fraggle42

Ok, as I love these micro brands I've added a new section to my rep world info tool - "Gen Micro Brands" Currently got these two in it. If anyone knows any other micro brands PM me! Mike? You must know millions!!

For me the only two things to work out how long it should take are 1) Where are they, and 2) Which postal method did they use? And even then it's a crap shoot, as every postal service can go horribly wrong, lose your parcel down the back of a shelf, or fall into the wrong sorting bin and end up the other side of the world. I bet that the departments in these companies that handles "incorrect parcels / letters" absolutely does not take any notice of what speed of delivery you paid for, they'll maybe go through the "incorrect" bin once a week or couple of weeks and start it on it's journey back to the destination or departure depot, and it'll need special processing at every step of the way as it will have been marked as "delivered" (to the wrong destination depot). If that's the case it'll be a very slow process BUT it'll get to where it's supposed to go, eventually.

+1 to everything panerai153 said. A single watch in a typical rep package (bubble envelope with bubble wrapped watch inside, or styrofoam box with bubblewrapped watch inside), most seem to get through. Two seems to be mostly OK. Three or more, dodgy. I suspect that customs workers actually have instructions on the priority of what they see on the xray. Single or two watches (heads or bracelets), not worth bothering with. Three - maybe they consider this could be a dealer shipping a dozen watches via 4 parcels, so will open it. As I said above, I've bought a couple of Alphas, a couple of homages, and they have arrived in small, generic, black presentation boxes made from thich card with a pillow inside, which is inside a new cardboard outer box. These black presentation boxes are 50p each, and the cardboard boxes 10p each. It just makes sense to me to use 'em! (and I hope the new owners appreciate the decent packaging) As to talking about customs in a public forum? They ain't stupid, they already know very well what we know about them, we're just too small a fish to bother catching - too low a volume and too hard to prosecute any one person and make an example of them by taking them to court and fining them $50,000 or something. Personally I'm quite glad they are more concerned about large shipments to people that are looking to rip other off by selling them as gens, and keeping an eye out for genuine dangers.

I cry foul!! The hands should have survived the fire test!

Did you agree with the seller that the seller takes full responsibility if the package is lost in transit? Did you agree that a refund would be made just because the shipping is taking "too long"? Did you agree what constitutes "too long"? I'm guessing "not" in all three cases in which case the seller is under no obligation to do anything. If they're a kind soul they may agree to split the loss 50/50 if nothing has turned up after 'x' months.

This is a reason why I've bought a dozen small watch boxes, so any that I sell I can put into one of these cheap boxes on a cushion, in a new cardboard box so hopefully the whole "package" looks authentic as if the receiver has bought a new, gen, cheap watch.

Could you explain this please? I am trying to think of any area that could be improved that could be said to be a better improvement for defence than for offence. But my last point that you agreed with refutes this, that criminals will use bigger weapons than the law allows, but just to the extent they need to intimidate their victims. From my impression from the local news and national news from the various parts of the UK I've lived in burglars, professional car thieves, (AFAIK) may carry around a large knife or baseball bat (actually in the UK it's normally a cosh - a short length of pipe with the business end filled with lead - smaller, more effective, easier to use than a full sized baseball bat), but very rarely a gun. Sentences for burglary and theft may be 6 months or community service or 3 years (depending on offender history), going armed and it's something like 5 years upwards, usually 10+. The gun crime in the UK normally comes from "gangs" styling themselves on gangs in places were guns are legal. It's very rare that you'll hear about the types of crime I described above being carried out by armed criminals. Bank or post office robbers, yes, nearly always armed but I'd consider that a crime "level" above what we're talking about. I've just tried to find some proper numbers rather than going from my impressions, but the headline "multiple killings" and "deaths per country" are easy to find, "number of (any) crimes involving guns per country with public gun owning legality noted" isn't so easy to find! Will have a dig tomorrow, it's past my bedtime now.

I agree that it's the person(s) behind the weapons that are the problem. It's just that the advancement in weaponry has one thing in mind, to kill with greater accuracy and speed. (well, at least in the past 20 or so years anyway) Why will the bad guys always have more lethal weapons? If the law states that the general public can only carry a knife with a 4" blade (I think that's what it is in the UK), the criminal doesn't give a hoot about the law so will carry a machette or worse. A large part of carrying any weapon is intimidation, the threat of using it (cold war, arms race, etc), so bigger or well known deadly weapon is more intimidating. If you've got a shotgun and the criminal who breaks in has an AK47, and it's pointed at you, would you try to go for the shotgun? Or say "Take what you want but don't hurt us"? I forgot before to mention one important aspect, and that is what sort of criminal are we dealing with? Opportunistic criminals I imagine will be unlikely to be carrying illegal weapons (or extremely illegal), as they don't go out with the intention to commit crime, but they can't resist an opportunity if one appears. The other type is those who have set out with bad intentions, burglary, armed robbery, etc. They will have thought about it and will have more intimidating weaponry than the public has access too. But (I think) it will be pointless of them to go totally OTT. How many post office robbers have you heard going along with a tank or thermo nuclear warhead? They just need something "bigger" that has enough of an intimidation factor. They would also consider the case if they got caught - the length of the prison sentence they're looking at if they had an auto hand gun or assault rifle Vs. if they had fragmentation grenades, rocket launchers and armoured cars (examples just picked from thin air)

AJ polished the AP Diver I bought from him, 'tis lovely

If you search in these forums you'll find that "Swiss ETA" movements are in fact old movements pulled from old watches and repaired with parts from the Asian ETA clones. In addition to that, since they're old movements it is very likely they will need servicing but the people who fix them up don't service them. It's generally accepted that it's better to save money and buy an Asian movement and then get it serviced when you get it, and it'll then last for years.

Another madman shoots and kills 6 people and you still think this is a viable "solution"? The bad guys will always have more lethal / more intimidating weapons, be it guns, knives or a baseball bats. They will always have the upper hand in weaponry as they don't care about the law. Hence it doesn't matter what the law allows you to have, you won't have better weapons, the only difference is advanced weapons are better at killing more people quickly, so more of your family stand a higher chance of dying, and the more bad guys. (which makes no difference as there will always be bad guys) I'd rather live somewhere where the bad guys only have to use a bigger stick than the law allows. If the worst happens I'll get loads of bruises, cuts and a few broken bones, but I'll be alive.

Check out Watch International. They are a TD here and at RWG.bz. On RWG.bz they have a sub forum where they do "cheapies" and I've got a couple from there, Omega Pumpkin 42mm and Omega 007 42mm, both very nice watches and a bargain for the cost. The Pumpkin has stripped the thread on the tube, but that is a common problem with POs, and a new gen crown and tube cost me about £37 and is easy to fit. Linky to their "Special Priced Watches" here http://www.rwg.bz/board/index.php?showforum=222

Very sharp! That price compared to the Euro price isn't too bad - we usually lose out by a long way but are only $60 more in this case I suspect one of my other hobbies is about to get very expensive quite soon, just been up town to see the new Panasonic AX802 Studio Master LCD TVs they released this year. Very, very nice, but still not a patch on the Samsung OLED 55" TV. Want one! Only problem is they cost the same as a small car.

Just saw this <sigh> Sorry credit card...

Now that one I quite like Just a dash of yellow, like the AP CF diver. 1000m WR and sunburst yellow? €250. http://timestore24.org/deep-blue-uhren/deep-blue-sun-diver-ii-1000m-yellow.html

Interesting watch, nice find Mike! The yellow dial is a bit too "in your face" for me, I need them combined with sunburst texture to float my boat Cracking price, especially with that strap.

Every day. I'm far from 'stylish', my usual wear thoughout the week is various jeans and shirts or t-shirts with walking boots (I use an insert in the boot to compensate for a shorter right leg that came from a motorbike accident so can't use shoes or trainers) so I wear the watches purely for my enjoyment and telling the time, certainly not as part of my ensemble Absolutely nothing is a safe / box queen, reps or gens, got a bench polishing / satin finishing machine that I'm playing with and learning so desk dive marks won't be a problem when I perfect it

I would say the Tudor BB, but the bezel on a lot of them are loose, so that's out. Pam 389 I love, but the assembly of them sucks. However Mickey reported to me that the actual movement in mine was good and clean and properly lubed (apart from the bits off the rubber anti-shock that got chewed up). Due to the assembly I'd eliminate anything from the ZFactory. Blancpain FF? Another ZF release isn't it? So out. Not looked at the new AP releases in 2014 or the TC V6 (does it use the amazing dials he used in the Caddells?), so my vote may be the TC V6, or "Nothing yet"

Oh dear. The general advice is do NOT take any rep into an AD. Why? The staff there aren't stupid, they will be offered lots of watches in part exchange and will know how to identify a rep. Yes there will be a guy out the back who knows everything and is the authority, but you can bet every time a rep comes in and the authority says "No" the other staff will ask and learn the tells. So if someone has been there for a few months they may well be wet behind the ears and not know, but the others will be able to tell, and the store manager and the authority out back will be able to tell at 100 paces. Why does that matter? The greater proportion of high quality reps will be bought by scum who try to sell them as gen, and that's who the police and border forces try to crack down on. All us lot who own and buy reps, the quantities we buy are small numbers, so we're not really on the polices radars. Yet. But if we draw attention to ourselves, they'll take an interest. It'd take a couple of months work for them to get all the 5 rep forums shut down, if they could be bothered. Please don't make them think we're worth bothering with!

I think the trick is to get the differences between the positions as close to zero as possible. I remember reading on some forum a guy asking how to improve the differences and getting a very in depth answer about the main causes of them, designs, how well the teeth are cut, loose or close meshing between the teeth and if the oil is old it sticks to the side of the jewel holes and when the watch is on its side the friction from the old oil affects the regulation. Basically reducing friction. The fact that most reps are only good after a service really does point out the need for giving them a service!

I've been wearing this Sinn U1 for about 5 days now. It was set to 15 seconds fast when I got it and it's still there now. Zero gain or loss. Sellita SW200 movement in it. I've just worn it as normal and put it on bedside cabinet overnight, face up. I must put it on the timer tomorrow and see what that says in the 5 positions, but this thing has beaten the [censored] of all the other watches I've got. Quite remarkable! So what's the most accurate mechanical movement you have owned? Rep or gen?

Yes, there is a lot of very interesting research going on, and some of it is close to being implemented for real. But these old stations and the problems they have have loads of people scared of everything with the word 'nuclear' associated with it. Above, particle accelerators were mentioned, they use magnetic fields to speed up electrons (electricity) and other particles and bash them together. They were used in research about nuclear power decades ago, now they're concerned with particle physics which gives off less radiation than a 1950 watch produces from the tritium! They use an awful lot of power (to shove the particles and to cool the equipment) but they is no 'nuclear' reactor inside them. (I assume they may be based close to a power station simply because the power they need requires a bit more than a 13A extension cable, and it's a lot cheaper to connect them to the grid if they're next door to a power station) It just saddens me when countries like Germany decide to close down all nuclear stations and go and build more coal stations just because people are scared and don't research properly, they're just expressing their gut reaction.

Well, there is a simple choice to be made here. 1/ Carry on as we are, with a mix of power generation stations, all approaching end of life (or past it). This will increase the CO2 pollution, causing more global warming, more atrocious weather, plus we'll start having blackouts by 2017 (IIRC) as the fossil fuels start running out and the older power stations have to be taken offline) or 2/ Build new power stations. 2a/ Renewable ones? The technology isn't mature enough yet for these to be viable. The sources are not constant and we need huge energy storage, which isn't possible yet. 2b/ Fossil ones? CO2 problem increased, worse storms, higher sea levels, all coastal cities flooded by 2100 (or earlier) 2c/ Nuclear? They have produced reliable plant designs but they haven't been built as the governments kowtow to the public fear and don't want to lose votes. The problem of what to do, and how to store the waste still exists. As far as I see it, unless we actually want a world completely screwed by global warming, is 2c with new, safe designs, as a temporary stopgap until 2a (or fusion, or anything else they come up with thats safe) can take over. 1 will kill billions, 2a we can't do yet, 2b is the same outcome as 1. In a lot of ways I'm glad I don't have children, they won't have to suffer the screwed up mess we're going to leave them and their children.

Oh dear me, how have I missed this thread? To the OP, I don't know if you have seen these 'car restoration' programs on TV, but on a few American ones they have a large machine which cuts out any shape they want from metal plate. It uses water. Just water. At incredibly high pressure, in a jet less than 1mm wide, exiting the nozzle at some ludicrous speed. And it cuts right through steel, iron, titanium. The thickness it can cut through varies, you buy the machine to suit the requirements, but iIRC they can cut upto something like 15mm thick steel. If you don't believe me, please find the nearest industrial pressure washer, remove your shoe and sock from one foot, and then wash your foot with said pressure washer. I mean, it's just water, right? Can't do any harm? And when the accident and emergency room has finished attaching the debrided skin back onto your foot / toes (if it didn't come off completely and get washed away) do let us all know how something as soft as water CAN cause damage to something harder than water. Here's another one. Air. Wind. Tornadoes. Hurricanes. The only thing softer than air is space, right. Even a small, fluffy kitten is harder than air. Please go and stand in front of a tornado. Airs that soft it can't do anything, right? It certainly won't be able to pick you up like a leaf and hurl you hundreds of feet through the air. Or do the same to cars. Or houses. Or uproot huge trees. Oh, wait, you acknowledged the damage wind can do in one of your previous posts didn't you? And wind is made from air. Oops. If you had another brain cell it would be lonely. P.S. Just to show there's no hard feelings, please do no pressure wash your foot. You stand a good chance of loosing large lumps of skin or even toes.

Hehe, No worries. 44mm eh? Not bad I suppose. 46mm would suit you better mind, but, no, this is lovely. I'm sure it'll be a keeper! Definitely!