tabularasa415

Wooot! I'm jealous....

I understand having trouble picking up these vintage fitted bracelets, but what about modern bracelets like a 931500 for my new TW BK sub? Is ebay the only choice there? I have a noob sub bracelet coming that has hollow mid links and was going to try to do what chefcook did (fusing the two together -- taking the clasp and tight fitting end links from the bracelet that comes with the watch and installing the midlinks from the noob bracelet), but how hard would it be to get my hands on a genuine bracelet and what kind of $$$ would I be looking at?

I actually just bought a rep due to the fact I'm attracted to the gen. I figured I'd give it some wrist time before purchasing one. My problem is I want the white face with blue hands that seems to be getting harder and harder to find in the gen world... We'll see. Stay tuned for photos of the rep I have coming from Joshua!

Thanks guys. I suppose one way or another it's eventually going to have to be serviced. I think I may have found a good watchmaker relatively close to home (within 60 miles) so I may let him service one of my swiss reps before I send him any gens.

I'm going to have to look into this as I have a TW on the way...

I want one!!!! Where can I find it?

So, I have a new replica on the way from Joshua, my first watch purchased from him. I have read on many threads about having asian clone movements serviced and cleaned due to the lack of sterility in their working environments and whatnot (I'm quoting The Zigmeister as a source here, among others). What about this watch that I've bought with an ETA 2892-2? Should I have this watch serviced and cleaned, or should it be ok since I spent the extra on a good movement? Any opinions here? I'm hoping some of you can weigh in on your experiences.

Razor for the balls. Smoothness they love for those teabag moments :-X

this thread genuinely makes my head ache.

"I never pay retail." "It's either this or drugs." "Sign me the fuk up." I agree with all of these. But, honestly, I have some gens and I have some reps and what I enjoy most out of this hobby is the comradery I get from all you sons-of-bitches

Daniel Mink makes a nice one. I have one. They're quite affordable. You can pick them up from $350-800ish from the AD.

So, I really tried to concentrate on this article, but then I simply found myself totally absorbed in studying your collection :-P

I almost fell victim, too. And then I found RWG (insert heavenly noises here).

Rolex Submariner for sale What would you pay for it, as a good deal for the buyer?

Ebay auction Aqua Terra This is my model... white face, blue markers and hands. I think the price is a little high (from other models I've seen), but I think this is the coolest look :-)

Why It's Okay to Hate Rolex by James Dowling Posted by James M. Dowling on February 10, 1998 at 22:24:33: It's a free world, you can love or hate any one or any thing that you choose. However the point that I would like to make is that a little research might convince even the most ardent critic of Rolex (or of the folks who wear them) that in this case a little tolerance might be no bad thing. Let us first look at the facts and then turn our view upon the perception. 1. To all intents and purposes, Rolex invented the wristwatch, as we know it. Sure there were companies making and marketing the things before Rolex burst upon the scene in 1905. But none of them put the effort that Rolex did into this new market. The reason for this is that the older companies could see no reason to change; they had major investments in plant and machinery designed specifically to make pocket watches. So why should they change. Rolex had nothing, no history, no factory and most importantly no tradition. So the only option open to them was that of being an innovator; and the innovation they chose was the wristwatch 2. Rolex without doubt invented the waterproof wristwatch; again as with all their other advances, they were not the originators of the concept. But they were the people who made it work, the screw down crown was a classically simple concept and Wilsdorf had the genius to see the simplicity and make it work for the company. 3. Once again with self-winding mechanisms, Rolex saw the way the market was going, saw the mistakes all their predecessors had made and neatly sidestepped them all. Whilst many other competing self winding systems have arisen in the 65 years since Rolex introduced the Auto Rotor system, the vast majority of all automatic watches now use a version of the Rolex concept. 4. However despite all of the above reasons, my opinion is that the greatest advance Rolex have ever made is their decision to gain chronometer certification for a few and then for almost all their watches. In the days before Rolex instituted this program, every watch manufacturer TALKED about the accuracy of their watches; but Rolex were the first people ever to have the accuracy proved by an independent agency. Before the advent of quartz watches; accuracy was in direct relationship to the cost of the watch; therefore people wanted to know that their watch was really accurate. Rolex gave them that assurance. 5. Nowadays we are all used to the concept of Tool watches, that is watches designed for a particular job or hobby; you know the sort of thing...diving watches, sailing watches, pilot's watches etc. Well Rolex invented that concept too. The Submariner, the GMT Master and the Milgauss were all pioneers in this field. 6. Being waterproof and shockproof long before the rest of the watch industry was, Rolex became the natural choice of sports people who needed a watch. From this starting point they then moved to make watches FOR sportsmen; this moved the Tool watch concept on a little further. Watches such as the Explorer 1 and 2 were targeted at climbers and cave explorers, they were simple timepieces but with high visibility dials and very strong cases. Once again they created a market and defined it. 7. They are, by far, the most innovative of all the Swiss watch companies; as well as all the new ideas mentioned above; Rolex have always pursued a long term development strategy. They have patented more than a thousand advances in horology during their 90+ year history. 8. Rolex is now the most self-sufficient watch company in Europe; they make all their own movements (apart from chronograph movements), all their cases, all their bracelets and all their crystals. They own most of their distributors and have no shareholders (as all the shares are held by 2 family trusts which have charitable status) because of this they can pursue long term goals without fear. 9. They are, without doubt, the largest Swiss watchmaker. Producing around 800,000 watches a year, they still sell every watch they make. They are dependent on no single market, one could really say that the world is their OYSTER!!!!!!!! (sorry) 10. Perhaps the one problem they do have is that they have become a victim of their own success. Whilst the company has not changed its design philosophy; their public perception have changed. Whereas Rolex made its name with sports watches and still makes more of them than any other kind of watch; many people think of diamond encrusted Day-Dates when they hear the name Rolex. However this is not the fault of the company. 11. Rolex have the longest single continuous ownership of any Swiss watch company; having been owned by the same two families (and its successor trusts) for its entire existence. During this time the company has essentially had only 2 chief executives (the third came to power in 1997). Both of these factors have enabled the company to steer in an uninterrupted course throughout its history. 12. Many people whine about the cost of a new Rolex; they forget 2 things. Firstly Rolex manage to sell every watch they make (so obviously SOME people do not think they are too expensive). Secondly, no-one was ever forced to buy a Rolex watch; it is a decision people make with their own free will and their own money. In the end, the free market rules everything. 13. It is difficult to talk about Rolex watches without talking about resale value; in simple terms Rolex (new or used) retain a higher percentage of their cost than any other production Swiss watch. Everything from the no date Submariner all the way to the President can be resold in an instant anywhere in the world, for very good money. Also, if the watch was bought used, it is quite possible to wear a Rolex for 2 or 3 years and sell it for the same price you paid for it. Apart from the cost of the money invested, essentially that makes it a free watch. 14. One of the reasons to buy a Rolex may well be one of the best, but undoubtedly one that no-one ever thinks of: it is that most of the profits made through the sale of the watches go to good causes. As mentioned above, the company is owned by two family trusts. The larger one (the Wilsdorf family trusts) gives a fixed sum to the remaining members of his family but the majority is given to charitable causes; including a high school in his home town and the watchmakers school in Geneva. This gives rise to the thought that if it were not for the substantial profits made by Rolex, there would probably be no Franck Muller; because it was at the Geneva watchmaker's school that Muller learned his trade. As I said in the introduction, if you want to hate Rolex; then be my guest but at least I hope when you do you will at least give the devil his due. Please note the above is copyright James M. Dowling 1998; reproduction & distribution prohibited without written permission from the author.

I was initially brought to the forum on my search for the best replica Submariner I could find for the $$$. Of course, after a great deal of reading that left me to BK's Watch Garage. I placed an order for a WM9 v3, but to my chagrin, they were all gone. Of course, BK offered me his newest eddition, the TW gen style Submariner replica. My question is have any of my RWG brothers ordered BK's newest edition in the form of the TW? If so, have you had a chance to compare it against the WM9 v1, 2 or 3? I have a TW being built for me now. Is a genuine crown, insert and after market tube worth the upgrade? How about a genuine bezel insert? Thanks for the replies that I'm sure are to come... relying on all of your wisdom here

Woot! I was waiting for just one person to say that and make me feel good about the purchase! haha. Thank you, kind sir.

So, here goes my first official post... Being new to the forum, I want to make sure that I contribute to the community. While new, I've been reading non-stop and I have to say this a group of really good people. I joined because there are a few watches that I wanted to research before I purchase reps of, and boy am I glad I joined! I've learned a lot very quickly. This particular post, however, is about my purchase of a (supposedly) genuine Tag Heuer Carrera Calibre 5 Automatic from ebay. Also, it should be noted that this would be my first purchase of a watch from ebay due to all of the horror stories I've read about. Here is a link to the still-fresh auction I won -- ebay auction I live by the phrase "buy the seller first." I sent a couple of e-mails to this fellow and felt him out a bit. As you can see, he doesn't buy and sell a lot of watches which I took to be a good sign. In the first e-mail I'd sent him I complemented the watch and asked him what he was replacing it with and he replied with a Grand Carrera. I took that he knew something about TAGs to be a good sign. Even though the pictures are far from decent, I thought the fact that this watch had, what seemed to me, a non-google-able serial# was a good sign as well. The rest is obviously history. I received the watch in a condition described by the seller. The bracelet had definitely seen some action. I decided to take it to my local AD for a professional polish and to seek out the head nod from their master watchmaker. Now, I asked my sales person to make sure the watchmaker was sure that it was a gen before I shelled out the $$$ to polish the bracelet and I was told he called the AD to tell them he was sure it was, but would have to charge me $75 for a formal appraisal if I wanted it in writing (which I really didn't want to do). I had chatted here with signumboy who had unfortunately purchased a rep model identical to mine off of ebay under the pretense that it was a genuine. He gave me a few "tells" to look for and when I went to the AD to pick up my watch I took my loupe with me. An aside: Have you ever noticed how nervous jewelers become when they're trying to sell you a piece and you pull out your own loupe? Anyhow, signumboy told me the first tell was the serial# as most all of the reps he had been privy to had the same serial#. Obviously my watch passed that first test. The others were the second hands on the gen were slightly longer than on the rep and the markers on the gen are slightly broader. Also, the date window should be beveled. Well, I forced my sales associate to pull a gen out of the case for me and sat there and compared them for about 10 minutes. Everything seemed as though it should and everything looked the same under the loupe. To sum it up, I think I was very LUCKY. Here are the pictures of my watch. Note how nicely the bracelet came out, but now I'm noticing tiny little scratches on the case! I guess I'll have to have it done as well :-) By tabularasa415 at 2011-01-20 By tabularasa415 at 2011-01-20 By tabularasa415 at 2011-01-20 By tabularasa415 at 2011-01-20 By tabularasa415 at 2011-01-20 By tabularasa415 at 2011-01-20 By tabularasa415 at 2011-01-20 By tabularasa415 at 2011-01-20 By tabularasa415 at 2011-01-20 By tabularasa415 at 2011-01-20 By the way, I would like to thank signumboy for his consulting as well as Drulee for his sage advice and wisdom!

Just when I think I'm a nerd.... :-)

Agreed! When I bought my first gen I treated like I treated my car after I bought it... baby-ed all the way... and then I came to the realization that it's still just a watch and that I will surface scratch the bracelet on occasion. But just like having my car clay-barred, I can have my bracelet polished :-D

I have a couple Perrelet watches and I love them. Fortunately for me the cheaper models are my favourites... complications double rotor is the best!

I did get lucky... and I mean lucky. I JUST bought a TAG Carrera Automatic Calibre 5 used from a gentleman in West Virginia. Some desk dive swirls on the bracelet (took it to the local TAG dealer and had it sent off to the watchmaker for a bracelet refinish at $50), but everything else looked great. The guy I bought it from received a Grand Carrera so he decided to sell. He spelled Carrera "carerra." I honestly think that, combined with his awful pictures worked in my favor. I talked to him beforehand and he was personable and seemed to know his stuff. Great feedback on 47 items and none of it was in watches. So, I won the auction at $654. I asked the dealer to ask the watchmaker to make sure it was authentic before doing the work. I'm actually going to the local AD tomorrow to pick it up. I'll be sure to take pictures and post in the TAG section because I want everyone's professional reassurance that I did by a gen (there's always a little doubt in the back of your mind when you find these things on ebay).