Repairing a flying tourby replica is like trying to repair a clock that was attached to TNT. Those things are meant to break down after a short period of time.
1+ regarding the email address.
I really like the look of this watch, but I think my wrists are to small for it. I can't wear a fiddy so this is out of my leage.
However, steam can be way more dangerous to a watch than a dip in the pool. If the seals are not 100% (and they should be swapped every 15 month or so) the steam will find a way through. And what watchmeiser said is true: the more complicated a watch is built, the more chance there is it might have a leak. I once tried to built an Aquatimer with a gen bezelinsert. The turning mechanism on the rep made it pretty impossible to make that thing waterproof. Bad thing for a diverwatch.
Very sturdy built watch. I wear mine for work and the only thing that has suffered yet is the clasp. The locking pin was ripped off in a fight, so now I wear it on a 0.90 cent el cheapo rubberstrap. Beside that its kick-ass.
I might even swap an ETA 2893 in when I get the time, or simply buy a new one when this one falls apart.
That means you can actually use the chrono without being afraid the hands might slip out of position after a reset. Nice!
Huge project. Please provide some pictures, that would be awesome!
I have built a franken Ingenieur Chrono myself, with a 79350 calibre, genuine dial and hands, gen clasp and aftermarket AR crystal. Still nothing compared to a Doppelchronograph, but I know how much work and time a project like that consumes.
Yup. And this thread made me order a noob 111m. Problem I got now is that in those "classified" quality check pics the lever looks way different from the watch Angus observed. Are there different batches?
I think its pretty cool your girlfirend shows interest in this hobby. Looks like she has a sportive yet exclusive taste, I didn't know COMEX 16610 even existed.
My own girlfriend does like rep watches, usually she wears them and bounces them against some random hard object by accident.
She killed a ceramic Hublot, a 3717 and an Explorer 1 that way.
The only "super"-rep IWC I know out of the box, was the GST. The ti color is not that off, as ti changes its color a bit over the years as far as I know.
All other IWC reps in my book need at least some minor modification. Usually ETA datewheels, relume, AR...
The good thing is, IWC uses pretty much standart ETA movements, they will fit inside most rep cases.
Took him 9 or 10 month to deliver. But then again, that was 2 yrs ago and I think one strap was lost in the mailing progress and he had to build another one from the scratch.
Looking back at the quality I received, I would order anytime again.