Markus

What phone do you have? It takes very good pictures!!

It's a Sony Ericsson K800i, 3 megapixel. Only had it a week but I'm seriously impressed with it so far.

Went out to the park with the kids yesterday and thought I'd try out my new phone's camera. Results are pretty decent I must say...

I've worn this watch pretty much everyday for a couple of weeks now and I must say I've not got any complaints about the rubber strap. Some folks have been moaning about it being a 'dust magnet' but I've yet to experience anything like that, sure it picks up the odd bit of fluff but then so does any strap or bracelet... I've absolutelty no complaints whatsoever.

RTL in the UK are pretty good...

RTL springbars

'Ultimate' Planet Ocean with rubber strap

Received my rubber strap from Silix last week but had to wait until my watch got back from being repaired, which it did this morning (Nice one Josh!)...

Was a bugger to get the thicker spring bars in but I got there eventually and the strap fits perfectly...

Ultimate PO from Josh, Strap from Silix

I can't see this coming off my wrist for a while...

Got mine this morning, looks and feels great.

Now I just have to wait for my watch to get from being repaired...

I did catch up with Mark yesterday and he is on the road recovery. Beyond a horrific virus he injured his back pretty badly and has been layed up in bed with a slipped disk unable to sit for quite a while. We all wish him a speedy recovery.

Well, if he's slipped a disc and can't sit up for prolonged periods he ain't going to be fixing any watches for a while. Even though he's got a small job to do for me I certainly ain't going to hassle him about it...

I'd imagine that if he's hurt his back then he probably won't be working too much so I think it's acceptable for him to put himself out and stick a watch on eBay to try and get some money in...

From my small experience with him, I've spoken on the phone a couple of times, he seems like a thoroughly decent bloke. I doubt he's deliberatly pissing people off...

Just my tuppence worth like...

Still not received mine yet.....

Nope, not got mine yet either...

So... anyone ordered yet?

I'm going to do so later today.

Seeing as my PO is broken and on it's way back to China for repairs I decided to dust off the 196 and give it some well overdue wrist time...

Stem tube (w/spring) de-soldered from the crown.

Crown replacement needed.

Bad quality crown from the source.

Where did you get that watch?

I got it from Joshua.

So would you say that there's grounds for contacting him and seeing about getting him to rectify the situation?

Edit to Add: Just heard from Joshua and he's going to sort it out for me. Nice one Joshua!

I was just setting the time on my Ultimate Planet Ocean about 10 minutes ago and the crown just came off in my hands. The stem was unscrewed fully when the crown came off, I screwed it back in before taking this pic...

All I did was unscrew the crown as usual, wound it fully and then when I went to pull the crown out so as to set the time... Off it popped, no unjust force was used.

Is this any easy fix for someone with no watchsmith skills (Me)? Or is it seriously broken and therefore should I get in touch with the dealer?

I'm a tad [censored] off about this as I've worn the watch pretty much every day since I got it about two months ago and this is probably the third time I've had to wind it/set the time.

Anyway, any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers,

JR

Found this nice watch storage case over at RLT Watches

Only costs

Count me in for 1, may be more depending on the price.

Cheers!

Happy Birthday!

No worries at all Mark. Just give me a shout when you're ready sir, no rush.

If anyone is an expert at Silversmith hallmarks, it appears that the silver case was made in the UK, I would like to know who made it and possibly a date?

Found some info on the hallmarks... The crowned leopard's head indicates it was made in London between 1478-1822... The date letter looks like it's 1764. The top mark looks like a lion, indicating sterling silver...

Couldn't find anything as regards the maker though, I'm assuming the 'IL' mark is the maker's mark?

More info on these sites...

Online Encyclopedia of Silver Marks, Hallmarks and Makers Marks

London Date Letters and Maker's marks

If you have any doubts as regards the Ingy... at least try it out with the nylon strap before selling it. For me the addition of the nylon strap made a big differance. I love this watch so much more on a strap than on the SS. Give it a try.

"Sometimes I think that the surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the Universe is that none of it has tried to contact us yet"

Bill Watterson

Can you tell us how much it cost ? At least approximately ?

20 $ ? 50 $ more ??

Mine was less than $50 and doesn't smell of chemicals...

We can get these from E.L.?

How much did it cost?

The price seems to vary from dealer to dealer and I think some dealers charge different prices according to whether you bought an Ingenieur off them intially.

I don't think it would be fair of me to say how much I paid for mine from Eddie, I bought my Inge from him and I'm guessing I got a return buyers discount.

Best way to find out is to contact some dealers and find the best price that way.

Never had any problems so far. They do tend to mess about a bit though, my last parcel went back and forth between depots a couple of times before finally landing... But it did arrive eventually. It spent more time in the UK on a van somewhere than it did getting all the way from China.

Bump... Just to say I've added some new pics to my initial post.

Just received my Inge Nylon strap from Eddie Lee this morning. I've left my watch at work so I'll post some pictures of the strap on the watch when I get back tonight...

Quick first thoughts are very positive the strap seems pretty well put together, nylon on the top side with quite decent soft leather on the wrist side. Buckle looks good, engraved IWC, brushed finish...

I'll post more pics when I get back from work...

Ok, fitted the strap tonight at work... was pretty straightforward, it was a bit of a pain to get the pins back in in the final stages but a calm head and a little perseverance saw everything go smoothly...

Looks pretty close to the gen pics posted below... Here's some more pics so you can decide for yourselves.

Some done in the light tent, not quite figured out how to do this properly yet, but here you go...

Yay! I help someone defraud his missus! This made my day.

I'm proud of you, dude. What size is your monitor and what Speedmaster is it? I'll do you a special screensaver pic.

It's a Speedmaster Broad Arrow, black dial. I'm not saying my missus is thick, she knew that I had an Omega. Just that I've managed to wing it and she hasn't noticed that the PO is a differant watch as regards the BA chrono.

As far as she's bothered I've got a nice Omega and it's the same one that I've always had.