freddy333

13 'Just over lunch

TT & Admins -- I must say that I am a bit miffed to hear that you were forced to ban TTK (note I did say 'forced'). And I am sure there was alot going on privately that I am unaware of concerning TTK & his eccentric business practices. But in view of his recent health issues & (what I thought was a) VERY sincere & heartfelt open letter addressing same, I cannot understand why you felt the need to suspend his Collector status in the 1st place? I mean, talking about kicking a guy when he is down! I think everyone knows that TTK is a prima donna, especially when he does not get his way. So it comes as no surprise to me that he went off the deep end when informed of the suspension, which, of course, left you no other option than to ban him. That part I understand. But I just wish you could have given the guy a bit more leeway before taking any actions against him (beyond warnings, if required). And for the record -- I have never purchasing anything from TTK, I have never Skyped TTK and, to be totally honest, I do not even like TTK very much, so I think it is fair to say that my comments are in no way self-serving. Just trying to be fair.

The A7750 is not machined as well as the Swiss version & even if you set the time by turning the hands backwards, it is still a hit or miss affair because the minute hand usually moves as you press the stem back in. The best you can do (with these movements as they are) is to try to gauge how far the hand usually moves when you press the stem in & set it that far in the opposite direction. But some movements have more play in them than others. Excepting the time setting issue described above, these movements can be made to run within COSC specs (+6/-4 secs/day), but it takes a bit of extra time & effort. You just need to spend a few days setting, wearing, observing, correcting, wearing, observing & correcting until you get it where you want it.

For you non-hunchbacks, get 1 of these from cas-ker.com

Usual beater

Lange 1

Sorry, but are you a soldier or an individual? Why does it matter what other consultants (or doctors or burger-flippers or car salesmen or mayors) wear? The more relevant question, it seems to me, is what type of watch do YOU feel comfortable wearing in your new job? What type of watch fits YOU?

My recommendation against using these watches as daily wearers has nothing to do with the graphite fix. I just agree with Ziggy & feel that the extra gearing adds too much stress on the movement for daily use over long periods of time. This graphite treatment is meant as a band-aid, not as a cure for an inherently unreliable design. I am convinced that 1 of the reasons none of my secs at 6 Daytonas have died is because they are rarely worn (but I do manually wind them on a regular basis). And I think the same thing will eventually prove to be the case for these watches that have been resuscitated with powdered graphite.

UPDATE -- The secs at 6 Daytona used as the guinea pig for the powdered graphite test has now been running (and worn daily, which I would not recommend, but this is not my watch), trouble free, for more than 7 weeks

I try to save most of the Daytonas for weekends & special occasions to keep them in pristine condition, but here are a few old wristies & 1 fantasy ad to tide you over (A friend modeling my 6263 beater) (Me modeling my 6263 beater) (The Beat Brothers modeling my 6263 beater)

Beater (in b&w) today

Post good, clear pictures of the NOS bracelet in question to the Rolex Vintage forum on TZ. The experts there will be able to provide the most definitive answer short of Rolex itself.

Thank you. In reference to the comments in your tag, have you read TTK's post from earlier today?

With the exception of my previous response (regarding Stan), none of my other comments are based on Stan's credibility. And I just checked Stan's site & unless I missed something, Stan is not selling the same 7836 that this seller is selling. How did Stan get involved in authenticating the 7836 that this seller is selling?

I have dealt with Stan for quite awhile & he definitely knows his stuff when it comes to Rolex bracelets & end links. If, based on a direct personal examination of the bracelet in question (as opposed to just viewing pictures as we are doing), Stan says these are gen, then, lacking the definitive word from Rolex itself, that is good enough for me.

It looks like 1 of the older MBW dials. Not an NDtrading dial (at right).

Some of the older MBWs (with 2836s installed) came with dials glued, but I think the newer ones (with 2846s installed) have correctly fitted dials (mine came with dial feet). Without seeing your dial, it is impossible to source it. Pics, when available, will help.

I just found the seller on ebay & it appears that not only does he have very few previous sales, but all of the previous sales are aftermarket items (some of very low quality). So, assuming the pictures in the sellers auction post are accurate, the odds are that Mezz's original guess is probably correct -- there are good aftermarket folded link bracelets available. But I would cap a purchase for 1 of these at around $150 since gens go for $200 & up (I would take an average condition gen for $200 over an aftermarket anytime). That is the best I can conclude without actually seeing & handling 1 of these bracelets in person.

And another thing -- if someone was making aftermarket folded link bracelets, I would expect that at least 1 of our collectors would be offering them on their watches. This whole thing kind of reminds me of the baldness cure infomercials we all see on tv, where the sellers will say they have these marvelous 'cures', but no one in the medical community offers them. If such a thing as a quality aftermarket/rep folded link bracelet does exist, why is it that none of our collectors have them?

Let me add something else to my previous post to put this into perspective. Let us assume that this is a rep/aftermarket bracelet. Now, if you compare this rep bracelet to the gen and then compare 1 of the riveted or solid link Oyster rep/aftermarket bracelets to their gen counterparts, I think this 1 comes up looking quite respectable. Whereas that riveted POS is an embarrassment that is spotted from across a room by even a casual observer, this folded link, again, assuming that it is not a gen, would fool me. And I think that would be quite an accomplishment.......assuming it is not a gen, which, based on the last set of pictures, I kind of think it is. Just out of curiosity, can someone post a link to the seller of these folded link bracelets?

Yes, exactly what I wanted to see. From this picture I draw 2 conclusions -- If this is not a gen, it could fool me. This is the most accurate aftermarket bracelet I have seen. If this is a rep, I would have no problems fitting it to a vintage gen watch (assuming the engravings were correct for the model & I did not want to spend the cost of the gen). At least based on what I see in the pictures.

Hard to tell, but since the only people who will probably ever see the red gear are you & your watchmaker (who will easily ID the movement as an ETA with or without the red gear), why pay extra for it?

What I see in your pictures is obviously not gen, but it would still help to see pictures of the insides of the links as that would make identification easier. Still, if these folded link reps are made better than the riveted rep bracelets, they might be a good alternative for vintage reps that come with rivets. When buying gens (especially Rolex), always buy the seller before you buy the part.

If the US Dept of Agriculture can declare that ketchup is a vegetable then I hereby declare that my frankentona is a Daytona Whatever it is, this is what I will be wearing as I give Heinz a couple of firm smacks at dinner tonight. Hope everyone had a good weekend.

Interesting. Can you post some pics showing more of the inside folded links as well as the inside of the end links? From this pic, your NOS bracelet looks different from links on gen bracelets, & I have a feeling the same will be the case for the end links, which may make it relatively easy to separate the wheat from the chaff when perusing ebay & other sites in search of the gen article.