panerai153

I just got in an 063 from Davidsen, looks pretty nice, but last night I was setting the GMT hand, and it stopped advancing. Turn the crown the opposite way, and the date flips over fine. I worked at it closing the crown, opening it up to the hand advance (3rd) position, and was finally able to coax it forward to the proper setting. I believe I read here, that there USA washer that puts pressure on the GMT gear, and if it's missing or not in place, the gears don't mesh. I don't want to damage the gears, as it's working fine now. My question is can an ETA 2893-2 movement be swapped into this case? I have a brand new 2893-2 that I bought several years ago for a Rolex GMT project that never happened. Several years ago, I had both an 029 and an 063 from Eddie Lee that both had 2893-2 movements. So is this doable? And will the hands work with the 2893-2? Thanks Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I have three with sec@12, two are working fine, the third one had a much decreased power reserve, sent it off for a movement service, long story short, just went back for the third time, both times before, it ran and stopped right out the box, restarted with movement, but soon stopped again. Always stopped with the seconds hand in the same spot. I don't know if some movements come from the factory better than others, or some are just lucky. I do think that if you have one you really like, and plan on making it a keeper, it probably is wise to get it serviced by someone who knows what they are doing, and the only ones that come to mind are VAC here in the US, and Doni in Germany. Both are doing some form of additional jewels added to the movement at critical friction points. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I totally agree. Right now, I have probably around 30 watches,about half gen, half rep. The one thing that I would add to all the above is the quality of the movement. Let's face it, unless you buy a movement and have it swapped in, the days of the brand new, serviced ETA movements are a thing of the past. The movements that are going in reps today just don't have that same feel when winding, setting, and with complications, reliability. Not to say that some are not adequate, because if you get a top end clone like a Seagull or Miyota, they will be as good as an ETA, provided they all have the same level if service. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Looks pretty good to me. I think that strap split is a seam. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

That they are Sir. A fine gentleman. I knew that he was moving, but not where. I sent Jennifer and email a few weeks back, but didn't get a reply. Just a sort of "touching base" nothing about watches. I would love to know how to get in touch, just to say hello. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

+1 You are about to get scammed, get out the K-Y !!!!! Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Before you spring for and ETA Swiss movement go over to RWB.bz and read the two threads in their repair forum about all the watches that are coming with movements that aren't even Asian copies of the ETA's ! Lots of unhappy folks who are finding out that what they are getting is not what they ordered. There is a current thread here in General Discussion about movements as well. What Mymanmatt is saying is true, and I believe him, he's been working on watches for a long time, and I guarantee you he can tell the difference between the movements. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Now you're talking pardner. That strap looks much better. Great build. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Much is said here about shipping times from various locations, Noobs worry if things aren't delivered the next day from the other side of the planet. So here is the tale of two packages both shipped EMS, which is the equivalent of Express Mail International here in the USA. Package 1 was shipped from the EU on May 5th, cleared the ISC in NY on May 7th, then silence. Tracked it every few days, nothing. Talked to the supervisor at our local PO, he got all the info, and said he would initiate a trace, but the PO usually wouldn't do anything until the package was "lost" for over 30 days. Which was a couple of days away. Well, I decided to track it again yesterday, and lo and behold, it was moving again, on the way and due to be at my local PO today. It got there and I picked it up, a month and a day from "acceptance"!! Package 2 was shipped from Hong Kong on June 3rd. It tracked like a bullet, ISC NJ on the 4th, and at my local PO for pickup this morning!! I live halfway across the country from NY and NJ, so that's was really, really fast. The supervisor at the PO and I were discussing the two packages, and he said that the USPS had regulations about Priority and Express mail, but US Customs has no regulations governing how long they can hold a package. He said that they don't care if it's Express, Priority, Registered or First Class, they can take their sweet time clearing the package. So, the moral of this story is the USPS hands a package over to customs, it's out of their control. I think that quite often we, me included, blame the USPS when stuff doesn't arrive on time, when in fact the culprit is US Customs, not the PO. So when your tracking shows "cleared ISC" it's now in the hands of Customs, for as long as they want!! Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Guys, Ziggy is closed down, hasn't accepted any reps for repair/ modding since last fall. I tried to contact him a couple of months ago, just to say hello, how are you doing, how was your winter, etc. used to get a quick reply from Jennifer, but nothing this time, which leads me to think that they might have changed their email address. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I believe that you are completely correct. it's going to get harder and harder to get quality watches with any degree of safety. I really, really don't like WU, although I will reluctantly use it if I have to, but it's only going to be with someone I have done business with and I have a certain degree of trust. Idiots who open PayPal disputes are at the bottom of this, as it basically paralyses the dealer when their account gets frozen. Having said that, some blame needs to be shared by the dealers as well. If they were a little more accommodating, and did a better job of responding to complaints, possibly some of these disputes could be averted. I realize that there are some people out there who are just idiots. they order a watch, and expect that it will arrive on their doorstep within a couple of days, totally unrealistic. they start bombarding the dealer with emails every half hour demanding to know why they haven't gotten their watch? Then when it arrives, they nit pick it to death, even though had they read the reviews, they would have known about that particular model's flaws. Or some like the poster above who probably has never a mechanical watch in his life, who can't understand why it stops after a few hours of inactivity. Never had a clue that you needed to wind it first and then wear it!! I would bet that a very high percentage of problems that are encountered are things that are owner created either out of carelessness or ignorance. But unfortunately, the dealer/factory gets blamed for a lot of this. AFA the movement substitutions, that is unconscionable. Buyers have a right to be angry when they pay for a certain model or grade movement, and open their watches and find out that they actually got a low grade, unreliable, probably un-repairable movement. If the dealers claim that they didn't know, then they need to know. Ignorance is no excuse for breaking the law. I know they probably deal with large numbers of watches every day, but somewhere there has to be accountability. If all the dealers told the factories, I can't sell these watches with these POS movements, I would bet that something would be done. Just saying, "I had no idea that they were substituting these movements for the higher grade movements", is no excuse. That's like me buying a new car from a dealer and while driving it home, the transmission seizes up. turns out the factory forgot to put transmission fluid in the transmission. That's why dealers do a pre delivery service and check, to prevent those types of problems. the watch dealers should do the same thing as well. If we were paying 50 bucks for reps, I would say, what you see is what you get, but we are paying 700-800 USD for bone stock reps. At that price, there should be some quality control. If shenanigans continue, I can see a lot of folks getting disgusted and leaving the rep game, or doing like I do about 95% of the time, buy M2M. At least when you buy from another member, you can ask questions, ask for good clear photos and have a good idea of what you are getting.

Use the search function, let it be your friend. Practically every watch that has been repped has also been reviewed, some multiple times. Read the reviews of the watches you like, see what the guys who bought them before think. After you read and study the reviews, then you will have a better idea of what you want to buy. ALL reps have flaws, some more than others, but they all have flaws. one model from one manufacturer will have a particular flaw, another exact same model from a different manufacturer will have a different flaw. So what you need to decide is which one has a flaw or flaws that you can deal with, which ones have flaws that you absolutely cannot stand. So go forth and read!!

I'm not sure how many folks this watch has been through, I believe I'm the third owner. The second owner only had it for a short time, and I don't believe he did anything to the watch, but the previous owner may have had someone try to relume the dial numbers. Before was better than now, but only marginally better, maybe better to say less worse.

That type of tool set is probably OK for someone beginning and using it on watches that you are experimenting with. You will find that over time poor quality tools can do more damage than you would suspect.They are also frustrating to work with. Good tools make a job easier. Those screwdrivers will slip and mess up the heads of screws, they will break and overall will not be up to any sort of precision work. As you get more comfortable, you will realize that you want/need better quality tools. The first thing I would invest in is a good set of screwdrivers. Check with offshore, also look at the Ofrei website. they carry a large line of Bergeron tools, which are very good, but they also carry some lesser known brands that are good as well. Remember though, no matter how good the tools are, if you don't have the skill set to go along with them, they aren't going to be any better. My father's saying about people and tools, "a fool with a tool is still a fool"!!

Duplicate post

Maybe I should have rephrased that a little differently, they can't easily get ETA movements. I'm not spreading false rumors, just paraphrasing what the Swatch group is putting out for publication. And what exactly do you mean by "spreading false rumors again" emphasis on the word again? I do know for a fact that Bill Yao the owner of MKII Watches said a few weeks ago that a model that is soon to be introduced, a GMT homage to the Rolex 6542 was supposed to have a pre-order of60 watches and then another general order of 150, but because the movements were so difficult to get he was probably wasn't going to be able to make more than the 60 pre-orders and possibly 40-50 more. They are coming with ETA 2893-2 movements. AFA the refurbished movements, I'm sure they are probably more available than new, how many millions of 2824 and 2836 movements has ETA built over the years. My question to you is how refurbished are the "refurbished" movements? Are they disassembled, cleaned and oiled properly, timed and regulated? If they are then that's a good deal, because you are getting basically a freshly serviced movement. All this begs the question however, the OP said he paid for a Swiss movement, he claims that it's not. He wants to know what to do about it. Should he send it back or get the movement that's in the watch serviced? Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Matt has probably forgotten more about movements than most people know!! If he says it ain't so, then it ain't so. The Chinese dealers may claim they are Swiss, but most people who are familiar with movements can tell the difference, and certainly if you have a genuine ETA Swiss on your bench, it's pretty darn easy to see the differences, and it doesn't take a 10X loupe to see them. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Guys, you need to face the facts, the Chinese can't get new ETA movements, the ones that are available are being snapped up by every boutique watchmaker in the world. All these folks are paying top dollar for movements. They can afford to pay 200 bucks for a 2824, because it's going in and 800-1500 USD WATCH.The Chinese may come across a few movements, but they are cannabalizing older watches for the movements.there are a couple of good Chinese movement companies. Seagull is definitely on a par with ETA. Like others have said, DON'T SEND IT BACK!!! Get it serviced and it should be fine.. AFA the winding while screwing in the crown, that's not a movement problem, that's a stem length problem,or a crown problem and it can happen to ETA movements as well. A competent watchsmith can fix that problem at service. I wouldn't obsess over the way the movement looks, the best you could get in that rep is not going to look like an Omega movement anyway. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

The USPS is very inconsistent. Case in point, I ordered a Seagull ST2130 movement from a dealer in Portugal. She shipped it Registered Mail, about 10-11 days ago. I checked it on the USPS tracking site a couple of days ago, shows up in Red at the top, " no information about this tracking number,check back later. Today, I picked up my mail, there was a notice to pick it up at the PO!! I redid the tracking, the only entry was"notice left, no authorized person available" so it's hit or miss. Some packages get scanned at every stop, some never get scanned, they just show up. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I had a friend many years ago that had a bicycle shop in our town, sold lots of mid to high end bikes over several years. He went to a big bicycle trade show every year, It was out west, maybe San Diego, or somewhere on the west coast. He used to laugh about the Chinese coming to the show in hoards, all with cameras. those guys would take photos of new bikes, and gear from every angle. Within a few months, they were selling exact copies of Shimano and Campagnolo brakes, shifters derailleurs, etc. as well as whole bicycles for much less than the real stuff. He told me that they banned cameras, and the next year they all showed up with pencils and drawing pads, sketching the parts!! I believe they even had to stop people and search them for drawing supplies!! So as was said, they are masters at reverse engineering. I believe I saw a photo of a Chinese knock off of our stealth fighter a few weeks ago!!

Very tough question, several I have that are very close together on my favorites list. But if I had to chose one My 6542 GMT

116710 GMT

Very interesting. I expect that it's a combination of many things, a skilled work force (intelligent people who are trainable and eager to work), the presence of advanced technology that has become necessary because of their production of goods for the Western world, and probably most important a business climate where their is minimal harassment from the authorities. The Chinese government realizes that a stable reasonably satisfied workforce is the best deterrent to social unrest. Lots of folks out of work and unsure of their future translates to social disruptions. So while making knock offs of everything from drugs to airplane parts to watches to handbags, is certainly illegal, it provides employment for a significant number of people and that makes the government happy. Unfortunately, the Chinese may be pricing themselves out of the market, at least for legal goods. There was and interesting article in the New York times this morning, about businesses here in the USA that were again looking toward Mexico as a place to relocate factories and production. Some of the factors sited were the increasing costs of labor in China, in some instances labor prices have doubled over the past few years, the distance from the USA which both makes it difficult to travel back and forth to factories in China, as well as the time it takes for goods to reach the USA from China, generally 6-10 weeks for containers. Also some businesses have complained that the quality of their products is inconsistent, and if items arrive with problems or flaws, it is difficult to replace them in the companies supply chain. Certainly, this doesn't mean that businesses are going to abandon China and suddenly all those thousands of factories are going to be silent, but it is food for thought going forward. Maybe the rep business will become the most lucrative of all Chinese businesses!!

That's a very nice watch, and while I admire your taking your watch to your local AD it's strictly against forum policy, and that extends across all rep forums. What you probably don't realize is how draconian Rolex USA and Rolex SA are when it comes to counterfeits. All it would take would be for someone in the store to mention in passing to someone else about what and amazing replica DSSD was in the shop today! could be someone who was mad at the owner, the watchmaker, etc. mention it to the Rolex Distributor, and all manners of hell could descend on the AD, up to and including jerking his franchise, cancelling his Rolex parts account (which Rolex will do in and instant for the smallest infraction) which would essentially put him out of the Rolex repair business. So please in the future don't tempt fate and go into any AD with a replica of one of their watches. Also, your analogy of the Kia/Hyundai/Mercedes is not a good or accurate. While they build cars that closely resemble Mercedes, nowhere on their cars appear any of the Mercedes symbols or trademarks. You don't see a Kia with a three pointed Star on the hood. Many auto companies are copiers of other brand's vehicles. Chrysler has a couple that are very similar to Bentleys at least from a distance. The front end of a Ford Focus looks quite like an Aston Martin, but the defining difference is none of these companies are trying to pass off their product as something else by using the other companies copyrighted name or symbols. If you are looking to get it serviced, which personally I believe is a good idea if it's a watch that you intend to keep, there are several watchsmith/modders here on the forum that could easily do the job. Also there are quite a lot of independent watchmakers who will work on reps, a stripdown,clean, oil and regulate is a very straightforward job for any competent watchsmith, and ETA parts are plentiful and not restricted(yet!!) like Rolex parts.

I would contact mymanmatt. there are lots of dial refinishers and dial makers in the USA and other parts of the world. These are the folks that you could contact if you want one or two dials. To get a quantity made, I don't have a clue. I do know that some of the dial refinishers have a very rigid (published) policy about altering dials like a Rolex, especially upgrading a dial from say a white 1680 to a Red, or a white SeaDweller 1665 to a Double Red. If you are after a sterile dial with no Rolex names or Coronet, then I don't see a problem. I would suspect that it would depend on how costly it would be to set up the artwork for the crest. There are a few members here who have created their own dials, whoopy12 and joeyB are two that come to mind. They have made dials using dial blanks and different methods to print the dials. Maybe one of them will chime in here and give you more information.