stilty

EMS tracking has always been good to me. Usually accurate within the day and I can tell if the package has cleared customs. Check with your seller and confirm the tracking number you were given is correct.

Thoughts on the new line that was revealed at Baselworld? I've seen some pics at the dealer for the new line that was just released at baselworld. I was told they won't hit the stores until 2008. You can see them now posted at Rolex.com. My faves are the Milguass and Airking. The new Yacht-master II is a bit too busy for me. The ceramic bezel GMT-II is pretty cool too.

I had the pleasure of examining a 213 at the AD in Wailea on the weekend. I played with it for a while, but the $11900.00 price tag is a bit steep. Anyway, I'm sure the price tag is one of the reasons that the rotor spins so freely and quietly as the movement is finely reworked by Panerai. What I noticed through the exhibition back is that the rotor spins extremely smooth and freely with a slight flick of the wrist. I also noticed that with that same flick, that the rotor will spin maybe 20-30 full rotations effortlessly. The only time the rotors on my watches spin quickly is if they are not fully wound. Obviously, this watch was not fully wound and I expected a free spinning rotor, but not one that seemed to spin itself. It was crazy. Now I am not too familiar with the movement, nor have I owned a watch with that movement, genuine or replica. But what I would like to know from our resident experts is how can I get the rotors on my movements to spin so smoothly and quietly? I've got 2824-2's, 2836-2's, 2892-2's, 12892's and a 2893-2. The 2824-2 is the most quiet, and spins the smoothest regardless if fully wound or not. The 20 year old 12892 spins super smooth and freely, but is noisy. I've got a 2836-2 in a Nixon watch that is very quiet, but the rotor does not spin freely unless fully unwound, and then it will spin freely. The only way I can get it to spin is with firm wrist movement. Is it just the grade of movement, lubrication, bearings, finishing or a combination of factors? Can I just order rotors from my supply house and swap out the bearings? I think someone on another thread mentioned grease, but I don't want to go against the factory lubrication recommendations.

Nice work... welcome to the addictive franken world.

Me too. The wife was with me when we were in the shop and she absolutely loved the watch. I think when I get home, I will go down to my local AD and put my name down for one.

Was just at the AD in Wailea this afternoon looking at what they had in stock for Panerai... not much I must say, but they did show me a brochure on the Milgauss. No price yet, and they don't even think they will see the watch in the shop until '08 as it is just being revealed at the watch show this year.

UPDATE: Mine arrived today. Thanks Mark, it looks great!

I'm still patiently waiting for mine to arrive. A few members have reported receiving theirs 3 weeks ago. Hopefully mine will arrive soon.

Yes, the position of the stem is different. About .35mm in difference, away from the dial, if I remember correctly. You should measure to be sure. Another factor to consider is the hand fitting height. For starters, by switching the movement, you are already shortening the cannon pinion, hour wheel, and fourth wheel by about .35mm. This is because in order to line up the stem, you have to seat the movement back from the dial about .35mm. Most likely, you will have to replace the cannon, hour and fourth wheel to make up for this difference.

Right! Sorry.... must have missed that... too much merlot. You could also try cousins in the UK.

That is what I was pointing out. Date has 19mm, and DJ has 20mm.

None that I can think of... they both use the same movements. one would be 19mm lug, and the other 20mm lug is another difference.

you could try julesborel.com

I guess if they are only a dealer maybe. I know someone who foolishly brought in a cartier rep to a cartier store for a battery replacement. What do you think happened? And does anyone think the police are going to do anything?

yeah, I agree. they could haved seized your watch for copyright infringement.

If I remember correctly, on non-quick set movements, you don't have to spin all the way around to set the date. A little trick is, forward the time past midnight to advance the date, then bring the hands back to 10 or 11pm then forward again, it should advance the date again when you roll past midnight. You can do this until you get to the correct date. Hope this helps!

Have you thought of printing directly to a removable label? I've been thinking along the same lines as you, but have had no time to give it a go. You could scan the dial, then print on your label, and carefully cut out openings as required.... or, if you really wanted perfection, you could scan your dial, create a vector based template, bring it to a sign shop, or anyone with a letter cutter, and they could possibly computer cut the template for you on removable labels. you can get removable labels at any office supply store... and the sign shop might have something similar as well. just a thought.

should be able to find the cheap crap anywhere... outside the Empire State Building. Battery Park... no shortage of the suitcase sellers... Just watch out for the dudes that come up to you and pull a watch out of their pocket and try to get $400-$600 for it! I've had this happen twice... maybe I look like an easy mark or something. What they do is get a rep, not Rolex, or anything that is an obvious fake, put on a few genuine tags and stickers, and even a price tag. One guy tried to sell me a fake Tag Heuer that had a Neiman Marcus price tag of $2200.00. He even let me hold it and examine it. He said he just got it and had to get rid of it. I was just down the street from the store too. I don't even think NM carries Tag. The other time was a fake Movado, same thing, Neiman Marcus price tag and everything! They start at $600, saying what a deal it is, say you can resell for $1500, etc. Give you the hard sell, and if you say no, they throw the $400 price at you. And no, I did not buy one.

I believe the early gen's did not hack such as caliber 1570. So having the slow beat, non-hacking 2846 is more authentic. I haven't played with the 2846 in a while, but you should be able to stop the second hand by holding the crown a certain way. I remember doing this with a miyota movement. Also, The Zigmeister may know more, but you may be able to modify the movement to hack... I know I've accidently created a non-hack 2824-2 back in the day by messing around and not knowing what I was doing.

The two I've used in the past did not hack.

That is pretty sweet! Just waiting for the DW from finepics so I can update mine! And concerning dials, weren't there two versions on the gen 029? One had the markers further in like in the pic of the gen, and the other further out, like on the rep, and both tuxedo? Also, can you post a pic of the lume?

Yuppers! Huge market in asia for solid gold watches with genuine movements. Why spend $20K when you can get the franken for $7-10K. I'm sure it cost less than $5K to build a solid 18K franken, including buying the gen SS watch to strip out the movement. Solid 18K aftermarket cases sell on the bay for about $1500, spend another $1500 on a quality solid bracelet and you are on your way! Dial and hand set for another $250.00. If gold was my thing, that is how I would do it.

I've received such a letter, only "they" were asking for proof that the watch I was receiving was actually being returned to me as a repaired item. I was lucky as all I needed was a letter verifying that the watch was being returned to me as repaired. It could have been worse. "They" could have asked me for an original bill of sale or asked me why I didn't send the watch out under bond. If I couldn't prove otherwise, I would have been subject to tax and duty on the full value of a genuine watch... which was a lot more than the rep was worth. In hind sight, I should have walked away and not bothered with the letter as I could have risked some serious problems with the man. For what the watch is worth, I don't see messing with the man is a safe game. My experience says 95% of the time no problem. But if I were ever to run into that situation again... is a $200 watch worth it? [censored], my lawyer bills $250/hour.

so very far from being a master.... but thank you for the kind words. Hey, with your date wheel, I remember we discussed on other board... did you get open of closed fonts? I ordered a couple and to my surprise, I recieved one open, and one closed. The open font had very bold printing, and the closed font printing was thinner and a closer match to 3135 printing. Still not correct as the font size is too big and fills up the cyclops too much. Ended up buying a genuine 3135 datewheel and it is 100% now.

The Cannon and hour are pretty easy to change... the fourth wheel you will definately need Rob's help... and while he is at it, you might as well have him give your movement a full overhaul.