RWG Technical

All the running in the world won't change or fix it. The problem is with the chrono seconds gear minute arm. This little arm sticks out from the seconds gear, and each minute it moves the minute totalizer gear one tooth...yours is not adjusted correctly and moving the minute gear more than one tooth at a time. It needs to be taken apart and adjusted to fix it. RG

Looks nice, great job. I guess you'll find out soon enough if you got all the Clorox out with the washing RG

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Oops, per YEAR, sorry... RG

Well I guess we'll know next year this time, if the price list I get has no ETA's listed on it... Thanks for the insight. RG

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This is why I am holding on to my spare parts and complete movements, including the ETA 7750's I have... RG

Very interesting. My prices have gone up a lot from last year, more than the 16%... Your comments would support why my supplier says I have nothing to worry about, ETA will be available, at what price who knows... I have dozens of complete ETA's in my spares cabinets, and a lot of the normal servicing parts as well (mainsprings etc) so I am ok for a long time. RG

Yes I have had a good look at and serviced a few of them, I even have one in my spares bin. I thought I did a review on the SW200 at one time...certainly I have a load of pictures and comparison stuff that I took. Quality is...well it seems to vary quite a bit... Visual quality seems fine, but for a brand new movement, I shouldn't have to replace a gear with an ETA one because the pinion is not staked on tight enough and the gear is spinning on itself... I was lucky in this case, as the ETA gear did fit, but 99% of the movement is not interchangeable with the ETA. Come to think of it, I believe I had issues with every Sellita I have serviced, just minor things, but problems that affected the workings of the movement. I am not a big fan for these reasons, compared to the A7750, the few Sellita's I have had in house, were all problematic. RG

I can double check with one I have in my spares bin, but I think it's drop in identical to the ETA 2824, hands, diameter, dial feet location, case clamps, stem etc... It's just the individual parts that don't fit the ETA model, overall it's the same. RG

Interestingly the Sellita SW200 is also available on the market, priced at just under $100. Although the SW200 replaces the 2824-2 in fit and function, sadly the parts are not interchangeable with the ETA models, so it can't be used as a parts source. Anyone know what the word is on Time Zone regarding this topic? or have they even discussed it. RG

Speak to J on email and let her know for the AR. RG

Not a problem to send a couple more for only the crystals. Just send the "AR" email so we can keep track of it. @ woddy Yes please, send an email with "AR" in the subject line this makes it easier to track. Thks RG

Happy New Year to you as well. I am not going to be doing a group buy, not my area of interest and having tried this with parts in the past, and having had 80% of those committed disappear after the parts came in, no group buy again for me...actually I don't have the time to buy movements for others, just too time consuming. RG

This summer I asked one of my suppliers directly on the phone: "What happens after 2009 when ETA stops selling outside of Swatch? Do I have anything to worry about? " The answer: "Nothing, you will still be able to get all the ETA parts and movements you need..." Since they are at the other end of the business, I have to put some faith in their statement. If it's any consolation, I can still get parts for many 60 or even 100 year old movements, some long out of production. So with all the millions of ETA movements being produced every year, and the reassuring words from someone in a much better position than I am to know this stuff, I am not concerned. Anyone want to give ole friendly "Bob" Frei a call and see what he says?? That should be interesting to say the least... RG

Anyone who is planning on sending a watch to me for the AR, can you please send an email titled "AR" to my better half. This will allow me to know exactly who's watch I am waiting for, so that when I ship them, I know I have them all. I think I already have a few in house as well for this run, if your one of these folks, please ensure your signed up, I only take'em out and put'em back in, I don't make the booking with chieftang or accept payment for the AR. All that has to be done directly with chief. Thanks, RG

What freddy said above is correct, you need to take the movement apart to fix it. I can add that based on your comment with the movement running with the stem removed, this is due to the hacking lever having fallen out of the clutch gear, this happened when you tried to install the stem, and the only fix is to take the keyless all apart and reassemble the parts. RG

Yes this is correct, the prices I quote are not retail prices. Wow, Tourby agrees with me, and I agree with him...is this a sign of what is to come in 2008??? Two firsts in one day. RG

So with 2008 here, we're that much closer to ETA pulling the plug on movement availability outside of the SWATCH group. The rumours have been flying around on various boards that we better get ETA movements and parts while we can, for they soon will disappear... I have been curious about this very question, and more so on the question of spare parts availability, what happens after next year...do I still have access to parts...I had a lot of questions, so I started to ask my own questions of the suppliers, after all, they should know what is going on...(horological suppliers, not rep watch ones). Here's what I can offer, you decide if there is anything to worry about... - Parts availability. I spoke in person to the owner of a watch material house, and asked this very question. The answer, "Don't worry, we are going to have ETA parts for many many more years...you don't have to stock up on anything, we'll have them here for you". That was a comforting answer, but I was still not entirely convinced... Then I made more inquiries and was shocked. - ETA movement availability. I have access to every possible ETA mechanical movement being made, not only in single quantities, but get this: IF I buy 100 (yes - ONE HUNDRED) or more of any caliber or a variety of calibers, I get a DISCOUNT. That includes FACTORY SEALED ETA movements or surplus ones. 100 of any caliber you want: 2094, 2671, 2836-2, 2893-2, 2894-2, 6497-2, 7750, 7753, 7754, etc, etc... you name it, it's available. Approximate Prices: 2836-2 $150, 6497-1 $120, 6497-2 $450, 7750 $475, these are the single prices, if you bought 100, the price drops to 2836 $120, 6497-1 $95, 6497-2 $365, 7750 $380. So from where I sit, I am not worried about my ETA powered watches, or if I need to buy a ETA whatever movement, I have access to them all. If I can buy 100 of any type, there is no shortage in my opinion. What do you think? RG

Well I haven't seen my other half since the Tequilla arrived about a week ago, I know she's around somewhere, but I can't seem to find her, or the bottle of Tequilla Today I received two amazing books from the members of RWG, one very large one (and heavy I might add) and a smaller version designed to be looked at each day during the year. The books are "Earth from above" and "Earth from above: 366 days", and each one is an amazing collection of photo's as well as very informative information on our planet. I only glanced at them, there is so much information that I will be kept busy for weeks reading and browsing the pages. This is right up my alley and the type of books I like to read and look at in my leisure time. Thank you so much members of RWG, it's really appreciated. RG

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An open letter to RWG members. EDIT: I am not retiring from watchsmithing, or modding. I will be available in January for new work. I am stepping away from the forum, for how long, I don’t know. I have decided it is time for a break. Replica watch forums are the first forums I joined, and to this day remain the only forums I frequent. When I joined RWG1 in Oct ’04, I decided that my contribution would be in areas that I had some working knowledge – movements and watch repair, which progressed to Super Lume application and than additional mods at the request of customers. I had enjoyed writing up general informative posts to dispel the mystery of movements for the benefit of the membership and helping members with technical movement questions when their watches had problems. I am told that I don’t tolerate fools well, that I tend to speak my mind, and strive for perfection when I do a job. These attributes (or faults depending on your perspective) serve me well in aviation and have kept me alive (and my pilots and passengers as well) on more than one occasion. I carry those standards with me when I do watch work. My approach is to do it until I get it right and to always aim for perfection when possible. There is only one way to do a task – the right way. That being said, I have little time for people who have an opposing point of view. If you tie all this together it should not be surprising that I speak out when I see poor workmanship or members being taken advantage of. And I do have to add that there are and have been other skilled watch smiths on the forum. There is a long history of both good and bad watchsmiths on the forum. What is particularly frustrating is that there are no standards for watchsmiths or modders and this is just unacceptable to me. Two examples of watchsmiths who I had issues with are RBJ and Flav. I had problems with both of them for various reasons. In the case of RBJ, there were numerous complaints which ranged from holding watches hostage for months or even years, providing poor workmanship in many instances on those watches that members got back, and even scamming members (by not actually doing anything, yet charging them for a service), installing so called “Genuine parts”, etc. In Flav’s case, over a year ago, I got a PAM 029 in that he had worked on. I had previously fully serviced this particular watch and lumed it. The owner had Flav install genuine hands. After the watch came back from Flav, power reserve dropped to a few hours from the 40 it had originally, and the GMT hand was out of sync. The watch was sent back to me and I fixed it. This summer, another 029 that Flav had worked on is sent to me, it has numerous problems; terrible lume, a damaged CG, hands touching, overcharging for a datewheel replacement, etc (member Lanikai’s watch in case your wondering). I found some of the same problems on this watch as I did on the one a year ago, Flav never realized or corrected his mistakes. Flav also offers a service where he will “Lubricate” your movement without actually taking it apart. This amounts to nothing more than a scam and it’s the same as pouring a quart of oil over your engine, and calling it an oil change. Despite all of this, RBJ was ultimately banned not because he took advantage of many members, but because he made the mistake of revealing the personal information of a senior admin person. Flav announced his retirement and left RWG after the Lanikai incident. You can still find Flav on RepGeek and RWI, and RBJ on RWI. Although both individuals don’t come here anymore, there is no place on the forum which gives insight about what has taken place. Now granted RBJ and Flav must have done some good quality work along the way, but I have yet to see any of it. I wouldn’t expect to though, since I only hear about it when I have to fix someone else’s mistakes. You will find recent posts on RWG where another modder speaks highly of Flav and states that Flav is a “master craftsman” (and if you go to Flav’s website, he boldly states that he is a “Master Watchmaker”). Someone looking for mods, could seek out and find Flav and end up in the same position as Lanikai, or the member who’s Mini-Fiddy I showed a couple of weeks ago (close to $1k for that watch). Or they could end up sending a watch to RBJ and end up as so many others have… In the past few months a couple of new modders have shown up offering lume and the ever popular “Oiling” without disassembly service. I have had a few of their watches in the shop, posted some pics of the workmanship or more accurately the lack of workmanship. This week member “Watchbuff” posts about a Franken watch he assembled, and in doing so he bent the hands to clear the dial (instead of installing the correct parts and having the hands parallel to the dial and each other). When he tried to insert the movement into the case, he discovered that the stem was not centered in the crown tube. It was so far out of alignment that he needed to cut metal away from the case and crown tube, to get the crown to screw on to the stem. He’s done this before, and the results have been totally predictable – problems, and broken stems. So what happens? I call Watchbuff out, and say that this is not the way to do watch work and it’s unacceptable, especially when you’re doing it for others and charging money. Members, who you would think know better, rally around Watchbuff and in effect tell him to “keep it up”, “ don’t let Ziggy get you down”, “we’re on your side”… Unbelievable, but I chalk that up to ignorance. The supporters of the aforementioned folks will say that I am trying to eliminate competition. Nothing could be further from the truth. I generally have as much work as I can take and so I try to be supportive of those who are capable of delivering forum members good service at reasonable prices. In a perfect world all members would have access to competent and reasonable watch smiths. Over the years you will not find a negative post concerning people like Vaccum, Palp (when he was here), or Repaustria. They did and do good work and so there is no need to call them out. I speak out against shoddy workmanship and scams. I tell it like I see it, and have always tried to save the members from poor workmanship, being scammed or overpaying for bogus procedures. When I see examples like the one from Watchbuff, I consider it my obligation to the membership of RWG to speak out. Whenever I do speak out, I get blasted for it. It does bother me when I see members getting scammed. I will offer these final thoughts to those who run the site. One of the guiding principles of this forum has been to protect the membership. And the site is generally quick to do so when it comes to dealers. I believe that watchsmith’s and modders should be held to the same standard. Especially when I am increasingly seeing watches where more money is spent on the mods than on the watch. These people seem to be untouchable. That is unacceptable to me as someone who takes pride in his service to forum members. If I do drift back here, it will be for show and tell on interesting projects. I still have many friends who spend time here. But I am no longer going to get involved with the goings on here and who is doing what to member’s watches. And no, I do not want to see, or have sent to me, or hear about watches mangled by incompetent modders. Too many members are too quick to mention it privately and hide when I bring up the topic on the general forum. On a brighter note, Happy Holidays to all. Rob

It looks great. My first rep was a Datejust so I have a particular fondness to this model. Great job all around, congrats. RG

So your a RACIST as well... why doesn't that surprise me.