fraggle42

Just received this gorgeous customised strap from mr devilseams, on my leftie PVD

If you want a really great Rolex, check out the member to member sales board here. Some members will take an already very good brand new replica and then replace choice items with genuine parts to create something that is basically indistinguishable from real and costs 1/20 the price.

That crooked 0 of the 50 would drive me nuts, and I think is a valid reason for rejecting it. Everything else looks lovely. A few of the 5s are a tiny bit high but they are on my black dial PVD one and in others I looked at, so no chance of getting a dial with those correct.

Ooh, good call. I saw those a while ago and had completely forgotten about them. I foresee an order for 3 going in (If the #4 thing is compatible with gen PO hands?)

http://www.ebay.com/itm/SELLITA-AUTOMATIC-MOVEMENT-SW-200-1-COTE-DE-GENEVE-FACTORY-NEW-SWISS-MADE/130810507098 $200 or £135 in real money Is that a good price or not? Considering they're supposed to be properly oiled at the factory, I'd consider it the equivalent of a £35 movement + £100 service, and £35 for a new movement of seemingly good quality can't be that bad? I'm tempted to order a couple. There is also these http://www.ebay.com/itm/ETA-2824-2-AND-SELLITA-SW200-CLONE-MOVEMENT-SEAGULL-ST2130-100-EXACT-SAME-SPECS-/121124262440 Chinese 2824-2, I haven't heard much about the Seagull movements? One of those would cost me £70, I suppose they'd be OK to go in a cheap daily beater.

Already got two gen tube & crown sets sitting here waiting I've emailed all the dealers and only Angus has them in stock, but on leather strap with Asian movement. Definitely want bracelet. So I've asked some more dealers and Mary & Rochest have come up trumps again It's an Asian movement, but I've decided to build my own with a serviced movement, some gen bits, and a SMP bracelet (as I like them a lot better), so the UPO I've ordered of WI will do (after putting a get tube & crown in) until I find all the bits I want for my own build. I've also asked Mike about the Selita movements and they are properly assembled and properly oiled in all the ones he's seen, so the extra cost is worth it as it saves the cost of a full movement service.

I was just suprised that the watches I loved in pictures, I thought "meh" in real life, and those that I thought "meh" in pictures, I love in real life. (so far!) Very strange! This franken, well I don't even know if you could call it a franken. UPO case + crystal, good serviced swiss or selita movement, SMP strap, PO clasp, gen hands, crown, tube, not bothered about the He crown, may remove it altogether, weld up the hole and polish it smooth to remove all signs of it. Probably gen dial, bezel and date wheel if I can find them for a reasonable price And then a box and manual, etc, to complete it. I think it's a cheaper way of feeding this hobby, the parts are far more rare than just "another" rep watch from a TD, so I should spend a lot less

Funny old hobby this isn't it? I found this forum 6 months or so ago purely by chance. Had always been fascinated by watches, mostly just how they looked, didn't really give movements much thought, although I've always been good with my hands and usually pull things to bits to see how they work. It only took a few weeks before I ordered my first two reps, Breitling Chrono Evo and Rolex Pro Hunter PVD. I'd always fancied a blingy chrome and gold watch and have always been a sucker for black things, cars, bikes, watches, women... Then came a couple of cheap Alphas after someone in Pistonheads brought them to my attention. One "green sub" and one sub on leather strap with a pink face (shut up! I still like it These had lovely lightweight crowns that screwed down properly and were lubricated properly, both the Pro Hunter and Breitling have zero lube on the crown seals and are stiff to turn, plus the crown threads lasted all of two times doing it back up. That highlighted the lack of QC in rep world, even with $300+ reps and supposedly QC checks. At this point I got seriously fascinated in the movements and later got some maintenance / basic repair kit. I was also looking at these pictures in the "Daily" threads thinking that Panarais were huge and ugly, Omegas and Rolex's were boring, and choosing watches on how they looked in the photos. I really didn't fancy any Pans. Next was a gen Wenger PVD with Orange highlights. Quarts and great weekend beater watch. Then a cheap Pan Radiomir was spotted, and I thought "What the hell, I can sell it again, lets see if I may like it..." expecting me to hate it. Wrong. Light, very well proportioned, lovely comfy thick (as in wide) strap. Loved it. Next a gen Seiko 5, gold highlights on the bezel and dial, still a favourite, and as it's a gen, waterproof. Another couple of Pans as I'd realised I did like them, a lot! Next was an Ebel 1911. I fell in love with it through the pictures, and it's a great watch, well made, lovely details, great weight and lovely strap but I don't find myself wearing it that often. Next came my holy grail, a gen Breitling Aerospace for peanuts, it'd be rude not to! Next two cheap Omegas, a 42mm PO Pumpkin and 42mm Bond 50th anniversary. I wasn't expecting much of these Omegas, but yet again I loved them. I've definitely noticed a theme here. If I love the pictures of a watch, when I get it in the flesh, whilst it may be superbly made and very close to gen, they've all been sort of "meh". On the flip side, the watches that I thought "meh" after looking at the photos, I've absolutely loved once I have them in my hands. To the extent that lately I saw an AP Roo, thought "mmm, it's OK but nothing special", so knowing the above, I bought it, and again, I love it. The exceptions to this have been the gens - both Seikos and the Breitling Aerospace. Loved them in the pics, but I did check them out in the flesh before buying so they're a bit different. Funny old world, innit? So my watch purchase history in the past 6 months:- Rolex Pro Hunter Daytona Breitling Chrono Evo Chrome/Gold, Brown/Gold dial Alpha Green sub Alpha Pink sub on black strap w red stitching Wenger Black & Orange PVD Pan Radiomir Seiko 5 Sports Pan PVD lefty Pan Yydraskil Tag Carrera Chrono 16 PVD Pan Fantasy gold skeleton Ebel 1911 Gen Breitling Aerospace 2006 Omega 50th Anni Bond Omega 42mm PO Pumpkin AP Roo Seiko Orange Monster And the last purchase is a 45mm PO case + crystal + crown to build my first franken Plus a watch box, 4 watch winder + box, and a 2 watch travel case. And yesterday, a small fortune on watch screwdrivers!

Only 17C? It's been upto 26 inside in the cool shade today, 28C outside. Supposed to be the same tomorrow

Thanks. Just checked out the shipping costs from Essinger and it's not too bad. Will definitely see if they're cheaper when ordering anything else.

That second set in the desk holder go for between £250 upto £300 in the UK! ($400 to $480)

Nice collection. Out of curiosity, how long have you been building this collection up?

Right, that's sorted. A set of 7899-S10. In a wooden box rather than a stand as I've got a bit of the shelf where they'll hang from.

Honest, it's that small. Well, 1.2mm dia. Pics of the screw with a 1mm screwdriver blade:- And on the end of the 1mm screwdriver:- And I now realise the humongous benefits of getting a decent set of screwdrivers! I'm looking around for a very, very good set at the moment

I don't know if any tweezers would be small enough. These had a screw head of 0.8mm dia, <0.1mm thick, with the threaded shaft maybe 1.5mm long.

In the process of removing the stripped tube in readiness for the new one I found out that the winding pinion had slipped from under the retaining spring finger (making up these names here, bear with me!) So had to pull off hands, dial, and the cover plate and figure out how it all went back together (the date change mechanism just fell out onto the workbench) It's all back together now but there MUST be some way of holding the microscopic screws onto the end of the screwdriver? Drove me nuts for ages getting the last one in. Tried rodeco but that's not really sticky, and its not transparent. What do you use? I thought of blu tack, chewing gum, wax, and settled on a tiny bit of watch sealing grease that was close by that worked just well enough.

Don't believe the "stock levels" on any website. None of these TDs really keep any stock (well some do for new models they've had a hand in creating, Toro springs to mind) but most can't afford to keep all the hundreds of watches they show on their website in stock. They may have a few of the really popular lines in, but I think that's it. They don't seem to maintain their websites very well either, I've been looking for a UPO 45mm which was added to their sites in 2007 to 2011, not made anymore but they all still list it. Best to just always email or PM the TD and ask. I don't think any of them will deliberately lie to you.

Of course these are identical:- "Doctor! We need the emergency araldite kit!"

Hi all, After getting my 42mm cheapie pumpkin I've fallen in love with it and decided to get a decent version of it's 45mm bigger brother. Having a look around I see that there seem to be two versions. One version has small square lume markers at 12/3/6/9, "Seamaster" is in red (orange) writing and the hour and minute hands are fatter (and uglier). The other version has semi-triangular lume markers at 12/3/6/8, "Seamaster" is in white, and the hour and minute hands are slimmer and better proportioned. So I had a look at pictures of gens and they match the second one (semi-triangular markers). But the first one (seems to be the ceramic version) seems to be the "latest" model? Are they both correct and copying slightly different versions of gen Omega POs? I must say that the fat, ugly hands just scream "cheap" to me, as do the "not quite right" square markers, so either way I'm going with the second version Puretime has it for $238 with an Asian 2824, or $388 with a Selita SW200. Andrew has it for $318 with an ETA 2824-2, everything else seems to be identical. Does the Selita movement come assembled in a proper factory? I.e. it will not need sending off for servicing immediately? I know the chances of the ETA being NOS and being nice and clean and lubed will be slim, so I'm tempted to go for the Selita SW200. Any advice or feedback on the Selita movement appreciated!

If it's a fake it's a high quality one. I don't recognise the movement either. (but I'm far from an expert on movements or omegas!)

Gen crown and tubes ordered. I'm not sure if the rep tube is a screw in or not, the hole in the case is threaded in the inside so it definitely looks as if it screws in, but some people have posted it's a press fit. Must be different versions of the rep cases.

I was just going to say, $10 Casio is accurate enough for any pilot

I take it you mean replacement with a gen tube and crown? Are these parts common to the 45mm and 42mm POs? I see a couple of gen tubes & crowns in M2M sales for 45mm but none for 42mm POs.

Need a bit of advice from the watch doctors! My "cheapie" 42mm pumpkin that I got a couple of weeks ago has a problem with the screw down crown not screwing down. It was fine for a few days, and now the threads somewhere have gone. The dealer has said to have a look and see which threads have gone, so I've popped the back and removed the crown. The threads in the tube look OK to me, and the threads in the crown are impossible to see! What normally goes? Crown or tube? I see the tube is a screw in tube so replacing it shouldn't be a problem, but I'd rather not have the first time experience of replacing the tube on my second favourite watch! The pumpkin is the one with the body & strap from the expensive $300 version with a cheap movement ( the movement is actually all gold coloured and looks damn good quality to me with a good Omega rotor) And I never knew the spring for the pusher in the crown was in the crown itself! The dealer is happy to send me a new crown and tube, so I'm going to snap a couple of pics and send them.

Goodo! I'm in the UK too and am happy to act as a go between for anything like this if you want to ship them to a few UK addresses.