freddy333

Phong's cases are undeniably the most accurate I have seen (in spite of the oddly shiny appearance of the steel, which I have only seen on these Vietnamese cases) & I still think they are a rip-off at anything above $600 (assuming that $600 includes a gen crown/tube, insert & crystal).

PVD watches are not my cup of tea, but I know they are popular among some members which is why I am posting this. According to the seller's website, these watches have 'Fully Functional Day-Month-Military time chronograph dials', which means it does not contain a 7750 or have a working chronograph (stop watch functions). I have never seen 1 of these watches in person, so I have no idea whether the case will accept a 7750 or any other gen or aftermarket parts (so please do not ask). Also, understand that this is NOT an approved RWG collector & I cannot vouch for the reliability of this seller, so caveat emptor (buyer beware). Here is the link.

Delta - Sorry, I cannot remember who it was, but, yes, the watch the other RWG member received looked like a mixture of the worst of all 3 versions of the 116520 reps. It had the pointy-A (DAYTONA) dial that my watch originally came with (which I replaced with a dial from Josh's 116520), thick case & the 2nd gen movement (the most unreliable of all 3 versions) with a fantasy rotor. I did a quick search to see if I could locate the post with the pictures of the watch that member actually received, but I cannot locate it. I did find the thread that contained sssurfer's original link to watch-ebay.com, which is where he said his correct low profile watch came from (he has the same watch I have, which, like mine, is still running). The watch-ebay.com site now redirects to another site called idolreplicas.com (now hosted in Panama), but the new site is still using pictures of the 1st gen Daytona that I have (the 1 with the low profile case). Here is the link. The pictures on idolreplicas show the exact same 1st gen 116520 Daytona rep that sssurfer & I got a few years ago. You can identify these 1st gen reps by the pointed 'A' in Daytona, the construction of the movement/rotor & the shape of the CGs (only these 1st gen low profile cases have the same CGs - narrower than current cases, but with a very thick base that places the crown a bit further away from the case than current rep cases) This is the same movement & fantasy rotor my watch came with (I replaced the rotor with the rotor on Josh's watch, which looks almost like the gen rotor) I can also tell this is the low profile case by the way the end links do not fit flush with the bottom of the lugs. The end links were obviously made to fit the thicker profile cases (like the 116509 in the middle picture), because the outer edge of the links stand slightly proud of the plane of the bottom face of the lugs. If you have not read it yet, you should probably read pages 2 & 3 of this.

Phong appears to have increased the price on his Daytona non-screw pushers from $75/ea to $100/ea. Meanwhile, ofrei is still selling the exact same pusher assembly for $12/ea. Again, these sellers' pricing is outrageous & based solely on how much they feel they can get away with, nothing more. I am sure that eventually we will locate a more direct source for these Vietnamese cases & parts, which will result in much more realistic & reasonable (MBW-like) pricing.

Phong has good, close-up pictures of his 1665 cases. He describes the HEV as 'Complete Release Valve set with gasket'.

That is the $64k question. Pictures of it pop up now & then on non-RWG-member websites (as recently happened a month ago). But, so far, these appear to be stolen pictures because the watch that arrives is not the low profile watch pictured on the website. I got mine about 4 years ago from a seller on a UK auction site (cqout), but that seller has not been seen since then (My 1st gen 116520 rep case on right, current 3rd gen 116520 case on left)

Of course, you are correct that alot of people may not use the refund to purchase goods & services. But, historically, these types of government rebates have tended to stimulate the economy, even if only marginally. Still, as long as the hand-out moves the numbers in the right direction (even if they are already in a deep hole), it makes consumers 'feel' better about the economy, which encourages additional spending, which stimulates the economy. But time will tell.

For reference, this is James Dowling's 'big crown' Tudor 7924 (powered by a Tudor 390) This is essentially a 7928, but with a larger crown.

Gen Tudor 7016 Powered by ETA 2483 (or 2461) Here is another gen 7016

Sounds just like US banks. And, unfortunately, I do not even qualify for the 'kickback'. Good luck with that project. I want pics..........

Alot of older reps (20+ years ago) were made out of copper & painted with chrome paint. The old gag was that you could always tell a rep from a gen by the green ring that appeared on your arm after the paint began to wear off (which usually began right after your check cleared the bank). Not to worry, in the case of your watch, it was just a joke.

No green here - on either side

I am sure the problem will get sorted out.

I hope your wrist does not turn green.

Then the address on the shipping label is probably wrong & post office attempted delivery to the (wrong) address on the shipping label. Been there, done that. A pain, but all you can do is wait for Andrew to sort it out.

Wore the Daytona beater this afternoon But taking this out with my lady friend for the evening 'She's not my special lady friend, man. I'm just helping her conceive.' -- The Dude

There is your answer. The local post office attempted to deliver your package on April 9, but, for some reason, was unable to. Generally, this is because either the address on the shipping label is incorrect/unreadable or no one was at the destination address to accept the package. I believe it is general policy to make 2 delivery attempts after which the package is either returned to the sender or returned to your local post office for x number of days (usually about 1 week) to give you time to contact the post office & claim the package. If the package is not collected, it is then returned to the sender. In that case, the fault lies at your end, so I would not expect the seller to cover the cost of re-shipment.

I completely agree with Kenberg. In the context of an (illegal) enterprise that is populated with hoards of crooks & charlitans, Andrew is 1 of the more honorable & reliable collectors with a long-established reputation for delivering reasonable goods. Once he is able to verify the shipping problem, I am sure he will make it right. So I would give it a bit more time before assuming the worst based solely on the cryptic info you got from the post office.

It probably is not the rotor bearings that are the problem. At least, not the main problem. More likely, the entire auto-wind unit needs to be serviced (disassembled, properly cleaned, oiled & reassembled). Most of these movements leave the factory in marginal condition to begin with. It is generally a good idea to have the movement serviced as soon as you receive it. If you have never serviced a mechanical watch movement before, I would not recommend trying to learn on this 1. Send the watch to Ziggy or a local watchmaker who works on chronographs (many watchmakers do not).

Trying to blow the crystal off with pressurized air is a very bad idea. Along with the crystal, you are likely to blow the dial, hands & parts of the movement out of the watch in the process. If you are worried about damaging the gold plating on the case, try putting masking tape on the case & be very careful with the razor. If you are careful, the razor should not damage the case.

Tribal - I know what you mean. This is 1 of the reasons I decided to cut back on taking in more work. I think the idea of getting a non-refundable deposit is the only way to go. You might also require the customer to pay (in full) for any parts you need to order before you order them. I think that is fair.

The order confirmation you receive simply reflects the address you provided, but it has no relevance to what is actually written (by hand) on the shipping label. The watches are usually shipped from China & they occasionally write the address wrong. Depending on what they get wrong, the post office will either find you or return the package to the sender. The only way to verify what is actually written on the address label it is to have the shipper do a trace, which should return an image of the shipping label. If the address (on the label) differs from the address you provided, that is the shipper's fault &, in that case, I am pretty sure Andrew would re-ship at no cost. But if you have already canceled the order..............

I was going to suggest the same thing Ziggy said, but then I noticed what Avitt is talking about You should be able to remove the bezel by sliding a razor blade (I use a window scraper tool that holds a razor blade in a metal handle) around the circumference of the bezel. Sometimes, it seems like you are not getting anywhere, but if you keep at it -- working at it all the way around the case -- it should eventually come off. But you will still need to remove the 2 movement clamps.

It sounds like the shipping address was wrong, which means the postal service has no other option than to return the package to the sender. Your only option is to contact Andrew & have him either trace the package from his end or resend another 1.