By-Tor

Great discussion...and great info from Ubi and BT of course.

Now, if anyone can provide info on what replacement movements would work in either the Explorer II, GMT II, GMT, GMTIIc, etc...essentially anything GMT related...that would be interesting. I'm still afraid to jump on the GMT band wagon without either having somebody willing to work on a modded movement with the 4th hand...or a better quality replacement.

For GMT... go for the wrong hand stack genuine ETA. I seriously doubt it will have any issues. Not visually correct of course, but I have never experienced any problems with them. And even the visual flaw is greatly exaggerated (just imho). Well, it doesn't bother me at all.

Ironically, the CHS movement in my franken-ExpII is working perfectly after 3 years. I just won't touch the hour hand setup.

The replacement for the CHS is 2893-2. According to my watch guy even the hands fit, but then the hour hand and 24h hand order would be reversed of course. It's a bit weird solution, yes, but it's the only one (if you want to keep the hand stack order correct). But like I said, the gen ETA 2836-2 "faux GMT" have all been bullet proof for me.

@eagle_lex: Thanks, I love my ExpII too. You can read more about it here.

I hope this does not mean that Omega is going to discontinue the original self wind speedy moon

Original Speedy Moon is for Omega what 911 is for Porsche. Not going to happen.

Personally, I would go for the white dial MBW 1680. The dial isn't perfect, but it's much more difficult to "call out" because there's more variation. Those red watches are highly collectible and all Rolex WIS are well aware of them. I doubt any rep dials would survive the hardcore "Rolex WIS tests" but at least the whites aren't blatantly obvious.

I'm actually amazed how half-assed all the aftermarket red dials are... I haven't seen even a SINGLE one that looks even remotely correct. Strange, because there is a huge market for them.

Nothing wrong with the question man, I just meant it's not really worth stressing about. I have handled gens that don't feel smooth at all (some vintage watches), but yes... all new gens have very smoothly operating crown. On the reps it's luck of a draw, really. But I have some very smoothly operating rep crowns.

I think the smaller crown that BK offers is worth it, because the default crown on the Noobmariner looks really stupid (it's grossly oversized). Go for it!

@PZ: Older gen Omegas had the "clown feet", newer ones don't... but the logo isn't a "Chinese" invention.

Toadtorrent made a GREAT post about this watch: http://www.rwg.cc/members/index.php?showto...;hl=hour+vision

The most accurate is the first one.

Yes, I'm (of course) aware of that post. Toad did it because I requested it.

But this new rep version seems to have differently decorated movement... or then I'm seeing things.

If you want to build an accurate 1680, stay the hell away from the red dials. The red SUBMARINER font/appearance is blatantly wrong on every single one of them, and every Rolex WIS will call it out in 0.05 seconds. They literally SCREAM fake.

I don't know how accurate the movement is (visually), but this watch looks really nice.

No worries man... I have just always wondered where this myth about "reps being lighter" comes from. It makes absolutely no sense to me. The only brand that uses higher grade steel is Rolex, and even with Rolex there's virtually ZERO difference in feel, weight and appearance (providing you oil the rep bracelet).

Check this out, and do some reading around. There's lots of info about watches here.

The myth probably comes from the people who have bought some brass junk from the street corner.

Sometimes I'm amazed what kind of questions people come up with.

Not that there's anything wrong with this question, but I wonder what makes people think that genuine Rolexes are so different from the reps... in things like this. It's just a damn stainless steel screw down crown, not larger than life or anything. Some rep crowns are smoother, some are less smooth. Gens are usually smooth, but excessive use and wear can change that. But it's not a big deal, either way.

Just relax... and if you can't relax wearing a rep... get the gen... or avoid Rolex.

My Noobfactory ExpII has a genuine dial. Gen crown and tube are easily swappable as well. Bracelet... I don't know, but my rep ExpII SELs are so good that I don't think it's even worth it.

16710 from the same factory has the same specs. With some mods it's very close. See Stephane's franken here.

Among the best & closest Rolex reps (with some mods) imho.

Oh one more thing. Do these watches weigh a lot? Do they feel like something substantial or something cheapy?

Let me ask you a question back:

Why would you think a replica stainless steel watch with 7750 automatic movement would weigh any less than a genuine stainless steel watch with 7750 automatic movement?

This is something I never understood... how could there be any significant weight difference? Do people think that genuine watches have the inside casebacks covered with led or something?

We often see newbies coming here and telling us all kinds of "truths" about genuine Rolexes... how they're "heavier" and feel "significantly better" than the reps. It's all absolute and utter nonsense. There's only one occasion when there's weight difference between gens are reps... that's when you compare a full gold watch versus a plated one.

Do you still have the watch... and did you ever finish this project?

If you did, would love to see some additional pics.

I've always loved the ExpI and yours looks fantastic!

Thanks Gentlemen!

Now who will be the first one with the black version? I'd love to see some real-life pics of that.

Wow... so many beautiful watches!!!

Tuesday is a good day for the SFSO.

Almost everyone can name the 4 nations that have won multiple World Cups and have played numerous times in the World Cup final: Argentina, Italy, Brazil and Germany... the football Superpowers... but very few people know that Uruguay has actually won two football World Cups as well. The first one, 1930 final game has been documented here. I thought it was a nice little video.

Enjoy!

Argentina - Uruguay World Cup Final 1930

http://rapidshare.com/files/145620451/1930...ntina_color.avi

The background photo is a stock photo, not mine. Just a small photo composition... and a new title picture for my review.

Enjoy!

Lowres wallpaper (just enlarged from the 800x)

Let's hope there's going to see the Great Gig in The Sky!

RIP!

actually this is only the correct hand stack for the GMT Master. The GMT Master II has a different movement and the 24, h, m, s hand stack you mentioned.

Almost correct, but not quite.

The "transitional" model of GMT Master, ref. 16700, had the same stack as the Master II, but it had technically inferior movement (3175, which was just an update of 3075). i.e no independent hour hand setup.

But all the plastic crystal models had the other 24, h, m, s setup.

Wow... what a fantastic review!

Thanks a lot. I will definitely add this to the Breitling Guide...when the next update comes out!

Wow... a PAM that even I could like. Must be the blue dial.

If it only had a bracelet...

Very cool Rollies guys!

I'm going with my Seamaster.

Great "almost end" result Freddy!

Best wishes man!

And keep in mind: This hobby is not all about buying, modding and getting new stuff all the time. You can also enjoy the great watches that you already have, and still be just as enthusiastic as ever.

GMT hand is definitely adjustable on the A21J.

For that price... why not... if you don't mind wearing a rep that's terribly inaccurate.