thedoctor

Maybe after a Patek and AP, I'll be done. Who am I kidding? The chase is as much fun or more than the actual purchase.

I haven't been here for a while but it's where I got my start. When I started my medical practice, I wasn't making too much, so I started collecting good reps, just like everyone here. My wife thought I was crazy for spending so much money. I have 4 pam's, including a rare ETA 2983 tuxedo dial, a modded red sub from that super secret guy from years ago, I don't remember his name, as well as Patek, AP, and Frank Muller (with an ETA 2892 engraved rotor). Suffice to say, I liked ones that were pretty much perfect with ETA movements only. Well, I'm still watch crazy, but now I'm making a lot more money. I started with a platinum Yachtmaster. A year later, I was on a cruise in the Caribbean, and made the ultimate impulse buy, the ceramic/steel classic Hublot Big Bang. It's my daily watch now. A year later, on the same cruise, I bought a Pam 111. A couple months later, back in February, I was in CD Peacock Jewelers. I had purchased some jewelry pieces over the years from on the sales people. She noticed my Panerai, and we started talking about watches. Sort of as a joke, I mentioned stainless Daytona's and "the list". I had a friend that they called off the list for a Daytona from a place in Vegas. He was on the list for 5 years. She put me on the list. Out of the blue, 2 weeks ago, she called me. The had a white stainless Daytona. I didn't even really want one anymore because I love my Hublot and big watches, but I know that Daytona's sell for $12,000 on Ebay, and I was getting this for list. So now I own the holy grail watch. I don't know where I go from here. I might actually be done. I have this forum to thank for educating me and making me SICK. I'll post some pics of the collection when I have a chance.

My 183 was from River. The crown stripped after 2 years. I got Davidsen's replacement, which didn't fit without modification and 2 hours of work by my watchmaker. Davidsen's crowns are supposed to be less likely to strip. I would just start with his watch.

That watch rocks!

I got mine. It's for a 2893 movement. Anyone want to buy it? I sold off my 029 while waiting for the wheel to arrive.

I finally stripped the crown on my 183. I have the first edition of the watch with the old unmodified swiss movement. I got a replacement 183 crown from Davidsen. He was very quick to ship it. My watchsmith said it took him 2 1/2 hours to fit it. Apparently, the original watch plus the replacement crown tube are actually 3 tubes, with one inside of another inside of another. The Davidsen crown and tube are not just a drop in replacement. He had to put the inner tubes of the Davidsen tube into the original tube of the watch and somehow cut them together to make it fit. Well, it works great now and looks great. Just be wary that it is not a simple job.

Great news. My watch is waiting.

A white j12 for sure. It's hip and no one will think it's a fake b/c most people haven't heard about chanel watches.

I have about 10 reps, and they are starting to show there age. I have an Nick Faldo AP from 2004 which I've worn maybe 30 times. There is a glued on plate on the movement to simulate the gen movement which is starting to come loose. My old reliable first edition 183 finally stripped it's crown. I just got the replacement crown and tube from Davidsen and it's now with my watchsmith. My beautiful Frank Muller 2892 movement Conquistador dropped a screw from the bracelet. I had them loctited. Luckily, I found it. I consider these my highest quality watches and they were all flawless when I got them.

Correct crown guard. $50.

I'm glad they are trying to make it perfect. I don't mind waiting for perfection.

I use this great guy in Vernon Hills. PM me if you want his info or you can google "Tic Toc Doc Vernon Hills."

From what I remember about them when they were offered, the 2824 was not decorated. If you are spending that much on a watch, I wouldn't get it unless it had the 2892 decorated movement. The 2824 is a good movement, but my watchsmith says the 2892 is a great movement.

My wife sleeps with her watch on. I take mine off at night. When getting busy, it could catch on something and injure her. With my girlfriend, I usually leave it on. We're usually in such a hurry since we don't want to get caught, it's good to know how much time has elapsed. By the way, I'm kidding about the girlfriend. Of course I don't want to scratch her with my watch either.

That's a nice watch. How does it compare to the gen? Do you have any pics of the back?

The genuine uses a soft steel for the bracelet which scratches fairly easily. My genuine bracelet and clasp look like yours.

I would consider that watch if it didn't have the diamonds. The movement is in the ballpark of the real one. It is a big ballpark, but it doesn't look too bad.

With a good chrono, you can tell how long you've been tied up.

Here's the 036 I got from Josh when he and it were new. It has AR, a fat crown guard, and a flush pin. Is this a good one?

River has the best PP24. I got one for my wife. The diamonds looked almost as good as a real one I've seen. That's too bad if he doesn't carry it anymore. I got one from King initially. It's really small. I don't know if there are different sized ones, but hers isn't that good.

Luminox does have a new model with an automatic movement. It has an ETA movement. luminox

The genuine one has titanium parts that are brushed steel on the rep. The bracelet is thus probably much heavier than the rep. The genuine, I've read, tapers from 24 mm to 22 mm whereas the rep. doesn't taper. It wears very large and heavy. It looks good and the quality is good, but it isn't that accurate b/c of the titanium thing and the taper.

@RageRover, So if your GF is a dentist she must be into oral stuff, right? That's a good thing. My wife is an Ob/gyn. I guess she must like vaginas, by that same reasoning. I hear what you're saying about the dangling Rolex. I sometimes feel that way when I wear my red sub to the office. I'm afraid patients might think I'm money hungry. I am a fan of money, but they don't need to know that. I tend to try to keep my watch tucked under my shirt sleeve when I'm seeing people if I'm wearing something like that.

I'm an orthopaedic surgeon, so I guess I could go out and buy a gen Rolex or Panerai or IWC. I got into reps when I started practice about 2 1/2 years ago. I'm making much more than I was when I started. I have so many reps I like that I feel that if I bought a gen, I would want to wear it all the time to justify the cost, so I would keep the reps on the shelf. I don't want them to feel lonely or rejected. My partners all wear crappy watches. The most expensive watches I've seen worn by doctors are usually TT subs. I did see one doctor making hospital rounds sporting a red sub, which looked pretty genuine to me. I trained with a super successfull hand surgeon who had several Patek's and a Lange. The average doctor that wears more than a Seiko wears a Tag.

In the office today I had a woman who was wearing a Patek 24. I commented on how nice the watch was and how I like Patek Philippe. She told me that she collects nice watches but her husband is a major watch collector. I guess he's the moderator for IWC's forum and he own's a bunch of rare ones as well as other choice watches like A. Lange and Patek. People have stopped him in Europe and guessed who he was b/c of the watch he was wearing. They must appreciate IWC more in Europe than the US. He's a lawyer. I guess I'm in the wrong business since I was sitting across the examining table from her sporting my fake Rolex. Hey, but it's an MBW. I bet he doesn't have one of those!