sebvad

i dunno what VIP access provides, but i'm sure something could be arranged 8-)

Thanks guys, appreciate the welcome, especially as i know i'm a 'new guy' and you tire of answering the same questions over and over. trying to do my best to do thorough reading before asking things, to not be 'that guy'

a couple of days ago i submitted an order for a breitling avenger to toro as well - in my initial email with a few question he responded very quickly, i've not had a response from him yet on the actual order itself. my guess is that this isn't his full time job, and as such he'll get to it when he's able to. could also be on holiday. or perhaps he needs to lay low for a bit and may take a week or so getting to things.. i dunno really, as it's my first order as well, but i'm anticipating it may not be the sort of 'insta reponse' we've gotten used to from, say, amazon.com or something 8-) It is interesting, however, the amount of anticipation i have to process this thing. literally the first thing i do when i get home from work is check the email to see if it's moving along. i'm finding the waiting to be the most difficult part!

Got it. thanks guys - appreciate the insight!

There's lots of ways to measure value, and only one of them has a dollar sign in front of it. I've had a wealth of incredible experiences, and while i've been paid well, I've had phenomenally valuable non-$ experiences as well... i'm very fortunate! Plus the komodo's,scorpions, cobras, terrorists, volcanos, earthquakes, etc haven't gotten me yet - that's a plus 8-)

Some of the dealers i'm conversing with are indicating their paypal account has been suspended, and are suggesting i use Western Union. Now, this seems to have a certain amount of downside risk associated with it; with PP or Visa, there are dispute resolution services available - with WU i'm concerned a deal (no one in particular) may simply be tempted to receive the transfer and not provide the goods. Valid concern? is it a warning flag if the dealer is only suggesting WU and no other options? or is WU pretty standard in these parts?

Sorry, Sead? Is there a website - not seeing him listed in the trusted dealers area..

So first, the important stuff. The chocolate 8-) i've been making chocolate for 20 years, and have done business on every continent except Antarctica as a result (not a lot grows there...). I spend lots of time in the jungles trying to determine new ways of using cocoa beans, or teaching others how to use them properly. Unfortunately cocoa only grows in basicaly 3rd world countries, so i'm in hot zones all the time - hardly ever get shot at, spiders the size of your little sister are common, and yes, there such things as dragons (komodo's will try to eat you if you're not paying attention). I do love it, but it's not for everyone. I speak around the globe teaching people on cocoa, chocolate, how to use them, how to taste them, how to work with it, etc. pretty cool job. Now onto watches - ok, forget the movement. I think what i'm hearing is that it's a bit of a crap shoot with either 'level' of watch i go with; there are some retailers who are better than others; and that members here have had both good and bad experiences with either 'level' they go with. I'm a breitling fan myself - the code yellow and code yellow blacksteel are smokin.

Where'd you order your avenger code yellow from mate? i'm new to this, but not seeing it on the half dozen or so sites i've looked at...

Brand spankin' new to the world of replicas - quite exciting! Have spent the better part of the last week reading quietly here - tons of great advice and knowledge. From what i gather, reps seem to be broken down into two categories - japanese and swiss movement (less expensive, more expensive). Is the only difference the movement? For example, here's one that's caught my eye from watchden (from what i can tell, sort of an 'approved' dealer around these parts?) *turns out i can't link it yet - sorry, learning as i go* - Breitling Super Ocean Working Chronograph Black Bezel with Black Dial-Yellow Needle Now, it's clocking in at about $150 (put SO intended), and is japanese movement. They've got a $350 version of it that, as far as i can tell, differs in it's internals and some cosmetic differences. In a $150 version, would i expect significant reliability or quality differences vs the $350 piece? I'm not a watch-a-holic by any stretch, so small cosmetic differences would be lost on me - i'm more trying to do some rangefinding on the overall quality of the piece... Thanks for hosting here - great stuff! And yes, i do make chocolate for a living. it's a terrible job, i do it for the children 8-)