panerai153

That baby looks awsome. Would you entertain drilled lugholes simply to facilitate strap/bracelet changes. or screwed in bars?

BTW I really, really like the lumed bezel insert

This would make a great companion to my Ocean7 LM-7 Proplof.

Definitely interested

Arthur

Lani

Your words are truly words to live by. It is so sad and unfortunate that we don't embrace the words and cultures of old, be they Hawaiian, Navaho, early Christian, they are pretty much the same story, respect your fellow man, be honest, be at peace with yourself, and most of all have faith in a higher deity, no matter what you call it/him/her.

You are truly and asset to this community, and I'm sure to your local community as well. I wish you well my brother and may your days be happy and filled with joy during this holiday season and throughout the coming year.

Arthur

I read all of the posts over on RWI related to this problem, and I have to admit, Daytona has very clear and specific warranty rules. He is the administrator over there, and I would imagine is trying to source watches for members at a lower price than the regular dealers. Because he is doing this more as a hobby and to help others, I can understand why he has pretty rigid requirements. Dealers wwho work off volume sales, and have lots of watches on hand can replace watches, parts, etc.with no problems, thats what they do for a living.

You didn't mention any of the other problems here, just the fliplock problem, which i believe is and easy fix.

I believe that you have a couple of alternatives to pursue here. You can sell the watch, possibly to one of the fellows on RWI that posted they would buy it, Live with the mistakes and move on, or send it of to one of the folks here on the forums who mod and repair watches. Possibly they can make it better. That of course is going to cost you some money. I would also recommend that in the future, you read the warranty information on the dealers website, or if you have questions, PM or Email the dealer and ask what their warranty, return policy is.

Lastly, and I know you are new to reps, but what you will learn, if you stay around is the basio premise of reps is They are Reps, they aren't genuine watches. They ALL have flaws. Some more than others. QC is almost non-existent. No matter what the dealers proclaim on their websites about being the "Perfect" Ultimate", 1:1 "copied from a genuine watch, they are all put together by folks who probably are on the job trained, don't really care about what it looks like, may be paid on a "piece " basis which rewards speed not quality.These are not Swiss watches assembled by trained watchmakers who won't let a watch leave their bench before it's perfect. Ain't so and Ain't going to happen. Remember this you are buying a 99.99% copy of a 7000.00 USD watch for 300.00 USD. i'm surprised for the most part that they are as good as they are.Before you buy, read the reviews of the watch you want, from the dealer you want to buy from, and make your decision on all the above parameters, not just the one who has the lowest price

Just my Dos Centavos

Arthur

That's really a shame that dealers can use these forums to sell product, but won't stand behind what they sell. Possibly the forum moderators need to be a little more proactive with dealers. I would bet that one email from the forum administrator to a dealer , simply stating," stand behind your products, or your gone", would have a lot more effect than a single members complaints. Every day a dealer visits this forum and sees the number at the top of the page (23393 members Today) He sees a potential for hundreds if not thousands of sales.

IS a dealer who sends you a watch ,that obviously hasn't been inspected by anyone,with problems and correctible flaws, any better than those guys who run the "Scam" sites who send you a watch that isn't what you saw in the photos? Both are sending you defective products. The difference is we know to avoid the "Scammers", but who is protecting us from the "trusted" dealers who won't honor their commitment.

Having said all this and getting this little rant off my chest, yours is and easy fix. You can take a pair of small channellock pliers or use a small vise to GENTLY squeeze the sides just a little. You can try it to see if the detents are catching without mounting it back on the bracelet. I've had to do this with several fliplock clasps from various makers. Some of the older Rolex fliplocks were pretty flimsy, and over time would get looser and looser. A little squeeze and all was well again.

Good luck

Arthur

This guy has a lot of posts on TZ, also has some Datejust dials for sale. i know nothing about Datejust, so don't know if they are real, fake, refinished etc.

Post was put up today. Usually I have found the TZ guys are real agressive about outing anything that smells fishy. We'll see

Arthur

Man that's the great pumpkin!! Seriously it came together nicely with the PVD'ed case. I bet you could sell a ton of thoes down in Austin TX right now, or set up a stand outside the Rose Bowl Before the Texas Alabama championship game.Official Longhorn watch!!

Arthur

I was into Gens long before I started with reps, mainly because there were no reps that i knew of at the time. my first gen purchase was a Rolex 1680 this was in the late 1960's, White dial (had a choice of Red sub or white for the same price). 500.00 USD !! Brand new from a Rolex dealer. I have had quite a few gen Rolex. I actually started with Replicas as sort of a "try it on for size" before splurging on a gen. i had several PAMS reps. and almost bought a gen GMT, but just couldn't pull the trigger. Lost interest in PAMS shortly after that. I actually bought the Rolex ceramic GMT II to use as and everyday watch and not have to wear my GMT 16750 as much. If i had half of the Rolex Gens i bought over the years, I would definitely buy a rep of each one ,1680, DRSD, Datejust, even a Daytona Paul Newman, keep the gens in a safe and wear the reps.

It's hard to justify wearing a really nice vintage a lot, they are irreplacable and fixing one if you bang it around is so expensive, it makes sense to me to use you rep as a daily wearer and keep the gen for special occasions, or to pay for your kids college.

Just my dos centavos

Arthur

The rafflemeister hands down in the under 60 "Still eligible to take steroids" catagory! Omni for the over 60, "We can't out run you young pups, but we can still out think you, or is it out run you and aw Hell., us over 60's are still the best, I think.

Kudos to both of tyou, you have both given very generously and unselfishly of your time to make this a great forum.

Arthur

I wonder if the high bidder is really pi...sed off that this bargain was removed right before he won it. He should be grateful that there are a few folks out here who care enough to spend their time trying to get the scammers off Ebay, and to protect the idiots who refuse to do their homework, and ignore all the warning signs that start with "if it's too good to be true, it probably isn't" Good work guys

Arthur

I may be wrong, But wasn't this a recurring problem with some Omega movements used in Seamaster 300's? i had on e a few years abck that had almost the same problem, sent it to Jack Alexion @ IWW. He overhauled the movement, cleaned it and lubricated it and it worked fine. WD40 has a kerosene base, so it is not particularly good as a lubricant, it's designed to penetrate and help free up rusty bolts, etc. What it may do is actually wash out the lubricant in you watch and make things worse. We use lots of WD40 around the farm, freeing up stuck parts on tractors, combines, etc.

Arthur

Six hours to go and almost 800 Pounds. As I said before some poor sap is going to be a giddy happy buyer, until the watch arrives and he shows it to someone who knows something about PAM's.....then, he ain't going to be so happy. Hopefully he wil be smart enough to take it to and expert and have it checked out before his return time expires.

Ah! Another key scammer trick, I just went back and looked at the auction "No Returns accepted". No legitimate watch seller sells without a return privlage. He will have to open a case with Paypal and Ebay and maybe in a few months he gets his money back, but I wouldn't count on it. I bet this seller has had multiple Ebay ID's. He pulls off a big scam, gets banned and resurfaces in a few weeks witha new ID, sells 30 DVD's and wala, he has 30 + 100% Feedbacks, ready for the next replica sold as a genuine.

Arthur

@ Freddy,

My problem is I'm in the operating room all day with bright overhead lights. I seem to get a whole lot of reflections, almost like the light intensifies the reflections and it makes the date wheel hard to see.I don't have that problem with any of my watches with AR coated crystals. I agree with you, It would take a side by side comparison to tell the difference.

Do you have a source for the genuine crystals, as I would like to replace mine with a genuine if possible.

Thanks

Arthur

II would be interested if irt's genuine and has the AR coating below the cyclops.

Thanks

Arthur

You Rolex Eagle Eyes are absolutely correct. Easy to see when you look at the genuine next to the replica. Yuki is pretty proud of their replicas, 380.00 USD for that one. OF course, a genuine in NOS condition...... No telling how much it would bring.

Arthur

Im' sitting here looking at my GMT master II comparing it to the genuine in Lani's photo on another thread. Actually , this rep is pretty good except for that darn non-AR'ed Cyclops. With any direct light, it's so reflective and distorting it's sometimes hard to read the date.

My question is does any member have a relationship with a watchmaker who can source a genuine crystal for this watch. I don't even know if a genuine would fit, but it would be worth a try. I have looked at most of the sites that sell aftermarket crystals, but no one has this one.

Any help appreciated

Arthur

I would possibly be interested. Putting up some conceptual drawings would be a great help. I've gotten a few watches from some of the smaller watchmakers like MKII and Ocean7. They are selling at a price point just a little above really good reps, but with very good QC and of course a warranty that allows you to send it back for repairs with very little hassle. No reason you couldn't do the same thing.

Arthur

I have one, and the insert number color is very close to the genuine. It is the latest edition (as of about a month ago) Comparing mine side by side with a genuine, it's a really close rep. the only real giveaway is the lack of cyclops AR on the Rep is a glaring defect and a fault that anyone with knowledge of the genuine would pick up instantly, in any type of direct bright light. Hopefully some solution to this is possible. I would replace my crystal with a genuine in a heartbeat if I could source one.

Arthur

This auction has 6 days left, so who knows how high this one is going to go. It's pretty "used up" however. It's very hard to tell how stable that bakelite still is, with one crack already, any sort of bump could make it break further.I believe that was the knock about these originally, and why Rolex went to Metal inserts as the bakelite was too fragile, and becomes brittle with age and exposure to sunlight. The bezel itself is really worn, look at the sides, the ridges are almost worn smooth. These old bakelite inserts are probably as scarce as hens teeth, so no telling what this one will bring.

Arthur

That's a very nice GMT. I agree two things tha would make it better, would be the bezel insert more flush, and replaceing the crown and tube. The crown looks to be too large. I have a genuine 16750 and the crown is small.

Here is a photo of mine as a comparison.

Great job, it's too bad about the movement, possibly it can be replaced with another 2836-2 at some point.

Arthur

Sounds like it needs to be a little tighter, which you can do by carefully squeezing the sides with pliers. I would definitely contact the seller and ask him for a replacement bracelet or clasp.Another case of non-existant QC. It would be so much easier to check these watches before they are shipped out. Worrying about customs one way is bad enough, but worrying about sending one back, and then another one raises the odds of customs problems a lot. Plus you have the hassle of repacking the watch and paying the postage for a trip back to where it originated. Getting a bracelet or clasp certainly doesn't pose the risks or problems associated with shipping a watch.

Arthur

Sometimes Ebay responds pretty fast to reports of fraud, sometimes they seem to ignore it. Some brands like Rolex, have staff who do nothing but watch Ebay and other auction sites. If they call, it disappears in a flash.

One of the best deterrents in the past was the ability to contact the bidders and warn them that they were bidding on a fake. Ebay in it's infinite wisdom, chose to make all bidding anonomous by using the coded bidder information. They claimed it protected bidders, but in my estimation, all it protects are the scammers who frequent Ebay.

Another thing, buyers are idiots sometimes. Greed gets in the way of good sense. This seller has 20 feedbacks. Go in and look at what they are, DVD's ,Xbox games, he's buying Ebay seller templates, etc for 2 cents each!! this guy has a total of 20 transactions and the total dollar value of all 20 combined is not 100.00 USD. He's running up positive feedback to make folks think he is legit.I wouldn't buy a Timex from an Ebay seller with that sort of vague seller history. Some poor greedy fool is about to get a harsh reality lesson. The item is relisted, probably because the first buyer realized it was a fake and threatened to open a PayPal dispute. If he could prove that it was a fake, Ebay would ban the seller, who would immediately register with a different user name, Email address, Etc. But he would lose all his hard won + feedbacks.

I hate Scammers

Arthur

That is a nice looking watch. Only problem I see is that darn "10" on the bezel insert. That is such and easy fix, I can't understand why they can't make it right. OH! I know, that will be the next edition of the ultimate, absolute greatest DSSD ever made, Version V5.01.02

Great watch and hopefully that little "spare part" isn't something essential.

Arthur

I agree with you guys, it's been said and done before, however with the idiots we have in Washington, who knows what the next "Cause" will be?

I think what's happening is the same thing that happened a couple of years ago, the big luxury goods companies decide, enoughs enough, and they start putting the heat on Congress,congressmen always in mortal fear that the big contributors will pull their donations, put the heat on Federal agencies like Customs and Homeland Security, etc. and they put on this big "Dog and Pony" Show. Remember two or three years back the photos of hundreds of counterfeit watches being crushed by the highway roller?

The real threat and possibly why all this is coming up is the sheer number of critical counterfeits, such as aircraft parts, pharmaceuticals, etc. Now that is scary. Maybe ICE is practicing up on handbag sellers before they go after the guys who are selling fake jet engine turbine blades!

Arthur

I will add one thing and then it's off to be. it's late and after 2 glasses of wine, I'm probably not making a whole helluva lot of sense. It takes X number of dollars each month to keep the forum up and running. If it's not there, the alternatives are 1) Email the "regulars" and ask for donations to cover the expenses 2) do as some forums have done, continuously search for cheaper servers that promise the moon, but often end up having all sorts of problems, down often, databases lost, etc. 3) Shut it down and everyone goes home! That basically is the range of choices available.So in order to have a viable forum, hosted by a relaible server, we have to be willing to pay the freight. Ads don't work, that was tried by the old RWG and TRC as well if I recall correctly. Sponsorships are out. This isn't Watch U Seek with a bunch of official corporate sponsorships, this is a forum that basically is dealing with illicit, illigal goods!!And on top of that, If you have ever been a member of a sponsored genuine forum, free speech is nil. Everything is fine as long as you sing the company song and always say wonderful complimentary things about the product. Try being critical of the watches, repairs customer service, etc, and the Draconian hand of the censor slaps you down so fast, you don't know what hit you. If you don't believe it, go to WUS and post a flame thread on one of the "official" forums. You thread will be deleted almost immediately.

Having said all that, I think that if the forum is valuable to you. If it's saved you money, helped you get a better watch than what you would have gotten without input from members here, kept you from getting scammed, allowed you to have a marketplace for your surplus watches, parts, accessories, etc. then you should feel and obligation to support it. If it does nothing for you, then I suppose you have no justification to contribute. In the end it's all about your sense of duty and affiliation.

Good night All

Arthur

I definitely see your point and agree. However, should you feel pressured to join? Is donating $30/yr enough, or will you be made to feel guilty for "only" donating $30 when you saved hundreds? If so, then by that logic I need to go make a huge donation to a particular forum that really helped us out this year, so much so that it'll make us go broke (in essence, it's a site that helped my wife find extra work). I'd probably actually pay for that particular forum, except that it's a Delphi forum and the one running the forum would get nada (the company hosting the forum would get all the $$$).

I don't believe that anyone will or should put pressure on another member to "upgrade" I am a VIP (30.00 USD /year) member and I have never felt the slightest hint of pressure from anyone to upgrade. I believe that one should contribute to the level that they feel comfortable with and can afford. I also believe that if you utilize the sales forum to make a particularly good sale, or you are feeling flush, a donation would be very much appreciated, but certanly not mandatory. To me it's sort of like contributing to your particular church. Some folks give 1.00 dollar others give 100.00 Dollars, quite often depending on the individuals philosophy and financial situation. The 5.00 Donation is just as big and just as important from the fellow who makes minimum wage, as the 100.00 Dollar donation by a Lawyer or banker. All are important whether large or small.

Arthur