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There ya go, R ... exactly what I had in mind.

Uh ohhhhhhhhhhh. Over $1,000 for reps? I feel The Moment coming ... The Moment when you realize what you were charged for what you got. Doubtless, a "Swiss AAA+ Quality" whatsits. My condolences, I'm sorry for your loss. Keep reading, you'll find you can get a truly awesome arsenal of watches for that amount.

Since "real" Tudors use decorated ETA movements, how hard would it be to engrave the Tudor stamps onto our garden variety ETA movements? I'm thinking the main plates, etc. Not the rotor.

MAGNIFICENT!!! What is that crystal?! It's driving me craaaaazy? MUST. HAVE. CRYSTAL. Say, did you notice the small artifact at the 3:00 position on your crystal? That's definitely a flaw and renders your watch worthless. Completely worthless, I say!! The horror!! Your only remedy is to take the crystal off and send it to me. Today! Now! Don't hesitate!!! (please please please please please please) Also, seriously this time, you can reshape your endlinks to match the lug profiles better, and reduce the jingling sound. On the underside are two little "ears" you can bend in to tighten it a bit. If that doesn't help you can also gently/carefully press the pointy "tips" on the topside inward while holding a pencil or screwdriver inside its curve, and create a narrower opening at the "clamshell". This takes a lot of caution and a lot of practice to get it right. Be careful.

Hello Melissa, and welcome. You'll find that these (cough) gentlemen will flock around you like moths to a light bulb, not unlike a girl showing up at a geek symposium. Not to draw an unfair correlation or anything... But you ARE as rare here as a Rolex 1036 24-hour GMT wheel (freddy will like that). First and foremost, read. Read A LOT. There is a ton to learn here, and we focus on information. We out scammers, support the good guys, and pick designs, flaws and improvements to death. And we do it with mutual respect. So you'll have loads of fun. Then once you've identified who the good sellers are and what good models they offer, load up your checkbook and go big. And be sure to post photos and your impressions of the pieces when they arrive. Welcome aboard!

Jesus, Joseph and Mary! Do you know what this is? It's the rumored, though never seen, BREVET CROWN GUARDS TUDOR! With two piece caseback, mind you. See for yourself, the ends of the CGs make a lovely "Brevet" plus sign when viewed at the right angle: Then there's the two piece caseback, cleverly designed to look like your garden variety, run of the mill Tudor Sub caseback. Here it is closed up: And here it is opened for all the world to admire: Only the well trained eye can make out the nearly invisible seam where the parts join up: What are you guys waiting for?!! This thing might be worth $5 some day! An investment opportunity like this comes along maybe once in a lifetime.

Did you say you're looking at building a 6538?

Understand, but perhaps it's just perception? I've just added 3 links to a Yuki 7206 band so I can wear it on my little tiny 37mm Sub and it looks great, to my prejudiced eye. Keeping this on topic, I bet that little 6536 was $99 brand new too! That means my little collection of gens is probably worth almost $500.

I have the original purchase receipt for this one, $225 out the door in 1971

......and we have access to a watchsmith that's intimately familiar with 1030/1035/1060/1065 movements too, eh? He brought mine back from the brink... highest possible recommendations!

Hey Ronin, Boulder Colorado? Sweeeeet! I spent some time there in the early 60s. Do you know where Martin Park is, next to Broadway, across the road from NCAR? Go look, there are some big old trees there I used to fall out of.

When the fishing is hot, the bears own the spot. How many can you spot in this picture down at McNeil falls? There were actually 76 bears there when this was taken.

Another photo, this is the worst I can make it look at the worst spot on the band. Give it a try gents, if I can do it with caveman tools, certainly you can do it with real tools.

I had several Yuki 7206s lying around, a plain and 2 "stretch" versions. I love the look of those pieces but they're all too tight for my wrist. And the stretchy ones pull out arm hairs. So last night I figured I might as well experiment since I wasn't going to wear them anyway. I used a thin blade flat screwdriver to open the folded middle section of a link near the clasp, and did the same on a stretchy band. Then I took 2 stretchy links out and inserted them into the opening I'd just made. Here comes the part where most failures occur: using the flat end of a slightly larger screwdriver blade against the folded up "wing" I'd made inside the band, I smacked the palm of my hand onto the screwdriver handle to peen the wing down again, like a flat punch. Then I opened the other side of the bracelet and did the same, inserting one more link on that side. I peened everything back down with my "hammer and punch" and checked my workmanship. In one place on one link you can barely make out the tiniest wave in the metal where I folded it open, then re-closed it. On the other side of the band you can barely make out a high spot where my "punch" went slightly too deep and folded the revealed face of the link out slightly. I mean slightly. Otherwise you'd never know I had it apart. And now it's plenty big for my wrist! Here's a photo of the finished job. I cleaned it up with some Flitz polish so it matches the finish of my vintage case. Enjoy!

You may be pleasantly surprised when the parts arrive. It might be that the tube will screw right into your case. I've had this happen, but still needed to relieve the case a bit so the "taper" of the tube could penetrate into the case a little bit. Hello Mister DeWalt cordless drill, and problem solved. 5 minutes, max. Good luck! Remember, if you venture into modding your case, you get one chance to do it right.

True, Ken. And yet we elected a President to the world's most powerful economy with zero business experience. In my humble opinion, we could open a phone book in any medium sized city, pick 100 names at random, and have a better Senate. Reading the Constitution, that's largely how the Framers envisioned it too.

Ah, Gran ... that's a common myth. Check this out: http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/viewSubCategory.asp?id=725

Congratulations on your first modding attempt! I like that fearless, hung-ho, jump right in attitude. I predict in 2 years you'll read this again and be amazed at where you started, and where you'll be then.

I couldn't afford any of the 5514 COMEX people have up for sale, so I made some other inquiries. Paul happened to be having another CRAAAAAZY SALE so I bought one from him, on a lark. This is what I received. I'm not real happy with the crown guards, otherwise not bad!

Ahhhhhh so you've seen that crown on EBay. We'll keep our eyes open for one.

Ding ding ding ding!!! We have a winner! Nicely done.

I was watching an episode of NCIS tonight, season 7, disc 5, episode 3, and at 38:25 into the episode Agent Gibbs flashes a very unexpected watch. Who can tell me what it is?

Hey bones we're just messing with ya. It's a beauty! One to be proud of.

No that seconds hand actually looks pretty darn nice. Now if was the Big Lollipop ...

I cannot tell a lie. This one.