RobbieG

No, don't let them mess with you. It is 100% authentic. I used to own it actually but I held back the warranty stuff just in case of something like this. I bought it new at Tourneau and it is all original except for the mini Fiddy crown I installed as a mod because I thought it looked cool. The whole story he posted is a lie about his Dad and all. Some people...Anyway, I still have the papers so if anyone snatches it up here I'll sell you them for a reasonable fee. Sorry I can't provide a pic of them, my camera's battery is dead.

This might be the singlle greatest quote ever on this board Pho. You kill me...

That is the most crinkled foot soles I think I have ever seen. Almost looks like the consistency of really overcooked chicken skins...

I'm a big fan of the PO. Mine is a 42MM and I have both the SS and rubber shoes. For the 45.5MM size I would suggest you get the rubber strap to start with as I think you will feel it wears much bigger on steel. The rubber on the 45.5MM UPO is just right for your wrist size IMO. Actually, I have 7.5" wrists and I love the 42MM, but the best rep available right now is the big one so I would go with that.

Has anyone in your group been looking at the potential fat tail implications for currency at all? We aren't really currency guys - save for very linear hedging algos but I would love to find the great trade in all of this. It certainly is far from cut and dried LT short biasing everyone is putting on. To be truthful I would like to find a way to scalp it on the London/New York fence for a series of days, flattening each block as I go if I could figure out what method I was going to use to trade it. I'm pretty comfortable with using short term volatility measures for intraday entry and exit signals but currency is kind of a paradox. Currency is very tough to scalp IMO. Almost too liquid to make sense of very short term. But I just know that is going to change soon but how to jump on the momentum without considerable risk expansion? I have to decide how I'm going to put it together. So let's hear from the absolute return guy. How would you trade the Dollar slide?

+1 Also, many of the box sets are only made by one factory and all the dealers have them so it is take it or leave it. I used to buy them all for pics over the years and most are pretty good really. The IWC's are pretty accurate. There is a great Vacheron one floating around. The modern Rolex boxes are kind of crappy quality wise, but then so are the gens. But they are pretty accurate too. I think the red Omega boxes and the Breitlings look pretty good too to me. I guess it depends what you want them for. Keep in mind also that boxes are going to be pretty accurate at one time but are slow to change. In other words, the box out now was accurate for some watch at some time but probably not all of them. For example, the white IWC sets out now are still sold with some gens but not all. The new AT boxes are hard black with silver trim in the center. The older ones were all black leather and smaller. You see the point. Each model may (and usually does) use a different box every year even though the watch hasn't changed. Hope that helps.

In honor of a new Aquatimer Cousteau variant hitting the market, I'm hanging with Lani today and the classic Ti Aquatimer... And tomorrow back to the "Personal" watch again. Becoming an extension of my arm more and more. True love...

And isn't that just a crystal clear, concise and purposefully unqualified way to state your opinion on the subject my friend. A young man who knows what he likes and doesn't want to hear otherwise. Good for you man!

I certainly can't agree with that. Knot thickness should be chosen based on the variables, plus a bit of current fashion correctness. And now, big knots and wide spread collars are very much in. Thinner knots are great with tight point collars, but then tight points with ties are very much out of style but very much in style without ties and worn open. A thin knot and a standard pinpoint collar would probably be considered a bit 80's at the moment. But then being retro is considered cool too so go figure. Still a thin tight knot just doesn't fill the space of a wide spread and as such it looks very unbalanced. In dress for me, since I tend not to follow trends as much is to stay very neutral and balanced and let the conditions dictate. A shirt that suits the jacket. A tie that suits the shirt. A knot that suits whole look and above all, nothing too extreme in any of it whether knots, colors, cuts, etc...

I'm talking about relative value - of course. The priciple currency market is of course a spot market which is simply an unregulated pile of participant banks. Everthing has intrinsic value since we express these values in pairs. So even if a currency gets to zero it can go the other way and theoretically be a negative number. This is unique in that the spot market doesn't exist with anything else. If every company in the 500 had worthless stock the index is zero and it isn't tied to anything else. It is very finite. Currency valuation though is always relative to something else. So while it might be zero against the Euro, it might be much more against the Franc. Every currency will always be worth something realtive to something else - even if it is worthless in terms of what it can buy. My point is there is always a trade there and someone will make money on its collapse. Even in the most extreme conditions history tells us someone always takes the other side of the trade. Period. Everytime your Dollars (or whatever your currency is) loses value, someone else makes money if they hold the other one and it is rising relative to it. It flows out of your pocket and into theirs - it does even if you are not participating by trading. Ouch. Currency is funny that way. So how to protect yourself? Hedging. Be long everything - including Dollars to make sure you don't get hurt by any one collapse. These risks always exist so I find it interesting that everyone seems to notice now only because the risks are extreme. Anyway the only way around this is if the currency ceases to exist and is pulled from circulation, but every nation needs a way to trade and buy and sell and an instrument. You can't erase the past by starting over so it may as well be the dollar as anything else. And it will be. We just might not like its valuation relative to others much in the near future. There is a collapse coming IMO but all this crazy stuff is just that. There is still going to be a country called the USA and the land mass isn't going anywhere. As long as it is here we, like all the other 3rd world countries (lol) will have a currency as a way to conduct "life" with each other and the world. It is tied to all we do. What the currency is or what it is called becomes irrelevant...

Kind of on the bone really...

You go ahead and do just that Lani. That is what makes this place so great - it is filled with individuals and we all have differing tastes. I do like the new one better that last years though. I think a lot of it comes down to brightness of colors. I like more subdued, pastelish color schemes if I'm going to get off black or white so to that end the first two are less "bright" colorwise. In any event, great pics of a what looks to be a great rep. Cheers!

Haven't heard that model name in a while. The short answer is no. I'm not aware of any being made today nor do I think they were ever repped. Maybe someone else will chime in. This is a very interesting specialty watch so for the member who are not familiar, here is a good primer... http://www.deskdivers.com/Site/PloProf.html

I would have to agree. It was all over for me after 2006. But I do like that one quite a bit. But the 44MM is a bit big for me given that it is all dial. Alas, speaking of the best years - how about the first? What I wouldn't give for one of these. The coolest JC ever IMHO...

Yeah I was really into mine when I first got it. Mine was a grey strap case and dial with yellow bezel. I've got to see if I can find a wristy pic of it somewhere. Cool memories. I got it the year that pic was taken. 1986. I was 18 that year which was the line came out. Fun stuff!

This is all great info and to each his own, but my feelings about Rollie DJ's and DD's wasn't really something I was trying to sell. I just wanted to know if everyone else has a more personal piece with history that trancends the collection. It sounds like the Rollies for you are the collection pieces or at least some of them, but what is the standout watch that means something to you that you would wear everday regrdless of whether or not you were a collector? There may not be one either. Not everyone has a real personal piece in their life I'm sure, but if you do I would love to hear what it is and why.

Decided to put this on for a bit today with some cargo shorts and a T...

Yeah man fire it up and resurect it. If had one I would for sure just for history's sake. Although I ceratinly would't resurect my image from 1986 shown here. Thank God for the blur tool - not because it hides my identity but because you can't see the eye make up. I can't believe now that chicks used to dig that. Go figure. They say all women are inherently lesbian so maybe that is why. Can't say as I blame them.

Oh, and I almost forgot, if any historians out there have any more advertising or celebrity related info that VC or any of the other big three have used over the years do tell. That stuff is always fun to look back on...

Amen to that brother. And the Daytona as much as the Sub, the DD, and DJ has earned that place in history. And like the others never weighs you down and always feels just right...

You all know what I think about the price of printing money. The black swans are congregating. But this guy is a nut of course. The collapse of the dollar is coming if we stay on this course, as will the world as we know it in turn but it isn't a plan to loot and no currency will ever be worthless. There is always a bid and an ask in all things. The whole world is benchmarked to its value so "an end" is no where near as simple as this guy paints. The hybrid currency is funny. No way it will fly. Makes no sense for anyone to do it or have faith in it. Diversification to a variety of currencies is a good idea though. Swiss accounts converted to CHF is a good place to start. It certainly can't hurt to have some money in a variety of coutries and in a variety of currencies. Diversification in troubled times is never a bad idea. Oh Chief?

Cool. No stigma really on the knot, other than that the Windsor is decidedly Brittish. The in style was also wide spread collars when the knot first came into use which fit the shirt. It is also good for formals as it is really symetrical and triangular - although the half Windsor is too and a bit smaller. So with a 2-button it is right with a spread collar shirt, but if the collar is tighter you might consider a Half Instead. Depending on your build a Half Windsor and more narrow collar coupled with the 2-button suit can make you look slimmer unless you are already slim and want to go the other way a bit. Bigger knots tend to balance out flat front trousers too. So do give those points some consideration. The full Windsor can look clunky with a more narrow collar so give that the most thought as well as the build stuff and then kind of average them all together...

Good point regarding Rolex. If you are young and not known to be or interviewing for a high income job this is probably true. I am guilty of it myself. If I am in a bank or something and see an employee who I know earns less than 40K a year wearing a Rolex I would think to myself right off the bat that it is a rep. And despite all I said above this could be an interview hinderance since if the guy thinks you are wearing a fake Rollie he might wonder why you thought it was important to show people you are rich. But if you are interviewing for a job that pays say $250K plus bonuses and you are wearing a Rolex, chances are the interviewer isn't going to think your watch is a fake for a second... So the salary is probably a good benchmark with age maybe a close second. The line is probably at around a hundred grand US and anything under is going to be on the fence as to whether the interviewer thinks it is a fake - even if it isn't. But that is of course limited to being a Rolex phenomenon because as you say, most everyone doesn't even know the other brands enough to even recognise them.

I have been pondering the new high end dress watches for some time and potentially using my wedding next year as an excuse to get something dressy maybe. Being primarily slanted toward sports watches as a collector it has been one part new and one part refresher course for me. I think we all tend to focus on sports watches more here for obvious reasons - given that most of the best reps are those and in steel and fit the budget profile that most of us figure to be able to pull off. But higher end dressy type watches tend to hit another part of the brain and I thought it would be cool to discuss it. When I consider these kind of watches I tend to consider things like timeless design, movement history and finishing details, history of the brand, advertising goals, exclusivity, etc. and virtually none of those things come into consideration when choosing a sports watch for me. That said, I also tend to seperate the Swiss brands from the German ones and put them in two distinct piles that way. For me, Lange is the clear winner in the German camp. They are almost utilitarian to a fault and for some reason I never consider them to be well rounded. Amazing though - just really different than the Swiss stuff. Don't get me wrong, the German brands are sort of more perfect even in some ways, but almost too perfect lacking the soul of the Swiss stuff. But that is probably left to another discussion... Of all the Swiss brands I'm sure most would agree that the cream at the top will probably be confined to a few key brands: Vacheron Constantin, Patek Phillipe, Audemars Piguet being in the top three - although some may consider Breguet, Blancpain, JLC, etc. as well. For me I would have to say that nothing moves me more than VC for a few reasons. First is history. VC is the longest continual running Swiss brand dating back to 1755. Other brands have started earlier, but revamping a dormant brand in the 80's is not the same. Actually, that is kind of a pet peave of mine when brands trade on their history and then you find out that they were out of buisness for 200 years and then started up again. What is the point of the original date if that is the case? Anyway, I also like that VC they have never changed anything in terms of corporate direction since then. No "new directions", major design changes, etc. since inception. Finishing is suburb as well. In fact, I one had a watchmaker tell me that VC had the highest level of finish he ever saw on parts you don't see and that everything in the movement was finsihed to the same level as the visible parts. I also love that VC has never done celebrity endorsements of any kind. That is another pet peave of mine. What is the point of an endorsement? If you pay someone to wear it what does that say about you or the wearer as it relates to the watch? Nothing. Design wise, VC always hold my interest as well. I find all but the most complicated Patek's to be too plain and stodgy for my taste and AP models like the Millenary to be too funky to hold that real classic feel as much as I love them. I also love that the line os not protracted with a bunch of watches that all look the same. That was one thing, BTW that always annoyed me about Breguet. There are just so many of those classic watches that are all basically the same. With VC, There are really just two cases for the round dress watches - the Malte and the Patrimony and they are only varied by complication without any duplication with regard to sizes, etc. I also have always liked their advertising approach which is focused on seeing how VC fits into the major progress events of mankind and through them all they were never shut down. One of my favorites is, as mentioned by a freind of mine on another forum, VC was already 150 years old when man discovered DNA and was over 200 years old when we landed on the moon, etc. Finally I like that they strived to keep the numbers of dealers and annual production down. There is just an air of exclusivity about them. You just don't see them in every AD or on as many wrists as the others. They also have the lowest annual production of the big three at less than 15K as compared to Patek at over 40K and AP at around 30K. So anyway, there is my consideration for choosing VC as my favorite of the old time high end brands. So, my fellow RWGers, what is your fav and why? My three favs: A Patrimony Traditionalle Small Seconds, The Malte handwound column wheel chronograph, and the Malte Power Reserve. Enjoy...

Yeah - kind of a carry over from some other posts with Nanuq. He sees bears alot - takes pics of them, etc. and so I was thinking maybe in alaska they just skip over the canines and have Grizzlies intead. After all, even a Grizzly has canines. Look - there they are in the pic. Plus, Alaska people are so tough they probably aren't even afraid of bears. You kind of have to be pretty rugged to live with the sun either being out all day and night or gone all day and night from my experience there a few times.