SWATCHman

Can somebody help me out? Is it 26/22 mm? or 24/22 or what is it?

I tried standard HSS at first. A nightmare. I went through package after package. Don't even try it. I ruined a bracelet, when the drill snapped an got stuck in the endlink. Then I switched to cobalt drills plus cutting liquid. Works nicely. I'm using a power screwdriver for drilling...

That really sucks. In Germany we have three big Magazines - Armbanuhr - Chronos - Uhrenmagazin Plus they all do regular catalogues listing hundreds of watches with glossy high res images. I can't believe that none are sold in the US since it is by far the biggest watch market in the world. Well took the time to google and see what I found: http://timedesign.de/dir.html

Thats why I would recommend to go for the runner ups instead for the top brands: - if you're lucky the runner ups will make it to the top and you'll have both the brand esteem plus the product quality - if they don't you could still own a product that gives you more opportunities to talk about than most Rolexes do - take the Meistersinger, really outstanding in terms of design great quality, no reps around - or the Sinn U1 or U2 since it is filled with liquid silicone and it is made from actual U-Boat steel it is vertually indestructable, you coud dive down to the wreck of the Titanic and still be able to tell the time if you weren't crushed to fishfood at that point...s If I was willing to spent 800 to 1.200 EUR on a watch, I'd go with those exceptual watches from small to mid sized watch manufacturers who are putting a lot of love into their product and offer exceptional quality at reasonable prices. Since I'm not, I'm stuck with the better reps, which are usually a lot less imaginative both as reps and as gens. PS I absolutely love "Get Carter", the genuine of course not the replica with S. Stallone...

Sinn U2 Nomos Union Meistersinger Oris TT1 Stowa Seatime Submariner (used) Well most of the above are actually chaper, but you could always get two genuines.

A vintage Rollie is the way to go, if you like them that is... They are smaller than the current Subs and hard to identify as fakes, at least the better ones.

I think it would be this one. The first reason being it's modded to the hilt. Secondly most people don't know their a** from a vintage Rolex. So the chances of being called out are very slim...

Looking at the overall population growth, this time is probably the golden age of high end replicas. In the years to come people will most likely be more concerned with issues like food, survival and warfare for the increasingly depleted oil supplies. This will probably take time out of analyising flaws in Rolex reps. So all the members glorifying the good old times will soon be mouning dying rep boards and infrequent posts.

I have been using minimal amounts of 2 component expoxy. That worked perfect.

Is it just me or do the end links look like they were butchered on by a blind man? What ist the point of solid gold, if the crappy assembly gives it away at once? Plus, the heavier the watch the less comfortable it is to wear. Although I have to admint that I'm no great fan of TT, the pictures would turn me away if I was...

I have both and they both look great. I had the 6 o'clock dial frozen on the Moonwatch, so the hand sits continuously at 12. But the Moonwatch is one heavy sucker. The bracelet is solid and quite massive, the watch itself is not far behind a PAM. My DRSD gets far more wrist time, since it feels more comfortable to wear. But in terms of finish and style, the Moonwatch has it all. Make sure to get the version with the bulbous plexi though, the flat saphire version looks like a joke. The 183 on the other hand is great too. Even more accurate than the Moonwatch, since you do not have the issue with the subdial spacint. But on mine the threads of the crown wore down extremely fast and you definitely need to replace the straps, they suck big time. If I had to choose again, I would probably go for the 183, making sure to get one without the stripping thread issue. It is just more comfortable to wear and does not have any big give aways.

What is it with you guys. It's a GMT for Gods sake! Where is the friggin' GMT hand then. This is really cool, now you can chose between a GMT with a white date wheel and missing rectangle around the date window, which sucks. Or you can have a properly repped version, with only the minor flaw of a missing GMT hand. Whats next? Square wheels?

Yes, and enjoy the additional thrill of customs issues for free. On the way fro and to. No thanks not my kind of fun....

Hey whats wrong with you? The guy is working on reps, he is not selling them. That is perfectly legal in Germany. Is everyone paranoid around here?

Hi psda, I digged up a watchmaker in Hamburg Germany who does not mind to work on reps. He is currently freezing the 6 o'clock dial of my Omega Speedmaster. It might be a better idea to send this to him by PM Ken The site is german, but he speaks english and all the contact information is on the first page (practially all information is). He is selling watchmaker equipment on ebay as well, so he accepts pp and is used to shipping stuff around. He is part of the information age. A combination that is very hard to find. I'd give him a ring or drop him a line. He is not cheap though. He indicated 140 Euros for a full revision of a movement. But it is worth a try. I think the guy is kind of cool. Cheers SWATCHman

Just as a consolation to all who worry about the cleaning lady. I'm not going to fire her. Although I'm [censored] that she got rid of my watch while leaving the pile of junk mail on the very same table untouched. In any case it is only a rep, a good one and it has some sentimental value to it, since I drilled the lugholes myself to install genuine spring bars, but still. If I look at the things I screwed up in my job during the last 15 jears, that would pay for a lot of reps. So she is safe. But she beter not do it again.

This moring I prepared my MBW 1680 for shipping to Palpatine. So I wrapped it in bubble wrap, added a genuine tropic and put it into a padded envelope. Then I forgot to take it with me to work to ship it. It remained on the table instead. Needless to say our cleaning lady put it into the paper recycling bag and later dropped it off at a local recycling container. I was lucky she admitted it, so I did not spent to much time taking the house apart to look for the envelope. Instead I dug away a huge pile of dirt that blocked the doors of the house sized container. Then I sqeezed in and sifted through 1/2 a day of recycling paper waste. Took me a good part of an hour. Just when I was about to give up I found the envelope, buried under half a ton of junk mail (that somebody threw in there instead of delivering it to the mailboxes of eager consumers). The watch was still in there Thats what I call a good start into the weekend....

Just shows that most gen owners don't know a rep from a hole in the ground. I usually do not pretend that I'm wearing genuines, but if I were cornered and thought I had to, I would not hesitate to do so. Won't make the world any different. Or maybe it will: your client may be inclined to step up to Patek or Glashuette to distance himself from the caste of hairdressers. His wife may leave him in due course, since she is only getting crappy presents and cheap flowers as a result. And in the end an Indian-American super genius who would have brought world peace and abolished famine is never born. Dude, next time wear your Timex!

This is a Glashuette ORIGINAL all right. But at that time (1961) they were not a luxury watchmaker any more / yet again. They are situated in Glashuette Saxonia. Until the fall of the Berlin Wall that was part of East Germany of the eastern block dominated by the Sovjet Union. So the watches were essentially crap. Later on they were reduced to producing watches parts for the state owned watch industry. Only after 1989 they went back to producing watches of medium quality, later they went back to luxury and high end. So you'll find a lot of reasonably priced Glashuettes of dubious origin. If you find a reasonably priced Senator or Sport Evolution though, let me know...

It is 127, the handwriting on the waxed paper wrapper looked like 123, but it is 127. But see for yourself...

I ordered this Red Sub late last year from Luckyyy. Drilled the lugholes and the endlinks to install genuine Springbars. Added a OEM bezel (sadly not the vintage). Now I have a genine Tropic 123 waiting to be installed. I'll probably send it to Palpatine to have the CGs milled and dial/hands aged. Great watch, my wife is wearing it.

I originally planned this one to be my first rep. But the dealings with EL went the wrong way. First the watch was snatched by customs, then I received a wrong version. But then PT stocked the correct version with the domed plexi and I jumped at the offer. It is one heavy watch. Except from the subdial spacing it appears near flawless. Dial print is great, overall appearance is superb. The band is ok but could be better, especcially where the the connection between end link and the link before that. Link spacing seems to be a little to wide. But still a star buy and less a subject to short lived fashion trends than the PO although I like that one as well.