Lovecraft

It's gone. I was curious to see just how bad it was

Tried with pliers yesterday, but all I managed was a small nag in the case, despite being careful. I hope I can remove it. Either way, I'm pretty sure I won't be able to use pliers to remove the tube. I'm going to file a little in an X-sign to make traction for a screwdriver, clamp it, and then simply try to unscrew it. If that doesn't work I will clamp it properly to a work table and drill it away. I have to wait until I get my small screwdrivers though (taking their merry time on route from Hong Kong...) - don't want to do any screwing or drilling with the movement still in place.

I opened it up and took a look inside. Seems to be an ETA, but not sure. It had the ETA stamps and so on though. No idea if they go to such lengths as to copy 0.5mm small logos... Anyway, seems it's threaded on the inside as well. Maybe I can unscrew it...

Could be, but my AT's screw on crown looks the same. And I think my other watches at home are the same, not sure though.

I noticed that my 42mm PO's tube is threaded on the outside, while pretty much all the pictures I've found of the tube switch process looks to be threaded on the inside (like the gen tube I got from cousins). My tube looks thicker and threaded on the outside - does it make a difference? Will it be harder to remove or will it leave a larger hole in the case? Is it a 42mm thing? I haven't seen anything about it really... t This is my case and my stem, in the picture above. That's Rymeister's stem before he removed it on his 45mm PO.

Thanks, already read it through and through though and have it bookmarked It's a wonderful source of information, thank you a lot for putting it up!

I really like the gray/black ceramic bezel one. You are right that it looks more aggressive though, generally not my cup of tea but I really like this one for some reason. No idea how the sharp edges feel like - would have to try it on at an AD. The 8500 though... yummm - now that's some nice movement porn

You needed to mod it? On a 45 or 42? I thought it was just to snap it on, at least on the 42. Although I read somewhere that if you later on decided to go with the gen crystal it ended up too high with the gen bezel in place.

I agree that the pearl/ring doesn't look 100% to me - but then again I've been staring at PO bezels for hours the last few weeks. Maybe it's the light in that particular shot though because the pearls in the other rep pictures that the eBay seller has looks better imo.

Yeah, I like the contrast as well - but not sure I like the orange stitching (which would be the "correct" choice if I go with red numerals I guess). We'll see It shifts at exactly 12 o'clock, I'm just worried I might screw it up when shifting hands and wanted to know how it works so I can avoid it - or fix it if it happened. If it's really a non-issue then never mind.

I bought the same kit 11 days ago - Free shipping from HK. Hasn't shown up though. Mine was a few dollars cheaper but maybe not worth the wait...

Yeah, supposedly cheap and easy but I've read some threads where it didn't seem that easy at all. I guess we'll see once we get there

No worries, you are not posting slowly - I'm the one making multiple posts in one thread Yeah, I already decided not to get any end links or clasps or so on. If I do I'll rather get the whole bracelet (and I won't at £450). I have two nice leather straps, if not the right color right now. I'll get one soon - just have to decide if I want to go all black or black with white or orange stitches. I also talked with someone on here about getting me a rep rubber strap. We'll see what I end up using. I have to say my AT looks very different (in a good way) with the brown strap on. It's very nice indeed, should post some pics, but my camera sucks. Yeah, I read somewhere that people were struggling with having the date wheel turn at 12 o'clock - or during 11:45 to 12:15 or whatever. Maybe it isn't an issue at all and just something my brain made up from fragments of information here and there.

To me, a lot of the Lumioxes look like someone puked Christmas decoration all over the dial. They make me thing of Las Vegas. Personally I like simplicity, but I think you should do your own thing here. I don't think it should go more simple than your previous rendition.

Droolworthy for sure! It combines some of my favorite features of both the watches. I was always a sucker for those black waves on the dial...

Yeah, I fixed the clasp - it seems perfectly fine now. The half link is still a problem though, but I decided I'll buy a gen one. It's $25 or something like that and I might as get it while ordering my hands (they are in stock now!) instead of bothering Andrew I'm sure he would have sent me a half link if I asked him though. Talking about the hands; I never quite understood how it interacts with the date flip and what I can do to get it correct. Do you know?

To be fair I think they look them over both once and twice, but it would just take too long to locate and fix every little thing on all the different models they have. Honestly, most of us here are anal retentive bordering on the autistic - and we are cheap too, expecting perfection for a buck or two We are probably not easy customers.

Well, the free shipping from Hong Kong can take quite a while, but you should have it soon. It's been ten days since you ordered it, and most of my shipments from there show up after about two weeks or so. If you get too frustrated you could always order it from a UK/US seller and have it within a week, but it will cost a lot more for the same item.

I'd much rather have a sea-gull movement than a second hand ETA or franken ETA. I do however hope you get something for that extra $50. I'm no expert (duh) but to me it looks like a sea-gull in my AT, that was supposed to have an ETA. There were no options to get another movement though. WetWork - looks very nice, but that's a lot of dust

Yeah, I know. If I get the half link, clasp and two end links - and possibly two clasp attaching links that's about 2/3 of what a whole new bracelet costs. That's unreasonably expensive... unless the new POs have the same bracelet and it could be considered a PO-franken-investment of sorts Wetwork, I haven't opened it properly yet but I will. I think the clasp looks fine though, so a pity they were lazy with the clasp spring.

It looks fine, Galimanas

Yeah, probably. It looks a bit askew though - like the hole through the half link wasn't 100% straight. I'm going to look more into it though and see if it's the half link or the clasp attaching link that's the culprit. Either is about £30 gen, but if I can fix it myself I'll just do that. (Besides, I can't find the clasp attaching link on cousins). By the way, what was the problem with the end links? I can't really see anything off with them, maybe a slight gap to the next link? I remember seeing posts where people bought gens to replace them.

Fitted it's absolutely impossible to bend it over more than 1mm. I removed the pin though and put some lube in there, but it didn't help. I'm thinking it needs some filing down unless the gen part is cheap(-ish). I thought I had fixed the clasp, but it opens with just a push on one side again. I might have to open it and fix it, shouldn't really be a problem though. The crown is straight. I've only screwed on screw-on crowns the way you describe - because I'm paranoid about hurting the threads. Don't think it lacks grease - definitely feels like the stem is too long. Or possible too stiff spring action, no idea how it feels. It's 2-3 turns, but I have to press it pretty hard - much harder than I should have to. I ordered a new dial and stem/crown. The only question is if it will fix it. Would feel a bit dumb if I install a new crown only to have to send it back to China anyway.

I'm about as new to this as you are, but it looks fine to me.

So I got my PO today, cleverly hidden inside a hideous alarm clock. It looks and feels quite nice. The pearl is off by a slight bit. The clasp opened by just pressing one of the side buttons and the bracelet made a pretty awful clinking noise. Also, the "half link" was very, very stiff and would barely move. Is that normal? I've taken care of the clasp and lubed the bracelet, but don't know what to do with the half link. The crown was fully screwed out when I got the watch. Don't know if it was sent that way of if unscrewed itself like I saw another member of the board had a problem with. It's very hard to screw in, and it makes the "winding sound" all the way in. Also, I don't think I was able to fully screw it in - looks like a 0.5mm gap between the case and crown. Is the stem too long? I've already ordered a new stem and crown. Do you think that will be enough?