andreww

Its times like this where you start throwing the BS back. Sure, its a rep, but if someone really has no clue and is being a smart a$$ about it, I'll turn the tables. Something like this Him- "Nice Breitling, is it real?" Me- hand it over and say "You tell me" Him- "Its fake, the second hand is jittery, real Breits are smooth" Me- Taking the watch back and chuckling out loud "you my friend obviously know nothing about the valjoux 7750, and couldn't tell a 28k BPH from a quartz movement" This will always work! If the guy has made a judgement on your watch by using terms like "flimsy", then he is obviously not a watch expert, and can easily be put in his place with a little bit of technical jargon. Having said that, I am fairly open about my wearing of reps, I save this kind of treatment for the guys that are just trying to embarrass me. BTW, in your story the biggest giveaway was when you said it you didn't know if it was a gen. Rep or Gen, I am sure there isn't a person on the planet that doesn't know what he's got.

I just saw that! As I posted there, that watch would be a must have for everyone if it was made by Breitling, Omega or Panerai. Your review and great picks might persuade a few members to buy it, but it will never become the next UPO.

Hey D4M, thanks for the great review! This one is definitely at the top of my list, and if it were made by Breitling, Panerai or Omega it would likely be at the top of everyones list as well! Enjoy it mate, its a spectacular watch.

I think you are 100% correct D4M, the dealers will certainly maintain a higher price so long as there is interest in a certain model. That said, I don't think that any particular review will generate the buying frenzy necessary to maintain a high rate of sales. When you look at the watches that have been popular, the UPO and the SFSO for example, what you see are extremely accurate watches at reasonably fair prices. But, these watches are also fairly popular outside the rep world. I've seen some outstanding reviews of the Montblanc Timewalker Chronos, and the watch looks spectacular, but the excitement isn't there. The new Porsche flat six looks outstanding, but very little fanfare on the boards. I just think that certain watches, if done right, will succeed while others will come and go. Its nice to give ourselves credit, and to a certain extent its deserved, but I think the success of any given watch has little to do with with what any of us post.

With all the nice Grahams to choose from they decide on a destro model? Great to see a quality Graham but a bit of a letdown as well.

It all depends on your situation. Where are you located? Are you willing to take some risk to save some cash? Some locations are more prone to customs seizures than others, like Germany for instance. If you are in a high risk place you should avoid ordering from a Chinese dealer, and are much safer to order from a European dealer like Angus. If you want to avoid the hassles of receiving a defective watch, order from a dealer that inspects his watches before sending, like TTK. You will pay a bit more but your item will be hand picked and tested before shipment. Andrew and Josh will guarantee that you will receive a watch, thus they will replace it if it is nabbed by customs, or if it is defective, but be prepared to pay a premium plus the extra shipping costs for returning the watch (not cheap!). If you are solely interested in price look at Silix, Ruby or Pam111.

Thats a beautiful first watch you got there! Actually its the same as my first serious watch, the one that got me hooked!

I agree, a beautiful piece, and the nicest Aeromarine... except for maybe the Skyland!

Actually we were speaking of the 3-6-9 layout, like my 2003 Navitimer As you can see it is very accurate to the gen, the only obvious flaws being the date window and lack of AR coating (no Navitimer has it) Your fighters edition features a 6-9-12 layout. Although a nice watch, it has inaccuracies on pretty much every part of it. From the non brushed case, to the non domed crystal, without extensive mods this one will be easily spotted as a rep. A more accurate model with the 6-9-12 layout would be the two tone "Old Navitimer" pictured here... Here is a gen "Old Navitimer" for comparison... Hope this helps!

6.75" wrist

All the dealers have the same Navitimers as there is only one manufacturer. Of the available models, the two-tone version is the most accurate, followed by the 3-6-9 SS Navi, then the Fighters (Serie Speciale).

I went with the mini fiddy today

A possible problem could be that the Navitimers do not have screw down crowns, so there really is no reason to "unscrew" it. Its likely that you've just unscrewed the crown from the stem.

Okay, thats enough. Mods please lock this thread! Mods? Somebody, please.... damn it, he's right. LEAFS SUCK!

Welcome from a fellow Torontonian!

Yep, these ones look even better on leather too!

Goin with this one tonight

Great stuff D4M. Some of them I have, and the rest I want

SwissExpert.net looks like a scam site. Their $750 planet ocean looks about the same quality as the $100 asian version that some dealers sell. Stay away.

That is a sweet lookin PO my friend, congrats!

hehe missed that one!

A quick rundown of both models. 50th Anniversary Navitimer Nice looking watch, but the genuine of this discontinued model contained a caliber 41 movement based on the eta 2892. The subdial spacing of the 7750 based rep is all wrong, as is the date window position. As far as my catalogue shows, this model should have black subdials (not silver), Silver hands (not black), and a white datewheel. The case should be brushed (not polished). The rep maker simply recycled the caseback, which has the product number 23322 which is from the current 2004 Navitimer. The font on the insert is too small, and there is far too much white space between the numbers and the crystal. There seems to be little or no AR. Montbrillant. Again, the Montbrillant is an ETA 2892 based watch, so this 7750 version has incorrect subdial spacing, datewindow position, and running seconds should be at the 3:00 position. The genuine is quite small at 38mm, and I would guess that this rep is about 42mm. Terrible sliderule insert that doesn't align properly. This one also uses the 2004 Navitimer caseback. As both these watches are 2892 based, we will never see a decent rep of either of them. However, if they were done properly with the 7750, they might have been nice additions for our collections. It seems that the only effort put in to these two reps was to produce new dials and hands, and stuff them into an existing Navitimer case. A poor effort, so I would recommend avoiding both of them.

Unfortunately too many flaws to list...

That is a tasty looking watch TTK. Nice photos as always!

Welcome to the 1K club!