Rob1

Two crystals for double AR coating for me please.

Orange and PVD please!

Excellent - looks great. I also have the blue dial which The Zigmeister has relumed for me. Can't wait to get it back.

The lume on my blue-faced Steelfish was very lumpy, the only glaring defect to my eyes of an otherwise outstanding watch. Mine is currently with The Zigmeister getting serviced and re-lumed.

Is it smooth or 'textured'?

Photos?

What happens if an existing light AR coating is not removed?

Thanks. The one thing which had been holding me back on the GT was the very obvious spelling mistakes on the case back, but that now seems to be resolved

How would I strip existing AR from a crystal? I believe that a couple of the Breitling reps I own have "light AR" coating on them already, and I would like to get these coated with the double-sided AR. Is it easy to strip off the existing coating? Is it possible to raise money orders or bank checks from a UK bank that would be acceptable in the USA? It would be helpful for your overseas customers if you could set up PayPal or Moneybookers account (although I appreciate that is a lot of hassle). Thanks for offering this service

Many thanks. Any idea how the GT Racing differs from the GT version of this watch? I've tried to work it out from your link, but not being able understand Japanese makes this a bit tricky.

Thanks, I've just emailed you.

Thanks. Just out of interest, how much would a new eta 2824-2 movement be (assuming these are possible to buy on the retail market)?

Thanks for those interesting comments Rob (although your final paragraph is a bit worrying )

I don't have any reps that I'm selling at the moment, but I have ordered from that website (Joshua's) on a couple of occasions with no problems whatsoever. Taking the plunge for the first rep watch can be a bit daunting, but just go for it!

I've ordered from a few of the dealers here including TTK, trustywatchguy, Joshua, Puretime, and Narikka (UK based). All have had very prompt delivery, with no hassles and no Customs problems.

I'm assuming that most of the high volume dealers drop ship, with a few smaller dealers inspecting (and some testing) the watches they dispatch?

The point I'm trying to make (without much success!) that for a watch like the Steelfish currently there will only be one source (whether that be a hi-tech factory or a number of backrooms all assembling the same set of components). Therefore the RWG dealers will not be able to shop around to get models with the best quality assurance. They simply get what is available from that one source. The dealers could, of course, add some value to their part of the process by closely inspecting each watch they sell to make sure that old & worn movements are returned to the source for some other person to buy.

Sorry, I don't think I explained myself very clearly - I assume there is only one factory making the current version of the Steelfish? Obviously there will be any number of different factories making the wide range of rep watches that are available. If there is only one factory making the Steelfish then the dealers here will have no choice but to source the watches there, and as TTK says, you pays your money and you take the risk. The test of a dealer is what the response is when things occasionally go wrong.

OK, that sounds good. Please update us if you decide you'll offer this service.

I'm interested in buying a Breitling Bentley GT and just noticed that Trusty has a version with a 'new' caseback (http://www.ttwristwatch.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=16_68&products_id=673). Is this design based on a gen Bentley GT or just a fantasy version. I've looked on the BforB website and can;'t see a reference to this style of caseback.

I've not heard back from the dealer yet (it's only been a few hours since emailing him) so will wait until I can report a full picture. As I understand it there is one one factory which produces each rep watch, so I think it is better to judge the merits of a dealer by seeing how problems are dealt with rather than whether there is a problem with a watch in the first place. If we want the highest level of quality control from the factory I think we should be prepared to pay gen prices. My watch could have easily been passed to any one of the dealers here, so I don't think my case is in any way a poor reflection on the dealer I used for this purchase.

If there was someone in the UK who offered a crystal removal/refitting service I'd have at least three watches that would require this service. A small business opportunity for someone who knows what they're doing and has the rights tools available?

Another noob question I'm afraid: did you send in your entire watch for this process, or did you have to remove the crystal and simply send that to be coated? I'd love to have a couple of my Breitlings done but I have no idea how to remove the crystal from them.

Two words: sunken datewheel. Stick with the Serie Speciale as it's a wonderful version of the Navitimer.