Watchwatcher

I'm still waiting for next generation ARKTOS with NSEW indicators that are welded on, with ETA and thick crown.

ask josh, i believe in the gen FM, FM takes an ETA 2671, makes a few cosmetic changes and calls it their FM2600, don't know off the top of my head what "-2" refers to, you can find more info at the ETA site, or josh would know. btw, good choice, i have the men's FM conq and it is a beauty.

if you buy gen, buy it used, better yet go to a govt auction or estate sale. alternatively buy an MBW... you may find that this completely satisfies your craving for a gen, as it looks and feels like a gen. if you buy a gen, you'll be dazzled by it for a couple months, then the excitement will recede and you'll be thinking about the next watch. Or, you'll love it until you have it serviced and get a $500 bill... that is what a full servicing, cleaning, etc. will run at the AD. personally, i'd rather save my money for the next really great rep to come out... there are a few to be had from MBW, WM, the FM Conq, a few others. IT WOULD BE NICE if the rep factories tried to do at least one or two high quality reps per year rather than the steady stream of 'brick on wrist' reps which are way too thick and lack the fit and finish that many of us are looking for. I'd much rather see some decent 99.9%'ers in the $300-500 range, than the slew of $100-200 reps which look good in the pics, but are a failure when you put them on your wrist.

there are really only a few high quality ladies reps to consider. and because it is your wife, you should go with high quality... otherwise she'll be out somewhere, perhaps with friends, and something will break on the rep and it will be disappointing. or the movt won't keep great time and every few weeks she'll tell you that it's off by X minutes and could you reset it... also not pleasant. in terms of quality, it is probably hands down, 1) FM conq with the 2600 movt. 2) ladies WG or YG pearlmaster 3) patek 24 (but be picky as there are good ones and not so good), alternatively, there is a very nice looking Chopard in WG (MOP face) which looks to also be in the same quality level--if you need a link to a pic, i'll dig one up. good luck! PS, i have seen the chanel J12 in ceramic, which appears to be good quality, but I'm not sure that it is a good all around watch for most women, as it is somewhat of a 'statement' watch.

i wear mbw 1680 and seiko monster to gym. i check the seals and gaskets on all of them. i swim in mega-chlorinated pool and go in steam room, so far all my watches have held up fine... although i wouldn't wear a plated watch or chrono to the gym... too sensitive.

I was also eyeing that piece, although I'd like to see this with another dial color... blue or silver maybe. Very nice catch... btw, how is the clasp and bracelet, and what is the case thickness... with quartz, i'd think it might be a bit thinner (my preference). ENJOY! Kudos to Neil.

most MBWs don't require any further adjustment, in this case the painted hour markers on the face leave something to be desired when the lights go off. besides that, I'm more than half blind, so without the lume, i am not only unable to see the face, but i cannot see the watch, and frankly can't even see my wrist. if it were not MBW, I'd attempt the mod myself, but this one could only be trusted in the hands of our resident canadian watchmeister... his charges are always fair and quite modest in comparison to the cost of the watch...

i bot a WG DD from EL. WG and SS do not look the same... I have several dozen watches and you can spot WG quickly as they have a 'cool' whiter look to them, most people would not confuse them with SS. They also maintain their hot white appearance while SS oxidizes and appears more grey within a few hours of polishing. However, to be a little more precise, the plating is not WG, it is rhodium, which is an even more costly metal than WG. Even genuine 18k WG watches are plated with rhodium... think about it for a minute, if it is 18k, it's 75% YG... which means that the real stuff actually still appears quite yellowish. For this reason it still needs the rhodium plating. WG is truthfully a bit of a marketing concept rather than the whitish metal you might think it is. The EL watch is nice. Bracelet is solid links so it feels heavy like the gen (the gen is actually quite a bit heavier). It is one of my favorite dress watches because it actually could pass for a genuine while most other polex models are immediately suspect. I also have a YG DD from EL, which is less easy to wear as it is a bit more flashy. The WG "Day' is in good alignment, although like all DD reps there will be a day or two where you can see a very slight disalignment--not noticeable unless you're looking very very closely. Movement runs on time. EL claims it as thicker plating than Chinese... who really knows, who has the ability to test that... no one I know. I also have a SS TOG... however that gets no wrist time (hint). Good luck. WG DD SS TOG

cray: 1) hollow endlinks are correct 2) the bezel will loosen a bit over time, if you want to get smooth feel quickly, take a toothpick and a little WD-40 and right where the top of the endlink meets the bezel there is a small amount of room where you can carefully apply the wd40 and then rotate the bezel. i say carefully, because if you 'spray it on' the solvent in the wd40 may also cause the bezel insert to dis-adhere. 3) the bracelet needs a little work to get it feeling smooth... work in some polishing compound, particularly at each bracelet joint. use a dremel tool to buff the inside edges of the bracelet--softens their edges. be careful NOT to polish or rub down the brushed outer surface of the bracelet. i also had mine mod'd by one of the local masters -- wanted the dial lumed and crowns shaped a bit as well as installing 2mm lug bars. enjoy... with very little work it is indistinguishable from a gen.

I agree that in the sub category, seiko comes up with several candidates for top-10, and certainly with something like the orange monster, most bang for the buck. Here's another contender, that has recently caught my eye... Oris TT1 Master Diver 1000m

More divers. I like that Sector DT1000. Have gotten hooked on the Oris TT1 Master Diver, probably the best Ti bracelet around. And here's some others that are attractive: 1) Oris TT1 Master Diver (titanium) 2) Oris TT1 Titan 1000M 3) Luminox Navy Seal Blue 4) Hublot Super-B Diver 5) AngularMomentum Illum/V (actually a GMT) 6) Invicta Lupah Diver (less expensive end of the spectrum) 7) Leonard Swiss (not a diver, but cool dome profile) Since I haven't owned any of these watches, would be interested to hear from anyone who has, and what their thoughts were... good or bad. {END}

... now you can test whether your rep collection is waterproof. good luck.

kanerich, gotta see some pics, sounds awesome!

pvd stands for Physical Vapour Deposition which refers to a group of vacuum coating techniques that are used to deposit thin film coatings. the coating takes on certain characteristics of the underlying substrate... in other words, if you put a pvd coating on polished SS, you end up with polished PVD, if you put it on matte SS, then you have matte PVD, etc. PVD by the way can be black, gold or a wide variety of other finishes. While it is a bit tough to see exactly how the PVD looks on EP's watch, at first glance it appears to have a very attractive 'pearlescent' glow, the kind that takes on different looks under differing lighting. I like it. Of course, I also like the 'matte' pvd which is the proper finish on a vintage PAM... but this is not a vintage PAM.

ep: very very nice. you have a good eye, the finish looks extraordinary. i am not familiar with the seller. if you don't mind, please either post or pm me his details (and ballpark pricing). thanks... again, great choice & wear it well!

This is a great thread, I could spend all morning ogling these beauties. Just goes to show that true art is timeless and appreciated for generation after generation. This is probably the millionth post of yet another MBW 1680, but i can't help myself. SHOWING A LITTLE TANK TREAD... KNOWS SHE'S BEAUTIFUL...

1680 with mods by The Zigmeister, picture doesn't do the lume job justice, it is spot on.

there isn't a whole lot to waffle on...fiction is fiction, no one with the least bit of historical knowledge is debating that part--something hanks and howard have said from the beginning, the question is how good is it as an 'adventure' movie ala national treasure... so far seems like it has turned out to have been a dud...

DT... hey come'on now, don't get so down on gerald genta, after all he did the golfin mickey watch... he can't be all bad. i agree with your comment about the lack of 'baaammm' from the face... just nothing there that is particularly distinctive. if you took away iwc, it could be half a dozen other brands. these days i only buy very high quality with something distinct... last few buys... frank muller conq 6892, mbw red 1680 mod'd by zig, black-eyed orange monster... top of my list now is probably davidsen 195 pvd... i'd like to see a few to see how they're coming out, when he gets the wrinkles out, i'll be there... also still have an eye for the arktos, but i want to see best quality, perhaps 3rd or 4th gen later this year, then i'll bite.

neb, congrats. that 195 is high on my list. i can't wait to see your pics!

dt, i've been interested in these 'alarm' movements for awhile, but i notice that when they come up for sale, the buyer frequently is a seller a month later... i haven't seen one in person, but i wonder how well the alarm works or if that is the source of disappointment. if there were an alarm movement that really worked well and made some kind of decent alarm sound, i think i'd get one... anyone got a jpeg of the alarm on these iwc's???

i completely agree with overb... i always like the classic design of the fiddy, but even with a 7.5" wrist, i find anything more than 44mm to look and feel... awkward. i think trying to make a 47mm 'fit' on a small wrist is contrary to the intended aesthetic. i'm very tempted by puretime's beauty, but i've got a lot of other models on my wish list... like a really sweet, well made arktos with eta... maybe later in the year.

after using many types of glue... superglue, contact glue, etc.,etc. i've found that the absolute best is clear 5 minute epoxy... available at the local hardware store for a few dollars. comes with 2tubes together and one plunger that pushes out equal amounts from both tubes. push out a few drops of each, mix, and then you have 5 minutes to do the installation before it hardens. unlike superglue it has a slight amount of flex to it, so the insert can take some impact without breaking the glue bond.

if you really like it, talk to luckyyy, he has the mbw in all black. i really like the look although i'm also wondering how well the pvd would hold up.

wow!!! just saw this. haven't dealt with joe, so i have no comments other than that his price list was more than i would spend on a rep. i have had a few projects done by The Zigmeister and Tommy, both of whom are reliable and honest. if they run into a problem, they tell you. they stand behind their work; there are some elements of modding a rep which are not predictable. reps are not the precision masterpieces we seem to hope they can be, the materials, threadings workmanship, etc. is prone to problems. consequently, if you are going to hand your watch over for work, you really need someone who isn't afraid to tell you what's happened when things go ugly... we seem to forget, this is a hobby, it's supposed to be fun, we're supposed to learn something (hopefully), even if it just 'how to pry the bezel' off a sub without using extreme force (hmmm, nanuq are you reading?) my 2 cents.