luigi22

You need to post pics of the movement so someone can tell you what you actually have.

I sent an email to phong about this exact subject and this is what he replied to me; I was asking him if a 2500$ 1655 was worth getting

Adam, I know many sell cheap, but not the one you want, they use 1570 and modify GMT from Viet Nam not original genuine GMT parts, and some time there crystal glue not like my factory spec fit right on and no need glue, and some time bezel fonts is wrong , many thing can be wrong, you know the original movement value original GMT $2750.00 just movement alone, 1570 regular no GMT only cost $1200.00 and you buy GMT original parts put in is cost $1000.00 and hard to find original parts. so good case 1250.00 dial $265.00 hand set $125.00 labor installation and Clean over haul warranty 1 year $400.00 this is truly cost if you add up and I will make some money to stay in business, you need to wait until you have my daytona and find out how my work. many people buy my watch to use it while and resell they make good money, because even collector they look it can not tell. or resell to got same value they purchased

I guarantee you if you buy 2750.00 explorer II if you open it to see movement GMT parts is production from Viet Nam not like my. I am sorry I can not match that price but I can do for $4000.00 Best regards,

Phong

my favorite part of phong's response above:

"many people buy my watch to use it while and resell they make good money, because even collector they look it can not tell."

i just can't imagine anyone doing that

hmmh... a thousand bucks for a rep dial, let alone a rep of such a controversial (i.e. likely fake) dial?

hi guys

anyone been in touch with these people? have messaged them multiple times through their site to try to buy something, and can't seem to get a response.

thank you

luigi: My personal favorite is the LIP-Blancpain that I bought aka "FF795". The TR-900 I mentioned corresponds with FF21, which is the strongest replication, in my opinion. That said, it's hard to go wrong with any of the No-Rads variants, and I love the fonts of the "U.S. NAVY" (FF20).

Go with whichever dial/bezel combination you prefer. None is an especially close replication of the original, nor is any of them glaringly wrong.

(Sheesh, that was an awkward sentence.)

thanks very much. i flip around on which is my favorite, and i guess they are cheap enough to buy two or three; in the end,as much as i like the 'no rads' ones, prob the one you picked out - 795 - wins out, not sure why.

a whole slew of cool vintage FF's

http://blancpain.watchprosite.com/?show=forumpostf&fi=4&pi=3964076&ti=632001&s=0

LHOOQ, btw, here are the several that DSN has on his photobucket page, not sure which are available, but which of these do you think are reasonable reps?

http://s40.photobucket.com/albums/e230/watchmmx/BLANCPAIN/

Apples and oranges, unfortunately, as they replica different models of the Fifty Fathoms. The DSN is more of a "composite" replication of the Fifty Fathoms from the 1950s to the mid-1970s. It generally tries to copy styling cues from FFs with thick/tall bezels, and small dials. In my opinion, the model the DSN case most closely resembles is the Tornek-Rayville TR-900. The early "No-Radiations" dial and the '53 LIP-Blancpain dial are good choices for DSN.

The Phong replicates the Aqua Lung, which is a smaller and slimmer watch, with a thinner bezel. Positives for the Phong BP include the period AS movement and the three-piece caseback. Negatives are the price, and the unconvincing bezel. It's too much money, in my opinion, for a watch that won't fool any Blancpain expert. You think vintage Rolex guys are paranoid? Any vintage Fifty Fathoms is presumed fake until proved otherwise!

thanks. and btw, you are absolutely correct about the FF guys; the polish navy issue is a good example, and i think the problem that made them all paranoid. a lot of polish navy fakes, and on top of that, they don't consider the 'gen' polish navy to be legit collector's pieces, bc no hard and fast provenance has ever been established for them. the non-fake pieces were all put together with NOS parts, but afaik, no one has found a well-used legit polish navy watch, let alone any documentation, only NOS ones. given all that, and the still pricey nature even of NOS polish navy pieces, i'd love to find a good rep.

Ive never seen this watch in person and have also worried about the size on my wrist.

One thing bout them is the vintage aspect is similar to Rolex.

I landed on a cool website a couple years ago that had a huge display of them. All the variants over the years in high res pictures.

The collection belonged to an old diver. I just spent an hour trying to find that site with no luck.

The thing that really struck me was the aging of the dials...lume and tritium...all differnt colors and textures...very much like vintage Rollie's.

I've wondered why the guys with the reps, in general don't age them this way? I wish I could show some examples. Beatiful watch

here's blancpain's fifty fathoms tribute from 2010:

http://www.forum-mdp.com/t16583-exposition-blancpain-tribute-to-fifty-fathoms-lhistoire-de-la-ff

here's possibly the site you were trying to find:

http://www.watchdeco.com/Welcome.html

hi guys

what's the consensus on the best fifty fathoms rep? only two i know of right now are dsn and phong's, with a huge price difference, and according to some, a matching quality difference. anyone have any comments on this?

thank you