fraggle42

The fact that cheap, gen watches can get through without any problem always made me think, why not get some cheap "snap closed" watch boxes, cheap cushions, outer cardboard box, labelled "Citizen" or "Smiths" or similar, put the rep inside that lot, and send it via the exact same courier services that these companies use? I think things like not having hand written address labels and custom declarations will help enormously - if you think about it when was the last time you got a gen watch through the post that was just a watch, in bubble wrap, with hand written labels? Never.

I have heard of watch packages sitting in customs for many weeks before jumping back into life and starting to move again and be delivered. I wouldn't worry myself until you either get the delivery (celebrate) or get the letter from customs. Even in the latter case some people have said they have gotten around it with a very carefully worded letter. For future reference what I would do if I was buying 5 watches is to ask the dealer to put a maximum of 2 watches in any package, and stagger sending the packages at 1 week intervals.

Nice rifle too!

New Year, New Watch

About your Donerix strap? Yes, those are there. And you even replied to your own thread so I'm a bit confused as to what the problem is?

In TapaTalk the grey circle to the left of the name indicates if there are any new posts in that forum. If there are, it is dark grey, if not, a very light grey. Pressing it marks that forum as read.

Thanks guys Nightwatch, in this post here http://www.rwgforum.net/topic/67631-asian-21j-vs-asia-eta-2813/ scoobs says that the 2824 should be a direct replacement for the 2813. Bear in mind that the 2836 is not as high as the 2824, so if the 2813 is the same height as the 2836, the 2824 might bee too high and when you put the back on the auto weight may touch the inside of the case back and not turn. I think you should be OK though, as it's a cheap replacement for the ETA movements, so I think it'll be copying the cheaper 2824 than the 2836. Konovako, yes, only the 42mm PO bezel is a straight swap. The 45.5mm is a different size, the inside diameter of the gen bezel is 40mm, the inside diameter of the rep bezel is 36.4mm, so there's quite a gap to fill in. (the rep size may differ between versions or factories, I've only got my UPO as a reference) Lofi, solder? Wow! I'm impressed that you managed to fill that gap with that much solder, it must have taken absolutely loads of solder! Did you make a wooden frame or something and then fill it with the solder? You must have used a powerful soldering iron. I'm used to electronic repair work and use a soldering iron for that, but it hasn't got anywhere near enough power to melt that much solder. Tonight I thought I'd quickly put the clasp on, sorting out the bezel is going to take some time as I need to set the lathe up and sort out some heat in the garage / shed as it's freezing!! It didn't go as straightforward as I had hoped! The gen clasp does not directly fit onto a rep bracelet. If you look at the clasp it has two "wings" either end that extend about 1~1.5mm from the main body of the clasp and are maybe 5mm wide. The first segment of the bracelet has a matching space cut into it to allow these wings to fit nicely, and the wings are there to hide the small links either side of the bracelet, just make it look nicer. The difference between gen and rep is the width of those wings. On the rep they are smaller than the gen, so after I put the gen on it would not close properly, the gap in the (rep) end segments is too small and so the clasp cannot sit flush with the end segment in the bracelet. All isn't lost, all I have to do it remove the material in the end segments so the gen clasp will fit perfectly. I've got to put my CNC machine back together (I'm upgrading the motor in it at the moment), and then I'll do the work, taking some pics showing what I've done to these end segments, and hopefully the end result all together and looking lovely.

"Clean Ride", "Wax Lube", "Self Cleaning"! This stuff sounds great, so I went down to my local sex shop to buy some. They've never heard of it, but did sell me some rather odd looking accessories and a box full of batteries...?

This shop sells GENs, not reps. If you want to buy reps please have a look at the Trusted Dealers, they are listed in their own section here:- http://www.rwgforum.net/forum/230-watches-clothing-accessories/

Nicely done!

Hehe, I would be bowled over if they did, or even anywhere close to it. Watches in this price region (and upwards) for me are only a good proposition if they'll return the investment in 20 ~ 30 years time. I hate myself for considering a lovely watch like that, but I could only ever be a caretaker, not an owner. A very happy caretaker mind you

Safe? Well, it isn't a rep dealer, they only sell gens, straps, winders and some other bits. I did a search on it and everything checks out, and I've just ordered a couple of watches from them and they're on route to me according to DHL. So yep, I'd say they're safe! Fun using the site though, I need a second browser window open with Google Translate so I can understand what the page is saying

LOL - I think if you start running out of space to store the watch packing boxes and bubble wrap, take it as a sign that you're buying & selling too much! Of course I just ignore the sign and carry on...

You have a whole closet dedicated to watches Mike? Wow! I like the way they have thought about people that tend to forget where the date window is by putting a big red arrow pointing to it!

It is a gorgeous watch, and an (updated) piece of history. I wonder if that's available at 40% off?

Have you ever seen those auctions on EBay for cars that say "Just needs a new spark plug and she'll be running" or "MOT just about to run out, £20 on brake pads and she'll fly through"? (the MOT is the UKs road worthiness test, got to have one by law and they last for a year) And you know it's [censored] - the engines totally shot, or the frame / chassis is lying all over the neighbourhood in little piles of rust and you have more chance of becoming the pope that the car passing it's next MOT? IF it was an easy fix, the seller would do it and sell it for a lot more money! Why do sellers still try it on? If it's got a couple of light swirls then spend a couple of bucks on some Cape Cod and polish the damn things away! If the stem is falling out, get it fixed or sell it for parts! It's NOT "A lovely desirable timepiece that any watchsmith can fix for $0.05"! I've seen someone sell a broken watch "Movement not running, probably the spring stuck, just needs a knock or two or a cheap service!" (paraphrased) for about 90% of the new price and some newbie bought it. I feel sorry for that person when they get it and find out it'll need a new movement and someone paid to swap them over. Apologies to the good, honest sellers, who are thankfully in the majority, and certainly are the vast majority on here. <rant over> <pours wee dram, sips, sits back contentedly>

Ordered the last parts for my UPO today. A gen bracelet clasp and gen bezel, plus a couple of parts and some spare bezel wire springs. Just shy of £400 for that little lot. Once these are fitted the only non-gen parts will be the case, case back, SELs, bracelet links and the HE valve. The movement isn't a gen 2500, but it is a very nice TC 2824 which i'm more than happy with. The clasp will go right on, but the gen bezel will only go on once I finish making the adapter ring that clips inside the gen bezel making it the same inner diameter as the rep bezels. I'm planning on using two bezel wire springs, one gen and one rep, but it's going to be extremely tight for space on the adapter ring. It's 1.8mm from outer to inner surface and I've got to cut two narrow retaining channels in that 1.8mm for both retaining wire springs. Hopefully 0.5mm will be deep enough, leaving 0.8mm. I have a decent length chunk of material to make them from as it'll probably take a few goes to get it right, and the extra bits and pieces and tools I've bought to do this on the lathe will mean I could have been most of the way to the price of a gen, but this is a lot more fun

For those that like a cheeky little cheap (ish) gen! Quite a few micro brands I haven't heard of, plus a lot more i have heard of. Ordered a nice DeepBlue Sun Diver that is on sale - yes, the yellow one It's suprising how easy it is to shop on a website where you can't understand a word nowadays!

New Laco again for me today. I'm liking it, it wears a lot bigger that you would think - put against my UPO 45.5mm it's the same size.

Ah, so you're saying its all downhill from here on?

That Seamaster looks a lot better. The movement ring and the auto weight look good. The movement itself is still just as incorrect though, but there's more shiney bits to disgrace a casual observer. I think a better question is is this friends opinion of you more important than the watch a itself and how much you like it? I mean if I was buying a rep for a partner, I wouldn't try to hide the fact it's a rep, I'd show them the choices and let them choose maybe 3 and I'd pick one from those 3. If its a friend who's just using a gen watch to prove how rich they are, or boasting about how good they are at recognising reps, buy whatever you want and keep on reminding them that its a rep, a lovely rep that looks and feels good to wear, and you've got enough money left over to buy a new BMW. It'll drive him nuts

The really great thing about a proper pressure test is the inside of the watch case is pressurised with air, so when it's put into the water the air escapes outwards and its easy to see the stream of little bubbles that are coming out, and as they are coming out its easy to see where they're coming from and hence where the weak point in the water resistance is. You can also vary the pressure, so can use just a little bit of extra pressure to find those leaks that occur in shallow depths, and then whack it up to the max pressure of the tester.

Gen Omega 2500 Rep Asian 2836 (typical in a PO) The auto weight hides over half the movement, but the 2836 has an auto plate with the auto winding gears that you can't see at all on the 2500, the balance plate is different as are all the other plates, etc.

Hell yeah, they may have put the writing on the back of the auto winding weight, but the whole of the rest of the movement is different. Let me dig out a couple of pics.

Nicely done OP. The right bit of kit (even if it's an inexpensive plastic ring) makes the job so much easier!