Watchwatcher

i have a few which are in the 99% range and include 'Jules' AP, FM Conq 2892, but favorite is the MBW1680 with The Zigmeistermods.

rek is correct. i paid by WU and the S&H was fairly high. but that would not have mattered if the quality was good. as for 'tells' or flaws... 1) silver is heavier than aluminum 2) rough means that seams and welds were left rough not polished away, weld seams are a dead give away on a bracelet, as tiffany polishes away welds and seams so that each link appears completely fused 3) there are many pieces of tiffany that have ornate figures (e.g. daisy pendant or earrings), however in addition, tiffany's signature pieces by Paloma Picasso and Elsa Peretti are generally freeform or organic (e.g. 'teardrop pendent or bracelet') If you buy an elsa peretti teardrop bracelet from tiffany, the bracelet looks like a string of .... um, sterling silver tear drops. The rep looks like a string of small squished jelly beans... hey, you never know, maybe i'm just picky... but it certainly isn't going to fool anyone.

hk, yes, i provided ruby with a detailed rundown of the problems with her jewelry. i'm not angry with her, i was just very disappointed with the quality. she's nice to deal with and tries very hard, but the fact is that her tiffany jewelry is of very poor quality and not wearable by people who normally buy the real thing. i can buy better quality from mexican suppliers like taxco. if this is the first time you've heard this, it is because you haven't looked very hard...

dudro, that's the first time i've heard that comment... usually it is the opposite, with reps being far thicker than the gens... usually in order to fit a thicker movement the reps are designed to have the same case profile as the gen, but the case back is thicker to allow more room for the movement. so consequently you'll see many of the rep pictures carefully angled to show the case profile but to avoid showing the fat cover on the back. then you put it on your wrist and wonder why it sticks out like a sour thumb and sits out too far to allow proper alignment with the bracelet or strap -- usually noticeable by the sharp transition angle at the lugs. this is one of my pet peeves with reps, but i love the ones that match the gens -- most of the mbw's are in that category. thinner, would, imo be an even more desireable characteristic, providing it isn't achieved by throwing in a razor thin quartz or manual movement.

you may find that prices for decent sterling jewelry are somewhat higher now as a result of the doubling in silver prices, but this would add only about $5-10/oz to the cost, and most pieces are not more than a few oz. weight. as for ruby, her jewelry was not even solid sterling, but rather silver plated, and fairly rough at that... i had an experienced jeweler evaluate several pieces and he just laughed... quite an embarrassing experience.

i've purchased tiffany jewelry from ruby and was not impressed... it would not pass as genuine among anyone who knows the real stuff. it might satisfy buyers of jewelry from bubble gum machines

rt, i like the panda. curious if a group buy has a chance of happening in mid-2's. any idea how thick the case is? thx.

i'd be very interested to see how accurately these chinese tourbs keep time. i'm assuming that it is in fact a highly accurate instrument, but i also wonder whether the degree of error caused by gravitational force, which the tourb overcomes, is more than offset by other engineering errors/inefficiencies associated with lower quality chinese machining and qc. i mean if the rest of the movement is not correctly lubricated, how much of an issue is that. and granted, i assume the shops that turn out tourbs are doing much higher quality work than we see on our movements. http://www.zvisuel.com/montrespassion/english/index.html

i'll go one step further... even those who know what they are, also know that there have been so many special series of limited editions which have minor differences, that they would be unable to make a judgment on the watch from a visual spot check. usually its the 'total picture' that is the telltale sign... is the watch on a $500 croc strap or something that looks like it came from kmart... is the guy wearing it also sporting a beer belly and tatoo or wearing an armani suit... you get the picture.

cool... yeah, look at the next to last pic above... crystal?... what crystal! that ain't a/r--that's invisible!!!

excellent photo comp... its like looking at a side by side of 90 pound weaklings and mr. universe... an incredibly 'built' chunky watch. the amplified proportions definitely have a certain eye catching appeal, and the Ti apparently makes it wearable. great pictorial, very helpful. thx again. too bad they stopped producing these, they'll probably get pricy in the aftermarket.

ubiquitous is about to do this, so you can get a real time answer from him.

i have experimented with several types of glue... contact cement, super glue, super glue-gel, gorilla glue, barg cement, etc. best results come from 2 part clear epoxy. it comes in a small plunger (2 tubes), which allows you to squeeze out a little and mix. 5minutes to hardening. reason i like it, is it gives you a little more time to position the insert than superglue and also has a little bit of flex, which will survive the impact of being hit (superglue tends to crack when hit).

if you get a chance, check out kehlsteinhaus, great view, bit of history. salzburg also a nice stop, and if you get a chance, hang a right turn and head into leichtenstein to check out the castle in vaduz. rgds/ww2

Nice pics. What is the weight? Would be great to see a side-by-side of this with say a polex sub, particularly the side profile. what is the thickness of the case? how does this feel on your wrist as compared with a 44mm pam... bigger/smaller/same?

the search button still works really well... http://www.rwg.cc/members/index.php?showtopic=946&hl=

there is no Oris titan 300M with a black face (except for the 300M chrono which is 16mm thick). there is a 200M tt1 in S/S with black face, and there is a 1000M diver with black carbon fiber face--however this is also 16mm thick. I would love oris to introduce the same watch as the titan luminova (13mm thick/display back) but with a black face. if you can verify that there is in fact a new non-chrono titan 300m (titanium) with black face, please provide a link to the information and price.

Hey, great video... just caught it online... only one question... which one are you... i think i caught a glimpse of a couple panerai too... check it out: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=87...90731&hl=en

ok, some good input here. looks like it comes down to Chrono Avenger or Pam 106. In regard to the 106, i'd want to confirm that the case is Ti, and that we don't have a problem with the bezel markers (the most frequent complaint i've heard on the pam subs). The pam 036 has from time to time caught my eye, but just seems a little plain, and i have several other pams. I think WM's vintage was a radiomir with brown face, which for some reason reminded me of the 036 (in retrospect it was a killer piece, just pricey). i like the idea of buying a swiss7750 and swapping it into the Avenger, seems like the most cost efficient route. thanks again all for your comments.

bt, reminds me a bit of sector's dive watch (not the 'diving team') but one other they put out a few years back, unfortunately with quartz movement, but rainbow dial and, toolish bracelet in Ti. That is a cool watch, and yes, it looks great... for people who don't really care what others think about the color combo, cause when you're going down several hundred feet, nobody gonna notice.

kruz,.. good thinking. where did you source the swiss 7750 from... ofrei?

um... something tells me you don't know WM. sorry not to be a little more clear... i was referring to some of his vintage masterpieces which only come available from time to time... and they can be pricey, but absolutely spectacular...

character flaw... but i like buying 99% of the value for 10% of the price... and yes, i own gens, but only buy them when forex rates go wacky and i can arbitrage the source market.

chrono avenger with asian 7750? what are we talking....? would you go with the avenger or wait it out and hope for the Seawolf in Ti??? That's the one I'd really like... only 13mm thick... very manageable on a medium size wrist.

pug, iwc gst is ok, just never grabbed me. i have an iwc and quite frankly they seem rather.... um, plain. i realize that iwc maniacs like that look... but frankly, i'd go with a pam any day over an iwc. the breitlings and oris titans have the nice chunky bracelet i'm looking for. chunky, but light.