clean, dry microfiber cloth made especially for cleaning gold. You can get these online or from many hardware or home stores. If you are careful, a very light spray of Windex (glass cleaner) & a soft terry cloth or VIVA paper towel should also work.

I have never seen that watch in any Tudor or Rolex catalog, which tends to make me think it is a fantasy or 'creative' replica. But you can never say never with Rolex.