jdavis

Thank you, Assasi9. I have sent a message via ioffer as you suggested. I sincerely hope my experience will be as successful as yours

Based on the good reports from buyers and the photos posted by some members, I decided to make a purchase to use as a Christmas gift. I placed my order on December12th and have not received the watch nor have I received any responses to my three email inquiries regarding the status of my order. The information given in "my account" indicates that the order is still pending. I intend to notify my credit card company and PayPal of this situation if I do not receive the watch or a positive response this week. Anyone have any suggestions or similar experience with this vendor.

This is good advice and I hope you follow it. With a long sleeve shirt either watch should be OK so long as you don't get "obvious" with it.

I believe that member ajoesmith is also in the land down under. From his posts, he seems well connected in the watch world. I would imagine he could direct you to a good source.

Try winding it manually by giving the crown 20-30 revolutions slowly. If the watch begins to run and continues then, indyberetta is correct. You could open the case and secure the rotor screw....problem solved. I hope that you can resolve this problem yourself rather than send it back to China which is a royal PIA.

Rep the Sinn? It will never happen. Rep makers are interested in volume to cover the cost of tooling and design work required to produce a replica. The interest in a replica is small compared to other makes. Besides, why buy a rep when you could save a little more money and purchase the gen?

It appears to me that you really would prefer to have the Pilot rather than the SSD. Besides, The Zigmeister has vanished for the time being and it is uncertain when or if he will return. Sell the SSD and get the Pilot if you want to be happy in the long run.

I have never expected perfection when ordering a replica from any of the collectors. I keep in mind that these "novelty" items don't carry the same guarantee of quality as the genuine articles do. This hobby has encouraged me to learn a bit of basic watch knowledge in order to keep my collection in proper working order. In fact, I have gained much pleasure and a degree skill from reading the repair and modification sections of the forum and applying that knowledge. To me, this is simply a part of the replica hobby . I do not mean that I like to receive watches with major problems. No one should be willing to accept a watch that is DOA or that dies shortly there after. I have only returned one watch and it was for a total failure of the mechanism. It is not an experience that I would care to repeat. No matter how good your collector is, expect that there is always a possibility of problems. I believe that with polite communication, a satisfactory resolution will be reached. However, I should note that my tolerance for small flaws may be greater than some other members. Establish a good rapport with your dealer, use polite communication, show appreciation for the job that he/she does for you and you will be rewarded.

Are you saying that Joshua (Perfect Clones?) is a Scotsman?

The UPO or "ultimate" is simply another marketing term like the "Perfect Sub" devised by dealers to impress potential purchasers. As has been stated, the UPO is quite good as are some other non UPOs but, all versions will have various flaws. Pick the one that you like and decide how you want to modify it to make it your own.

I would try Cousins in the UK. They seem to carry a variety of movements so, it is likey that they will be able to help you.

By all means be thankful that your wives take an interest (and even your watches). It will surely make it easier for you to grow your collections. My wife could care less and insists on wearing her tiny ladies Timex in lieu of several nice gens that I have bought her over the years.

You have selected two dealers who enjoy stellar reputations. With either, you can be assured that you will get a watch to be proud of as well as professional service through out the transaction.

The ETA movements are easy to use. Unscrew the crown, it should pop out slightly as it breaks free of the threads. This is the winding position by which you may manually wind the watch if you desire. Pull the crown outward slowly and you will feel a slight click or notch, this will be the date setting position. Turn the crown clockwise and the date wheel should rotate thus allowing you to set the proper date. Pull the crown fully out, this will be the time setting position. Hint: You should set the date one day less than the actual date then pull the crown fully out to the time setting position and set the hour (remember to rotate past 12:00 for PM settings otherwise, the date may change at noon rather than midnight). After setting, gently press the crown fully in (it should spring back slightly as it contacts the case tube. Firmly press the crown and twist clockwise to engage the tube threads, turn until finger tight. Not setting the watch date between 10:00 PM and 2:00 AM is advised for 7750 chronograph movements because the date changing process is in progress during those hours and manual manipulation during this procedure may damage your movement.

Here you go....try this The Dark Side (RWI)

No worries about the quality of the strap on the Omega. It is genuine alligator with the Omega deployment clasp that is as good or better than most aftermarket offerings. Joshua offers several genuine reptile styles as options if you look at the Omega strap section.

Although the gen tube is slightly smaller than the rep case opening, it is sufficiently close that you can epoxy it (I used Gorilla glue) and it will form a good solid bond. In lieu of this, the only thing to do would be to have the case hole welded shut, grind it smooth, and drill and tap to the specifications of the gen tube. Perhaps there is a gen tube that matches or is slightly larger than the rep case hole and fits the P.O. gen crown but that would take a lot of research and experimentation to determine.

A seller doesn't get more reputable than Joshua. Products are top of the line and service is second to none. You will be in good hands.

A young man just starting is career in law would be well served by an Omega Aqua Terra (white dial with gold indices and alligator strap). It would look smart and be believable for his age and position. (Photo borrowed from Perfect Clones)

Very interesting and well done report as usual, Rob. Thanks for your efforts to keep us in the know about this. With this information, I will be looking closely at a couple of my movements. It looks as though the Asian and Eta components may interchange. Do you think that is the case?

I would like to see the IWC Portifino Chronograph rep made. This well designed and classy watch looks to be a perfect fit for our new Asian 7750 movement. It has the seconds located at the 9:00 and uses the 28.8K bph rate. A well made rep of this watch would make a great addition to anyone's collection.

Since mreynolds is able to manually wind the watch when he unscrews the crown, it would appear that the stem is indeed long enough. When you push the crown in from the date setting position, you won't hear a third click as it goes into the winding position. As you slowly pull it out from the winding position you should feel two clicks before you are in the time setting position. Before you send the watches back or out for repair, pull the crown to the time setting position, push the crown firmly all the way down. Once there, press the crown until you can feel it spring back a couple of times. You should now be in the winding position. Good luck and I hope that this solves you problem.

Try HK Tan. He does good work and will make any kind of strap you desire. I understand that you should be prepared to wait once your order has been placed. However, the results are considered well worth waiting for.

My favorites (that I own) out of the box are the Omega UPO black and the latest version of the Tag Professional Golf which is a great 1:1 rep although, the quartz movement may be a turn off to some. IMHO, the overall best and most accurate reproduction to date is most likely the Hublot BB with ceramic bezel.

Thirty years? The Chinese will be there in less than 25 years....wearing an Omega rep