By-Tor

Great choice, if you have wrists big enough for that. Maybe my favorite rep.

This watch just feels nicer and nicer every day. Quite amazing really, I never liked the ExpII when I came to this community. Now I can't get enough of it.

Don't tell me... you're born again?

Very good information Freddy. If you don't mind, I'll link this article to my Daytona 116520 FAQ.

Hey Ubi, come on man... we've all been missing your pics and contributions. Please visit us more often.

What's that American football? Do they play it with their hands or what? How weird... why do they call it "football"? Seriously: Glad you're enjoying yourself my friend. I was in New York back in 1994, great city!

Amazing Tudors guys.

Nice pictorial & great pics. I will link this to the Omega Guide. But one humble request: Could you resize the pics to 800x (width)? The page takes forever to load now. Thanks again!

Good morning all! I'm wearing the good old Seamaster Bond today.

Yep. But the Italian police seized them http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/5057422.stm For me there's only one modern Daytona: The 2001 model with champagne subdial rings.

I think this is a non-issue. I doubt we're going to see "organized reviews" like this a lot in the future. I think that people exaggerate the meaning of the reviews. Maybe they increase their sales a little, but I doubt the numbers are as significant as people think. And like I said previously, many of these articles increase the sales of all dealers simultaneously, when some popular watch model (such as the "UPO") gets reviewed. That watch, for example, was freely available through almost all our dealers. The UPO review watch came from Precious Time, simply because he's a trustworthy EU-based dealer, not because he's my "best buddy", or because I want to help him to sell more UPOs. All dealers are your "best buddies" if you send your money to them. If my review benefited the sales a little, it benefited the sales of ALL DEALERS WHO WERE SELLING THE "UPO", not just Precious Time. I was reviewing the WATCH, THE PARTICULAR REPLICA MODEL, not Precious Time. So why would a particular dealer "sponsor" a review alone? So the reviewer could write that "his service was excellent, he shipped the watch, which is working... and didn't take my money and run". All our veteran dealers are good and trustworthy. So where's the catch here (from their POV)? I could understand if the watch was EXCLUSIVELY provided by one single dealer (like the WM9 Sub for example). And about "us getting compensation for our hard work" doesn't fly, either. For me it's not "hard work" at all. It's all pure fun. If I didn't enjoy photographing and writing about the reps... or educating the membership about them, I simply wouldn't do it. Making some big reviews have taken DAYS... and if I considered it "hard work" I would never do it. Not for a stinkin' $250 anyway.

I remember when you purchased this watch in the old RWG. I recall Ubi bought one too. Very nice watch for the price. Sometimes these budget ones can be very enjoyable. Yeah, too bad that Adam is no longer with us.

Excellent work. Great photos too. Thanks for sharing this with us!

What "subdial spacing"? There's no difference between Asian 7750 and ETA 7750 subdial spacing. It's completely identical.

Yeah, Batman vs. the Boy Wonder. Ticking time bomb came from the evil Joker. Holy refrigerator, this is going to be good.

No thanks.

I would love to review many watches. Like a good DateJust ETA, Explorer I, Hublot Big Bang, a Breitling BCE, Breguet Aeronavale, or ANY dressy gold watch, etc, etc. I would never buy one of those models though (save the BCE)... but there's no doubt that I couldn't write an objective and passionate reviews of them. There are lots of watches that I like, but don't necessarily want to own. I think it's more like the opposite: Sometimes when you receive a new watch that you absolutely wanted to have you'll lose some of the objectivity. That's because you're hyped about your new purchase. I try to avoid that, but no doubt it has happened to me as well (occasionally).

@Neil: I think it does matter whether all the dealers have access to the same watch or not. If it was available only from Angus, then the review would only serve his personal agenda. Most of the reps are available for all the dealers. If my review of say, the "UPO", affected positively in the sales of this watch, it has probably given business to all dealers (who were selling this particular model). When it's about freebies, and "free" something, very large percentage of people are willing to compromise something from their integrity and self-respect right away. I have seen this many times in real life. Just open the reality TV if you don't believe me. And I'm sure it would happen to some people who post to this thread as well... the same people who say that sponsored reviews are "bad". Many people claim that they never download porn or masturbate, either. I understand your point though... call me a cynic, but I also understand something about the human nature. Even if we agreed that Pugs lost his "cool" when he received a free watch, we have to agree that at least he was 100% honest about it. I think there IS a difference. You judge him for that, I don't. I'm not saying you're wrong though, but personally I don't think this particular case was such a big deal. But yeah, I agree that this shouldn't become a habit. And like I previously stated, I'm sure our membership would take care of the potential "paid" reviews in the future... and frankly, I don't think the dealers are willing to (regularly) give out $270 watches to anyone, either. And this place could never become another ReplicaScamCenter, because the administration of this board don't do this for financial reasons... and the forum isn't censored or manipulated by anyone.

Hmm, people are gossiping about this, but does anyone really have any evidence at all to back up this claim? Let's make a few things clear here: I have never, ever received a DIME, nor a free watch from ANY dealer. I've got a small discount from Precious Time, but I think it's the same discount all his regular customers get. I got the Noobmariner as a gift from another member, but that was clearly stated in my review. I also reviewed TW model of GMT Master from Precious Time, pointed out all the flaws as accurately as I could... and sent it forward to another EU-based member (PT's customer). I reviewed it because I wanted to see this rep. I even paid all the postage from my own pocket. Some members have offered to *borrow* their watches for a review, but that's a different thing. A good friend of mine at RepGeeks offered to send his Super SeaDweller for a review, but I refused. I don't want to review reps that I don't like. Also, being European there's always the customs risk when the watch is shipped from the US or Asia. Another good friend of mine, Stephane, once offered to send his "Perfect Sub" for a review (which was really nice gesture) but I told him that the watch is crap and reviewing such rep wouldn't serve the community in any shape or form. I don't want to write a negative review of a bad rep, because it wouldn't be any fun. I'm not doing this for a living, it's all fun, and just a hobby for me. But I reviewed his Daytona, which I think came out pretty well. It was good and useful article (I hope). There are lots of watches I'd love to review and photograph for the membership, but I wouldn't take a free watch from a dealer, personally. Not because I think it would affect my integrity... but I'd hate to read anyone questioning it. But I'm not saying Pugwash shouldn't take one. It's his own business, his own financial situation, his own values and his own moral ground, and who am I to judge him? I'm not jealous that he got a free watch... good for him. And he clearly stated in his article, that it's a "sponsored review". He's 100% honest about it, so I don't see any problem there. AND THE WATCH HE REVIEWED WASN'T SOMETHING THAT ONLY ANGUS CAN GET, EXCLUSIVELY. ALL DEALERS HAVE ACCESS TO THIS SAME WATCH. I think this is an important thing that people seem to forget here. And even if we start to get more of these "sponsored reviews" (which I doubt)... I'm sure our membership has enough expertise to call them out right away. You simply can't post an untruthful, fake review of a rep here... if you think someone could, you're under estimating the ability and expertise of our membership. PS: I'm not singing gospel here, these are just my own opinions. I can appreciate different views as well... and I think this is a good thread and discussion.

Bought the new Mars Volta today. Not as good as their debut album, but much better than the previous two (Frances the Mute & Amputechture).

Closed.

Yep. I'm talking about the "polished bezel" version. Here's my (already departed) Link: I've become quite attracted to that brushed bezel version lately. I might even grab one of those eventually. I really like the Link bracelet, and I kinda miss wearing one.

Link Chrono has the same problem. Both rep and gen. My blue Link Chrono was the most reflective watch I've ever seen. If some watch needs AR, it's that one. Amazing rep though.

My TAG Guide has this link: http://www.rwg.cc/members/index.php?showtopic=22015

I'm starting the morning with this prog classic: King Crimson: Red I'm working with my stepfather in the same office, and he can't stand my Zappa, Crimson and John McLaughlin albums... but today he's on a business trip... so rock on!