freddy333

I agree with Alligoat that the combo would be far greater than the sum of either set of parts. And if you decide to go with the Beginmariner and want to get laid with the money you save, you might appreciate this-- This guy wants to get laid, so he goes to a brothel and knocks on the door. A small window in the door slides open to reveal a very sexy pair of female eyes. "Can I help you?" the woman asks. "Yes", the guy says, "I want to get [censored]ed". "Slide $20 under the door" the woman says. His libido already shifting into high gear, the guy takes out a $20 bill and slides it under the door. Nothing happens. So he knocks again and the little window opens to reveal the same pair of eyes. "Yes?" the woman asks. "Hi. I slid the $20 under the door like you asked, but nothing happened. I want to get [censored]ed" he responds. "Slide $20 under the door" the woman tells him. He takes out another $20 bill and slides it under the door. Nothing happens. Now, he is getting worried, but he is convinced that a world of unearthly delights awaits him behind the door and that his patience will be more than rewarded. "The woman must be preparing one of the girls......", he thinks to himself. A few minutes go by and still nothing. By now, he is mad, thinking that the woman must have forgotten about him. So he knocks again and the little window slides open to reveal the same sexy female eyes as the last two times. "Yes?" the woman asks. "I slipped two $20 bills under the door just like you asked. NOW I WANT TO GET [censored]ED!" he says. "What, again?"

Are these movements supposed to hack or are there two versions -- one hacking and one not? I got two 2846s from Ofrei and neither appears to hack. One of these is to replace a dead one I just swapped out of a 5 month old WM DRSD. The 2846 I removed from the DRSD hacked and you can imagine my surprise after getting everything back together again only to find that the watch was not hacking anymore. Is hacking an option with this movement or did I get two defective movements from Ofrei? ps To save newbies some time, hacking is a feature in some movements that causes the movement (and second hand) to stop when the crown is pulled out to set the time. This makes it easier to set the time.

Yes, when I look at the gen SS and WG Daytonas side by side, the WG looks noticeably duller. Not really dull, exactly, just not as bright and shiny as the SS. And the difference is pretty clear once you know what to look for. There is also a slight color difference. Anyone who is familiar with Photoshop and color temperature knows the difference between a warm white and a cool white. When you look at the two gen Daytonas next to each other, the SS is ever so slightly blue white in comparison to the WG which has a slightly reddish tint in contrast to the SS. And now that I have seen the difference, it drives me crazy every time I look at my (a bit too) shiny (and blue) new Daytona rep 116509. The Caswell wand plating systems look like a great deal -- about $50 for the basic plating set (though there are a few extra parts required for plating SS) -- but I did not see anything for white gold. I will check out Artisan plating if the Caswell option does not work out. So thank you for that.

I think I see both sides of this. Since I followed the entire posted history of the production process, I knew that you were not using metal, but I can see how and why people might have expected the final DWs to be metal based on some of the discussion and descriptions of them being so accurate to the originals. I think someone (Ubi?) also posted a comment about his recommending that you not get one of the DWs if you do not know how to deal with datewheels, which could be complicated. That is probably not exactly what he wrote, but that was the impression I was left with and this may have led some people to believe they would be receiving a metal datewheel which needed to be fitted in place of the original metal datewheel. When viewed by eye or through a SD crystal, the printing on the 2 DWs I received looks great. But when I look at them through a 2x loupe, which should be similar to the 2.5x cyclops of a Sub crystal, I can see what Sherrington is talking about. Some of the 1's (depending on where they are on the wheel) look a little pixelated, sort of like they were printed with an old dot matrix printer. I know, technically, the print should be very clear since the resolution was so high, but some of the numbers do not appear like a 2800dpi print. For instance, on one of my datewheels, the 1 in 31 looks like a good vintage print, but the 1s in the 11 look pixelated, like wobbly lines. So I think the issue relates more to the grain in the vinyl (and where in the vinyl sheet a particular DW was cut) than the printing quality, per se.

Randy -- Your inbox is full, but I wanted to let you know that I just received two beautiful vintage DWs. Thank you and compliments to all involved. Well done.

Hi Randy. Yes, I thought of that too, and it may be another option. I do not really know enough about plating or precious metals in general to know what the difference is, if any, between the appearance of rhodium and white gold. I have read a few debates on watch forums about what Rolex uses for the white gold Daytona -- is it 'white gold' or 'rhodium' or some in-house mixture? But since Rolex refers to it as being 'white gold', I just thought it was safer to try to plate my rep with 'white gold'. As usual, when it comes to Rolex and reps, a seemingly simple question often becomes a complicated puzzle.

Many thanks for that (I (probably) would have figured that out eventually). Another dangerous site. I have a feeling I will be spending some of my rep money there.....

Yes, I have both the SS and white gold rep models, but when you see the gen watches side by side, the difference is pretty noticeable. At least to me and I have heard the same from others. I know it is a relatively minor detail compared to some other things, but alot of modders like me go to great lengths to try to replicate every last detail. And after spending alot of effort to change things like crowns and crown guards, which in my opinion are less obvious give aways than the difference between white gold and stainless steel, I just want to cover all the bases.

I have never heard of that? Do you have a url?

Has anyone ever had a stainless steel rep plated with white gold? If so, can you tell me how the finished work turned out, who did the plating, what the cost was and if the gold plating held up over time? Some of my recent reps (like the Daytona) are so accurate that the stainless steel material they are made from is their weakest link and the thing I worry about most when wearing these watches. And since many of us here routinely dismantle our watches for mods, it seems only logical to take the next step to have the cases plated while they are apart. And the beauty of white gold, unlike yellow or red, is that if the plating comes off, the metal below (stainless steel) looks so similar that no one would ever know and the watch will not have to become a door stop just because it got scratched a few times.

You can Search for the brief review I did last month of the 116509 from Joshua (I think it is in the Dealer Reviews section). The morning after the review was written, the watch died -- stopped running. Joshua had me send it to his watchmaker in China and it came back a short time later, packaged well and in perfect working order (so far). I have 2 other 116520s and 1 is 2 years old and, other than the 'twitchy' seconds hand (they all seem to have this), no problems at all. But I should also say that I do not wear these watches very often. They were purchased more as jewels to be looked at than to be worn. But I do wind and run them (including the chrono for 5-10 minutes) regularly, at least once every month.

Please excuse my ignorance if this sounds silly, but could you use a high quality ink jet printer and print the dial on a CD/DVD label (they come in either gloss or matte finish, peel off and self-stick, and once applied they do not come off)? You could reprint (2 or more times) over those parts that need to be raised and then apply lume as needed. When complete, just peel and stick to a dial blank. With a scanner and photoshop, I would think you could copy and reproduce any dial exactly.

Looks perfect. When did your DW arrive (I am still waiting for mine)?

As long as you are aware of the potential problems with these movements, I would get the watch and enjoy it. I have 3 Daytonas that have the same movement. One is 2 years old and runs perfectly. I do not use the chrono often, but it has always worked when I have. The only one that caused trouble was the last, which I got last month. It just stopped running on day 3. The dealer (Joshua) told me to return it to his watchmaker in China and it arrived back less than 2 weeks later, very well wrapped and looking exactly the way I sent it -- except that it works again.

Daily Beater: Rolex/Comex no-date Sub Dress Casual: Patek Calatrava Grande Taille in Pt with white face and black leather strap, or Lange 1 in Pt with silver face, or Audemars Edward Piguet Tourbillon in red gold (sorry, cannot pick just one) Sport: Rolex Daytona (116509) WG with silver face Dress: Vacheron Les Essentielles Patrimony in Pt Vintage: Rolex 'Paul Newman' non-Oyster Daytona with black face and bezel on black leather Rolex strap

1. I have actually had more ETAs die than 'cheap' Asian movements (though I have also had many more ETAs than Asian movements).

Don't worry. The US Postal Service often cannot track a shipment coming from China until it reaches your local post office. In my experience, this usually occurs 7-10 days after "Your item was accepted in CHINA....". The day the tracking page updates, it will probably be delivered to your door. I know it is hard, but just be patient.

I was always told never to touch either type of spring with bare hands due to the likelihood of rust. But if you have not had any problems, then I guess things must have changed. Good to hear. Thanks Rob.

Thanks Pugs and Ubi.

I think it is mainly email itself that sends Bob off the deep end. He makes you jump through all sorts of chutes and ladders before he is even willing to accept an email from a customer. It has been my experience that he will usually respond if you follow his lengthy instructions to the letter. Usually, he refers callers to one of his subordinates (who often end up as relays, having to ask Bob for answers to callers' questions). But, to be fair, I have had a couple of very helpful conversations with him on those occasions when he was the one that answered the phone. And I have also had a couple emails similar to yours and one that had me wondering if it wasn't copied from the back of a Dr. Bronner's Magic Soap bottle (and anyone who is familiar with Dr. Bronner's knows we are talking MAJOR WEIRD here).

Thanks Rob, I will check JB for winders. Do you wear gloves or finger cots when winding springs by hand?

Thanks, Randy, I was going to ask you about the cost of that El Primero. I have been considering following in your footsteps for a future 16520 project. I have an unrelated question -- Would you consider using a similar El Primero for a Newman Daytona or just the 16520?

Just to head off another potential misunderstanding, the big selling point to MBWs (and similar) is that they are able to be fitted with genuine parts with little or no modification. These watches, while they are some of the more accurate reps available, are still not 'perfect', '1:1 or in any way an exact copy of the real thing. They are reasonably well built and can often accept many genuine parts, which makes them the best for modifiers to use as a starting off point. That is all. I know it sounds like a cop out, but you will save yourself alot of headaches (and costly buying mistakes) if, before you buy anything, you select one specific watch model and learn as much as you can about the real thing. Go to a dealer and try watches on. See how they look and operate. Believe me, the time you spend learning about the genuine article will pay for itself when you start comparing reps. Even the best (unmodified) rep looks and feels different than the real thing. And the only way to know a good rep from a bad one (or which inaccuracies you can live with and which you cannot) is to know what the genuine article is like. Once you are familiar with the real thing, learn as much as you can about the dealers here, the variations of the models each dealer offers (in some cases, there may be a dozen or more different variations of the same watch model, each with different pluses and minuses (and a few with a mixture)). It is good to ask questions, but you need to educate yourself so you do not end up asking the same basic questions that have been asked and answered countless times before (answers for which are accessible by way of the Search).

Rob - Is there a universal mainspring winder for ETAs (mainly 2836-2 & 2846) or do you have to purchase a separate winder for each ETA model? And can you recommend a source to purchase a winder?

Alligoat - What is the problem with the bezel that you cannot remove it?