panerai153

that is a seriously good looking watch! I have no idea how true the yuki copy is to the original, however since it is a watch from the 1950's, I would suspect that their aren't many around. you would have to run into a real Tudor expert to tell whether this is real or not, so I would say that you could wear this one just about anywhere in the world with confidence. I googled 7922 and got a few references with photos, I did see that some are coming out of Vietnam that look quite similar to the Yuki, except these are supposed to have a Rolex Tudor 390 movement. these are probably reproduction movements, as original 390's are probably as scarce as hen's teeth. Looks like the Yuki version uses an ETA 2462 which I wasn't able to find out much about, but sounds old and scarce as well.

Spooky, several Doxa folks around nanug, me, lani all have a few of the old vintage Doxas. Pretty popular dive watch, just not repped.

Glad that you are OK. Having gone through several natural disasters, living down here in "hurricane alley" I can appreciate what you are going through. the house can be rebuilt, the car easily replaced, but it's those personal possessions that you hardly ever look at, but take great comfort in knowing that they are there. Baby pictures, wedding album, family photos, letterers, etc are irreplaceable.Keep looking forward, everything will get better, as long as you and your family are safe and healthy.

I have a GMT IIC WHS (2836-2) on my wrist right now. It is running about 3 seconds fast in over three days since I set it with the atomic clock!I sent it to The Zigmeister for a relume and wanted to change out the movement to a 2893-2, but that proved impossible. Now I'm glad I didn't, as this one is running great. the only other modification I would like to make is replace the crystal with a genuine, or at least one with an AR'ed cyclops. I probably wear this watch more than the next three together. Long story short, I don't think you can go wrong with the Ceramic GMT with the ETA movement.

Alli, That's about what I figured. you can get a good service, bezel insert and crystal for 500-750 USD if you find a nice competent watchmaker who has access to genuine Rolex parts.Bracelet for another 500 if you look around. So you will have a pretty nice Submariner for 1400.00 + say another 1300, so for a total of 2700.00 you're in business. Another thing, you could get the watch done and wait and get a bracelet later, so you could be wearing this one for probably 2000-2100 USD. I'd spring for that in a heartbeat.

Probably a pretty good deal at 1400.00. It looks like it needs a little TLC!!, but a new insert, a good cleaning and a light polish would make a world of difference. I'm saying this considering that the movement is clean and hasn't been wet, and the dial is OK, and what we are seeing are scratches on the crystal. The bracelet looks like it is stretched pretty good, but there are used replacement bracelets around as well as a couple of folks who do amazing restoration work on bracelets for a lot less than a new one.If it's been wet and/or the dial is damaged, then all bets are off. I see watches with wear, but in much nicer shape with B&P's for around 3300-3600 on the genuine watch sales forums all the time. What one would need to do is factor in the worse case scenario as to costs and see what the final tally would be. It's easy to get lured in to a cheap price on the front side only to find out that once you get it restored to "good' condition, you have more money invested than had you went out and bought a well cared for watch.

Practically every watch of any consequence has been reviewed by "senior" members. By-Tor has some of the most comprehensive reviews, along with great photos for illustration. He is not alone, quite a few members have equally comprehensive reviews as well.Read,Read,Read. First, it's impossible to answer your question with the given information. We have absolutely no idea what your taste in watches are, so that makes what one tells you here of little value to you.If you don't like Rolex, or Panerai, or Sinn, then those watches no matter how good are not going to be right for you. Personally, you couldn't run fast enough to put a Bell & Ross "brick" on my wrist, so if those watches were the "best" I would take one look and say, " not for me sorry". Another factor is budget. The "best" watch for less than 200.00 USD may not still be in the running if you raise the price level to say "Best" watch for less than 500.00 USD. So if I told you the absolute best watches available were the 16610 Submariner , the Yachtmaster, or the Two tone Submariner from WM9/BK, but they will cost you over 500.00 USD each, and the wait time may be months, if your budget is 300.00 USD max, then my suggestions are irrelevant. So you see the question you have posed is and impossible one. you are going to have to do your research and come to your own conclusions. Now, when you narrow it down to a particular model, you might ask who sells the most accurate model of this particular watch, which is a relevant question, or who has the best after market support should your watch be delivered DOA.I believe that most members would be more than happy to help with those questions, but then again, if you narrow it down to a few watches that appeal to you, read the reviews on those particular models, I would expect that almost all of your questions will be answered. As and added bonus, you will be much more knowledgeable about the watches that you are interested in. Good Luck

Be very careful with ebay. Lots and lots of replicas being sold as genuine. Take Fxandy's advice. Also look at the watches for sale on Time Zone Sales Corner,WatchUSeek Private sales forum, Watchnet,The Rolex Forum.These forums always have Subs for sale. All of these forums are closely patrolled,and a fake won't last 10 minutes before someone reports it. Of course with the vintage sales forum, sometimes they over scrutinize and someone will call something fake when it really isn't. That shouldn't be a problem with a contemporary Sub. Also If it's a reasonably new watch it should have all the paperwork, boxes, etc. the punched paper with the watch serial number punched can be faked, but it's more difficult. Papers will add to the value and help you later if you decide that you want to move it along for something else.

Just wanted to add my sentiments along with the other good folks on the forum who have chimed in. First of all like some folks said, reps aren't for everyone.If you are a perfectionist, and you want and "out the box' perfect watch, you will be disappointed with reps. My love affair with reps has waxed and waned a couple of times over the years. I bought a bunch several years ago, sold them all, had nothing but gens and then about a year ago, got back in with a Rolex 1680, sort of bought on a whim, and haven't stopped since. Like robbie G said, reps are a very good training ground for gens. It's a lot cheaper to try out a noobmariner sub than plunking down 7k for a new one, or 5-6k for a used. If you don't "bond' with it, it's a lot easier to stomach a 100.00 USD loss than a 1k loss. And believe me, outside of one or two gens that I bought at a really good price, I lost money on every sale. Pretty much the same is true of the reps, but the differences in dollars was a whole lot less. As to reliability, of all the reps I have owned, and the number is pretty high, I have only sent one back, a DSSD from ETZ that was exchanged right before they disappeared.There has been a lot of frustration with reps, even though they were reliable runners. Almost every one of them has had crappy lume, if they were lumed at all! Almost every one that I intended to keep required a movement service, as even the genuine ETA's came in dry as a bone and dirty. Some have had loose parts that needed to be tightened up such as bracelet screws ,casebacks, etc. but nothing major.Now that brings us to the point of reliability of genuine watches. Quite a few of my gens have had to make a trip back to the factory, usually with a long wait and a pretty big price tag. I had a Chronoswiss Tora that went back to Germany twice within 2 years, and it was gone almost half that time!. A Breitling Chronomat that was serviced three times in about 9 years to the tune of 300-400 USD each time. My Ocean 7 Ploprof that's been back twice for a sticky bezel problem. Most of the Rolexes I have owned over the years have been rock solid, but they do require service and even back in the 1980's a trip to the RSC was about 250-300 USD and now it's double that.So unless you are going to buy genuine "Throw away" watches that you can wear until the battery dies, throw them in the trash and buy another one, the gens are going to need to be serviced at some point in time. So from my standpoint, the genuines are usually going to be perfect"out the box" come with a warranty so that if you have a problem in the first year, the service is free,.After that they are for the most part solid reliable watches providing you buy from reputable companies with a history of producing good quality. Reps on the other hand are not perfect "out the box', seldom can be made to be perfect and may suffer from reliability problems, although not at the rate that you have experienced. Still for the most part reps bought from other members or dealers with reputations for standing behind the sale, are good investments. you just need to do your "due diligence" before you press the "submit payment" button on their website. I hope that you will hang around and contribute to the forum. There is more watch knowledge here than on any of the genuine watch forums that I frequent. And certainly more sense of community and camaraderie.

Just my 2 cents worth, but have some thoughts about shipping watches. 1. pack it in a Box, securely padded with bubble wrap and packing peanuts. 2. If shipping to the USA, don't try to hide it inside something. X-ray machines can see right through hollowed out teddy Bears. If it gets caught, to Customs folks, it becomes a case of trying to hide something coming through. Good chance the buyer in the USA will not only not get his watch, he will be flagged in the computer and every package with his name and/or address will be scrutinized. 3. Ship by Registered mail, International Priority (EMS) or Express mail if you can afford it and the buyer wants it in a hurry. DO NOT use FedEx, UPS, DSL, etc. they all have their own customs clearing and they will charge the buyer customs duties based on the value of the genuine. IF it's obviously a counterfeit, they may confiscate it. 4. Do not use the word "Watch" on the customs declaration. Use terms like timepiece, horological instrument, etc. 5.You might declare it as "broken timepiece for repair and return to sender" 6. Make sure that you and the buyer have a very clear understanding that you will do everything possible to get his watch safely to him, but should it not arrive, customs, duties and postal losses, etc. are his responsibility. If a buyer balks at this, I would not go forward with the sale. Dealers can afford to lose a certain percentage in customs, theft, whatever, they have access to thousands of watches at wholesale prices. Some loss is just a part of doing business. If you ship overseas with a guarantee of safe delivery, if something happens, the buyer wants either a watch or his money back. In either case, you're out your watch and the money as well. Lots of individuals will not ship to other countries, as they are unwilling to assume the risks and hassle of overseas shipping. I'm sure lots of folks on this forum and others will disagree with me about these thoughts. You may get away with sending tons of watches all over the world, shipping them inside a toy, wrapped with one layer of bubble wrap and inside a soft envelope, but sooner or later, your going to lose one in customs. All I'm trying to do is decrease the odds that your's gets caught. Hope this helps a little

That's a great idea. You can't pin all the interesting posts, because you would have 2-3 pages of pinned posts to scroll through every time you went to the active posts. But, bring a good "golden Oldie" up to the front every now and then let's new members enjoy them, lets older members go back and re-read them and hopefully answers some of the "noob" questions that get asked almost every day. Great job Sir. Thanks A

Now that Eurotimez has fallen of the face of the planet, it looks like the Trevortime DSSD is the best alternative. I have never dealt with him, but as Plaifender stated, you need to send him a photo and tell him you want one that looks exactly like the photo. If he is agreeable then proceed, otherwise I would keep looking. It seems as though the DSSD frenzy has died down over the past few months. It was the topic of half the posts in the Rolex forum for sevveral months last fall and early spring. I would do some reading and see what the differences are. Some are scary close to genuine, others aren't close at all.I expect that WM9 will get around to building a DSSD, but he is so far behind on the projects he has going right now, it will probably be a year or two at least before he has anything, and that is provided they stay popular and in demand.

Thanks a lot for the info guys. I remember back several years ago, Eddie Lee was selling the 029 as well as the 063 with 2893-2 movements. i had both of them, and they were really nice. i would bet with a better crown and a chief cyclops those would be pretty darn close to the real McCoy. The run of 2893-2's didn't last very long, and were replaced with the 2836's. Seems like the knock on the early 2836-2's were the GMT hand slipping. The factories must have fixed those problems, as the 2836-2's seem to be a pretty reliable movement with GMT module. Kruz, you are the PAM expert, I know you remember those old GMT's with the 2893-2 movements, you probably have a half dozen of them in your watch box! I really do appreciate the info. I was really hoping to convert my Rolex GMT IIC to a 2893-2 movement, and that turned into a frustrating and expensive proposition. I sent it along with 2 2893-2 movements to The Zigmeister. He tried, but it was not possible without squeezing everything so tight and bending hands to clear dial markers,etc. he didn't think it would be possible. So with that experience, I don't want to venture off down that road, trying to convert a PAM, unless I'm sure it will work.

I have a couple of 2893-2 movements that I bought for a Rolex GMT IIC project that proved to be nearly impossible. I'm thinking about using one of them for a PAM 029 or 063 project, as the older PAM reps came with 2893-2 movements for a while. Can anyone steer me in the right direction in my search for one of these models. Thanks

Robbie,Glad to see you back on the forum. I have to agree with you, I started out with Rolex watches way back in the late 60's (Oh for the good old days, my first Sub was 500.00 brand new!!) I had a bunch over quite a few years, but went away for much the same reasons. Everyone was wearing gold plated quartz "Presidents". They were so bad, if you knew anything about Rolex watches, you could spot them from 20 feet away.Unfortunately, there were so many fakes around, folks just assumed if you were wearing a Rolex, it was a fake. And those back then were FAKES, not replicas!!I got taken in by the lure of more complicated, small brand watches that no one around these parts would know or recognize.While most of these were really nice watches, most of them just didn't "Scratch the itch". I bought and modded a few Rolex vintage, and then picked up a couple of genuine.Those got me back into Rolex. Now, although I have a few other brands sitting in the safe, I find myself wearing the Rolexes about 95% of the time. There is just something about them, really hard to describe, but to me they are just "right". They are comfortable,rugged and certainly not ostentatious and they can be worn with just about anything.I'm satisfied at this stage of life to be happy with my SS Rolexes and Tudor and occasionally wear something else for a change. As much as I love the Rolexes, one "other brand" that I sold and wish now that I had back was my UN Dual Time Big Date. That was by far the easiest and simplest GMT watch I have ever owned. I suppose the genuine GMT II with the adjustable hour hand is similarly easy, but the Dual time was great, and the second time zone +- Adjustment was so convenient if you were traveling over several time zones. Not traveling as much now, but for around 5-6 years, I was traveling from the USA to Europe every couple of months and that was a handy watch to have.

Welcome to the forum. There are no stupid questions, only repetitious ones. I think when a new member gets a short answer from someone, it's because they are asking a question that has been asked a thousand times before. If a new member does some reading, old posts, reviews, etc., many of the questions will be answered. After being on this and other rep forums for 5-6 years, one tends to get a little tired of someone new coming on the forum and the first day they register, they ask the age old "Who has the best sub?" question. If they had spent some time reading the Rolex posts and reviews, they would have a much better idea of who has the best sub. Which in itself, is and impossible question to answer. Price, vintage or modern, are just a few of the factors that come into play. In your case, I believe you asked a valid question. because Rolex does make a fair number of women's watches, one could rightly assume that they made a Lady Sub as well. Good luck in your search. One of the nice things about the Tudor watches, they have been appreciating in price lately, so if you buy wisely and get one in good condition, you can resell it at a later date and not lose much or any money.You can look at it as and investment that will make your wife happy as well.

fakemaster is correct. Rolex has never made a Lady Submariner, however Tudor has. They are almost exact replications of the larger Tudor Subs. They are widely available, always some on Ebay, and the prices are usually pretty reasonable.If your wife likes the looks of the Rolex Submariner, maybe the Tudor would be the thing. On the older models, the crown is a Rolex crown, and they are marked on the back of the case "Original Oyster Case By Rolex Geneva"

I sent him a an email after I shipped him my watch around 2 months ago.I got a computer generated reply about the crystals from Chief, when I sent the original Email notifying him that the watch was shipped to him. Another email about 3 weeks ago wasn't answered.I was just wondering if anyone had heard from him. I know he was probably snowed under with all the AR crystals that were delivered about when my watch arrived, but a little concerned with no correspondence.

Amazing restoration. It just shows what an experienced and skilled watchmaker /restorer can do.

Man, you de Bomb!! I bow in awe to your abilities. moonphase will be a great project, probably more difficult from a parts accusition point than any of the others before it.

I have to agree with Freddy, although the point is now moot as the affair is probably over. My feelings are a formal affair (Tuxedo) calls for a very understated gold watch on a leather band. Although my collection tends toward dive and sport watches, I have a vintage IWC calatrava on a dark Alligator strap which is my "formal" watch. I never wear it for any other occasion, but with a Tux, it just looks and feels right. In JoJo's case, the DJ would have been appropriate. Having said all of this, I see folks at formal occasions wearing all sorts of watches, and footwear! I suppose if one is comfortable with and Ecozilla and tennis shoes, that's fine with me. (JoJo, that's not about you, but some of the Rednecks I see at weddings and formal affairs around here!!).

Freddy, wonderful collection. As I said before, the Pan AM really stands out and is my favorite.Your collection sets the bar even higher. Enjoy these beauties, they are in a class of their own.Question is now, since you have collected all of your grails, what's next?

I think that if you want really good consistent lume on the DSSD, you will either have to 1) Buy a genuine -pretty pricey, or 2) send yours off to one of our modding experts on the forum such as The Zigmeister or Vac. I have an ETZ 2010 DSSD and they touted photos of the lume which looked pretty good, but when I got the actual watch, the lume was very bright for a few minutes, but faded fast.Most of the rep makers use the bare minimum amount of Lume material, as it's pretty expensive. Frankly it would be a lot easier to do the job right the first time and just charge a few dollars more, but that's not how they work.

I read the thread started by sixx, and that is a terrible sort of transaction. The seller should be banned from every forum. Almost everything here is based on trust, as very few folks here actually know other members. In that I mean have met face to face and or have conducted several transactions with no problems. We rely on the honesty and integrity of fellow members to be post accurate and clear photos and descriptions, and to be willing and able to stand behind the deal should it take a turn for the worst. You said your seller was in France,correct. Unless this seller moves around a lot, might not be the same person, as sixx's seller was from Canada I believe. Of course he (the seller) claimed to be traveling a lot out of the country, so maybe he's scamming on two continents!

Really impressive watch. You won't have to worry about seeing it's twin on every other guy in the bar!! One thing about the PloProf's, they aren't the sort of watch you "sort of like" either you like them or you hate them. Personally, ilike the vintage better, but this is a serious tool watch,with many improvements over the old 600m. Great watch, wear it well. Take it diving, that's where watches like this belong, in the ocean.