panerai153

Went to one of the supply houses website today, looking for an ETA movement. I looked at them a couple of months ago, but didn't buy. Wish I had, they were about 60.00 USD higher today! At least they still have some, but as the supply dwindles, the prices will continue to go up. Problem is with some movements, there are good substitutes, with others, there aren't easy "drop in" replacements. Hopefully over time, there will be good substitutes for all ETA movements. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

16613 today Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Mike, I certainly don't have a crystal ball, but I seriously doubt that the Chinese govt. is going to do anything to rock the boat at this point. I would suspect that they will, if not encourage, at least turn a blind eye to any enterprise that employs people. One thing that regimes like China has live in mortal fear of is social unrest. They are not going to do anything to create more job losses and subsequent unrest. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I agree with Legend, there are quite a lot if rep watches that are offered as a V1 for instance, and no updates are ever forthcoming. Most of the Blancpain models come to mind. They offered the New Fifty Fathoms in a chronograph version for a couple of years before they introduced the three hand version. Since then, they only "downgraded" to a FF "lite", cheaper and poorer quality. The rep factories are in this deal for one thing and one thing only, to make money. To make money, they have to sell watches. Another factor, the rep forums make up a minuscule segment of the rep trade. The number of watches sold to members of the rep forums are dwarfed by the numbers sold to tourists, flea market vendors and street sales people. I would hazard a guess that what those folks buy is a lot more important to the factory owner than what we buy here on the forums. And guess what sells? Not niche brands, or necessarily watches that excite us, but watches that Joe Blow from Kokomo recognizes, which is some version of a contemporary Rolex. Something that he can wear home and at least for a few weeks, impress his buddies that weren't able to take a vacation. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I have to agree, even though I have gone overboard on a couple of builds myself!! I also bought a 16750 a few years back, and my price was similar to what you paid. Around 2600-2700 USD, also with a pretty nice bracelet. Pretty hard to compare prices 5+ years ago to today though. Everything is more expensive now. I believe that one question everyone needs to ask themselves before embarking on an expensive build, what happens when I "fall out of love" with it? The next "Grail watch" comes along, and it needs to go? Can you afford to take a beating on one of these if no one wants it at your price? The market for 2K plus watches is not the same as the 200-400 USD watches. Not many impulse buyers at 2K! Also the buyer pool is much smaller in the rarified air. Just thoughts to ponder before you jump. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk I have to agree, even though I have gone overboard on a couple of builds myself!! I also bought a 16750 a few years back, and my price was similar to what you paid. Around 2600-2700 USD, also with a pretty nice bracelet. Pretty hard to compare prices 5+ years ago to today though. Everything is more expensive now. I believe that one question everyone needs to ask themselves before embarking on an expensive build, what happens when I "fall out of love" with it? The next "Grail watch" comes along, and it needs to go? Can you afford to take a beating on one of these if no one wants it at your price? The market for 2K plus watches is not the same as the 200-400 USD watches. Not many impulse buyers at 2K! Also the buyer pool is much smaller in the rarified air. Just thoughts to ponder before you jump. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Leave it to Alvin to bring the ROO's to another level!! Will this MK3 cyclone work or improve the divers date readability? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

16750 this week! Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I've posted this a million times here, the 1675,16750 is the most difficult vintage Rolex to get right there is. The case is thin, the crown guards are spaced for the tiny 5.3mm crown, all the rep cases are too thick and the crown guards are for a 6mm crown which leaves a huge gap when you try to use a 5.3 mm crown in your build. The only solution is to try to take the case thickness down as much as possible, laser weld the crown guards to fill in the gaps and reshape them. Only with a lot of work can you get a case that is fairly close to gen. . A 2836 converted to a GMT is and option, also an ETA 2893-2 will work. Good luck, just realize this one isn't easy!!! Here is my gen 16750 Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

This project like everything Mr. A does is top notch, and will exceed the buyers greatest expectations. He is doing the cyclops and AR crystal mod on my FC V3 right now, and if it comes out like the V7, I will be a happy camper!! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

If you want and AP, I would start out with the diver. The V7 AP stainless steel diver is really, really good right out the box. I prefer it to the newest model which has a "decorated" movement which won't fool anyone who is AP knowledgable. Both watches have pretty rugged Asian clone movements. There are folks here and on other forums who have the ROO chronograph with the a7750 movements, and never had a problem. I would guess that they are very lucky, and probably don't have a bunch of the a7750 watches. I can assure you, they can be nightmares! I have 5 a7750 ROO's and right now three are broken. All three have been modded, movement serviced, and every one of them has been back and forth to watch repair people multiple times. These problems can be very frustrating and expensive. Not much fun to own a watch that spends 75% of it's life either with a watch repair person or in transit back and forth. Another consideration, there are plenty of watch repair people on all the forums who will work on the a2824 and other non chronograph movements, very few of them will touch the a7750 seconds@12 movement found in all the AP ROO's. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Not sure, the new model (2014) ROO's use a strap that is 20mm at the tang buckle end. I didn't use the strap, I had to buy it to get the buckle. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Ken, I believe that you are absolutely correct. There are certainly lots of watch repair people out there, who are experienced and well trained. Unfortunately, in a lot of cases they are spending most of their time changing watch batteries! We have a guy close to where I live that is Omega trained, has good tools and seems to know what he is doing.I asked him several years ago if he would work on my rep watches. He told me that he had no problem working on any of mine that had ETA movements. His rationale about the others was the lack of parts. This poor guy is spending his life selling cheap jewelry and Quartz watches!! I bet he doesn't work on more than 25-30 mechanical watches a year. Just not that much demand out here in the country. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Looking good!! That is a great watch, and one thing that makes it even better is the history. I bet the owner wore thus one every day, and used it like these watches were intended. Like I said,I love wabi! Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

The perfect Tuxedo watch gen IWC Calatrava Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I bought a Caiman strap from her for a Panerai. I wasn't too impressed with the quality. As someone said, Donerix would be the one to go to. He along with any of the other myriad numbers of custom strap makers can make you a custom strap that would be and exact duplicate of your strap. Donerix happens to be here, and is a good guy who makes quality straps. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I know it's a matter of semantics, but to me if we are discussing our watches they are "reps" because we all acknowledge them as such. When someone is trying to pass off a "rep" as a genuine watch, then it becomes a fake or a counterfeit, as the seller is attempting to deceive the buying public. AFA the one the OP was offered, ask the seller to meet you at your local Rolex AD. Tell him you have the cash in hand, but you want to get the watch verified before you buy it. Then sit back and wait for the excuses, stalling and eventually the seller running for cover!!

I really don't think that you would have any customs problems with a mid case only. Send it declared value, and list it on the customs form as watch part for repair and return to sender. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Looks gen to me, but as Ssteel said , may have had moisture inside. Most definitely have a look at the inside. Any competent watchmaker vpcan remove the back and check for water damage. I'm sure this isn't cheap, and you sure don't want to get stuck with one with problems. Fixing genuine Rolex problems isn't cheap, and you could end up paying a lot more in the long run as opposed to one that is in pristine condition. Another question, I see a box with the watch, does the seller have the papers that came with it? Warranty card, purchase invoice, etc? Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Chris, The best were the DW Daytonas. Sadly, DW went AWOL and they are no longer available. Lots were sold, and they come up for sale on the forums all the time. There were three variants, the first was the DW with the "mystery" movement, which has been gone for a long time, the second was the DW with the a7750 movement. Lots of them around, try to find one that has the movement converted to manual wind, which involved removing the auto wind mechanism, not just the rotor. The third variant was not sold as a complete watch to my knowledge, but as a case set to fit a Valjoux 72 movement which was the same base movement that Rolex used. These are usually watches that have a lot of genuine parts and are quite expensive ( several thousand dollars). I have owned several of the a7750 watches, and they were pretty solid dependable watches, especially if they had the conversion to manual wind only. The only other are the Daytonas that are sold by the Dealers here. AFAIK, all of these use a bicompax movement, usually a Seagull ST 19, which means that the subdial (totalizer) at 6 o'clock is a faux dial with a non functional hand. I had one of these, and it was OK, but I could never get past that frozen hand @6 so it was moved on pretty quickly. Hope this helps Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

The genuine as well as most of the aftermarket straps have either plastic or metal inserts. The rep straps as well. The strap maker can either use your inserts from the rep strap or use his own if they are correct. From experience, I can tell you a correct fitting strap with proper inserts fits better and looks better than straps without inserts. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Go over to RWI look in member sales and trade area, then the subforum watch parts and accessories. There is a member there selling a double AR Crystal from guru (he did a couple of runs of really nice double AR crystals.the seller is from Europe. Was sold, sale fell through and was still for sale a few hours ago. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

JMB did a couple for me, I was very satisfied with his work, and a really good guy to work with. You will need to have your watch disassembled, as he only wants the mid case. Should be no problem sending a mid case to the USA and back to you. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I've seen them, pretty nice watches at a reasonable price. They have been around for several years on some of the gen forums. I like the Hanhart chrono !! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Just a reminder, the prices are great, but make sure you read all of the disclosures before ordering. No guaranteed delivery and no after sales support. If it's lost or stolen, arrives broken, missing parts, etc you are on your own. I thought about ordering a watch from them about a year ago, after I read all the disclaimers, I ordered from puretime. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk I think this was set up to be sort of a wholesale outlet by puretime.

Looks like the start of a couple of really nice projects. Please keep the updates coming, lots of interest in Frankens. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk