RWG Technical

Thanks for the feedback. Yes, this is a Ti case. For the polishing, the case edges were first done with a fine buff stick, (vs using a buffing wheel to avoid polishing the parts that are not polished) then final polishing with 8000 grit sandpaper draped over the buff stick. For the caseback and the bezel, the polishing was done with Simchrome metal polish, and a buff in the rotary tool.

This poor AP has seen better days. I decided to strip it down, and re-finish the bead blasted sections as well as restore the polished area's. Here's the before condition: BEFORE refinishing Bezel Caseback Case and clasp AFTER refinishing and bead blasting AFTER refinishing, assembled All the polished edges were hand finished Below are pictures of the genuine AP, I think I did a good job matching the finish. GENUINE

You are misinformed on a number of items, here's the details you are missing/overlooking. A "cheap" or "expensive" movement is irrelevant to the tooling, skills, etc needed to properly service the movement. In fact, it's more "expensive" for the watchmaker to service a "cheap" movement than an expensive one, why? because the cheap movement typically has many flaws/defects that need to be corrected to make the movement run properly. That would be correct if your "brand new movement" was properly serviced. All ETA Swiss movements that are sold are used surplus, condition varies, it could be perfect and pristine or very old gummed up oil and in dire need of servicing, what you get is anyone's guess. All Asian movements are in poor condition when "brand new" and as above most need a lot of work to make them run properly for the long term. If serviced properly, the interval is 5 years before the oils dry up. Emphasis on "properly" because there are many who'll gladly take your money and do nothing but put a few drops of oil on some pivots and adjust and time the movement, or worse carry out a "swish-n-dip" where the complete assembled movement is placed in a cleaner/oil bath and this is considered "servicing". Like I said before, you get what you pay for...cheap = cheap. If you are price shopping your using the wrong criteria for making your decision, you should be shopping for the best quality, not lowest price...

You get what you pay for, especially when it comes to watch servicing...cheap price = cheap workmanship, it's a simple relationship really, like most everything in life.

Understood on all points. I wish that your experience was a one-off, but I see far too many botched watches to believe it's isolated, however it's up to the customers to voice their concerns, I keep my comments to myself. Thanks for the kind words, your FM dial is very nice indeed, nice workmanship, they are certainly one of the better dials to show off lume skills (or show the lack of skills).

Am I correct in that this comment also got "shelved" along with your PAM's...

In my experience filling a claim for anything that goes missing in the postal system is a complete waste of time. First thing they need and ask for is a receipt for the item you shipped, in this case, the watch...how many of us have receipts for anything we own, I know I don't. Above that, the process is extremely time consuming and a real pain. Filling a claim is simply not worth the time and effort, I would not file a claim for anything under $500.00 it's cheaper for me to pay the $500.00 than to go through the claim process. In any case, hope it all works out. The title of the post should be changed, clearly member Lunarglide is not the problem, the problem is with Royal Mail...

Doesn't every sale say something like this disclaimer: " the SELLER is not responsible for mysterious disapearances, missing packages, loss in the mail, or customs seizures etc..." Maybe I am missing something here, but normally the seller's responsibility ends when the package is shipped. He's out the watch, your out 45 pounds, stuff happens sometimes and everyone looses...

Understood, thanks for the info. I am still concerned about the chemicals, especially the gold solution which I understand uses cynaide as a base. Nice finish, but at what cost to your health.

Very interesting build. I have been looking into setting up for plating, gold, rhodium, etc and your comments above intrigue me. Since my understanding of plating is very limited, I wonder if you would be willing to offer any insight to these questions: 1. If plating adds material to the object being plated, how did you manage to not add too much to the Incabloc setting so that it could still be installed in the balance cock, and that the jewel and spring still seated correctly? 2. If all the parts are immersed in a brine for the plating, how do you manage to avoid gold plating all the arbours and pinions while only gold plating the actual wheels? What about the actual gear teeth shapes, if gold is deposited on the wheel, it will build up the teeth and alter their shape, how is this addressed? Any insight would be appreciated.

I can't imagine how much force is needed to break this pinion clean off...or how in the world this happened... I would want to have a really good detailed look at the rest of the movement. You may find more problems/damage.

Wow, great review, thanks so much for the kind words. Looking forward to helping you in the future.

Looks like the aftermarket HE valve. I have installed many, however almost all 150% longer than they should be and had to be cut down to a length that matches the case thickness before installation.

Holy cow, a lot of work in that post, great comparisons and invaluable material for everyone. Thanks so much for taking the time to put this together, a huge job. Well done!

A comparison would be a big benifit to the members., thanks for posting the screw differences. I wonder how a genuine Panerai screw looks in comparison, unfortunately I don't have a movement in the shop at this time to photograph. Short of unscrewing a screw and examining it in detail, I doubt that many of the members would go to those lenghts to validate that the OEM parts are indeed OEM. I guess it all comes down to trust, and for me, the actual difference between OEM and aftermarket, other than some cosmetic differences, is there really anything to gain by OEM screws vs asian ones?