By-Tor

Bricktop

Of course you had to be there but many of his confrontations were classic's.

I loved Bricky.

I don't know if his attitude towards noobs was always right... it'd probably wouldn't fit the current RWG atmosphere... but sometimes I (secretly) wish he were still around.

To his defense: He never slagged off noobs who posted reasonable questions. Only the "best Sub" guys got hammered. Badly.

For all I know RWI is twice the size of RWG

You probably mean "half the size"?

Oh man, that Golf Club post was easily the best and most legendary ever.

Is there a link somewhere to that legendary thread? Didn't it happen on RWI? Everyone should check it out... it's completely INSANE and hysterical.

Hmm... I wouldn't really think this thing as a competition. RWI and RG do their own thing... we're getting along very well with both and we haven't noticed any kind of bad spirit between the forums. At least not with RWG and others. All staffs co-operate together and we respect their different ways of doing their thing. I have some real good forum friends in the RG staff.

RG might be a bit busier traffic wise and they probably have more active newbies and young people... but RWG is still the biggest forum.

This is RG stats (pretty impressive too I might add)

View Who's Online

Most users ever online was 1,113, 12-01-2008 at 01:41 PM.

All forums and their staffs are doing great (imho) and the reps are better than ever. Life is good!

Hey, welcome man! Wow... so many watches at once! Looks like a potential addiction.

About ladies' Link... it's a nice watch/rep. I bought one for my lady a few years ago and it has been her daily beater. After one battery change it's working flawlessly. SEE ARTICLE

Yeah, automatics are too much for the ladies... they simply don't get it. Choose quartz.

Joe's tongue eventually yomped him into so many corners it had bunions on it.

you know thats swiss lol i changed the datewheel lol what $290 is a fair price lol that crown oversized? lol it's genuine swiss like cheddar cheese lol got it directly from zurich lol though i've never heard of that state lol

I agree D. That looks stunning!

I take back what I just said. I have to go to my Breitling AD and try this on.

You are correct.

We are in process of "shortening" the front page anyway. It's way too long and messy right now.

Lani's got a new watch every day!!! Mmm... I wouldn't mind that, either. Beautiful Tudor!!! You gotta post a group shot of your whole collection one of these days!

Life is good man... and the weather too, eh?

I've been working behind my computer for the 2nd day in a row (mostly browsing the RWG though). Wearing this:

I didn't move it, but "off topic" is the correct place for that thread. Anything non-watch related go there.

"General Discussion" means general watch-related discussion. Perhaps we should change the subforum title for clarity.

The one and only . That watch were only precious for, as you put it; the 'era' it represented. That version would be laughed at today. Oh well. They come, they go. The watches and the noobs....................

Hey Dems, in many ways it was more fascinating too. Most of the Rolex reps were so bad, we had to send them to shady characters like RedBigJoe who changed some "genuine" Chinese parts here and there... charged $500, then blew the dust off the dial for $100... and then the whole crowd was yelling pleasantries. "Oh that looks exactly like the gen!". Good friends, good liars too.

I remember sending him a PM about a GMT insert. Joe said it was "highly handcrafted Swiss insert". Later I found those same inserts (with crooked numbers) from German Ebay for $7. Live and learn, that's what this hobby has always been.

And man those reps were God-Awful. I found some old pictures of my Chinese Sub just lately. Yet we polished the turds, modded them and loved 'em. Now you can buy a WM9 and it's 98% perfect otb... where's the fun in that?

But then again... would I turn the rep clock (no pun) back 5 years? Hell no!!!!

I mailed him my 16613 free of charge. Not because he was a pain, he wasn't, he was cool, but because it was just easier. And I was drunk.

That was probably the old and ancient 16613 that I got so excited about (when I was a noob)? Oh man, those were the days (and reps).

This makes me feel bad as I believe at some point I did that to you.. lol

No I don't think so.

Generally, I don't mind advicing people at all (if they have done even some basic homework). I think your pm's were perfectly reasonable.

You wouldn't believe the amount of noob pm's I got (prior to the note I put into my signature). There were some classics quotes for sure. I wish I had saved some of the funniest pm's.

95% of our noobs are amazing... very willing to do their homework and contribute. But the rest... very typical (and the most frustrating) PM conversations were like that I explained to a noob XXX why he must buy that particular Sub from the particular dealer. I mean, how can you make it any simpler than that... you point the noob to the dealers' sales page, give him THE DIRECT LINK TO THE WATCH and tell him that don't even consider any other versions, buy this best one from this best dealer.

Then the guy thanks me (if that) and next day he pops up again "Hey, what do you think about Joshua's Sub?" (of course there is no description of this "Sub", no link to the actual sales page or even pictures)... or even any reasoning behind his "comeback". "Joshuas Sub" or "Eddie's Sub". Oh yeah they all have their own Subs that they build in their own little basements. And hey, didn't I tell this guy just yesterday what to do!!??

These guys are amazing... they might even come up with some off-site dealer (usually a scam site from Kenya or Indochina) and ask me about the Sub that looks exactly like gen. WOW HOLY REFRIGERATOR BATMAN, YOU FOUND THE HOLY GRAIL!

I just got fed up. I ignore them all now. I'd love to help but some people are just so dumb that it must hurt in the head. They come to the place that has all watch information in the world, and utterly refuse to use it. I can only imagine what our dealers have to go through... so it's no wonder they're a bit "cranky" at times.

Yeah that weight thing is weird. It's the age old belief (for non-watch people) that Rolexes are very "heavy". Wonder where that comes from. Probably from the days when the only reps were made of those solid gold day-dates or two-tone DateJusts... and the reps were $10 quartz/brass cheapies with painted gold. I got that kind of DJ from my dad back in 1987 (from his Far East trip). It was horrible.

We still get noobs who whine about "Why my Explorer II is so light?" and they don't realize that the gen is just as light. "B-but isn't the gen Rolex very heavy and solid?", etc.

I always wondered how people think... how they could be any heavier? Both rep and gen are just stainless steel and Rolex don't use led plates inside the caseback, do they?

Rolex has always been a lightweight watch... yet they are considered the "best" by the non-watch people. When I gave my SFSO rep to a friend to handle he was impressed, yet amazed of the weight... and wondered how anyone could possibly wear a watch that heavy and still feel comfortable? My Rolexes (rep or gen) don't impress ANYONE (except myself). Sad but true. Those riveted bands on the vintages are even flimsier... unbelievable!

What I like about 7750 reps is the weight. 7750 is a heavy movement and watches that sport it feel very solid and impressive.

Another great article! Man you have become almost like RWG's official journalist lately!

Platinum aside, I simply don't "get" white gold, even on a Rolex. I've seen a gen white gold Daytona. Beautiful watch, but the additional $20K for something that looks almost like SS. Hmm... no!

That's a great point BT. Depends how far you take it beyond the movement swap.

My rule is not to spend more than 30% of a Gen all-in

That's the whole dilemma with this kind of projects... those great franken-PO's for example. With all total costs, parts and time invested, you're soon in the 1K range (+ in this case you have to take the ETA 7750 market value into account).

When I look at some $500 "super reps" they simply don't make sense to me. You can buy genuine quartz Seamasters, Breitlings and TAGs for that price in the (dramatically depreciated) preowned market. And yes... while I love reps they simply can't compete technically against genuine Swiss made watches... especially the Asian 7750 ones.

Using reps as simple "base project watches" has gotten too expensive nowadays.

Discovery is a great candidate, but given that gens can be obtained for as low as $1.9K (with all dealer discounts, etc.), does it make sense to invest tons of money on a franken? I mean, if you're going to put the watch for sale in the $800 - $1K range. Doesn't make much sense to me.

But then again, it's the same dilemma with pretty much all 7750-based gens. They're $1,5K - $2K watches mostly.

This kind of project is only good if you're building the watch for yourself... something that you're going to wear yourself, long term.

My 2c.

The Noob dial is definitely more accurate than the WM9 v1 dial. However, I loved the "Flat S". Personally, I would keep the WM9 dial just because of that. v1 has very decent dial, imho.

I just compared the WM9 to my gen GMT and the color is identical: Greyish white. I'm not sure if this varies though... but my gen print is definitely greyish.

Noob dial being better than the WM9... I disagree. WM9 dial isn't perfect, but the dial print quality on WM9 is easily superior to any Rolex rep out there + the superluminova. You'll know when you see it in the flesh Chief... the print is exactly like the gen. Not saying the Noob dial isn't great... it definitely is, but WM9 wins (imho).

And you gotta compare it to the correct gen counterpart, which is the D-series. Gen left, rep right (rep pic is a bit larger). And there's variation in the gen "1" in 1000.

Hi FxrAndy, read Toadtorrent's article of this rep.

What the Omega Guide doesn't have linked, you don't need.

I always thought the BCE two-tone is gorgeous. But I was bummed when I found out the new versions are bloody 44mm!

While I could tolerate a stainless steel sports chronograph (if you can call any Breitling that with the all-polished bands and all) in 44mm, I think in two-tone it's an overkill. Two-tone watch should always be "dressy" and wearable with a suit. Maybe I'm old fashioned but 44mm gold watch simply isn't right. Same with the Aquaracer Chrono Day-Date TT... the SS version is stunning but the TT looks UGLY and clumsy.

Boy, if Chris could come up with the white dial Exp II with the black surrounds it would be out of sight- he could sell a gazillion of them.

I agree. And besides, that'd be exactly the kind of dealer activity that we would love to see on RWG.

It's a shame that he doesn't frequent the forums anymore. We all loved his enthusiasm.

Like B-T says, I'll miss the old 16610- but it's been around for over 20 years. I guess things gotta change.

Actually the base design has been there since 1680 was introduced. The 1680 case is 99% identical with 16610. So the classic crown guards Submariner has been around for 40 years.

Personally, I think they should have made less dramatic changes. But then again ask me again in 20 years... maybe I have changed my mind.

Hey... good post. And a great classic watch you have there! I simply dislike the DeepSea... it's ugly as hell while the classic Dweller is simply classy and amazing.

The amount of small variations between the models is unbelievable. My favorite Rolex, 16710 has plenty of those as well. It's always funny when someone thinks that he's a "Rolex expert" and tells you that your "date mag isn't big enough" or that SWISS ' MADE is wrong, for example... or that II / || marking on the GMT MASTER. Lots of variation there, and some transitional models used only SWISS.

Real expert can always detect the gen from the case and overall look.

And I 100% agree about the scratches. Stainless steel tool watch like SeaDweller isn't designed to be babied. Babying your stainless steel sports watches (to the extremes) is simply gay, imho. I'm very easy on my watches but I don't care about small scratches on the watch... it's an old clich