bamcky2k

heres a pic of a scratch on gen CrPO bezel... occurs on gen too, but yes if its ceramic topped with paint id imagine its the paint thats rubbing/marking...such as the AR coating on crystals, often its the coating that scratches and not the crystal itself. scratch just below the 5 in 50...

its fine, the pearl, honestly! just google pics on gen seamasters and you get pics showing the same effect...even holding a watch in your hand can make things appear to look odd. these are very close up pics though, in reality, it will look perfect...the camera never lies? maybe...but it can exaggerate!

the genuine new version orange bezel is steel, just like its earlier version. its the black ones which are ceramic on gen, and liquid metal on the blue Ti version i believe. there was definately a thread on another forum stateing the rep black ceramic bezel inserts paint had rubbed off...and one pic that picked up a scratch...quite a few started to question if it was actually ceramic due to the scratch... however, over on the gen forum WUS i found a thread on google where the OP had tried to remove a scratch on the bezel edge of his ceramic smp 300m with a scotchbrite pad and ended up smudgeing/scratching/removeing the 30 marker on his gen ceramic bezel... anyway heres a stolen pic (i do apologise...) of a rubbed/smudged triangle off a rep insert...the thread is on another rep forum and the gen 300m ceramic with apparently same issue...

thats good to go, im pretty the bezel is perfectly alligned and its just the angle of the pic so no worries there. how far are you gonna go with the franken?

indeed i may just bite the bullet now...hmmmm quickest v2 ive seen ha! the fadeing bezel was on another forum, where it appeared that the guy posting the pics had rubbed the bezel with his finger and the paint around the triangle had faded and smudged...its the only one i seen with that problem though and from memory it was never followed up...so maybe take it with a pinch of salt...however, you could always remove the insert and spray it with a matt coat or 2 to be sure...wouldnt hurt it like! this "v2" is now great i reckon, all the 2 major issues sorted...and the older gen planet ocean crystal fits if you wanted an upgrade even further...top rep, now wheres my debit card...

the qc pics above are of a 45mm...the date window, bracelet endlink number etc are all for the 45...so it would seem that not only have they sorted the AR issue but also the caseback...hopefully the OP will post pics when he gets it, cos that is probably the best one ive seen posted so far...

i owned the c60 trident auto for just over 3 weeks last year, i returned it though as to me, it had a few issues such as a loose bezel with only 60 clicks, lint under the crystal and a plastic movement holder. in all honesty it felt very rep like in my hands, the lume was awful despite being superluminova, they are swiss made but id imagine quite a few components are sourced from the far east. the no quibble return policy is great and customer service was spot on. you also get a 5 year movement garauntee...the personally signed letter welcoming you to the watch that you get was a classy touch too.im pretty sure they have now uped their quality though, as they now have 120 click bezels etc. the new c60 with orange bezel looks fantastic but after my last experiance i cant bring myself to order one again...especially as watches such as the longines hydroconquest models are just £200 more... the christopher wards are a good micro brand product, but personally i think theres better out there from more established brands for not much more cash...

has nobody else noticed that this 45mm does NOT have "liquid metal" on the caseback in the qc pics...i knew the AR had been sorted, but does this mean the caseback has been updated too? or have the pics been mixed up with a 42mm version...

display (see through) caseback is on the gen, shows off the gorgeous calibre 8500 movement

for the money they are superb, the movement is a real workhorse and very robust, even if it did break the movements are dead cheap to replace...get the clone eta if you wanna mod it, but if not and you just want an accurate rep that will put a smile on your face for very little money buy it....

thats the one, post qc pics here if you need any help etc. its a fantastic rep as it comes, you'll be happy!

you can franken the 5th version 42mm with either asain 2824-2 or eta 2824-2 till your hearts content, bezel fits, crystal fits, dial fits, hands fit etc etc, but it can cost quite abit if you buy the parts new and you get very close to the cost of a pre owned gen watch...however, the 5th version is good to go as is, it really doesnt need all those parts....i did a full franken of one last year and regretted it due to the cost and money i lost when i sold it on. as you want a rubber strap, the best advice i can give is a 5th version 42mm and a gen 20mm rubber strap...it will look great! i would message a few trusted dealers to see if they can source you the watch, should be able to no probs-i dont see why it wouldnt still be available. the new ceramic 42mm isnt frankenable due to the parts not being available...(the older planet ocean parts are readily available from cousinsuk, ofrei etc) however, i have seen a geuine older planet ocean crystal fitted to a rep of the new ceramic planet ocean... good luck with whatever you choose, both the 5th version 42mm and new ceramic models are great reps

get the 42mm 5th version, with asian 2824-2 movement. its good to go as it is, and you could then buy a gen rubber strap for it and save alot of cash on gen dial, bezel etc. or get the new ceramic bezel 42mm and buy a gen rubber strap...either option is a good one...or lastly keep an eye on the sales threads for a franken PO, they do come up for sale and all the hard work and depreciation will already be taken care of...

i know the planet ocean from QoS was sold last year, at sotherbys i believe...the estimate was 4 to 6 grand...im pretty sure from memory it reached 30 to 40 grand (or maybe more...)

any news on the rep release thats pretty cool though, ive heard of a guy doing liquid filled watches somewhere on another forum...not too bad looking either, if a little tom cruise sci-fi esque...

ive copied your pic below, see this bit circled in red...on the clones its a straight edge, on gen eta its curved...yours is curved, so id say its an unfinished eta...or atleast some parts are swiss and some are asian clone...ive seen a few with mis-matched swiss/clone parts. also has etachoc as found on the lower grade eta movements...odd to have no markings though, unless it was totally unfinished without markings either...could be a sellita movement too i guess, which may explain no eta stamp...

if all the seals are greased, the crystal is sat right in the gasket and crown o-rings are present and screw down tight you should be ok...if 50m (5atm) is the most the machine could go and it passed fine it would probably go higher on another machine that could test higher. my old seawolf rep went to 100m on a tester and that was straight from the factory... i normally go by the rule 50m (5atm)-ok for washing hands, out in the rain etc, 100m (10atm) bathing, shower, swimming pool etc and 200m (20atm)+ swimming/snorkelling, shallow diving etc anything over that can handle anything. if you wanna go swimming with a watch, why not just get a seiko skx007/009...they come in black (007) or blue (009) and are iso rated to 200m to be called a true divers watch, they have outstanding lume, look superb...and all for $195...keep your rep then for when you leave the pool

fantastic looking piece, great fit on the SEL's, accept, recieve, enjoy! they are great reps, regret ever selling my grey dial model...

welcome back to the whackiest of hobbies! the asian eta clones of the 2824-2 etc are pretty highly regarded, im pretty sure 99% of genuine swiss movement parts will fit if needed, i replaced the keyless works assembly with swiss on 2 of mine with no fuss. there are modders/watchsmiths in the EU, many members will point you in the right direction. quality and choice has got better, but they are still reps and do still have problems. a quick search through old threads will give a wealth of info! just dive in and have fun!

you wont be dissapointed, its a great rep and highly regarded round the forums, i was gonna go for a gen bezel on mine, but in all honesty the colour and look was fine in the flesh, thats why i went with an AR crystal instead which really made the dial pop! i'll try and dig out some pics if they still on my hardrive...

older gen dial will fit the older chrono rep no probs, the newer "red seamaster" chrono rep has a newer fast beat a7750 and the chrono hand holes are in a slightly different position...its definately not a straight swap with the dial you have... im not sure, but i think ofrei carry stock of the correct a7750 movement that this dial will fit...or was it cousinsuk?! about a year ago i was looking at a similar build, but gave up after researching and adding the price of parts... £200 for the watch, £165 dial, £185 movement, £200 bezel, £55 hands, £145 crystal... that (although all new parts admittedly) came to over £900...i ended up just getting the chrono rep and swapping out the crystal for one with double AR coating, it looked great, scratched my itch at the time to own a chrono, and i flipped it for also the price i paid. i would imagine a franken would not hold its value... if you need any parts numbers, case numbers etc just shoot my a pm good luck and happy hunting!

the new style chrono reps wont take the older dials...im sure theres old threads around detailing how the holes for the chrono hands are in the wrong place for the newer a7750 movement...i think you would need to source an older low-beat a7750 movement for this dial, and hopefully it would fit in the newer style rep case... its a nice piece, but are you sure its not just so much trouble and effort, you may aswell just pick up a used gen? i've seen the older chrono models come in at between £900 to £1500, depending on condition...thats a pretty obtainable price. good luck with whatever you go with!

patients is a virtue in the rep game...your qc pics will get emailed to you...remember when you order, the watch has to be sourced, photographed etc along with hundreds if not thousands of other orders...i have had some qc pics go to my spam folder on my email account as they got filtered with the attached pics, so check your spam just in case. apart from that, suck it up and wait it out!

agreed...we all know scammers are out there, but this thread has absolutley no useful info on what happend or what to look out for...did the buyer use a paypal account that wasnt his? want to pay cash on delivery? did his profile state he was in USA yet his paypal stated nigera? etc etc, i know the op said to message him for more details but i see no difference in just posting it here openly. no names need be mentioned if so desired, but atleast give info on the scam so if it happens to another user they can say "hang on, ive read about this recently..." why clog up your inbox with users asking for more info when it could benefit the entire community by just posting about it here...

why not just post info here? how did he/she try to scam you? what was it about? etc etc give them a chance to respond on the open forum...no need to name users if you feel theres no need to straight away, but info is good to warn others openly...