Finepics

Sssshhhh - not quite gone yet but will be on Sat!!! Has anyone seen Panerailord???

Nice one Adeoos - sweet movt that one!!

Guys and gals - just need to take a few lines to fill you in on some things that are happening with me. Several of you are waiting patiently for various works to be done and I'm sorry for so long - I have not been able to spend as much time on my work in the last few weeks as my fiancee is moving to Hong Kong - without me. She has a new job there but I am not able to go with her so I'm trying to spend some more time with her before she goes on the 22nd of Feb - after that I will not see her until June then maybe Xmas. We are both going on a holiday to NYC on Saturday for one week, something that has also been very stressful trying to re-organise due to industrial action that was due to take place with British Airways, and I badly need this break as I am becoming quite exhausted from too many late nights doing watch work. You also are all aware that I'm trying to get various projects completed as well, such as the date wheels, and something special that some of you will most likely be very pleased about (secret for the moment). Also I don't want to be forced into a situation where I am having to rush things to get them done. I had the deserved bollocking of a lifetime from The Zigmeister as he fixed the mistakes (thanks Rob) I had made to a well known members watches due to rushing them to get them finished for a promised deadline. This is when mistakes happen and I could have ruined these watches so I absolutely do not want a repeat of that ever as letting you guys down is not what I'm here to do. If I don't reply to PM's/emails immediately then there's good reason. I cannot take on any more work until March as I have enough to do. So - please everyone be a little patient with me - I'm trying to balance things a bit until after my GF leaves. Then I will be all yours (so to speak) and grateful to do this work as it will help keep me busy and my mind off missing her too much (she is my world so it's going to be very hard on my own). I don't want sympathy - just a little understanding. Thanks for reading.

I'm still in and will bring a choice few pieces with me!!!

Sorry for the delays (as usual!!!) - I had an email from the printers on Friday to tell me that the printing plates were faulty (they are made in Switzerland) and were being re-made so there will be a small delay on this. Please bear with me - I know it's taking a while but there's not a lot I can do about it at the moment. I had hoped to have shipped them by now but my hands are tied.

I think they provide a very good service - it's not as if yours was the only parcel they delivered that day. They use barcode readers to log stuff so if a postcode is out then it can be a problem for them. Sometimes the driver cannot see an address easily and cannot spend 30 mins trying to look for it. They have tight schedules and tight margins and must be delivering hundreds of thousands of parcels every day so for the odd thing to go astray is not bad. They have lost a couple of my things in the past but my bank has made mistakes, NHS made mistakes etc etc.

Also as it's an 001 it will have the standard shaped ETA bridges although with better finish. Leave as is as that's how it should be.

Nice watch but crap movement. Certainly not an ETA 2892 (this debate is raging on general discussion). I will post some pics later - very disappointed with this and it certainly does not have anything like superlume at all. It's better than some reps but NOT SL.

Another thing - the B&R 46mm was described as having Superlume on the dial and hands - definitely not!!!

Well look at it this way - VolksWagen have factories all over the place including Shanghai - all their cars irrespective of where they are made are a VW so in my opinion an ETA (which is a trademark) should mean exactly that - an ETA (wherever it is made/assembled) so I think our dealers should stop using the word ETA unless it is!!! Ironic really that we are buying fake watches but concerned if our movts are genuine but nonetheless I do fell somewhat cheated.

I just took apart my B&R01-92 and this is what I found: I took this up with Andrew last night and this was his reply: "If you read the others watches with Swiss ETA 2892... All those with SWISS will be noted as Swiss ETA 2892 This BR is only stated as ETA 2892.. In China, all the makers call them ETA 2892 but no indication of Swiss. This is the replica industry standards. If it is Swiss ETA 2892, think about it.. The movement alone will already cost USD200. You can check the bph.. It is confirmed 28,800bph. Joshua and I bought the movements in bulk and had them checked. This is the Asia ETA 2892 which the Replica Industry in China calls them. There is also Asia ETA 2824 which Joshua and I just got them and installed in the Omega POs" So if this is the Asian ETA 2892 then what is the one that looks like the 2892 in the Omega??? Andrew - Joshua - any comments?

I just bought a Simona for my fiddy - absolutely stunning, thick, smells wonderful and comes in a very cool reptile pouch. MP are good but not the best there is.

I have a Fuji S3 Pro. To be honest any camera from a major maker is going to be more than good enough to do any job. Some are more noisy, some render reds differently etc etc - this list of minor differences can go on and on but unless you were doing micro comparisons you ain't going to see those differences. First thing is to decide if you want a compact or an SLR and how interested you are in photography that you will make use of all the features on a camera. No point buying an SLR is you are only taking snapshots and occasional close-ups a compact can do all that. Also an SLR means buying additional lenses and an increase in weight dragging it all around. A compact obviously has limitations in focal lengths with it's fixed lens but of course is far more portable and at the higher end has many pro typ features to allow more creative control. My recommendation in a compact would be the Canon Powershot S80. It has a focal range of 28-135 so good at the wideangle end. The only other compact offering this range is the Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX2 - it has some noise issues but nothing you would really notice unless doing very large prints (and who has bigger than an A4 printer) and it does have image stabilisation - very worthwhile. For an SLR why not consider a used camera - a Nikon D70s should be a reasonable price now or even a D50 (more of a beginners camera) or some of the Canon EOS range (personally I prefer Nikon but nothing between them really - familiarity with Nikon is why I stick with them). There is a good review site here where you can select your preferences and it will give a list of matches - also very good reviews generally - have a good look round the site. http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/compare.asp

Very nice pho - Aarons work is superb - wear it well and get it creased and patina'd asap!!

Guy's just a quick update - hope to start shipping next week sometime as the printers have nearly finished. Keep an eye out here for more.

Sell out - traitor!!!!

I bought a midsize gen bezel still in packet off the bay for $60. The insert is actually crimped to a lip on the underside of the bezel so absolutely no way to get a gen insert to fit. What did fit though was the gen pearl which, with a bit of glue, ended up in place of the rep pearl. So whilst still not quite the perfect placement for it in the triangle it does at least look much more like the gen cos it is!!

Agreed - the 243 is definitely the best. Wearing mine today with a nice tan Wojtecki Strap

A cheap $50 rep - been already discussed here as these are being sold on one of the freeview channels here in the UK for upto £500 (that's a $1000)!! Total scam and the [censored] that was coming out of the company reps mouth was unreal.

MMMmmmmmmmm - noob eh!!! Well the main difference between the 2 7750's is the beat rate. The new one beats at 28,800 whereas the old one had a beat of 21,600. This means that the second hand has a smoother tick. The finish of the newer movt is also much better but both suffer from poor lubrication during assembly but should be fine after a clean and lube - the new one is supposed to be as good as if not better than a gen. There is one other issue that only affect the new 7750 - the hand post sizes have changed so an upgrade to a gen movt is made more difficult because the hand won't fit the gen movt.

Oops - forgot to add my name. Have voted.

243 is the nuts. 24 if bezel polished is also the nuts (kruzer - thinking about a way to get rid of the markers and replace with dots!!!!!) 194 still cool even if SS as the markers are SS (not plated copper) and are welded to the bezel so cannot come off - I like mine a lot!!

@Kruzer - "Did they actually get the orange the exact correct color on the last version?" - Not sure about that but it's better than it was. I just made my Ultimate into THE ultimate!! Bought a gen midsize SMP bezel on the bay for $60 (still in the sealed pack), removed the pearl and fitted it into my bezel (cos mine had the glass sticking up and you could catch it with a fingernail), removed the Omega logo and nipped off the up swept tails with a scalpel blade, relumed it in a whiter mix of C3 and C1 (cos the lume colour is not right on these) and Bob's your Uncle, Fannies your Aunt etc etc - glows like a proverbial and looks the [censored] now!! Interesting that the gen bezel inserts are not stuck to the bezel but crimped on from the underside. So no way would a gen insert fit the rep - not sure if a gen bezel + insert would fit. Anyone want a gen mid size bezel plus insert minus pearl PM me!!!

It's a nice piece (I know someone with one) and comes with a full box set as well. SS strap is definitely the one to have. Only issue as usual is the sunken datewheel.

Guys I can tell you that Mr Smith is having to deal with some personal family health problems at the moment so this is definitely on a back burner for the foreseeable future. Sorry for the bad news but it might be possible to resurrect this later in the year.