marblegranite

In case anyone else is trying to understand their own test results, here is the feedback I received on another forum: The bottom line is these are air tests and until the watch goes through a more comprehensive water test there is no way to guarantee that it is waterproof.

Wow, no one knows how to read these results here either? No wonder the repair guy seemed confused and unsure when he told me I was okay up to 33 feet.

I had my Chopard MM GTXL Chrono pressure tested today to make sure I can swim with it. According to the TD's website this watch is supposed to be water proof up to 30m. They performed a total of 6 tests (2 at a time). The watch failed on a couple of tests. I was told I can swim with the watch but can't dive deeper than 33 feet. I was also told NOT to use the watch in a hot tub because steam can still get in. I would like to learn how to read the results to make sure what I was told is correct. Can anyone help?

Rolex didn't make to my list yet. 1 - Cartier Santos XL Ultimate 2 - Hublot Diver V2 3 - Chopard Mille Miglia GT XL Chrono 4 - PAM 288 Wish list: 1 - AP RBII Blue Dial 2 - Graham Swordfish (or TechSeal) 3 - UPO 4 - Super Ocean Abyss 5 - IWC St. Exupery Chrono 6 - Dewitt Academia Chrono 7 - Avenger Seawolf 8 - IWC Costeau Divers 9 - AP Diver V3 (possibly, if good reviews)

Thanks JKay. I suspect the prices may have gone up. I've been corresponding with Vac via e-mail and he is asking $145 for 2824/2836 and $225 for 7750 Or maybe there is a noob price sheet...

@ POWERMAX!!! and JKay - I plan to get all my watches serviced. I'm hopeful they will last for at least a decade if I take good care of them. Thanks guys! I'm glad to be down to 1 issue in 4 watches . It's not that bad of odds considering where I thought I was yesterday. LOL happy ending indeed. They didn't charge me but I tipped the assistant $20 as a stupidity tax LOL. I would have given him more if I had more cash on me. It saved me at least $30 of shipping and one month of waiting for a replacement.

Admin - I don't have permission to edit the original post. Please add a note specifying that the two watches are fine and it was just user error .

Thank you all for the feedback and suggestions. It is with a mix of joy and embarrassment that I post this update. I'm happy to report that both watches are working perfectly. I took the watches to a local rep friendly watchsmith that was recommended by a fellow member. It turns out the reason the crown appeared stuck when rotated clockwise was that both watches have screw in crowns, and they were screwed in as far as possible :bangin: . I didn't think the watches had screw in crowns since I could hear clicks when rotating the crowns anti clockwise. I was afraid of damaging the movements based on what I read on the 7750 user guide, which says you should only rotate it clockwise in the winding position. I also didn't think these watches had screw in crowns since the specific pages for these watches on both Andrew's and Tony's sites don't specify that they have screw in crowns. The watchsmith's assistant (the watchsmith was gone for the day) unscrewed the crowns, winded the watches and both watches started to magically work. When he showed me the watches working I didn't know if I should laugh of relief or hide my head inside my shirt LOL :bangin: . I guess after reading so many posts in the past month I got a little freaked out about breaking the reps and was more careful than I needed to be. The next time I purchase a rep I'll look at the TD's websites for information about the crown, and if nothing is found I'll look for the specs of the gen and assume the rep operates the same way. I'll edit the first post on this thread to specify that the watches are working fine.

Thanks for the feedback guys. My first order was with Andrew and the second with Tony. Tony is a trusted dealer on another board. And to be fair to both of them, I had issues with both orders and received the same level of service from both dealers so far. It is easy to provide great customer service when everything goes well. You can only really validate the claims of good customer service when problems arise. So it appears the consensus is that I have no safe alternatives to sending the watches back to China for a replacement/repair.

Received my second rep order today. A PAM 288 with asian 7750 movement and a Chopard GT XL Chrono with Valgranes A07.211 movement. Unfortunately both watches are not working. Haven't had much luck with this hobby so far. Out of 4 reps ordered, had problems with 3. I actually only have 1 in my possession that is working, the second watch in my first order was sent back to China 2 weeks ago to be replaced, and now these 2 that just arrived DOA. Very frustrating. I wore each watch for 5 minutes to wind them per a recommendation I read on the board. After that didn't work I placed both watches on my winder for 30 minutes (setting selected = rotate clockwise for 2 minutes and rest for 6 minutes). The watches still didn't start to work. As a last resort I tried to manually wind the watches and noticed that the crown would not turn clockwise very smoothly. I didn't want to force it and risk breaking the movement. When I try to pull out the crown to set the time it appears to be stuck. This is true for both watches. I would like to avoid sending the watches back to China to avoid the high shipping fees, the shipping risk, and the long waiting period. My question is this - without knowing what the problem truly is, should I take my chances and take the watches to a local watchsmith to get it fixed? I was going to send the watches to Vac to have the movement serviced in a couple of months, but if servicing the movement will solve these problems I'll send it sooner. Update: Everything is good. Figured out what was wrong. Didn't realize the watches had screw down crowns.

Yes, Tony is the dealer from asian7750.com. His e-mail address is asian7750@hotmail.com. I think he is pretty slammed right now as It took him a couple of days to respond to my last e-mail.

Ebel 1911 is 44.5mm

This watch is also on my wish list. The date font looks spot on to me - http://www.asian7750.com/cn/product_show.asp?big_pid=&ps_id=&P_id=1303&ti=

I thought the same thing. It would be pretty simple to verify that it was working as part of QC. But since he has been so responsive I didn't make a big deal out of it.

That's what I thought initially as well. Both crown operations are independent - one is strictly for the A7750 to wind, set time, and set the date and the other to adjust the inner bezel.. But since I was unable to find actual instructions or the user manual to confirm this, I thought I'd try it before shipping the watch back to China. Sorry flyingdutchman that was my first rep order. I could have taken pics side by side with the Santos 100 that arrived with the Diver. But unfortunately I didn't.

Thanks Polonus for the detailed overview of the improvements. That makes me even more comfortable with this impulse buy . I read a thread stating that the inner bezel was bi-directional in the V2 but that didn't bother me since I'm not planning to take it off to let anyone else operate it. And even if I did I don't think there is a very big chance that someone would know that the gen, which only had 1,000 units made, is only unidirectional. Yes, the crown is screw down. I tried to operate the inner bezel adjustment "wheel" (not sure how to call it) with the crown screwed in and screwed out in all positions (in the position to manually wind, in the position to adjust the date, and in the position to adjust the time). The inner bezel adjustment "wheel" would not rotate clockwise or counter clockwise no matter how much pressure I applied. I even tried it with a piece of cloth to avoid my fingers from slipping. These attempts were all done with the guard that covers the inner bezel adjustment "wheel" open, as there is no way to operate it when this guard is in the closed/locked position. Let me know if this is confusing and I can try to explain it better. In my eagerness to ship the watch back for a replacement I forgot to take lume and wrist shots. The watch is massive though, especially for it's thickness. What I was worried about was the watch going over the edge of my wrist and that was not the case, barely LOL. The thickness and the width I can live with, what would have bothered me was if the height of the watch was longer than my wrist.

Wow, what a collection. Very nice!

I haven't been called out yet, but then again my very first rep only arrived a few days ago. When I was out to dinner this Saturday a friend of mine asked "is that a Cartier" and since I was in a table with 15 people I just replied, "Yeah, I've wanted it for a long time". I didn't have the courage to say it was a rep in front of so many people I didn't know.

Thanks JKay!

Thanks for the feedback guys. I had the same concern as you Gran. But what can I say, must have been love at first sight . I had to have it. I tried to talk myself into waiting for reviews of this V2 to come out before placing my order but I wasn't strong enough . I know the pics suck, but can you guys tell if this really is a major improvement over the first version? BTW - about to place my second order and I can blame your review of the Chopard Mille Migle chrono for it . I'm ordering the white dial version. Thanks for the heads up on the a07.211 movement for that watch.

I apologize for the poor pics in advance. I don't have any experience as a photographer and this is the first time I ever took pictures of a watch. I must admit, it's actually more fun than I thought LOL. Even though I'm having to return the Hublot to the TD I decided to take a few pics to share with the forum since so many people are eagerly awaiting to see what the new version looks like. I'm hoping some experts will weigh in on whether this new version can be truly considered a 1:1 rep. This was my first ever rep order, a Hublot Diver V2 and an Ultimate Cartier Santos. I was so anxious all week waiting for the watches to arrive. I must have spent at least 8 hours on the forum each day reading up about movements, popular mods, learning about the history of the brands. I must have read over 70 reviews and my wishlist is now quite long. The issue I had with the Hublot was the inner bezel adjustment, which doesn't turn at all. The adjustment wouldn't turn clockwise or counter clockwise at all, even after applying a fair amount of pressure (before the experienced members yell at me I would like to clarify that I only applied more pressure after the TD directed me to ). I looked online for the user manual and watched multiple videos on the various TD websites to see if there was anything that had to be unlocked for this adjustment to work. But the TD confirmed that it should turn easily after you lift the guard, which covers the inner bezel adjustment. I was able to set the date/time and the watch appeared to be keeping time okay, but I only had the watch in my possession for less than 4 hours. Before I explain my impressions of the watch I would like to mention my experience with the overall transaction. After reading great reviews about Andrew I decided to use his services (http://www.yourtrustytime.com for other newbies out there http://rwg.cc/uploads/emoticons/default_smile.png' alt=':)'>). I had been communicating with a couple of different TDs via e-mail and he was by far the most helpful, patiently answering my avalanche of questions. Even though I had a problem with one of my reps I'm still satisfied with the overall transaction. And when I reported the issue earlier today he was very helpful and answered in less than 10 minutes (although I wasn't really expecting a response until Monday since this is the weekend). I'm glad he replied so quickly and I was able to ship the watch back to him today. I can't wait for the replacement to arrive. Here is a link to the exact one I ordered - http://www.yourtrust...roducts_id=9130 I was very impressed with the Hublot. It felt very well built and solid. The guard over the inner bezel adjustment wheel felt very sturdy when opening and there is a click when it closes completely. It had a great weight to it. The crystal sticks out and I was wondering if that is how the gen is but was unable to tell by online pictures I reviewed. For what it's worth the TD's website states that the crystal has the same thickness as the gen. The thing truly is massive @ 22mm thick. I was very worried that it would be too big for me based on the posts I've read and the fact that I have a tiny wrist (6.25"). But I can happily say that it didn't bother me one bit when I had it on. Maybe it's because massive watches are the trend where I live and on the pool parties that I go to in the summer, which is the primary purpose I purchased this watch in my first order - to be ready for summer . And yes, when I receive the replacement I will have it pressure tested before getting it near water. One of the first things I checked was the lume and it looked to me that the same color lume was used in the inner bezel, the dial, and the hands, which was an issue reported in the previous version. Unfortunately I forgot to take lume pics before shipping the watch. I wanted to follow the advice of the experienced members and tighten all screws but the toolbox I purchased from http://www.watchbitz.com.au is still on the way. And honestly I'm not certain it will contain screwdrivers that would work with the Hublot screws. I was going to do a search on what other members suggest for the Hublot screws but never got around to that due to the inner bezel adjustment issue. If you have a recommendation, please show me the way. It will save me a few minutes having to find the right thread . One thing that bothered me on the Hublot Diver I received was the movement of the seconds hand, where the ticks appeared to be very visible. I expected it to be smoother since the movement is 28,800 bph (confirmed by the QC pics provided by Andrew). The Cartier Santos that was on the same order appears to have a smooth movement. The video of this watch on the TD's site also appears to have a smoother movement. I was hoping since I'm planning to have these watches serviced anyway, that it would take care of this problem and make the watch smoother. Can anyone confirm if servicing takes care of this or if the smoothness of the movement is something I need to watch for as part of QC? Maybe I have too high of expectations, but considering that both watches are 28,800 bph I expected the seconds hands to have the same level of smoothness. Now to the pics of the Hublot. I’ll post pics of the Santos after I receive the gen strap that I ordered last week. Thanks for reading.

Great review! So glad things have changed since 07.

Try this - http://www.rwg.cc/topic/59106-cape-cod-polish/

I'm still waiting on my first order to arrive but this is on my list for the next order. Maybe I should wait, but I guess I'm hooked . Is this the V3 or V2? I read some great reviews on the V2 but didn't know if there were any improvements other than superlume on the V3. I was also wondering whether there were any additional defects with the new version since new versions seem to be considered completely new watches and not always an improvement. Here is a link to the ones I'm considering: V3 - http://www.asian7750.com/cn/product_show.asp?big_pid=&ps_id=173&P_id=2242&ti= V2 - http://www.asian7750.com/cn/product_show.asp?big_pid=&ps_id=173&P_id=1663&ti=

Check out vandal's reviews. They are the best I've seen so far and include the link to the actual watch he ordered from the TD website. 1) Omega Planet Ocean 42mm (Orange Bezel): Review - http://www.rwg.cc/to...__fromsearch__1 2) Rolex Deep Sea Sea Dweller: Review - http://www.rwg.cc/to...__fromsearch__1 3) Panerai PAM-177 Titanium: Review - http://www.rwg.cc/to...__fromsearch__1 Hope that helps inspire you again.