RWG Technical

It looks great, I like your approach, always get the one critical item, and then with time and patience you build on it and in the end get a really nice product. That's what is so nice about reps overall, anyone can go and buy a watch, 3/4 of the fun is the hunt and satifaction of having done it yourself. Nice job. RG

I would stick with the basic kit for level 1 and 2. It gets you what you need to do the course and build up your skills. RG

As long as the watch your swapping the ETA 7750 into has a standard 7750 subdial layout (12-9-6) you can install the ETA in place of the Asian one. The subdial and center seconds hands need to be modified to fit the ETA, but otherwise it's straight forward to do... RG

Very interesting and helpful. My light is a Colour Corrected flourecent light on a swivel adjustable base. I move it around as needed depending on what I am working on and doing. As for a bench, I have a standard watchmaker's bench with the 39" height and drawers etc... Next to this is a table with my Vibrograph, my staking and jewelling sets. Everything is close at hand and the only thing on the bench top is my screwdrivers and oil cups and automatic oilers and storage containers. The rest is in the bench easily taken out as needed. RG

The acid will indeed etch the hands over time. Rodico works ok, but it's difficult and risky to do with the hands in place. I prefer to clean the hands when they are removed from the movement and after the Rodico (to absorb the oil/acid) I polish them with a polishing cloth, the Rodico tends to leave slight marks behind. RG

Nice family pics, great collection. RG

Never heard of a "rex" on this forum, and I wracked my brain, and can't place or remember who you are, sorry... No inter-forum squabble at all, RWG1 was my first home. RG

Why are you asking this question here? Why not ask it on the site you got the information from...

But you as the buyer may not know that the price is too high. My $525 PAM 118 was priced too high, but I did not know the difference, and had no where or person to ask... Someone seeing a watch for sale with $1000 or more in "mods" with an asking price of 1/2 to 3/4 of the value? will think they are getting a deal...unless they know what to ask and look for. How would they know it may not be a good deal, if no one commented on the sales post? I think this is a very difficult thing to work around without causing bad feelings. If I spent $$$ on mods, I would be offended if someone said that I wasted my money, or got scammed. RG

In February 2005, I paid $525 for a PAM 118 with a standard Unitas 6497 with glued on engraved "Panerai" plates. It was bought from Eddie. During those years, prices were NOT published, or spoken about in the open. Did I get ripped off? I think so...but I had no avenue for asking anyone in the open if this was a "reasonable" or "acceptable" price for this watch. So I paid the asking price, and once I had the watch, I had a sinking feeling that I was bent over and taken advantage of. Unless someone is advertising something that is misleading or an outright lie, then I think there is nothing that can be done towards helping someone not pay too much or get mislead. A new member doesn't have the knowledge of those who have been here a while, a new member doesn't know who does good and who does questionable work, a new member doesn't know what has gone on and been said, a new member doesn't have the contacts that the senior members have, and can only go by what the advertisement states. If no one speaks up in the ad, well then it MUST be a good price or watch with quality work and genuine parts. If I had joined this forum 6 or less months ago, there is nothing to inform or point me towards doing my own research on certain modders and the quality and service they provide, or the prices they charge. If I was vain enough in Feb 2005 to pay $525 for a 118, I am sure others who have been here for 6 months or less know nothing about RBJ, Flav, Watchbuff, and other modders who have since left RWG for greeener pastures (and less critisime). Speaking up will only cause more division and hard feelings among members, which is why as of Jan this year, I decided to stop trying to inform members of what I see and know. And as I stated earlier, I will not be adding one comment on any sales post that isn't an outright lie, or totally misleading. If a new member sees a watch with hundred's, or even a thousand dollars in mods, and thinks that at 50-75% of that price he's getting good value, so be it, I won't be telling him (her) what I know. RG

More involved will only end up in looking like you have a hidden agenda, or are a jerk for speaking up. Having been here for a long time, I have in the past spoken up, but won't anymore... Why? Simple, it's not worth my time to be crapped on. Case in point: The "RBJ" $1200 in upgrades watch being sold right now. From experience, I can say that the value paid for the mods and the watch ($1200 in total), doesn't come anywhere near what was actually or claimed to have been done to this watch. I see less than $300 in "real" work and parts that was done to this watch (that is if the crown is actually Gen and not a RBJ "More like gen..." one). The fact that RBJ is not to be trusted, does shoddy work has been discussed and proven on many occasions. But, even though the senior members know this, and I know this, it's not worth discussing anymore or pointing out in the sales thread. So someone will not benifit from our collective experience. Sad but true, that is the state of the forum from my perspective. Don't believe me, watch the responses to my statements... RG

As I said in the above, your problem is with the reset hammer... That piece in your picture, is the Reset Hammer, it's broken in two pieces and there is a rivet somewhere in the case (or maybe still attached to the hammer arm), your best option at this point is to NOT wind the watch, and return it to the dealer and get a new one. Or send it to a watchsmith to repair and replace the hammer. RG

Nope, I don't stock or sell spare parts, sorry... RG

Thanks for this, I was not aware of this issue, this is probably the exact problem. Good feedback. RG

Yes, my PM is off until the end of April, I am busy with other issues for the next number of weeks. Once my PM is open again, you can contact me for service. Thank you. RG

The stem and crown should be fixed and secured to each other. Could be a few things going on: Stem to crown loose Set lever coming loose (common problem on some models) The easiest solution is to open the caseback, see if the set lever screw is tight (the one that holds the stem in place), if it's ok, then I would remove the stem and make sure it's screwed down into the crown securely. The reason members replace the crowns is astetics, not functionality, this crown should work just fine. RG

If it was a hairspring problem, the watch should speed up, not slow down if it touching something. I suspect something else, could be as simple as a cap jewel not oiled correctly, sounds like a friction problem, but not a hairspring one... Only way to know is for someone to examin it in detail, these can be hard to find and fix... RG

I was told it applied to all of them... RG

You have to take the dial and hands off and get access to the keyless works. It sounds like the set lever screw has been unscrewed from the set lever, you have to screw it in place to fix the problem. You can get access to the keyless works directly, nothing has to come apart like on a 7750 where you have to take the calendar plate off for access. RG

No, it's not normal at all... Something is wrong, it could be one of many things...you could notice if the slow down happens at the same place on the seconds hand on the dial, maybe the seconds hand is touching something, or a wheel could be damaged. What you need to do is to note when the wheel slows down and speeds up, if it's every minute, then the problem is probably the seconds wheel or hand etc. If it was serviced, it should be under warranty, something to check into. Other than this, great looking watch. RG

Wonderful review and great history and details. Thanks so much for putting the time and effort into making up this great post. Great Job! RG

That is the ring I removed and made smaller in diameter, good solution considering the other options. Since it's not my watch and I really can't tell what is or isn't genuine, the hands who knows???...they fit the movement perfectly that much I know. Overall I think it's a great piece, and certainly wouldn't have an issue owning or wearing it Keep in mind the size of the pictures, unless your the bionic man, you ain't gonna see this much detail anyway...(or was that the bionic woman with the eyes...)... RG

All I have for metal working is a Dremel... The movement would not seat far enough into the case, and the lip that was preventing it from seating where it should, was a fraction of a mm from the rehaut. On the Daytona I just did, I had no choice but to machine the inside of the case with the Dremel and a cut-off wheel. Doing this under a loupe no less, with a 30,000 RPM wheel is very difficult and unforgiving, one slip and the case is ruined. I was not prepared to risk damaging the rehaut in an effort to get the movement to fit the case. So I came up with a solution I have used in the past, modify the movement instead... On the 1570, there is a removable ring that holds the datewheel in place. This ring was all that needed to be modified to get it to fit in the case. The datewheel retention ring was removed from the movement, and about 1mm was removed in total from the outer edge, then it was cleaned up, and re-installed on the movement. No risk, no metal fillings, no problems...you can't even tell it was modified unless you look very close, and it will not affect the movement at all... Sometimes you have to take the route with the best chance of success without the risk of ruining the watch, I chose this route for this mod, since I didn't have any other choice. RG

The case needed a lot of machining to get the movement to seat in it correctly. Dial fit perfect, but the movement would not fit down as far as it should in the case, I had to Dremel the inner edge to get it to fit. RG

You are very welcome as always... Not good to see that the dial and hands are not genuine, but the dial fit perfectly on the El Primero, and had all the markings on the back etc... whatever it is, it fits perfect. Still working perfect, ready to go on the date you requested. Safe travels. RG