RobbieG

Falling in love again with the Gen Datejust. Full pictorial soon. So comfortable, classic and elegant. Makes me smile...

Some folks had asked that I shoot my rhodium roman Datejust and I made an attempt today and ran out of time and since I started too late, good light. But I hate to have even something and not post it so here goes. I really love this watch. So substantial despite its size, yet elegant. Love it with any long sleved shirt - and not just suits (Not that I wear them anymore anyway). BTW, it wears way bigger than you think and these things go with anything and due to the brushed and polished surfaces look like a trillion dollars on the wrist. Bling city, but not a friggin clock so it plays very classy despite - and way less pimpish - LOL... A full pictorial will follow as well as a comparison to the best reps around as well. In fact, I just sold my rep of this a few days ago. This is an M serial and as such made this year. The only real difference between the gen in the rep is that the newer cases have slightly wider lugs giving the appearance of a larger watch. The rep is still based on the early F serial profile which has a case with more narrow and tapered lugs more like the Day Date. Of course that case is also correct for an older watch. The gen has applied white gold numerals and white gold/rhodium hands and dial. The rep dial is not really rhodium and as such isn't as rich in grey color, nor does it have the very subtle mauve and blue and bronze overtones which are seen at many angles on the gen. But you would never notice those details unless you held the gen side by side. The bottom line is that they don't get much press, but the best quality DJ reps are some of the most accurate out of the box watches around. Sorry about the quick and dirty pics and they kind of suck with no good setups or post processing, but I figured I would post what I had until I have a chance to finish what I started. Enjoy...

I really love it but I find that I wear it in less dressy situations - although usually with long sleves casual shirts. It is AMAZING in every way and yes, I wear it a lot. It does wear big though. About like an FA Jones but the subdial contrast breaks it up better. Will try and shoot it soon as well.

Nice man. Really, really nice.

A lot of members are into that vintage Fify lately. I'm going to have to check that one out. It seems like every maker is doing a vintage dive watch these days. I also love the Breitling Heritage, but in keeping with my smaller theme of late, I actually prefer the small seconds 38MM version with the mesh bracelet...

I love it - the 42MM that is. The 45MM is just a completely different watch and in comparison is less accidentally refined. The watch was designed as a 42MM and the 45MM is an after thought to be big just for the sake of being big. I realize that some love that piece, but they are not the same watch in any way really. But hey, huge watches are in so for the time being it is holding up well, thanks in part to Casino Royal for starters and Clooney and the Olympians recently. The 45MM holds up best on rubber IMO. I agree that it can't be dressed up in either size. Steel, Rubber, or Leather and only OEM will do. It doesn't want to be a versatile watch in that sense. It is like a Sub that way but less common. I love it for all the reasons you mentioned but the key thing to remember is that this watch is special BECAUSE it isn't so special. Understated. And finally, to me it is of no consequence that a watch gets overmarketed - particularly with sporting events. The fact that I see more and more of them only punctuates its success in design. The PO has actually started to cross over in that Omega is now getting more positioning with the Hollywood set much in the way Breitling has been recently. Again, not that I care but I think it is a nod to the succes of the PO's design. It is the watch that has the brand going places so good for them. In a nutshell: 1. The brushed bracelet and polished surfaces on the case 2. The AR makes the matte dial stand out and be really, really deep black 3. The indices are large and interesting and the lume is amazing 4. The hands are just the coolest. I love that they are cartoonish actually 5. The fit, finish and overall value are really hard to beat at the price point. Aint she purty?

Personally, I have always thought you had the coolest and most focused collection on the boards. I kind of went in more of a gen direction but I always wished I had the patience and skills for modding you have. If I had the time and inclination I'm sure I would have moved into frankens to create world class pieces instead of just buying gens. Hats off to ya brother...

Good stuff Phoband. That cream dialed UN Maxi Chrono is really cool in the flesh - although i prefer it on the bracelet myself. The cream with rose gold is a great combo too, except that UN in my opinion has the worst rose gold color/mix I have ever seen. Rose has to be just right or it looks bad IMO. Anyway, keep em coming guys. As I said the differences in tastes is really cool to see...

I like the gen OEM leather but the rivets look really interesting as well. I would love to see a black version with stark white contrast stitching to match the white on the watch. One of the standouts about the Skyland dial and why in part that it really pops if the contrast between the white numerals and the black dial which is over exagerated by the AR. Pure white stitch in the strap agaist a black color would really tie the whole watch in with the bonus of the rivets and a big, thick, squareish PAM/pilot hybrid style look. Cool...

Yeah, slimming down. Seems like you and I are both pondering the less is more thing lately Ubi...

I think this may be a good time for a repost of this oldie but goodie... My name is Inigo Montoya. You insulted my Submariner. Prepare to die. Just kidding. These both seem to be nice Subs to me - but then again I don't own a Sub so what the hell do I know?

...in the next five years. In other words, name your grail watches - or some of them that you could see yourself adding one or more or all of to your collection in the next five years. This is always fun to ask yourself what you would really buy. For some members there is no crossover and their gen list is limited to watches there are no good reps of. Others own the reps and want the gens anyway. It is always fun to see thediversity of tastes Try to limit it to stuff that is on your mind and make it realistic. As an example, I would of course like to own a Breguet double tourby, but watches over 300K are not in my price range obviously. OK I'll start with the next five that are on my list in no particular order. I have a lot of sports watches that I wanted so now I'm into some more interesting and different things that are beyond my usual box. The hole in my collection is in smaller and dressier pieces for the most part... 1. IWC Jubilee Series Vintage Aquatimer SS/Rubber 2. Lange 1 or Grande Lange 1 PT/Silver/Black Leather 3. PAM 00098 GMT/Alarm SS/Brown Leather 4. Chronoswiss Tora Chronograph SS/Black Dial/Whisky Leather 5. VC Malte Power Reserve or Patrimony Small Seconds WG/Silver/Black Leather

Yeah I was right there not too long ago. And I was doing all this with genuine watches to boot most recently which got insanely expensive. I would just take a liking to something and just buy it especially when traveling. It was through all this that I finally decided what I wanted my collection to be about and sold off about half of them initially. I bought them all right so the losses were uneventful. Now I have a new rule that I really have to let something incubate in my mind for at least three months before pulling the trigger to insure that I really will wear it and it qualifies as something needing a permanent place in my collection. I went from thirty watches to fifteen, then to twelve and now eleven soon to be ten. Ultimately the core collection will be at 8 or so "everyday" type watches and then I'm leaving room for some exceptional ones that will maybe trickle in at the rate of no more than one per year. All in all though, even if I decided to go off again and just buy all my leftover grails tomorrow that I don't already have, I'm betting I wouldn't buy but three or four more pieces. If I can't complete a rotation and love them all so much I couldn't live with skipping any one's turn, I won't own it. It just got to the point where for both reps and gens I didn't even know why I owned them anymore after the third day. So sure I definitely have the tendency but I'm just not going to allow myself ever to have an "addiction" collection again.

I think I'm gonna grab one of these. Can someone toss me a link to Homer's site. Is he selling these on The Bay now? Or does he still have his old site up?

+1. Isn't it great that because of this (ese) forums the number of competitive dealers has increased? Even if the so called Cartel is guilty of what some say there is always another alternative. I mean I think Andreww said another dealer had the same watch for $275 - vs what was it $358? What a big difference. The bottom line is each buyer can shop around and decide which price / dealer combination works best for them in terms of quality & service and long term relationship or whatever. As a side note, let's all not forget that the last item I mentioned is maybe the most important to many here. Some think these watches are all cheap - whether $275 or $358 or anything in between and would rather stick with who they know for such a little price differential before thinking of switching to another dealer. I know I have my favorite dealer who will remain nameless for purposes of this discussion and I'm going to buy from him every time even if there is a dealer with a price a hundred dollars cheaper or more. I like my dealer's service and always have so price is but a minor issue for me. I'm sure there are many here that feel the same way. We have to be careful not to make the mistake in thinking that each member is as price sensitive as the next. Many people could care less and just want the piece of mind from buying from the dealer that THEY trust. That dealer may actually even be mistrusted by another group of members for other reasons. It is all really cool if you ask me and unique to reps due to the illegal factor. Personal (not group) trust is what is important. Rep buying is a very personal experience...

It is a Ulysse Nardin Maxi Marine Diver. Here is a "posed" photo in case you are unfamiliar...

Nice Noel. Looks like the end links fit really good...

I'm in. Waiting out the storm at the office. Oh hell, I basically live here anyway these days. I hardly go home anymore. Much more fun in boys town and all the comforts of home but better. 1700 sq ft of pure testosterone. Here we have a pool table, all the video games, foosball, air hocky, big plasmas in every room, guitars, a full kitchen and catered food, a gorgeous assitant and - WATCHES! Lots and lots of nice watches - like this one:

You may also want to check out his pilot watches as well. Very cool. Three different cases in 42MM and 45MM size with several dial and strap options as well.

As promised, here is the full pictorial. Again, this watch was a project custom built by T, also known as Tourby, at Hagen in Westfalen, Germany and is constructed of all German and Swiss parts. It has a genuine enamel dial, double AR crystals front and back, genuine flame blued steel hands and bridge screws, a hand decorated ETA 6498 movement, and a handmade bony crocodile strap. The watch was a replacement for a stolen Chronoswiss Minute Repeater that was owned by my Father and I. No strike train in this one, but its spirit is very much alive. I can't say enough about the quality as it is absolutely WORLD CLASS and has a fit and finish (believe it or not) right there with the AP Millenary and Jaquet Droz pieces - for about 5% of the cost. If you are in the market for a low cost genuine watch check out all of T's offerings at www.tourbywatches.com. There is something for everyone there. I have found enamel dials very difficult to photograph in the past and this was no exception. All my watches are shot without a light box and with natural light. The polished bezel also presented some challenges due to the angle of its edge. Oh well, I think these are marginal at best and I wish I could say they do the piece justice. They don't. But I hope you enjoy them just the same...

Cool site. Thanks uncle Frank. ..bet you didn't know I call you that because of your Avatar Mr. Zappa...

Solid gold in a rep is a REALLY bad idea to try and pursue. You are just asking to get robbed. Do yourself a favor and stick with TT if you must have gold and live with its flaws. Better yet, stick with steel. There are no shortcuts to solid gold in the rep game. Yes, there are watches that have been repped in solid gold but they will still be expensive and are virtually worthless on the secondary market if you have an issue with it, unless you want to melt it down and make a bar out of it - only to find a grey base metal inside filled with lead...LOL.

A lot of little questions here, but the big answer is yes, $300 gives you a lot of watch for the money relative to the genuine counterpart in at least the PO and 111 camps. Assuming that you can source watches with genuine ETA movements, with proper service both of these should last a lifetime as the movement is always going to be responsible for longevity or lack thereof. The 45MM PO is more accurate than the 42MM and there are some great offerings in the 11 range as well. Suffice it to say that the accuracy should be more than adequate as well. Both the AR and lume are usually going to require upgrading and the cost including labor for both double AR and reluming the dial will probably average $250 or so per watch, with $150 or so going to the lume and a hundred or so going to the double AR crystal work and the labor to remove it and reinstall it in your watch. So the real price is now $550 or so for a PO or 111 that is as genlike as can be without jumping into gen parts and/or stuff like crowns, CG's, hands, etc. So when you compare say $550 running at less than 10% of the gen PAM or around 25% of the value of a gen PO you can draw conclusions from there. A rep which costs upward of a quarter of the cost of the gen for some is absurd and for others it makes sense. I'm sure the Oris probably falls in this range too? Certainly a nicely modded 111 when compared to the gen is the most tempting being that usually gen PAMs don't get discounted much and with the ability to swaps straps, etc. it makes for a lot of versatility. I might suggest getting a closed back PAM to you though as then you can have a stock real ETA 6497 movement in it without getting into the hybrid China bridges and such in the display backs. Plus those movements never look right anyway. Maybe an PAM 1 might be a better choice? Mod it up a little with the cannon pin fix & superlume (no AR is needed) and you will have a pretty good rep that should last a lifetime with proper service. Also of note is that those particular movements (if true Swiss) are just bulletproof. My local watchmaker and I were looking at a watch yesterday and he was joking saying that 6497's actually run better when they are dirty. LOL. Hope that helps you in your journey. These choices are never simple and there is lots to think about.

There is a comedian around every corner these days...

Cleaning up the Bucket and found these. I used to have the GST Ti too back in the day. I was gonna do a 7750 transplant in it but lost interest and sold it. Still have the 7750 though and I have to figure out what watch to buy and put it in. Any sugggestions?