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Good point, Freddy. Also, that gen clarity gives you dramatic rainbow internal refractions in strong sunlight. Roll your wrist back and forth and you'll see all kinds of colors produced within the crystal itself.

Again, Ubi goes above and beyond.

That's it, I don't like the tenor of this discussion so I'm locking it down! Seriously, I think we need to distinguish between vintage and contemporary Rolex too. I love vintage models because the domed crystal takes me back to bathyspheres and Cousteau and Jules Verne and Sealab and mini-subs with thick plastic portals. They remind me of a simpler era of being underwater and looking out through a bubble or a face shield at a different world. Nowadays we have dive computers and ultra high-tech gear. Back then it was an engraved no-decomp table on your watch's bezel. Now the gear is supposed to compensate for your mistakes, back then you were expected to have some chops before you got wet. Sure the new stuff is nice, and some might see it as a status symbol. Expensive and flawless. So new Rolexes fit that mindset (IMHO). It's all about high tech. Vintage models remind me of when diving was an acquired skill. Now you can get "certified" on a beach in an afternoon and the gear will save your bacon. My buddy used to complain that he hated his SD crystal because he had to lick it to read it through all the scratches. The new flat sapphires aren't like that. To me, that captures the whole deal right there. So yes, I like vintage Rolex because it's a heck of a tough watch. And I wouldn't wear a new, contemporary one if you gave it to me. Likewise, I don't like the vintage chronos because there's too much "stuff" that you don't need.

Boy it's a tough call but I'd say aftermarket. Here's another idea, try looking at it in strong sunlight with polarized sunglasses. Do you see rainbow Moire patterns? Most of my gen domes produce those, but cheap or aftermarket domes don't.

A high dome gen 39 or 19 will have optical properties like this... smooth rate of distortion increase as you progress from center to the edge. No sudden increases in refraction. Here are some comparison shots... which dome is gen, and which is aftermarket? That's a Helfand's "flat" 39 in next to them. Here's the original thread from a few years ago: Tropic 39 Comparison

Wow, if this was originally an MBW case, you have perfectly captured the look and shape of an old, well loved pair of SD crown guards. Just perfect. Wow! Here's mine.

Wow, wow, wow! The start of the craze. So next time you're scrounging and come up with a gen bezel you can't use ... let me know.

Roger that! My wife and I have doing a music and puppets thing with kids for 26 years and we've found that kids nowadays need constant visual and tonal stimulation to keep them focused on us. Their attention span between "events" is maybe 10 seconds, about the duration of a "scene" in a TV show, and we have to switch, switch, switch to keep them participating. Ten or twenty years ago they would be enthralled for minutes, now the action has to come fast to keep their attention. I think you guys have it figured out... make it quality unhurried time with them and their learning experience will be dramatically better, and their ability to focus will increase exponentially. You'll find that ability will be rare in their peer group.

It's important to teach your kids to love reading instead of just learning how to read. First you read TO them, then you read WITH them, then you listen to them read to YOU. Create an environment where the kids love to spend time with you, and reading just happens to happen while you're with them in that environment. It will produce a love for reading, and then one day they will begin to pursue reading on their own. I did this with my kids and I didn't realize it but they had every one of their books memorized and if I weaseled out and tried to skip a page they'd call me on it every time. Now the kids are nearly grown and they're both voracious readers, everything from memorizing poetry to quantum theory to fractional geometry to genetics. They always come to me with new things they've read about, and now they are challenging me to step up to the plate and keep up with them as they read. This has accomplished the ultimate goal: the kids pursue reading on their own, and they love it. What kids need most of all is spending time with you, not with a TV set. So it's up to you to give them the one thing that only you can provide: create a comfortable and pleasant environment where you can sit with them and do something pleasurable like reading. That time with you will be precious, and the things that you did in that precious time will become immeasurably valuable to them.

Omega? Was there an Omega in the picture?

Nice! But I cannot help noticing the BP is running fast compared to the 5514. Simply unforgivable! I don't know how you can bear it. Please send it to me (either one) and I'll eliminate the concerns for you.

Rubber straps are definitely hazardous to your health. Those straps come on dive watches and collecting dive watches will ruin your health and put you in the poorhouse. Trust me on this one!

Here's a silver datewheel. Note how it's brighter than the rest of the dial. The silver reflects a CRAZY amount of light.

Hey I'm happy when my bezel doesn't fall off once a week. Pick your battles.

Thank you, sir! Knowing the Antiquorium-like quality of your stable, that means a lot. Hopefully I can pull this beauty back from the brink, to live another fifty years.

Spectacular! So YOU'RE the one that beat me to it... you dirty rat. Wear it well!

*bump* Still for sale...

Thanks Dizz, wait till you see the story of the quest for gen Superdome Tropic 39s. It's a classic. The Trail

Arming myself with a snifter of Amarula, I approached the workbench. To my left lay the dubious crown, before me lay the printed instructions from Freddy. Clenched in my trembling hands was the glass of Amarula. Sweat appeared on my forehead. I felt my pulse increase as my blood pressure rose. Fitting the magnifying glasses to my eyes, I took a deep breath and prepared myself. What disaster awaits? What victory? I took a gulp of Amarula, and picked up the crown. Tiny it was, in its stainless magnificence. Tiny, and yet enormous in its accumulated heritage. A Swiss Brevet. My hands trembled. What Would Ubi Do? It went through my mind over and over, like a clarion call to excellence. I knew what Ubi would do. The die was cast. So I grasped the crown, Freddy style, between my increasingly weak thumb and index finger. My entire being screamed at me to RUN!! LEAVE!!! ESCAPE!!!! I gasped for breath, and the room grew dark in my peripheral vision. I felt my strength escaping, but knew I had one chance to slay the beast. One chance to answer the question, one chance to redeem myself. So I squeezed. A hush fell over the workbench, and somewhere an angel sang. The sun broke out from behind a cloud, and lo... the spring compressed. Giddy I was, overwrought with perspiration and adrenaline! THE SPRING WORKED!!! It was a jubilant moment, now engraved in the stone of time. The crown had proved its mettle and I knew I had a winner. So now it wings its way to a distant land, where magician's hands will perform a transplant worthy of the Mayo Clinic. Photos will ensue upon its return.

Brevet is in da house! What do you guys think? It looks brass on the inside, wrapped with stainless, has a hex threaded piece jammed in the center of the crown. The rubber seal sits inside the crown where it's supposed to, and the threads all look good. It threads perfectly onto the tube. I don't have a way to check yet to make sure the spring inside the crown is good. Now off to the workbench!

Another free trip around the Sun! It couldn't happen to a nicer couple-a chaps.

Jumpin' Jehoshaphat! Someone got the deal of the decade! Lani? Is that you??

Would that be.... Ubtube?

Where's the sneak previews?

I dunno if I'll have anything to offer, it never gets dark up here in the summer. This photo was taken at 9min after midnight on Solstice.