panerai153

Back last year, I modded my GMT IIC with the addition of a genuine Bezel/insert and crystal. several folks commented that the dial wasn't very good and there were others out there that were better. later in the year, I had the opportunity to acquire a genuine dial. my ultimate plans were to replace the movement with a correct hand stack movement and the genuine dial. I searched for a movement but was not able to find one. Also sneed12 who did all the modding on my watch wasn't sure that a CHS movement would work, as it was thicker than the ICHS movement and the genuine dial was also thicker. after thinking about it, I decided to go forward with the dial swap, and forgo the CHS movement. I sent the watch and dial up to Sneed12 and a couple of days ago, I got my GMT back. The genuine dial definitely makes a difference, although you need to know the differences, there are differences between the rep and the gen dial. Here are a few photos of the "new" GMT IIC

Rose Gold RC on a Black Horn back

From my very limited experience with AP's there is no perfect "one and done" Every one of them is going to require some degree of modding, some more than others. One problem that I see with the AP's especially the 42mm ROO's like the Rubber clads, the Panda, Safari, etc., is the dial. No matter how close to perfect they make the dial AFA the color, the shape and size of the letters and numbers, the Date window is going to be a "tell", and it's not fixable. the only option is to use a genuine dial and that then requires a different movement, which requires case mods, and all that adds up to a pretty expensive rep. The positive part of that "Tell' is it would not be noticeable at arms length, or even closer, and then only be someone who has and Eagle eye and a lot of knowledge about AP ROO watches. I believe that what every serious rep owning individual has to do is come to terms with what flaws they can live with and those that they absolutely cannot live with. If the date window position drives you insane, better look at other models or expect to spend some serious cash to fix the flaw. With most reps, you can take the modding process as far as you desire and have the funds to buy the parts. If you are so OCD that nothing short of perfect will do, then I would advise you to stick to genuine watches, because in the end, they are going to be the only ones that have no flaws. Pretty much what I do with the majority of my watches are fix the flaws that I can't live with . I want the watch to have the same color and intensity of lume as the genuine. If the genuine watch has double sided AR, then my rep should have the same. Movements need to be serviced, not as a mod, but to increase the longevity and usefulness of the watch. I want my watches to be accurate, and often this requires the movement be serviced. With the AP's these are pretty much the only mods I'm interested in doing, because past this point require that you spend thousands rather than hundreds.In the end, no matter how much it looks like a genuine it's still a rep. Personally, I'm not a perfectionist, I have been burned too many times trying to sell highly modded reps that I ended up selling at a big loss. I used to have a rule of thumb that I would not spend more than 20% of the cost of a comparable genuine watch to mod a rep. I have been forced to modify that percentage upward to around 30%strickly because parts are getting more and more expensive. Another thing that I have learned over the years is that putting one together is relatively easy, selling one is another matter. The vast number of folks on these rep forums are casual watch buyers and owners. they want something that they cannot afford in a genuine watch. This is not and indictment of members and frankly, I believe that members who hang around and participate definitely don't fall into that category. These casual shoppers are looking for watches in the 200-500 USD price range. Watches that are in that price range usually sell very quickly. When you up the price to 1000USD, the pool gets much shallower! In this price range, watches will sell, but they will need to appear to be a bargain to the buyer. The AP ROO that cost 500 USD and has a service, maybe a jewel mod numbers and hands relumed as well as AR'ed Cyclops and crystal plus a nice aftermarket strap will probably sell pretty quickly at 1000-1100 USD because buyers will perceive that they are getting a bargain. Above that price range, the going gets tough, especially when you get into the really special ROO's, Rolex Daytonas, etc. with price tags upwards of 5000-7000 USD. Unfortunately, these are the super reps that end up sitting around the sales forum for a long, long time, and eventually, a lot of them get taken back apart and parted out.

AP rose Gold RC on a new black Hornback

Most of us travel with several watches, and there have been multiple threads about traveling with watches on the forum. I have never had a problem, and I usually travel with two or three. One on my wrist, and the other one or two in my carry on bag. More than that, you may get some scrutiny. If you travel there frequently, I would wear one, pack a second. Shouldn't have any problems. Do you travel alone? If you have others in your group, wife, girlfriend, friends, you might have them take one back for you in their carry on. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Yes the 1675 and it's predecessor the 6542 both had the same handstack, from the bottom, GMT, hour, minute, seconds. That's why you can use and ETA 2846 or 2836, 2893-2 or a DG 3804 to build the 1675 and have the correct hand stack. Only difference is all of these ETA movements have and adjustable GMT hand, the 6542 and the 1675 have non adjustable tracking GMT hands, so you have to turn the bezel to get the 2nd Time zone. You can remove the adjustment mechanism (freeze the GMT hand) on these movements to make them look and perform exactly like the old 1675. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Looks like a DW bezel as well. I bet this one will be gone in a few hours. Too many non Rolex parts for EBay and the sheriffs on the Rolex Forum!! Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

The Miyota is definitely better. The same movement is used in quite a lot of genuine watches. I believe the HangZhou was in the V4.1 and lots of folks had problems with it. The V5 from a different factory has the Seagull movement I believe, and it is a higher quality movement as well. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

That one is the ICHS, but more reliable. Why not build or buy a 1675? It's hand stack is the same. Both the gen Rolex movement and the ETA use the same hand stack. The 16750, like mine above and the 16710 use different movements with a different hand stack. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Or maybe this one?

Dean, bi don't think you will. Have any problems with cross border shipping. All you need to do is make sure you put on the customs form, broken timepiece for repair and return to sender. Keep a copy if the customs declaration. Have the watchmaker put in the return, repaired timepiece being returned to owner. Have him put a copy of the invoice inside so if it's opened by customs, they can see that it has been repaired. If you have any problems, you can show them the copy of the customs declaration that you filled out when you sent the watch. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

The problem is the modern Rolex buyer is neither and enthusiast or a student of Rolex history. About 99.99% of the current day Rolex buyers couldn't tell a 6542 from a B-52, bomber that is!!. Rolex knows this so they don't have to satisfy the purist. Rolex like every big corporation looks at the numbers, and sadly, the folks who are the brands biggest disciples are and infinitesimal part of the big picture. They figure at 40K, they have to sell 4 10K watches to equal the same bottom line. So the ratio is 1:4. if they figure that if they only sell 1:2 or 1:3 then it's a no brainer.

That's a really impressive watch. If it were repped accurately, I would certainly entertain adding it to my collection. like several have mentioned, I don't know of any diver that dives with and expensive watch. it's pretty silly to risk a multi- thousand dollar watch, diving. Another thing, dive watches get banged up pretty bad. You may hit Coral when you are moving around it ,swimming through arches and openings, lots of stuff to bang into when getting back on a dive boat, etc. Another factor, everyone today is diving with a dive computer. Prices over the years have gone down, they are more user friendly, and keep track of a multiple of parameters. We use to sit on the boat and work out surface intervals, no fly times multiple dive profiles, using a Dive table and a calculator, or pencil and paper. Now it's all figured out for you by your computer.

Agree, First you have to learn to take clear photos. Unless you have a really good camera and lens and lots of light, don't try taking a photo with you holding the watch in one hand and your camera in the other. result like photo 1 blurry . If you don't have enough light inside, take it outside put the watch on some solid object (table) and try to rest the camera on something. that's why you see all the good photographers who are taking photos that need to be really big and really sharp using a tripod. This looks like a pretty bad rep, but how bad, can't tell without better photos.

Perfect aging!!!! Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Unless the crystal is glued in, gluing the retaining ring will possibly keep the bezel on, but the crystal will come off next, because the retaining ring acts as a clamp to secure the crystal to the case. If the retaining ring is loose on the crystal, there is nothing to keep the crystal on. To fix it properly, you need a thicker crystal or a smaller retaining ring. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

As cc33 said, your retaining ring is still inside the bezel assembly. The OD of your crystal is too small, or the crystal is cracked at the base. I had the same problem with mine a few weeks back, took it out the watch box and it fell off!! Sent it to Matt and he found that the crystal was cracked, probably when the retaining ring was pressed on before. He had to try several crystals before he found one that was big enough (OD) to allow the retaining ring to fit tightly on the crystal. About the only thing that's usable with the PT 6542 is the movement, which we discussed before. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Me Castro, I would recommend that you read the threads about this situation before you comment. I feel sure you would have a different outlook if you were out a couple of thousand dollars in watches and parts. And in fact, a fairly big part of the over 27 thousand dollars in watches and parts were in fact genuine.

Ignore it. Those are bull shit letters they send out, probably been gleaning old EBay sales to see who they can stick. I suppose they actually have folks that panic and send them 350.00 USD. I bet that money goes into their Friday afternoon after work beer fund!! If you have the old watches in parts, you might box them up with a little dog doo doo, a big fire ant mound and send them in with no return address and shipped from another state!! A live rattlesnake would be even better!! hard to come by this time of year though.

Great Job !! Going to be hanging out your shingle soon.

I am not opposed to deployants, one positive is you never have to worry about your watch slipping off your wrist and hitting the floor or counter top while trying to buckle it on. I do find that the rep deployant is not the most comfortable. I also think another factor that makes it uncomfortable is the thick stiff leather of the leather straps particularly the Hornbacks. I'm not sure a Tang buckle would help with that. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

That one looks like the lip on the tritium pearl is flush with the top of the insert, instead of sitting up like it usually sits. Is the hole bigger on these inserts? As opposed to say the inserts on a 1680 or 1665? Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

These are great heavy duty straps, I have bought quite a few over they years. Unfortunately, they will no longer ship overseas, so CONUS customers only. http://www.broadarrow.net/maratac.htm

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