gasebah

Unfortunately laws in Europe are quite heterogenous. The worst thing that can happen here in Germany is that they would seize the watch and that's that. In Germany there is no law against the posession or mailing of counterfeits. What is prohibited is dealing with counterfeit goods. Plus any counterfeit goods that are in transit of a dealing process (which your watch obvously is) can be seized. So unless they find some phoney construction that makes you a dealer the worst that can happen is that customs seize the watch. Having said that, other countries even in the EU have completely different laws. E.g. in Italy posession of counterfeit goods is prohibited and can be fined with up to 10.000 €. Long story short, I am afraid I can't help. :-)

Awesome watch.

Here is a photo of the back side with the deployant.

I bought this one from Joshua, but it is the H-Factory version that is available from different TDs. The strap is from the watchboys. The large-scaled alligator pattern is fantastic, and is a good value. I wanted to have a strap for the deployant as I feel that the chunky aftermarket buckles do not go well with this elegant watch. I have bought enough tool watches lately. However, I admittedly feel that TWB's regular Tang-Buckle straps may be made slightly better as the thin portion of the deployant strap is not done quite as well. Still an excellent value compared with any other choice out there and basically the quality of a gen strap at a fraction of the price.

Funny you mention it. A colleague said the same thing recently and actually it is true´. When I get up in the morning I first pick the watch, and then I pick the shirt that goes with it, :-) I hope that is not I sign that I am finally loosing it. :-)

You can se a pic of the chocolate brown watchboys strap here: http://www.rwg.cc/topic/151560-pam-240-with-new-chocolate-brown-gator-strap/ They have an even darker one as well if you prefer that.

I really like that JLC diver. Unortunately I bought a GMT pro hunter only a few days before this one came out. Now I am reluctant buying the JLC as I find them too similar, both being all black et al.

I really did not like the watchthat much when it first arrived but it was growing on me. And now with the chocolate gator from the watchboys it is my favorite watch.

I think that new gator from the watchboys kicks ass with the tobacco dial.

My credit card company is frequently investigating this kind of fraud. Credit card details are at stake whenever you buy something with a credit card. Even in a restaurant in China a service guy can just quickly write down your details. My bank actually locks my card everytime almost once a year because my number popped up in some list with credit card details. They send me a new one right away and case closed. Although the timing seems fishy your card's details could have been out there for over a year until they were finally bought by some thug.

The topic says it all. But it has to fit under a long sleeve and should notbe larger than 43mm. Thx. -Alex

I dont know about other parts of the world but in Germany a design patent needs novelty and a unique distinguishing impression. However the design patent is granted without any examination of the two. Meaning you would have to challenge at least one of the two if you defend yourself against a design patent. Years ago I learned that in order to infringe a design patent you would have to make an almost slavish copy. But looking at the Samsung-Apple case I am not sure about that anymore.

An intellectual property attorney in a rep forum. How far have we come.:-) Excellent post.

Just on a sidenote: I never had any of my automatic watches serviced and some of them are ticking for 10 years without a hitch. I just wait for them to break down and so far that very rarely happened.Given how cheap those asian movements are it is cheaper and less hassle to let them break and simply repalce them

Frankly I don't buy into what is said here. "A passion for classic mechanical machines"? With an Asian 21-J movement faking a Patek? "not about status"? Why dont people buy an original Seagull Tourbillon instead of a Rolex fake? If we are honest a lot of the fascination actually comes form the brand. And the brand has a lot to do with its proclaimed status and lifestyle.

Without mentioning any specific countries here, that is already being done. I received watches from TDs over several European countries other than UK one of them already mentioned in this thread. So nothing to worry I hope, just an adjustment that has to be made.

Also I would not even understand what the purpose would be to identify a watch as fake. Because in Germany it is NOT illegal to own a fake watch. It is also NOT illegal to bring one in the country as long as you bought it for yourself. What is illegal in Germany is any kind of trade traffic of fake goods. The funny thing is that the law is very herterogenous in the EU when it comes to this. While ownership of a fake watch is not illegal in Germany it is e.g. in France and Italy. If you bring a fake watch to Italy or France they can fine you up to 10.000 €. On the other hand it has become almost impossible to bring a watch from outside the EU into Germany with any kind of postal or shipment service. In this case Geman customs is very pragmatic, they just presume that the watch is traded to you and thus the watch is trade traffic. The will seize 99% I suppose. The legal distinction between ownership, trading and trade traffic is subtle and I do not know if I could make myself clear in English..... Sorry.

Handed over to customs is normal. But the address and the delivered status that sound strange. I really hope that the UK is not changing their policies of keeping all eyes closed. In Germany literally nothing gets through that is from outside the EU.

I totally agree with TeeJay. This is simply a cultural thing. Everything that helps business is considered smart and per definition cannot be unethical even if they are your "friend". I was sourcing various goods in Taiwan, Hongkong and China for many years. We had a running gag for delivery times. Whenever something was not fully developed or ready for delivery the standard answer was "available in one month" completely regardless of the real development time. You could run from booth to booth and from show to show you always got the same answer. It is still a running gag between me and a colleague whenever we are judging development time for a project or a product release...hmmmm...one muns.

If prices will go up in the rep business (what I doubt) this will of course also affect the sales forum prices. Woulld be interesting to see if older repswill realize higher prices than what they were originally bought for. :-) I think it is funny anyway that reps seem to be almost as good as an investment as gens. :-) -Alex

Neither Swiss nor legend......

Just on a sidenote. When the Noob PAM 243 was on backorder Josh told me I should defnitely buy the H-Maker as the Noob version has serious quality problems and the AR is total crap and Noob lied about the AR and the lume.....bla bla bla. His website was of course still praising Noob as the best there ever was. Needless to say that I ordered the Noob version somewhere else and received the best rep I ever owned. So I would just abandon the romantic idea of any of these guys telling the truth to their "longtime" customers. These guys are running a business and they will tell you what is good for them on any given day. If there is stock from A, B becomes crap and vice versa. They are no better than your regular used car dealer who knows you are just passing through. And they have no interest to tell you that Noob will probably come back when they fear that you might hold back your order. Sad to say something like that but that is just how the Chinese are. I have been organzing purchasing from South East Asia for many years and for several companies so trust me when I say I know what I am talking about.

I had two Chinese tourbillons (no reps) for many years and they still work like a charm and are keeping good time. When one fell down on a concrete floor one part in the movement broke and I had no problems getting the part from China and had my local watchsmiths fix it. If a wtachsmith says he cannot fix it it only means that he doesn't want to or is incapable in the first place. It is all inside the boundaries of regular watchsmith art. I bought them here: minorva.net. Forget about the prices you have to bargain and get around 30% off if you do it right. -Alex