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The point is it is not even fake ETA. Cloning means to replicate exactly. The PTS DG movements might provide the functions of a watch but in that respect they are no more a clone of an ETA mechanical movement than a Miyota or Rolex movement is a clone of an ETA movement. They are completely different in design. ETA clone infers that the buyer could easily substitute a real ETA movement into the watch if they have problems with it in future, or use ETA parts to repair the movement. The reality is they cannot. Is that good enough reason to be concerned?!

Oooh. I was trying not to think about mine winging its way towards me as I type. At last the Planet Ocean saga is complete. PS. Just an observation. I still have the first of the two 20mm rubber straps I received with the ill fitting 45mm Asian PO from 'Trusty' over a year ago. I left it lying on a bookshelf and forgot about it while doing a lot of construction and decoration work in my house. I found it the other day covered in plaster dust. I gave it a quick rub down and I swear the dust coating has given it a smoother, silkier feeling texture. Might be a tip there - try dusting your PO rubber strap in talc for that soft, genuine-like feel....

Am I the only person who finds that ironic?!

Which is about 10x the value of your contributions to RWG so far. Mine is still in transit..... I did opt for airmail though, and it is being delivered as part of a package of items, some of which were pending stock.

So I'm not the only one who thinks he's a gent then?! Seriously - in a world of scammers, cheaters and people generally looking to take advantage of you, Randy is the diametric opposite. An honest and generous man with friend and stranger alike.

OK. Let's get one thing clear. The movements involved are NOT ETA clones. They are advertised as such but the adverts are blatant lies. The movements are manufactured by PTS resources of China, are loose clones of Miyota (aka Citizen) movements and are designated DG2813 (Super Ocean) and DG8413 (Planet Ocean). The designs bear no resemblance whatsoever to ETA movements and no parts are interchangeable. You are not the first person to make this mistake, and thereby we see the product of the 'little white lies'. Do a search of the italicised words/phrases above for more information.

Old news. Paul (Wo-Mart, so does make him Po-Mart?!?!) was selling a pile of these 2 Christmas's ago for just under $100. So, they've re-surfaced.

Argh?! Why polish? Any sweat marks or dust I remove with a dry or slightly damp cloth. Refinishing brushed surfaces that have become scuffed or scratched I use a kitchen sponge with the green scourer on one face of them, lightly moistened. The cheap ones are best as they are generally softer - branded ones tend to be too harsh. Always rub them in the same direction as the original brushed finish. For preserving the finish I use a clear, non abrasive liquid car wax. No polishes!!

Total waste of money, by anyone's standards. Servicing the 2813 isn't going to extend its working life by any significant amount, and $100 will easily buy you 5 replacements. The 2813 is a 'cheapened' Miyota copy and any one I have seen has never been lacking lubrication. The watch lacks many of the design features that make the ETA28xx series so robust (no pallete jewels, for example) and the parts of the movement themselves are not engineered up to ETA standard - no amount of servicing is going to improve on that. Your watchmaker is right to object, but clearly you want to part with your cash despite his advice so he's as well to take it. And here we see the product of the little white lies. The belief is now spreading that 2813 and 8413 movements are 'eta copy' and can be brought up to ETA spec. They cannot. Servicing isn't alchemy. Maybe this will illustrate the point for you.... Imagine this is the DG2813... This would be the ETA2824.. An oil, plugs and filters change isn't going to turn the top one into the bottom one.

For the last bleedin' time. The movement in the uPO Lite is not an ETA2824 copy. It bears no resemblance whatsoever to the ETA or Selita SW200. Describing it as a 2824 copy is a big fat lie. The movement has its own name - it is the DG8413, and Cousins do indeed stock them.

The CG's on the rep are actually accurate for the GMT models which use a shorter crown.

The tube and crown swap (has to be done as a pair as the gen tube is internally threaded whereas the rep external) is not for the faint hearted. Part number for the crown is OME-069ST42147. Lost details of which is the correct tube, but I'm sure MVB will know...

Nice idea, but the pearl on that thing is awful and AFAIK the bezel and insert are not compatible with the earlier, better 2824 models Plus, I suspect if you order one of these what you will actually get is this....

Hi Teejay. What spec is the orange dead one? PM me about it!

There was never any doubt??!! What are you thinking of?! WRT the watch, maybe a little overpriced, but probably a good investment in the long run. Anything Bondian will only appreciate, this item especially as it is linked with the successful debut of a new actor in the role. If you want to know what I mean, try valuing an Aston Martin DB5.......

Watch this space. Plenty pictures, no time to post them.....

That's the later rep SMP design and is indeed different to the earlier reps and the gen which use a long, shaped spring for the ratchet assembly, so it looks like none of the genuine parts (bezel or insert) will serve you.

The first (expensive) 'sample' run also had fantastic lume. I saw Neil's in the metal and decided there and then I wanted one. Then I found out the production run had mineral crystal (not a good idea with such a big, vulnerable watch) and was probably of lower quality and my interest in it cooled. So, if either of you two decide to sell yours give me a shout......

I wondered when you'd come in and point that out I was pretty sure that was the case myself. I've never actually attempted to fit a genuine bezel/insert but when I had my own SMP bezel and insert off for re-alignment it looked awfully like the genuine item ie. the insert is a cast piece rather than just cut and pressed from a sheet of metal. Most aftermarket bezel inserts I have seen are of the latter, incorrect design and AFAIK the latest reps use this wrong design. A genuine insert would of course be too big to fit a bezel designed to take the aftermarket inserts. An interesting side note to this is that the ultimate Planet Ocean also uses a bezel insert cut and shaped from a flat sheet, but to achieve accurate pearl 'depth' the pearl is fitted into a hole drilled into the actual bezel. A genuine insert will not fit, but I'd stick my neck out and say that the complete genuine bezel and insert assembly probably would fit as the ratchet and spring design looks identical.....

Which version of the uPO are we talking about here? Asian DG8413 movement version or ETA2824 version? The Asian has a different, larger datefont, but the datewheel sits closer to the dial also making the date window look even smaller. ETA version looks perfect to my eyes. Another thing to be aware of is that gen and rep both have an indent around the date window that isn't immediately obvious unless viewed under the bright lights of, say, an AD window display.....

Sorry to [censored] on your parade scoobs, but that bezel insert is exactly the one that started to appear on the reps about a year ago. The pearl is the same one fitted on the noobmariner ie. great for Rolex but completely and utterly off for Omega.

Over on old RWG someone attempted a similar project using a case from the 21J black faced Asian model that had the correct He valve placement, but there were too many other discrepancies in the case that made the project non-viable (bezel fitting and click spring design completely different, bezel insert didn't fit, caseback screw incompatible etc. etc.) The most viable rep option for correct He valve placement is the ST-18 '007' rep, but anyone who has one isn't going to part with it readily. Next best option would be to source a 2824 standard SMP rep from about 2 years ago and hope to acquire a genuine case for not too much money then transfer everything over as it should fit no problems. That would produce a 99.999% (as opposed to 99%) accurate SMP.

Still not received mine yet.....

The second-hand one I bought from azerbyjam came with both rubber and SS bands. You might want to ask him where he sourced it from.

The gold one is just about tolerable, but they'll need to do something about the silver marker surrounds. The chrono is just..... bleurgh!