madasboot

Flame on!

What we know is what we see our trusted dealers were the first wave of online sellers but the demand increased, production reacted and most of all, China’s industry had started the QC cycle - within the next 10 years they will bury the old paradigm. As for the rep prices I guess they react to the market targets and, again, they are based on demand and on online sales. Last year in Kuala Lumpur I was taken into an apartment that acted as a “swiss” showroom. They even dad two in-house watchsmits. Base prices were high but after some good discussion lowered a bit, even so lower than the prices we are used to. there are some places in Saigon (street stalls) where one can find very decent frankens for 2** bucks or source the so called vietnamese dials for 4*bucks. sometimes watches have the same origin of the ones offered by online platforms, other times one gets surprised with an oddball. In the end we are still talking about reps... and cheap or expensive a rep will still be a rep. But it is still a watch anyway

Ditto, and especially because the genuine were way out of reach for most of us (and pretty unknown) and lots of good knowledge raised from the collective effort on building and modding; from the early steps of producing cases from scratch (or from base material provided by Eddie, River and David) to a rhodium disk detail. ?!?

That’s precisely the point... demand for better means wanting better, meaning paying more for it. funny thing is “they’ are the sellers we know, the small visible tip of a huge iceberg. Production costs in SE Asia are low, so low. medium and high quality cost the same; and market is huge. in the right places in VN one can find a vintage franken memovox for less of the entry price of a “noob” swiss ETA sub that we are so familiar with or find a “singer” dial for the price of a Johnie Walker.

my old watchsmith once explained that acetate crystals get yellowish with age and exposure; plexi does not

loooooove it!

I am more prosaic... a Yamazaki Single Malt would land beautifully

Congratulations and thank you!

What a beauty of a watch. Mod result is awesome!!

Looking wonderful.

Awesome mod work mate! - I notice you repainted the central red dot on the rad logo?

some days ago some months ago

Totally agree. Along my travels I had the honour and pleasure to meet some of our fellow members, between 2007 and 2010 in London, NY, Toulouse, Sao Paulo, Madrid, etc... and I have much more than the good impressions I had with the interactions within the forum boundary. Grateful for that and to everyone that keeps the good flame. cheers, M.

Winding weight is engraved International Watch Co. The mvmts below, according to the watchsmith who serviced both, are swiss but most probably are clones given the source and the price I paid for them in VN. Next time I travel I will ask to take some pictures of the vitrine and counter. Thank you again automatico!

Thank you so much Lo’. Will surely do! best, M.

Thank you Lo' My first vintage projects lasted more than 8 years before I could consider them done. The 1016 bug bite should have happened to me 12 years ago and half planet away... Any help or advice will be most welcomed! saluti! M.

I am more and more tempted to move into a 1016 project and all the info on this thread is highly insightful and useful. thank you (all) so much for sharing. best, M.

That just happened to me an hour ago... Curious thing is back in 2007, a fellow RWG member told he used urine to soak some dials in, and then vinegar and hair blower before "firebake" them in an oven... ahahah

and these are pics from the ETA mvmts (5517 and 1016 reps) sourced in Vietnam a couple of months ago - out of the box and out of the street.

Hello R. Thank you for your follow up. I will try to ask for your Durowe movement with plastic balance jewels next time I hop in Saigon. There is an old watchsmith, Mr. Le Thi Hung, who owns a small booth located near Ben Tanh Market that may have it. Lots of parts and vintage watches - some military from the 60´s and 70´s - and he is a wonderful man. I cannot identify the mvmt on these watches but the assembly is neat and they are quite reliable. I can share a couple of pics of the IWC open case... Best, M.

Dial detail

some questions are better left unanswered....

Cheers B.!

less simple, please