By-Tor

Thanks. The Photoshop job took about 2 minutes for this pic. Creating a duplicate layer isn't that time consuming.

Pelé played in a superior Brazil team through his whole career. With teammates like Jairzinho, Rivelino, Garrincha etc. I'm not saying he wasn't awesome but it was much easier to shine in a team like that. Diego won the world championship virtually ALONE for the average Argentina team 1986. He did the same thing with the crappy Napoli team at Italy. I too used to think he was no match to Pelé before I saw some footage from his time in the Italian league. He was "out of this world". He was a lousy human being, yes... but that doesn't take away his achievements.

I wonder if my friend Demsey now finally decides to come here. He was one of the few regulars that didn't want to move to this new place. He has always been one of the most interesting posters for sure.

You think those are ugly and tasteless? You'd better think again? Can you rape the classic tool watch any more effectively than this?

admin you're a yuppie.

Had some fun with Photoshop today.

Diego looks good. I'm glad he got his life back together. Yep, he screwed everything up in his life and you can say whatever you want about Pelé's achievements... but in my eyes Diego is the best football player ever.

Thanks. Mine has been working flawlessly for the last 10 months. It gets lots of wrist time too and it has been extremely accurate, +/2 seconds a day. Better than all my ETAs for example. According to Ziggy's review this watch comes correctly oiled so I don't think there's any serious need for immediate service. I have only seen one or two negative feedbacks about the Venus movement and I recall they were both related to the chronograph small minute hand not following properly. i.e nothing serious. Never heard of anyone's Venus movement dying yet. The dealers say the same thing... reliable movement, no returns. Just go for it.

Thanks Zig. Oh yes, I have the laser alright. Paid a few bucks extra for that. King's carzy sale. Here it is in action

Apparently some kind soul transferred more cash into your account Shady. Hit refresh.

Well what to say.... It's amazing, that's all I can say. Let me guess: Guards, pearl, crown and markers have been done. Where did you get the riveted band, goes really well with it.

I think you just did.

Grandfather watches are always priceless. Here's mine (Choisi Montreux). It's very rare model. The factory offered to fix and service it without a charge and wanted to take pics of it for their watch museum. Haven't send it yet.

There are some magnificien Kon-Tiki models. Eterna belongs to the same category with brands like Zenith, Ebel, Hublot and Tudor. Great watches that rep factories constantly ignore. Kon-Tiki chronograph is very nice but this is still my favourite:

Thanks Ken.

That's ok.

Thank you again guys. But number 1 in informational reviews? No way, the Zigmeister is number #1. I'm just an amateur... and I basically just collect other people's info and knowledge together. @vric: That's a great tip, never even thought about that. However I managed to do realign my bezel in a few minutes using the "old" way. Guess I got lucky.

Thanks Z. By the way when are you going to post pics of your new PO?

Thanks guys. This might be the last review I constructed together (for a while). I hope people can use it as a reference in the future.

I'm not sure what differencies the "new batch" SMP has (except the bracelet screws). The pearl wasn't great in the old batch, either. Apparently nobody who saw my watch paid any attention to the pearl. If the bracelet screw/pin issue is the only difference I'd say go for the new one. It's still amazing. PS: What a funny coincidence, I just finished putting this together: http://www.rwg.cc/members/index.php?showtopic=4509&hl=

I agree. My SMP bracelet has been resized in a Omega AD and the watch has been compared side to side with a genuine Seamaster Pro. The owner didn't notice a thing. Two fellow watchsmiths have handled the watch, wondered about the heavy weight and solid feel. And of course didn't have slightest clue it was a rep. You can be 100% comfortable with that rep anywhere.

I also think it's a battery problem. I used to have a Seiko quartz chrono which acted really strange when the battery was running out. Try replacing the battery first.

Omega Seamaster "Bond" is arguably one of the best and most convincing replica watches ever made. So it's no surprise it has become one of the most popular replica models among the community. Despite being so good even this replica comes with flaws which are unacceptable for some. We get all the same questions about this rep almost every week which basically bore me to death. So I tried to collect all useful information about the Mighty SMP into one post. This guide helps to give newbies some hints how to mod, maintain and adjust the watch... and make it even better. 1. MISALIGNED BEZEL The first and foremost flaw is the bezel insert. For some unknown and strange reason the replica factories puts most SMP's (not just this model) out with misaligned bezel. Perhaps they do this on purpose? The next picture demonstrates the problem. Fixing the bezel alignment isn't difficult, you can do it yourself. Sotirisp posted excellent and informational guide to the old RWG. Since it haven't been reposted here I took a liberty to copy his excellent pictures and information into this article: 2. BEZEL REMOVAL Which i did afterwards...the result is below: The insert is glued (or taped) into the bezel. When you remove the bezel you can push the insert off from backwards. Then just reglue it into new correct position. In theory you don't have to remove the whole bezel in order to align the insert again, but it's virtually impossible to force any sharp object between the insert and bezel hole - and then pull the insert off without seriously damaging and scratching it. 3. BRACELET People constantly complain that the SMP "Bond" bracelet is one of the toughest watch bands to resize. I don't think it's difficult at all, as soon as you figure out how the bracelet is constructed. Because of this "complex" and unusual resizing method the new replica SMP models probably come with screws instead of pins (which is inaccurate). The old replica version uses the same pin-and-sleeve bearing arrangement as the genuine. Yes, even the genuine parts fit. Here's my explanation how to resize the "Bond" bracelet: 1. There are two "stopper tubes". You have to put these tubes into the two the link pinholes "narrow" side down. When installed correctly they stay put. Their purpose is to increase friction and "tighten" the pins and thus prevent them from becoming loose, so obviously you want to place them the correct way. When the 2 stopper tubes are in the place you just tap the pins normally in. It's not more complex than that. 4. POLISHING My SMP is my "tool watch". It was heavily used through the whole last year and the bracelet was full of dings, dangs and scratches. So I polished it throughly with abrasive stainless steel polishing paste. I used so much force that I ended up with full mirror finish. The problem is that this kind of finish is inaccurate. Genuine SMP has only the small middle link "stripes" polished. They didn't "shine out" from the bracelet anymore. So what to do? I ran across THIS TimeZone article a while back (interesting): So I decided to try. I didn't have Scotch Brite Pad but I was glad to find out that my girlfriend had bought this: It's a typical kitchen pad which is designed to clean up ingrained dirt. Its surface is rough and abrasive enough to be a perfect tool to brush stainless steel. I tried it previously on my Rolex Oyster bands and got excellent results. It also works to brush off the surface scratches from the clasp. I used the same method as in the TimeZone article (taped the polished stripes of the bracelet accordingly). Brushed finish came back, the watch is scratch free and looks like brand new again. And here's the finished SMP bracelet: 5. PEARL SMP pearl is another obvious flaw. The rep pearl doesn't look like the real thing and it might bother some. Veloci has made an EXCELLENT tutorial how to construct a genuine looking bezel pearl by yourself. My hats off to him, I don't have skills to duplicate that, but if you're adventurous enough why not give it a go? Veloci's tutorial can be reviewed HERE. SUMMARY: I think we have covered almost everything that's essential about the SMP in this article. Thanks again to Sotirisp (who's unfortunately MIA while writing this). People keep saying that the "new batch" SMP is inferior compared to the old one, but the only main difference (that I'm aware of) is the bracelet construction which wouldn't bother me, personally. It's still one of the nicest and most accurate replicas. These adjustments are by no means *necessary*, and the SMP rep is impressive even without them. This stuff is only the "extra" icing on the cake. Enjoy your great rep, whether you want to attempt these mods or not. Thanks for looking.

Fantastic pictorial Randy!!! It looks so easy when you have the skills and equipment.

Updated the old review today with a few new pics. Enjoy.