RWG Technical

It looks amazing, you can just see and almost feel the quality of the movement...congrats. RG

It happens all the time, mostly to the latest models of these asian movements. The fix it to simply re-glue the spring tip into the stud post, but you need to tools and skill to get the hairspring flat and concentric, and you need a timing machine to re-set the beat and rate following the repair. RG

Great post. Ain't that the truth... RG

Looks great, well done. RG

I am referring to this model here: Link to 3717 The others are fine, sorry for any confusion. All markers are glued to the dial, either with a pin through the dial and glue on the back of the dial, or directly to the dial. Only the blended in types of markers are not glued, they are part of the original dial surface. RG

I am not surprised anymore by the variations in the models, it is frustrating when you have been and continue to give 110% and do some of the best work out there, and you still can't please some. DW swap is not a problem. I can't remember how the Spitfire model markers are...I forget...so I don't know if these are also a problem. If you want to identify the different models, it's quite simple, look at the markers from the side, the early models have all white sides, the newer ones have clear plastic looking sides to the markers. RG

There are at least 2 variants of the 3717 markers: 1. A chaulk type of lume marker that can be removed quite easily (old version) 2. Plastic lume markers that are glued to the dial (new version) The old version was much better than the newer one. The latest 3717 dials have plastic markers GLUED over painted markers on the dial. The painted makers are smaller than the plastic markers. When you remove these plastic markers to make new thinner Super Lume markers you have 2 problems: 1. the glue will either stick to the marker and remove some of the dial paint, or 2. the marker will break free and the glue will remain on the dial face. Either of these issues cause problems, the missing dial paint has to be touched up, or the glue that remains is shiny and has to be covered up. These are REPLICA watches and there is NO quality control, and as with all rep work, there is always a risk when you are trying to do these types of modifications, everyone is fine with the risk, as long as everything goes according to plan, as soon as perfection is not achieved, I get complaints and negative feedback. As a result of the problems and the negative feedback, I am keeping with my new years resolution, when it becomes a problem, stop offering the service. In one instance, after no less than 5 emails of someone arguing with us over and over, and us explaining that the shinny stuff visible after the lume is GLUE, and that I covered it as best I could when I did the lume, his last email was a curt "whatever...". One individual simply asked if we could make the triangle at 12 larger, we explained why we couldn't, and he was fine with it. Because of these problems, effective immediately, I am not offering to "fix" the lume on 3717's anymore, I will lume over the existing plastic markers, but I will not remove them and make them the correct thinner size as in the gen. RG

Wow! RG

I worked for the helicopter company, and actually was one of the ones who helped set up and get this base up and running... So far only one survivor, and knowing what I know about the conditions on the north atlantic, that is all they will find. I believe the remainder are still in their seats on the bottom of the ocean. I still don't know the names of those who lost their lives, I am sure it's not going to hurt any less when I do find out. Ironically I spent 6 years working on helicopters doing search and rescue, that job had more sorrow than joy. Thanks for the kind words, I can't type how much of a loss I feel. RG

Bracelet I think...not sure on the other one... RG

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Very nice pics, thanks for posting these. RG

It looks great, well done. RG

Not lining them up is my fault...honestly I don't even look, or notice, or know these types of details - that is until it's pointed out and then it's plain to see. My focus is on the servicing and the mechanical issues with the watch, as well as the lume. RG

Me too...I only found out after yours was on the way home that the hands weren't the correct colour... RG

Off topic it is...I was not aware of this product, sounds interesting to say the least. On Topic. Yes Nanuq, the mainspring barrel alone would be all I need to convince me that quick lubes are reserved for street walkers and not their watches... RG

I would say that doing this is a compromise, between full teardown and servicing and nothing at all. I could see how you could do this on say a simple 2836 style movement, the type where you can easily remove the mainspring barrel. On most asian auto's, there is only one bridge covering all the parts so I dont' see this being usable on this type. 7750 needs a full teardown to get the mainspring barrel removed, so I can't see it working. As well, with all the nook and crannies on these chrono's, I don't know how you would ever remove all the solution. What I don't like about this is that everything gets coated in a film of lubricant, and it's the same lubricant. We all know that you require differing amounts and types of oils as you move from the mainspring to the escape wheel. The lubricant that is deposited can't be too thick, or it would prevent the movement from running. That being the case, I think the mainspring pivots, the great wheel and the 3rd wheel would have issues eventually, meaning they would wear out from lack of a heavy enough lubricant. Personally I would not offer or do this as a service. My motto is do it 100% right or not at all. It would be interesting to know how well this holds up over time. Things like the mainspring and barrel, which we know need a good cleaning and fresh grease to prevent wear, are totally ignored doing this process. You would still have to clean and oil the cap jewels, and the biggest issue would be getting all the solution out of the movement. Weighing the pro's and con's, I think it's going to cause more problems that it's worth, but I have nothing to back it up. I remember the one movement I did this way as a test a long time ago, and reported the results here on RWG. If was a mess, lubricant everywhere between the plates etc...and in the end, it took me as long, or longer to do this short cut servicing than if I just did it my regular way. RG

Awsome, great pics. Thank god there were only 8 of you there...imagine the size of the watch table needed if 20 RWG'ers got together. RG

I only use the L and R solutions...and rinse with the L and R. Ultrasonic machine, filled with water, and the solution in lab beakers. One for the cleaner, and two rinse solutions. RG

Why not simply service the movement and fix the problems? You'll never find a running seconds at 12 ETA, and even if you did, the price would be out of this world, and it probably won't fit the rep case anyway... Simple solution, service the movement, or is the watchmaker not able to service a 7750?? RG

I have given up a long time ago to try and save people from themselves...it's a never ending battle... RG

Well here is what I did when I got home today... I tried to blue the seconds hand with by careful application from my micro torch, but all I ended up doing was turning it blue but in the process softening it up to the consistancy of lead...so that hand is in the scrap bin. Looking through my spares, I found a already blued genuine hand (ie not painted blue), I installed it, and then painted the subdial to see what the results would be...here is it... Better shot of the subdial paint... RG

Exactly. I was thinking of also painting the first 5 ticks of the 30 minute subdial, as was shown on the genuine limited edition model... Thanks for this. Red just doesn't do it for me for some reason, not sure why... RG

Well done. Red is definitely out, yeach, it just doesn't do anything for me... Blue, but maybe only on the large seconds hand, and the blue shade will vary depending on the angle being viewed at. I have to get home so I can get cracking with my torch Thanks for the pictures, excellent way to see the results. RG

Great solution to a sticky problem. Ingenious, now if you had TIG welded the caseback to the T bar I would have been rolling my eyes... RG