bamcky2k

ha! oh yea!, if you get a close up of the serial number on the listing-exactly the same as the one pictured on puretime tut tut, listing reported...I cant believe people are actually bidding...

very vague description (no mention how he got the case "new"), the pearl looks wrong-not in position but how the lume is filled...there were 1948 of these models made, so how he came by a new case god knows, and with such a sought after and collectable model why on earth would you decase the movement/dial and then sell the case?! also the crystal from the angles hes taken the pics has a lot of glare, these models had an almost colourless anti-reflective coating to show off the dial... id say this is a noob case, before puretime released the latest version it was available as an Asian movement model that had no AR coating on the crystal, just like this one on ebay... too many questions around it...id stay well away...

theres 2 threads up in general forum, from what ive read, hes all good and working through his backlog of work after his terrible loss and ill health. hes also not taking any new orders of work until his back log is cleared up. check general forum for more info

I used a bezel/caseback popping tool found in most cheap watch tool kits, it was tough...the gen smp bezels and gen planet ocean bezels ive changed were simple easy compared to this rep! the steel feels softer on the rep and is easily bent so take great care and work around equally as you go...also watch you don't damage the bezel retaining spring... don't quote me on the bezel colour tweak by omega...however its what ive noticed and also what an AD had noticed...(he defo agreed that the blue ones he sold when first released did indeed have a glossier bezel finish than the blue one he had in recently...) the insert id say is double sided taped in...a quick heat up with a hair drier and worked its way out, just watch you don't chip/crack/split the insert! the residue left behind was awful though and needed cleaning thoroughly bezel reattaching the insert. if you do pop yours see if the back of the insert is blue...if it is it could be one piece blue ceramic, if its black the blue is probably painted onto the front then possibly lacquered to give the shine... the entire structure of the watch is extremely good for a rep though, on the black bezel version its really hard to find a fault with the watch both in looks and build quality...

I did indeed remove the bezel...its an absolute pain in the proverbial! its on there tight, and its very easy to bend the bezel ring...and also chip the ceramic insert if your not careful...looking at gen blue version pics from when this model was released the bezel is very shiny giving the blue an almost faded look-just like the black version looks grey/silver in certain light, however, when I viewed a blue version at an AD last week the bezel was more matte finish and almost textured...I asked the sales guy (a mate of mine) about this and hes under the impression omega tweaked the design slightly but couldn't say for 100%...the pics of yours actually looks quite close to the one I seen... if you decided to try and polish it, you may well take the paint off if your not careful and wreck the bezel...a better way if you can get the bezel off and remove the insert with great care would be to give it a few coats of high gloss clear coat spray...would defo give a glossier/shinier appearance... out of the box, the black is very much the closest to gen...in fact its mad how close for a first run rep...i'll be doing a thread in a week or so with a tear down review and pics...

the He valve may screw/unscrew but does not go through the entire case-theres no hole through to the movement so no probs there, the crown screws down pretty good (on mine atleast) with a lot of turns to lock it, crystal gasket was a little thin when I stripped my entire watch to check the build but works fine, caseback gasket is present and if greased will be fine, caseback tightens down nice and tight...and to top it off, I had mine pressure tested to both 50m then 100m at a local shop-it passed no problems! ofcourse get yours pressure tested as not all reps are the same... the watch is bigger than a sub c yes...I found my no date sub c rep wore very small, good looking, but the seamaster feels more substantial on my wrist...

great looking combo that will attract attention, its those certain tones of certain colours that just "work" with various breitling models. enjoy your watch buddy!

both myself and another member on this thread have modded the pearl to sit flush with the bezel/insert and it makes a great difference...just read back through the last few pages and all the info is there! @ryaku, the smp doesn't sit as tall as the planet ocean and wears flatter and wider, you should be more than ok with the smp...

gen has same effect, if you go to an AD and look at a gen, it changes colour just as much. on mine, in direct sun light it can range from pitch black to almost silver, indoors pretty much always black. honestly the colour is very gen like. the blue version im waiting to see in real world pics, the gen blue is same as the black-very glossy and is almost a pale faded colour in some light yet dark blue in other situations...the rep blue looks too matte but we'll see soon hopfully heres a gen black bezel for comparison (lifted from google images) don't dwell on the colour, its a fantastic rep!

great stuff mate! the gen is also thicker than the older smp, I think it adds more wrist presence to an already cool watch

HE valve turns (screws and un-screws) but does not go right through the case (to aid water resistance...)

glad it worked finally, makes a hell of a difference doesn't it! @kernow, cheers man, modding gens is something I like doing just as much as reps...

angus usually deals with noob watches, and noobfactory are shortly releasing their own version of the standard ceramic planet oceans...the limited edition liquid metal is the first to come out, the others should follow soon...but soon could be months in the rep world...

100% gen, its a mid size seamaster chronomoter and no rep has been made of it...

double AR on these...and pretty damn good too...

its a great example of an omegta...its a chronograph (apparently) and its got that unique function of "a chrome at the bottom of the lense that seems not to be there..." only prob I can see is the marker missing at the "15"...I woulda said "5" personally... in all seriousness though he either doesn't have a clue, in which case do some research first...or hes a total chancer...but if he knows exactly what hes upto and trying to just offload it why risk pretty good feedback on a piece of rubbish like that??

yea removing the bezel and insert is a good way...but only if you feel confident...I removed the bezel on the one im using for parts, and believe me it was tighter than a gnats [censored]... if the pearl seems stuck tight, try heating it gently with a hair drier then pushing it in...

in fact sod it, im wide awake so here you go... gen hands with green lume ref. x26524, gen hands with blue lume ref. x25159 just search these reference numbers on cousins, the green lume ones are out of stock til November though grrrr the case number is 196.1504 for the blue seamaster and 196.1507 for black... 168 prefix is for the earlier model...got that wrong in my earlier post!

i'll log on to cousins tomorrow and find the exact ref. number for the hands, you need to either search on there under case parts or hands by calibre reference on the omega section...I've ordered them before, so i'll check my past order history and get all the info... I have a whole month off work from 28th august, so will get the builds done and try the stuff I have out, get it pictured, and get a thread going...done all the ground work, but no proper time to sit down a do a good job of it! as for the relume, I did have the idea about getting a gen black wave dial which has blue lume, removing the applied markers, and applying them to the glossy rep dial, but as the gen dial is in excess of £254 before vat on cousins its simply not cost effective...a relume is a much cheaper option... on a rep this good out of the box, you don't wanna go too mad on stuff that isn't really worth it...

just for a quick reference, heres my gen smp quartz that I modded myself...it has a crystal from a planet ocean, bezel ring from a planet ocean and the original smp insert... had to use the po bezel to avoid the lip between bezel and crystal, however on the new smp-c, the bezel and ceramic insert are a lot taller than the older smp, so im hoping the crystal will be a straight swap height wise. check out the no crystal effect...even from relatively straight on... you can see here the longer hands compared to the older model, so should look fine on the smp-c and a final wrist shot...

yea do be careful, the ceramic can crack...the grip end of the screwdriver I used is covered in a pretty hard rubber/plastic material, I tried using something softer at first but the pearl just left an imprint in the rubber ha! if its not working try something with a harder compound...go slow, the pearl is held in with minimal glue, so it will go in-and looks great when done. you may find it easier too to remove the bracelet, lay the watch head on a flat surface (with towel etc under it to protect the caseback). that way the bracelet isn't in the way and you can "feel" it more if you get my drift... once I have all the parts in place and have time to take proper pics i'll upload everything in one go...I have sod all free time right now which is annoying as im itching to get started on some new projects!

amazing rep, very close to gen...regret ever selling mine... enjoy and wear well!

I second that on the blue! will be great to see real world pics, the dial looks good, but as said before I dunno if the bezel insert will be glossy enough as it looks too matte on the TD's videos and example qc pics...the black is unbelievably close to gen, I have a mate who works in a local AD and he gave me 2 minutes with it next to the rep...honestly its been repped to almost perfect...the tone, colour, glossiness etc is spot on, if the blue matches this, these could be amongst the best out of the box omega reps ever produced...

totally agree, the watch is indeed perfect in my eyes...apart from better lume it really doesn't need anything done to it...I have a few parts knocking round so im seeing what could be done... pushing the pearl down does work...ive removed the insert and its pretty thick, with plenty of room between bezel/pearl/insert for it to sit lower...heres a quick phone camera shot to show how it looks when done, its a big difference...quite abit of pressure is needed, but it will go...just watch it doesn't go below the bezel...

I installed a po crystal on my gen smp quartz, and ended up adding a po bezel aswell to make up the gap, the thread i made about it is on here somewhere...but as for the ceramic rep, its a totally different construction...the bezel ring is taller and the insert sits higher, side by side with my modded gen it looks like a perfect height...or at worse there will be a half mm lip... Il have alot of free time the end of the month so will compile everything then...no rest for the wicked!