freddy333

Euno -- Either you take watch collecting a bit too seriously, or some of us have alot of catching up to do. Outstanding collection.

Looks like Xmas comes early this year for a few lucky children. It is hard to imagine that such a fine collection represents the cost of only about 1 gen. You cannot wear just 1. How pedestrian. Any sight of a MBW 5514/5513 on the horizon for this kid?

So the positions of neither the pinions (for the hour/minute & 3 subdials) nor the dial feet match? That's what I thought, but I had to ask. Thanks Euno.

Does anyone know if the pinions & dial feet positions are the same between the Venus/Lemania bi-compax movements used in some vintage Daytonas (like this) and the V72 tri-compax I know these are different movements, but since they share many of the same components & component positions, I thought the dials might be swappable. I would like to use the dial from this Venus/Lemania-powered watch on a V72 without having to modify the dial or feet? Also, will the vintage Daytona dials from 7750-powered watches fit the v72? I have a handful of these watches and it would be nice to be able to swap dials among them.

If this watch is from one of the collectors that state they hand inspect each watch sent out, I can see your point. In that case, it would seem to me that they should either exchange the watch for the correct one (at their expense) or refund your entire purchase price. I would love to hear the reason from the seller for the mistaken shipment.

Without knowing who you bought the watch from, I cannot say whether it was bait and switch or just a case of a rep factory changing specs on a drop-shipping seller who may never have been informed of the change by the factory (or he may have been out of stock and sent what he felt was a similar watch). If you bought the watch from one of the collectors here and you sent him comparison photos of the watch from HIS website and photos of the watch you received (I would circle in red the items that differ from the watch pictured on HIS website), I am sure he will either swap it for the correct watch or refund your purchase. If he is not willing to do that, there is a Trade Review forum to post your experience to the rest of the members. But I would only post after you have exhausted all the reasonable options dealing directly with the seller. And, yes, you will probably have to eat the cost of return shipping. Be sure to follow the seller's instructions to help avoid additional headaches.

Every commercially made rep contains one or more inaccuracies, sometimes they can be glaring mistakes. And in the case of modern Rolex reps, they can be all the more obvious since you can walk into any Rolex AD and be reminded of how 'off' even the best commercial reps are. I am not a big fan of modern Subs Seadwellers and I do not know who you purchased your disappointing watch from, but I would recommend that you do a bit more reading of the current and recent Sub threads as there appear to be a number of promising items according to other members who are more knowledgeable on the modern lines.

Links > Watch Parts

A donor watch can be had for less than $200, which I admit is still alot to pay just for a valve. If you have a lathe, you could make your own or, as was my backup plan, you can use a small rivet that many watch parts houses & some hardware stores sell. You would still need to fashion the spring clip yourself though. But I just felt it was worth the cost of the extra watch to get a ready-made working valve. With the addition of the 1570, I think an He valve and a gen (or more accurate repainted) dial are an absolute MUST.

Rocket -- As others have said, you are not the only one this type of thing has happened to. I have had not 1, but 2 experiences similar to what Ubi described, where a watch literally fell off my wrist dropping into a sad heap on the table below. It was a good learning experience that taught me to regularly check the bracelets on all my watches.

Same again. Great work.

Outstanding work, KKS. I have been considering the same thing as a finishing touch to my DRSD project. I would love to see your finished product. And if you need info on an He valve, this may work.

I agree with Robertk. The winder may not be winding the watches fully. You can easily check this by taking one off the winder, winding the crown 45 turns and setting it down (face up) and check it in 24 hours. If the time is correct (or within specs), there's a problem with the winder (or its settings). If this watch is running slow, then there may be a problem with the watches themselves. You might still check the winder to be sure it is not jerking the watches or winding them too fast, which could be the source of problems.

QC'ing a watch instead of drop-shipping does help to weed out many DOAs (watches that arrive dead or with serious problems). But after 25 years of experience with reps, I find that most problems occur between 48 hours and 1 month after you receive the watch. And a pre-sale QC is not likely to locate a problem that has not revealed itself yet. One of my earliest reps, a two tone Datejust and was one of the 1st to be fitted with a 'genuine Swiss ETA' and 'real gold plating' on the bezel & bracelet (which I modded with gen end links & clasp back in the days when you could walk in & buy these from any Rolex AD), which I purchased for the ungodly sum of $225 in 1984. This watch became my daily 'beater' for nearly 10 years and it is still running. The crown tube is stripped, the movement has never been overhauled (and needs it) & it has alot of inaccuracies by today's standards, but it still runs. Anyone interested in the history of reps might appreciate this price list I just found from the mail order company I used to purchase reps from in the pre-Web days The watch pictured above is the 'L' version of item 201-214 (A = ETA Automatic, Q = quartz, & L = ETA with laser applied gold plating - these L watches were generally considered the highest grade of reps 20 years ago). Most of the collectors here (at least those I have dealt with) are always willing to exchange a watch that proves to be defective within their warranty period. A good & reliable way to force many mechanical problems to reveal themselves is to follow this procedure with any new watch - rep or gen -- Upon delivery, and before removing all the plastic transport wrapping (in case you need to return it), gently & carefully wind the watch 45 turns and then set the correct time. If the watch has a chrono (stop watch) or other user-controllable complications, start those as well. Set the watch down (dial side up) on a table and let it sit there, without touching it, for 48 hours (or until it stops running). (In the case of a chrono, if the chrono runs for 30 minutes, stop it, reset it and start it again. Let it run for 2 hours and then stop and reset it. Do not restart during the remainder of the 48 hour test.) If the watch stops in less than 38-40 hours, I would consider that questionable and ask the seller what he thinks. In most cases, he will probably tell you to repeat the test and see what happens. If the watch continues to run normally & keeps good time (+/- 6 secs in 24 hours is reasonable for most reps) for about 2 days, it is working properly. Now it is safe to remove the plastic and start wearing your new beauty. But always remember that these ARE reps. And, as such, they are not manufactured to the same quality standards as their gen counterparts. Nor, with a very few exceptions, will they receive the same QC inspection before leaving the factory or seller's hands. Something to keep in mind when the average $200 rep watch craps out a few years after you bought it.

TTK - I don't care what anyone says about you, you're alright in my book.

Center links look solid and the 11 bids from the same bidder is cause for concern. On the other hand, the seller has a good, solid history. My guess is the seller may not be aware of the issues with the bracelet. But I think I would stay away if you are looking for a gen bracelet. Too many issues with that one.

Alot of people sell them.

I do not have a way to print onto plastic, but I did try copying the Watchmeister datewheel onto a matte DVD label. The material is similar to what the Watchmeister sticker is made from, but it does not seem to stretch or pull out of shape as much. This was a slight improvement over the Watchmeister material, but it still did not seem very stable. I scanned the Watchmeister overlay (at 1200dpi @ 48-bit color) and produced a master TIFF image that I used to print onto DVD label stock. This is a smaller jpg version of the master that I used But, to be reliable over time, these things really need to be made out of metal.

I mean the original MBW datewheel overlay, which came glued on top of the ETA datewheel in vintage MBW Subs & Seadwellers (at least it came glued to my ETA 2846's datewheel). The MBW overlay is made out of a thin sheet of metal, maybe aluminum, and has the (serifed) dates painted onto it. I have the Watchmeister overlay (UBI's sticker) in there now, but it is causing frequent problems, so I want to go back to the original MBW metalized datewheel. Unfortunately, I smeared the printing on the MBW overlay while I was working on something else (look at the 1, 2, 3 & 4).

If anyone has a spare vintage MBW Seadweller or DoubleRed datewheel, one of the recent metalized versions -- with the bolder serifed fonts please PM me.

TTK - I have been trying to email/PM you regarding another MBW. Can you check your gmail please?

I forgot about the dog..

2 of the best

Nanuq -- With that chainsaw tool of yours, it is no wonder your thumb is so famous (whatever is left of it). My singlemost indispensable tool is a 4x loupe. Without that, little else would be possible. Archibald - These were reshaped with a combination of dremel and hand files (the Patek could use a bit more tweaking & a datewheel with a bolder font)

Archibald -- Although I have not looked seriously for a year or so, I have never seen anything anywhere near the quality of what is available from the collectors here on the streets of DC. But I agree that there would certainly be a market here if someone on the street made them available. On the other hand, the constant lines of buyers might draw too much unwanted attention.