Finepics

Seller has 0 feedback. I am beginning to not feel so sorry for the idiots that buy these things - actually tempted to bang a few of mine out for a couple of grand!!! (Just kidding!!)

I think you'll find that IWC is a major step up above Omega,TAG and Breitling. IWC are a full Manufacture and have been around longer than TAG which is really just a marketing brand name (Techniques D'Avant Garde - actually owned by an Arab entrepeneur). Heuer is the old Swiss company but long since gone apart fron the name.

Joe - PM sent.

Just to confirm the 6497 in all it's guises does not have a hack feature. This feature is found on many auto movts and is a small metal brake that stops the balance wheel when the crown is pulled out.

Just waiting for the next sample to come through to try out - there was a small miscalculation with the dimensions that had to be corrected. They will be appearing soon.

A couple of the 3646's I had used a spring bar in the middle of the two bent lugs. What a pain for me as the bar should be solid and welded to the case. The strap would then be stitched to the case as my vintage project is. Even with the spring bar the strap would still be very difficult to change as the bar is quite short and tucked up way inside the strap.

Anywhere between 50eu - 200eu. They are a fairly common movt so are not as hard to find as the Angelus movt.

The dials you have seen with the yellow markers are probably for the Pre-A series which have a T dial (Tritium) which would be a yellow colour. All modern PAM's have the C3 Superluminova colour which is more of a yellow green.

I should explain that my major concern was that the tracking number that they supplied did not show on either Parcelforces website or on EMS China's site. Every shipment I have ever had through Parcelforce usually shows on their system 2 days after the collection of the package so when the numbers continued not to show anything after it was supposedly posted on the 24th I began to get worried that something was not right. However all has ended well as the watches arrived this morning with the tracking number (which is correct) still not showing anything. This has never happened before. I realise that this is not their fault and I have emailed them to apologise for making a fuss - maybe this was just one of those things. Apologies to you Richard T as well.

I would not bother with thie as it's too small. The edges of the movt will be visible in the caseback. Do yourself a favour and do not jump at the first Cortebert that comes along. Wait for a 616 which is exactly the right size.

Richard T - I did not intially order the black strap but Tourbillon did. I then asked Jay what the situation was and he said no problem to have black only few days to get it. So I decided it was ok to wait a bit but after a while there was no word as to what was happening unless I emailed them to ask. Finally I told them that if the straps had not arrrived by last saturday then to ship them out. My concern now is thst this was not done on Staurday as nothing is showing on the tracking. Now I will stress that Parcelforce always shows the tracking info 2 days after actual posting - their system is fully linked to the EMS China systems. Still nothing as of just now!! Mabe the tracking number is wrong as Jay says it is showing as collected on the 24th. My complaint is really that it's poor service to only keep the customer informed when thay ask what's happening - afterall I paid immediately and I know that EL is already cheaper than Silix now so I could have been wearing this a while ago - but to be fiar they did explain fully the situation in their replies and are always courteous so I don't want to knoc them too much. Sorry if I have created a predicament for you but I must say that maybe group buys are not such a great deal afterall - well not for me anyway.

Our shipment was delayed initially because Toubillon and I specified a black strap which they were waiting to come into stock but it got to the point where I asked them just to ship as is and they offered to send the straps later. I was given a track number on the 25th and was told they shipped on the 24th but it's now the 29th and nothing shows on Parcel force tracking. That's odd because it usually shows on Parcelforce 48 hours after shipping date. Jay told me that it was showing as shipped but at his end???(Nothing on EMS China either) so maybe we have the wrong shipping number. Anyway this means that they will not be here until at least the middle or end of next week (and that's if they were on the tracking system). So 5 weeks might be more likely - not very impressed at all.

Thanks Theo - I have a huge number of pics so I know about the back. Actually it has a display back which I will leave in place with a domed acrylic crystal that will be fitted. Should get it altogether soon!!

Thanks Gil - a lot of help from 3rd parties but well worth the effort. I cannot wait to get it finished.

Here is the crown for my project 3646 which came back from the engravers this week. It's not perfect and not quite what I was expecting but it has been hand engraved and it's not that bad so is sitting happily on the watch. It's a bit loose and wobbly so I hope it stays put!! I have also got something very special on the way soon. This is one of the things that really gives the 3646 a distinctive look - it has a very tall bezel with a very broad top surface where the crystal sits in and I am fortunate enough to have one custom made for this. Here's a taster pic but will post more when it's fitted. Also the dial will be nice too (I hope!!). A standard height rep bezel is the one on the right!!

Superb stuff as always Rob - my hat off to you again!! Question - is the clearance for the datewheel less with these now gear arrangements? In other words is there less of a gap between dial and datewheel?

I got me one of those straps from Watches Of Switzerland in the UK. Took 2 days to come as Hirsch UK had them in stock in the 24/22 size. Only shame was the price in UK which was about $100.

Still do not have my group buy IWC yet - not impressed with the service from Silix at all. Will not be buying from them again.

I was at a watch trade fair today and heard a story about a guy who went into an jewellers and bought an old military watch for about £200. It came with an original receipt for a service with the original owners name on it. The name meant nothing to the dealer or purchaser at the time but after doing a little research it turned out to be T.E. Lawrence's psuedonym. So shortly after Lawrence of Arabia's watch was then sold at auction for £52,000 - not a bad return for £200!!! I was also told of a watch from a charity shop that turned out to be a solid gold Rolex worth considerably more than the £20 paid for it!! Also a dealer I met had an original 3646 that he sold for £6000 about 10 years ago. Watches24 have just listed one for $70,000 and there was one on the bay for a similar amount just recently.

Are the sides of the case brushed? Was just handling a gen today and noticed that they are> Also the centre of the caseback should be brushed as well (I know this is not on the rep).

The member I was dealing with is called Chad and only has 59 posts so is a noob.

Actually in my situation that's exactly what happened. The seller said he had several PM's from other people but selected me as I was well known and have something of a logstanding reputation. Well that being the case to then not allow sufficent time for me to pay was a joke - I also was constantly checking to see if he was on-line throughout the evening and a lot of you know that I am up until 2am most evenings so even with the time difference there is a large overlap. V - give him 24 hours. The other buyer will still buy it if he is that keen if the first buyer does not come through. I think a 24 hour rule is the best way forward on this as this is happening too many times.

Na na nee na na!!!

Nothing more to add - Chanel it is.

It does not make any difference as the wheels for the 7753 are not available to buy. These were taken from the owners own watches then re-printed. The 2893 wheels will be available off the shelf so to speak. Sorry.