cls

Looks like a symptom of the second hand slipping. The hand itself is just not tight enough on its pinion. Alternatively, the wheel may have been pressed down when setting the hands and the gears are not making good contact. Hooray for TZ watch school.!

I bought my IWC from TZ (www.timezone.com.) Go into the good guys pages to research the gray market dealers. You can get a new Panerai for about 20% off.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Franck-Muller-Color-Dr...1QQcmdZViewItem

Didn't realize Franck Muller don't come with papers if they are a gift.

gen or rep? what watch was this picture taken of?

It's a gen 233

Ahh, keyboard warriors, love 'em

If he's that bad, why is it that many people on here seem to recommend him for so much stuff? Certainly anyone mentions any Omega upgrades and they get pointed to him and I've read a lot of posts suggesting using him.

Seems very strange if he's been bad like this for a long time.

Not a lot of options, are there?

For most orders you don't need to deal with Bob, it seems that whenever someone does, they will never deal with him again. I think people have recommended Ofrei, I don't think anyone has recommended dealing with Bob. Try it out, send him an e-mail...

I found out that Bob was an IDIOT about a year ago...and immediatly stopped buying from him, reported my expreience on the old RWG and suggested that no one buy anything from him.

He's an idiot, if I lived in CA I would go over to his shop just to punch him in the face...

RG

I live in CA...

The newest crown guard features a bearing for closure:

If anyone is thinking of purchasing parts from Ofrei, here's my last two experiences:

First, I had a gen Rolex from 1940 using a 710 10.5 ligne movement. Parts for the movement became harder and harder to get and more and more expensive. So, I purchased a couple of 10.5 ligne movements from Frei. When they came, one was 10 and one was 11 ligne. I called them only to be told that although they are marked on the website as 10.5 ligne, they don't really know what size they are and have no way of measuring them. Ofrei doesn't have calipers? The refused to take them back.

Although this was disturbing and caused me to stop buying from them for several years, the next time was just bizarre...

I needed a replacement balance staff and a couple of other parts. I was directed to the Bestfit website who would have a compatible. On the website it says, in order to access the catalog, you need to register. No problem. There is a field to enter the parts house to fulfill any orders, I filled in Ofrei. The rest of the form just autofilled with whatever information came up (I don't want anyone who may sell a list with my phone number, so I just left my old phone number on the form) No big deal right?

The next day I get three e-mails from Bob Frei. He says he needs to update my address in their system and wants my cc #. I told him I would rather not have my cc# on file. He sends me three more e-mails the next day stating that I have to give him my credit card number if I want to register with Bestfit, and he would charge me $150 for access to the information. I told him that I would rather not register if they were going to charge me $150. The beginning of the end.

Bob then proceeds to say that my address is not up to date with him and that means I am giving out fake addresses. He also says that he cannot call me (he has my old phone number) and that I am lying to Bestfit about who I am, and he wants my information and credit card. I responded, please delete my customer number, I will deal with someone else.

So, he proceeded to send me mail about every hour ranting: I am sending fake phone numbers and addresses to Bestfit, he is going to inform them that I am lying to them, I need to pay him...etc.

I just bought from Jules Borel instead and they were very pleasant and professional while Bob Frei is a maniac. Shortly thereafter, Ofrei has changed their website to read on every page:

Looks like a rep to me, but one of the old (legendary) ones from 2004.

The big give away, is the m in Seamaster. It had the pet name of Seanaster.

Looks like they're all Seanasters on Omega.ch too.

Have a couple of boxes of Cohibas and some Romeo and Julietas, which do you think would add the better patina?

Bought a 6263 case set from David over ebay. Great fast transaction, and he was super helpful. I just received an email from ebay today that he has been suspended. Maybe they are cracking down on reps.

Just bought a vintage 40s Rolex from Josh and was wondering if anyone has experience in making a white face look vintage. I was thinking of tea staining or coffee staining the dial such as rug makers do. If anyone has successfully aged a white dial, let me know.

Here is the Josh rep and a gen vintage similar.

6, by that numbering but there should be a 7 watchmaker and a 6 hobbyist. I can rebuild them but I can also bend a balance staff and trash a hairspring.

Please dealers

Let my prayer become true ....

IWC Portugese Rose Gold with Black Dial

Hope it will comes soon

I'll take one.

Oh, and fix the seconds at 6 problem while you're at it.

I am going to Milan on Saturday.

I need advice what to see, where to shop and what to do on Sunday.

Cheers!!!

In addition to the previously mentioned:

The Castle Sforzesco where there is a Michelangelo La Pieta, and no one knows it's there. There is also a room he painted in murals.

The Porta Romana, good bars under a Roman arch.

La Enoteca Cotti on Via Solferino, maybe the best Italian wine store in the world.

La Scala, fresh after a 5 year rennovation.

Eat at Da Giacomo. An old standby Milanese restaurant. Please have the Pesce al Sale for two or more and the Cassatta Siciliana (there's nothing like it)

Brera at night (lots of rep watches)

Ever notice how the text below the 12 marker is never exactly parallel with the 12? Even on the Gens? Is it me, or is it some kind of optical illusion?

Yes,

don't know why. The top of the 2 in the 12 always looks off to me as well. At least the rep manufacturer were able to duplicate it. Otherwise everyone would complain about how their 12 lines up perfectly.

expensive, and not a very good idea if you ask me, this guy's gonna get a suit slapped on him, hope he makes some bank before that happens

Pretty sure it's overseas. The English is not as good as the reps even though they claim to be in Arizona.

http://www.jewelryandwatch.com/

looks expensive

Kirk Rich dials

Used KR for two gen Rolex Dials before and their work is head and shoulders above other LA area refinishers.

Anyone know the size of the hands for the Valjoux 72? Length is for a 6263 dial or course.

here you go.

with index for printing / resize

I used photoshop to cut the "N" and "R" from the "LUMINOR MARINA" on the top part of the dial and pasted it into the "PANERAI" on the bottom.

the font heights look the same to me, any small discrepencies can be explained by the angle of the picture and the resolution, but there really isn't any difference in height that I can tell.

What we really really need is a high res large picture of a gen dial.

not sure exactly what you mean.

Please send me the gen dial scan and I'll alter my work.

I overlaid the work I did on the best version of a gen 111 dial I could get but the 111 picture was not taken head on.

The graphic I uploaded I believe is correct, and I can give you the dial graphic in any format, I contacted David yesterday but he hasn't responded. If there's anyone else who can print dials, I can give it to them as well.

not sure exactly what you mean.

Please send me the gen dial scan and I'll alter my work.

I overlaid the work I did on the best version of a gen 111 dial I could get but the 111 picture was not taken head on.

Notice the height of the characters in PANERAI.

WOW! That looks great!

How difficult would it be to use Font Lab to create an inlay with the correct number font to place over the iwc ingenieur date wheel? I have never used the program before, is it freeware or must it be purchased? THANKS

I noticed the LUMINOR MARINA and PANERAI are also a different size when laying the image over a gen dial scan.