By-Tor

Hey BT! Congrats!

Really, really nice, the rep just didnt have the same textured sheen to the dial. This is a stunning piece in person.. I remember RobbieG was a big fan of this dial and famously promoted it

Yes. RobbieG's photos and essays inspired me to buy it.

Off topic, I notice some slight jpeg artifacting, anything stopping you from using .png?

Good idea. I always thought about saving as lossless PNG but forgot about it.

Composed a new Breitling picture of the Mighty Fish.

@Nanuq:

You could have sent your gen Bond Sub to me for fixing. I have delicate hands and I would have fixed the dial marker with this:

@Metaljesus: Don't make the mistake and touch the original dial. Enjoy that vintage patina!! Posting pics of that beauty isn't forbidden, either.

Not a huge fan of IWC's generally but this model is very nice.

Hey mate, what do you currently have in your collection? You've had some superb reps, frankens and gens over the years.

@dovo: I'm a moderator here and Silix is one of our dealers (I think). But as a member I would say that you got extremely bad service and got borderline scammed. Those Fishes DO NOT have AR at all. They're NOT the "Ultimate" version as we know it.

And if he sent you wrong colored watch he should have replaced it without any further questions asked. Sending a replacement dial isn't sufficient because we're not watchsmiths but customers.

Pronger played well in the final though. But yeah he's a bit slow and clumsy. Big European ice would have been a huge advantage for the US team. Guys like Kane could skate circles around Pronger there.

Generally, big defensemen like him are a dying breed with the new offside rule. Game has become faster now that teams can't play with neutral zone trap anymore. Small dmen (who can skate) like Rafalski, Zidlicky and Kimmo Timonen are hot stuff now. In the 1990's they wouldn't have even make it to the NHL.

Just a side note... Chris Chelios just signed with Atlanta Trashers (at the age of 48)!

Indeed... all Canada goals came from bad defensive play. USA lost Mike Komisarek and Paul Martin to injuries before the tournament. Two most important d-men of the team (plus Rafalski of course who was/is totally amazing).

I agree. Crosby was great. He must play through all that pressure all the time and still he consistently performs great. I don't know where the hostility comes from... probably jealousy. People can't stand it when a young kid has been placed on a pedestal. But it's not his fault, he's just that good.

Let me see... he now has Stanley Cup and Olympic win within a year. As a team captain and an assistant captain. He's not Wayne or Mario yet, but I'd say that's still pretty amazing for a 22-year old.

Actually USA won both U18 and U20 titles this year.

And I agree, Canada was truly a deserving Olympic champion. That wasn't my point... and their win over the Russkies was impressive. As a general fan of the sport I'd just like to see more competition.

Switzerland is one country that has many great young players coming. It can take 10 years but I think they'll be competitive. It's the biggest sport of the country now.

Personally, I never understood Canadians' "protectionism" about hockey... those slogans... like "Hockey is Canada's property", etc. English invented soccer but Argentina, Italy, Brazil and Germany have won all major soccer titles... England has only one major win. Soccer is a worldwide sport because there's always that element of surprise... the game is played EVERYWHERE, it's not anyone's "property". Should we think that when Brazil wins the World Cup, part of the credit should go to England? No.

It's not good for the sport if it gets dominated by only one or two nations, or is heavily labeled as "Canada's sport". We all know Canadiens invented it. So what? Does it have to be repeated every day... or does it take something away from the Canadians if the sport gets more popular... and if some other countries win occasionally? I think no. And you know.... if this were a basketball game I would have rooted for the Canadians.

Hockey is a big sport in many countries. The Olympic hockey final gets worldwide recognition, even among people who are not hockey fans. I think Americans should learn to respect their only international sports more, which are basketball and hockey.

USA team going to the Olympic hockey final is 100 times bigger thing (internationally) than winning the Superbowl or "World Series". Baseball and American football get virtually ZERO recognition outside the US and Canada. There's a big difference between a local sport and an international sport. That's why Americans should be proud about this achievement and Canadadiens should promote hockey to become even more international, not being overprotective and uber-nationalistic about it. This from a guy who played in the local junior leagues for 7 years... I love the sport.

Just my 2c.

Amazing dial shot Ubi.

Good morning my friend! I'm wearing my white franken Exp II today.

I hope you'll get to wear the black beauty soon!

Watches are just toys for big boys... but seriously, has anyone heard from RobbieG lately? I heard he had some health problems.

I hope he's ok.

So much talk about Fish lately.

So let's give a bump to this great thread. It was the one that pushed me to purchase the gen.

Actually I want to give it a bump because I think we all miss RobbieG's amazing photos and contributions.

This kind of information is extremely valuable for the members. Steelfish must be among the best selling reps ever and it's just as popular as ever today.

Precious Time can definitely still get the good one. But looks like even those can have occasional SEL QC issues. Not all people notice the SELs but for me nicely fitting SELs are one of the most important things on a good quality watch. Rep or gen. Unfortunately makers don't pay enough attention to this. They look great on Cougaree's "1st gen" Fish. That's why I hunted an "old school" bracelet for my black rep Fish too.

The real "Ultimate" Swiss version has amazing AR. It's every bit as good as the gen (imho). Here's another comparison shot that shows it. There's no reflection on the dial.

The bezel is superb, case is superb... it's almost freaky how good the rep is. Too bad the dial texture and ivory, flat hour markers aren't quite up there.

Gen has a bit different crown guards (as you stated) and the caseback engraving is a little bit nicer. But who really cares... those are almost impossible to notice without putting them side-by-side.

Gen vs. rep.

What an extraordinary review!!! Don't be too modest, this is much better than my gen vs. rep comparison. I've become lazy lately... I just shoot the watch pic porn and compose some blahblah around it. This is actually useful stuff. And who even wants to read a review of a gen... there's very little to say.

That blue version doesn't seem to have AR at all (imho). The 2xAR on the Swiss version doesn't look like that... it should be very, very apparent and good.

And the concentric dial "quillouche" (or however it's spelled) is just less apparent on the blue version. It's not just this version, it was the same issue with my Swiss blue from the initial batch. Black dial is more accurate in every way. The datefont doesn't seem to be ETA, either... so I guess cougaree is right. You received an inferior watch.

They both look very good replications to me, but the SELs are no good. That's why I purchased a bracelet from the initial batch and replaced it for my black rep. I guess they're all like that these days (unless you get lucky). The last link that connects to the SEL should be straight but it was angled just like the other middle links. PT replaced it for me of course.

And the gen "B" on the crown has the larger loop. That's more correct.

PS: I wish we'd see more reviews like this. Amazing stuff, and thanks for taking the time!!

Damn ugly watches.

Patek Sky Moon Tourbillon is ok though.

When did they start producing the two-tone/full gold Sub? Is it possible that the dial is from a TT/gold Sub and they have just changed the markers?

I mean something along with this

Holy sh*t! Is that really the WM9 Sea-Dweller? That looks friggin gen!

Thanks Omega. My dad's Pepsi is the watch that started it all for me. I'm lucky to own one myself too. Never get tired of it... perfect watch in every way.

I forgot about that one...

But then again, I also don't really consider that to be a traditional Submariner

Couldn't agree more. I'm already underwhelmed by the new upcoming steel Sub. New Rolexes with those fat lugs and crown guards... you should never touch perfection.

Actually they produce the white gold blue Sub (ref. 116619) too. Easily forgettable watch though (imho).

I'm a huge fan of blue dials but I wonder how they ever managed to make a blue dial that boring. The old 16613 blue dial is amazing, this watch has very disappointing color.

Whenever I put this on, it always makes me happy.

Damn... Ubi won the contest! SO amazing ladies' pieces.

I wish my wife was more into watches. I'd buy her a gen two-tone Constellation which is my favorite ladies' watch.

She once posed for the DD that I reviewed. The blue dial wasn't very accurate to the gen (surprise, surprise) but the watch itself was very nice. DD is a looker and a great choice for ladies.

She still wears this rep that I once bought for her (from Narikaa). 4 years and going strong.