freddy333

Depends on my mood & what I decide to wear tomorrow (still Sunday evening here), but probably one of these (Yes, the chrono seconds hand is missing in this photo)

Have you contacted Craigslist yet?

You are too easy.

Thanks and I don't care what anyone says about you, you're alright in my book, Victoria. Here is a little something for you (since candy & flora are out)

Not mutual (you seem fairly sane to me) and I am not crazy, just an iconoclast.

Odd you mention that. My grandfather gave me my first watch when I was 6. An Accromatic self-winding mechanical watch made by the Accro Watch Co., which I not only still have, but it is presently sitting on my table (in pieces) undergoing an overhaul.

I only wear a watch when I need to know the time (and I generally do not carry a cell phone anymore), so it does not bother me in the least whether someone else wears one or not.

A Newman Day (Yes, the chrono seconds hand is missing in this photo)

I like the improvement. It will make it easier to spot the watch in the snow.

Hairspring is likely magnetized, which causes the coils to stick together. This reduces the spring's effective length and makes the balance wheel (and watch) run faster than normal. This is the most common cause for a watch running fast after a service. Either the watch was never demagnetized by the watchmaker or the watch was placed in or near a magnetic field sometime afterwards. A quick & easy fix for any professional watchmaker.

The dial looks like an NDtrading aftermarket repaint (not bad, but not gen either). One of the 2 open crown tubes looks aftermarket, the other either gen or Swiss-made aftermarket (these are generally a similar quality to the gen). Obviously, the tube in the sealed Rolex pack is gen. The crowns all look like different versions of gen Triplocks (3 dots denote a Triplock). The bezel & insert look aftermarket, but it is difficult to be sure based on your photos. Others may be able to offer more info.

TeeJay -- You should consider an Invicta or any of the dozens of other Rolex look-alike brands, which are built to much higher quality standards than any commercially-made rep, give you the look and feel of a Rolex (sans the Rolex name, since that is not important to you) and all for about the same cost as a good rep. You even get a real manufacturer's warranty, which comes without any of the legal and QC hassles of a rep.

I do not have the specs on the 3135, but I am pretty sure it is the same as the 3035 12.5''', Diameter= 28.5mm, Height= 6.3mm

Thank you for the update By-Tor.

I agree, and an increasing number of the contestants in those bouts are touting reps. Definitely not recommended.

Anton -- To be clear, I still visit TZ fairly regularly (mostly the Rolex, Patek, Lange & Jaeger forums), because it is still a great resource and there are alot of nice people over there. But my interests lie more in the mechanics of watches than just the aesthetics. So I tend to spend alot more time here than there. I just get a bigger kick reading Ziggy's latest movement review/teardown or discussing the details of Alligoat's, Repaustria's, Tribal's or Ubi's (and many of the other artists here) newest mod than looking at the same recycled wristshots of the same watches over and over again on TZ. And RWG offers a more laid-back atmosphere with fewer rules and limitations, which better suits my ever-curious personality.

Yes, I know.

VK -- I must have missed something....... Did you buy Ubi's Sub? If so, congrads. And speaking of Ubi, I have not seen him for awhile. Is he quietly busy building a 3rd franken 16520?

Alli -- You may be right as far as trademark infringement goes. But there have been so many suits and counter-suits over an owner's ability to use Rolex parts in other watches (as long as the watch is not sold as being a 'genuine Rolex watch') that I guess it could go either way. I just question whether this guy is breaking any of ebay's rules since he declared, albeit in a questionable manner, that the watch consists of mostly non-Rolex ('replacement') parts. There have been so many of these types of reps for sale over the years that I am sure ebay has a set policy for dealing with them. And since the auction has not been taken down after our complaints were registered, my guess is that the seller did not break any of ebay's rules. Of course, Rolex may yet bring another suit against ebay over the matter, but those things take time and the watch may have been sold (assuming any of the bidders are real) by then.

Not so fast there, Grasshopper. Unlike the majority of those TZ'ers who criticize rep buyers, I (and a number of other RWG members) am pretty well-versed with the goings-on within the typical mechanical watch or clock movement. And while I am more than happy to admit that I DO wear a Rolex for its brand recognition and exclusivity, I do not call gen (or rep) buyers & owners degenerates. And that is both the difference & the point I was trying to make. And, for full disclosure (and fairness), I should state that I originally joined TZ in the fall of '00.

I have both, but I bow to your convictions.

If you are comparing generic pharmaceuticals to their generic counterparts, I think that case can be made, since the active ingredients and efficacy of both can be proven to be the same. But, in the case of aesthetic judgements, if a difference is perceived between brand A and brand X, then the case can be made for paying some higher price for the 'better' mousetrap. Personally, I do not like the taste of chlorine and so I am willing to pay more for bottled (or filtered) H2O, and I avoid tap like the plague. But if I was unable to tell the difference between Coke & Pepsi, I would never pay more for one over the other. In the case of gen vs rep watches, I think that if the buyer does not know the difference, he/she is something of a fool to pay more for one over the other and an even bigger fool when he/she calls all rep buyers a fool. Not sure the way I wrote that makes sense, but I think you get the point.

Welcome jsmith. As long as you understand that reps are not gens, meaning that no commercially manufactured rep will be made of exactly the same quality materials or was assembled with the same level of quality & QC as is available from gen vendors, you should be very pleasantly satisfied. And I can tell you that the reps discussed on this site are generally top quality (regardless of the marketing hype ('Swiss Grade 1', '1:1', 'perfect', etc.) you may see on many rep dealers' websites) and should last many years with proper care (and, like gens, being mechanical watches, most reps require periodic cleaning/servicing every 5-7 years). Also, most of the reps discussed here do come with a limited amount of after-sale support. So, if you receive a lemon, in most cases, you can have it put right. Just be sure to spend ALOT of time reading, reading & reading the reviews and forum postings that relate to the watches you are interested in. Knowledge is your best defense against unhappy purchasing experiences. I would also recommend that you take a couple of trips to your local Authorized Dealer (AD) and try on your target watch BEFORE making a purchase. All commercially made reps have flaws and there are usually more than one version of the same watch model (made by different factories). Each version will usually contain a different set of flaws. One version's flaws is likely to bother you more than another, and that is the way to select the best rep. But you MUST have a benchmark against which to compare each rep's flaws. And this is why it is so important to visit your AD and familiarize yourself with your favorite watch BEFORE making a purchase. This is a very enjoyable hobby, but it can also be very costly and addicting. Read, enjoy and good luck.

vbarrett -- I know what you are saying and you do make some reasonable points. However, most serious watch collectors and TZ members are like car collectors--they are not mechanics & have no real sense of what lies 'under the hood'. These people purchase more because of brand recognition and presumed exclusivity than for any real appreciation of the art of mechanical craftsmanship (even though that is often the stated reasoning behind a purchase). And although the case can be made that gens tend to contain improved and/or more finely finished movements than most of the better (often Swiss-powered) reps, I think foolishness lies more with the average gen owner who looks down at his wrist and sees what is effectively the same watch as that which resides on the rep owner's wrist. The difference is that he, the gen owner, paid many times more to get the same degree of satisfaction.

I tend to side with those who rely on reps as evaluation tools to judge their satisfaction & long-term enjoyment of a particular gen model before laying down the serious scratch required. I am not aware of any gen sellers who will allow you to test-drive a Lange 1 for a few months to see if you like it enough (and it fits within your lifestyle) to keep it. And because most people can better afford to make a few $200 mistakes than to take the hit from a few $25,000 mistakes, reps make alot of sense. As an interesting aside, TZ is frequently filled with rants suggesting that anyone buying a rep is a fool with his money because of the presumed lack of accuracy & poor overall quality of rep watches. While that may have been true years ago when the best reps were Canal Street junk, I think just the opposite is now true. I believe the true fools are those holier-than-thou blabbermouths, who literally wait for years & end up spending thousands of dollars over list (which is out-pacing even the price of gas) to purchase a stainless Rolex Daytona when you can have essentially the same thing for a mere few hundred. And even if you factor in a few mods to tidy things up a bit more, your total investment is still a relative pittance And even if the movement does die a premature death, you can buy a gaggle more & still end up way ahead, financially. But, even if none of that were true, the bottom line is this -- He (or she), who ends up with the most toys, wins.