panerai153

Beautiful watch. What mods did Vac do to your watch?

This is a truly beautiful watch. I would love to have one, however the weight and top heaviness are a big concern to me. My wrist size is a shade over 7" and the S/S ROO Diver is definitely at the limits of comfort and wearability for me. I believe that come summer with short sleeves it will be OK, but under a shirt and sweater or jacket with cuffs, it's downright uncomfortable. How does the Safari and/or other AP chrono models compare to the Diver as far as wearability? My FC Diver is much more comfortable, I suppose because it's significantly lighter. Addressing the height issue, what can be done to the rep case if anything to make it slimmer. Would you need to use a genuine movement with case mods?

I believe that we have totally hijacked the original thread !! However here is another example of a BP FF homage, and this is from the guy who actually owns all the Tornek-Rayville property rights, trademarks, logos, etc. that would be Bill Yao of MKII Watches. There are plans to bring out a TR in the future, but Yao is sloooow, as every watch is assembled in Switzerland and upon arrival back in the USA, he disassembles watch, checks every minute detail, adjusts the time and pressure tests to the true depth. So your watch from him is not from a lot of 100 watches that may have 10-15 selected for pressure testing, he tests every one. This watch the Stingray has been out of production for several years, however they do come up for sale on the WUS sales forum and other sales forums, so they are available if one is patient. Sales prices a year or two back were in the 500-600 USD range depending on condition.

Well said sir!! Thank you.

Not my cup of tea !! But my wife might like it.

Sure http://www.thewatchsite.com/

Yep, Those are the real free loaders. I suppose a lot of folks just feel like if you can get on a site and they don't make you pay at the door, then it's all free.

@whoever, Might want to pay a visit over to the Seiko Citizen forum, it seems like these FFF watches started out there when someone started modding Seikos with the FFF dials. Just checked over there, got info you might be interested in reading.

Thanks Mike, I know it would be a Pain in the butt, but other forums are pretty draconian when rules aren't followed, just go over to RepGeek, and look at the sales threads, see how many are "nuked" because rules aren't followed. Maybe we need to start doing that, as it makes folks comply, even those that don't want to!! My feelings are simply, If I have to follow the rules, and I do my utmost to comply, then everyone else has to as well. Second what Mike said about membership. it's pretty distressing to scroll down to the bottom of the page and see about 90+ percent of the users are not members. As Mike said, it's no more than the price of one Grande Latte at Starbucks per month. What we have here are a few, carrying the load so that many freeloaders can have access to a free forum. I really don't think that's very fair. If you visit the forum one time and get information that keeps you from getting scammed by one of the scammer watch sites, the savings alone will pay for your membership for several years. Come on lets support the forum!!

Absolutely, Haunt the sales forums on this and other rep forums, they come up for sale all the time. Get a DW with an A7750 movement. preferably one that has had the autowind mechanism removed(not just the rotor) and the thinner caseback. DW's will accept some gen parts, so if you want to make it a little better later, you have some room for improving it. AS ceejay said, read, do your research and thy shall not get screwed!!

I guarantee when Matt gets done with it, It will be a winner!!

Read. Look at the reviews on the different models, look at the reviews on the different movements. All your questions will be answered!

I would go with the one you have been searching for, the MM. One thing about this one, if it's truly a rare bird, which I'm sure it is, if it doesn't "sing to you", you can always flip it and get one or more of the other ones on your list. This doesn't sound like something that you are going to lose money on if you decide you don't like it. Go for it!! Honestly, with the Blancpain, there are a bunch of homage watches out there, even some with domed sapphire bezel inserts that look just like the new FF, and are water resistant , quality controlled and have a Swiss movement. for the same or less than the FF rep is going to cost. This is a nice rep, and I have wanted one for a long time, but the price is putting me off, plus I have two homage watches that were patterned after the FF, and neither of them get much wrist time, so I doubt the FF is going to kick something else to the sidelines.

I got rid of two DSSD's for that same reason, tried one, didn't work and a while later I tried another one. No matter how much you want to love a watch, if it doesn't fit, it doesn't fit!! I believe that one problem with the DSSD, is the height, plus the base isn't all the way across the watch like the AP divers. plus it has the traditional Rolex 20mm bracelet that tapers to 18mm which is probably too narrow for this watch. I don't like to wear watches too tight on my wrist, and the DSSD always wanted to Turn turtle on me. I believe that your idea is good, go to and AD, try a couple on and see how they feel.

I have a V5, and compared to the Rolex 16610, it's a lot bigger. I believe that one thing that contributes to the "bigness" is the much wider lugs and consequently wider strap. It's strange in a way because I have the V3 Forged Carbon Diver as well, and it just feels and wears smaller than the S/S diver. possibly this is because it's so much lighter. Also possibly the black makes it appear to be smaller. This is all and illusion, as dimensionally, they appear to be the same. The 16610 Submariner is thinner than the S/S Diver, the 16610 is 13mm. the 16600 SD is 14.6 and the 116610 Ceramic and the DSSD are all thicker, so perhaps the 16610 is not a good comparison watch as it is thinner however that is the one the OP asked to see. Here are a couple of wrist shots as well as a couple of shots of my "P" serial 16610 (1980 model) and the S/S Diver. The 16610 is on top and the left sides of the cases are in line. You can see from this how much more case there is on the S/S Diver, extending out on the right side. My wrist is a little over 7", and I believe that the size of the AP divers are right at the limit size wise that I can wear comfortably. Other folks with my wrist size or smaller may not have the comfort problems with bigger watches, depends on the individual. Probably will be less of a problem in the summer with short sleeve shirts. Sometimes under a long sleeve shirt and especially a shirt and sweater, the S/S diver is a bit uncomfortable.

Certainly is a beautiful watch. You have done a masterful job of building this one. Kudos to you for the work you put into this.

Very much not my cup of tea!!

Seiko makes some great watches, with perhaps the best lume going. They make a huge variety of watches, but their Grand Seikos with Spring drive are beautiful ,well made watches that can compete with just about anything out there. They aren't cheap though, some are several thousand dollars each. I believe the biggest problem Seiko faces with their high end watches is the fact that they also make very inexpensive watches as well, and when you get the reputation as being a low end brand, it's very difficult to overcome that stigma. That is one reason why Rolex has never made a cheap "entry level" watch. that was the Tudor.

Pretty sad that they police the VRF to the point that folks cannot get info out or people who have been scammed can't post. AFA Steve Mulholland, I had several dealings with him a few years ago, and all of them turned out fine. however he apparently went "off the reservation" big time about a year ago, scammed some folks for a bunch of high end Rolex vintage watches. I would imagine when it's all said and done, he was into folks for many thousands of dollars. His excuse was he got married, and his new bride cleaned out his watches, as well as his bank accounts. He was on the Rolex Forum and the VRF for a time, with his tales of woe, promised to get everything straightened out and make restitution to everyone, which apparently he didn't. Sort of sounds familiar doesn't it? Same song, second verse right here on RWG with our little modder/ repair person. Almost like he read Mulholland's Script and followed it to a "T"

AP Diver changed out the rubber strap for a Donerix Sharkskin

No but it's nice to know that you have one that is from a smaller production run, they probably only made 25000 of these as opposed to a million of the others!!

Yes, don't hold it under a faucet running hot water!! might try peeling them off and then using a little alcohol on a soft cloth to rub the glue off.

That looks really nice, The AR sure makes a difference as well. I like the AR on both my V5 and FC V3, but both could use more/better AR on the Cyclops. Mine are like the opposite of the newer Rolex models, super Cyclops and none on the crystal!! Did you put the S/S bezel on the FC diver, or are you going to replace it with another FC bezel? Is anyone besides Vac doing AR on AP crystals in the USA?

Sort of sounds like someone we know here!!

Just in case anyone is interested in looking at the various Ocean7 watches, here is a link to their website. they also have a forum on WAtchUSeek http://www.ocean7watchco.com/store/