archibald

Yup, the 063 would be the only rep that could be made 1.0000001:1 if it weren't for those 2 capital As. It's so frustrating because it's exactly as hard to print a dial wrong as it is to print a dial right, and would take all of 30 seconds to fix every time they design a new dial. Sadly, ny guess is that the A's are either a built in "tell" or will always be well below the threshhold of their detail orientation.

Yes, considerably.

Anyone who's tried to capture AR in a pic knoes that lighting is key--I don't see how you can judge the color of AR between watches unless they are side by side in the smae lighting. I used to be obsessed w/ AR until I actually compared a rep w/ AR side by side w/ a gen--I now believe that as long as there is AR, and someone is looking at my watch on the wrist in normal day to day surroundings even a WIS would have a hard time discerninig it is the perfect color or how many sides are coated. I can tell an watch has aaaar, and sometimes notice that AR changes the dial color slightly, but I'd love to meet somone who can tell the diff between subtler variations from a few three or four second glances at a watch on someones wrist, which is all I care about since I never remove a rep even if someone asks to see it. The new VC supposedly has AR--if it is noticeable enough to make the silver dial look reasonably like a gen on the wrist I won't bother popping the crystal on it, because a VC collector is going to notice fit and finish and the date long before they see which sides of the crystal are AR coated.

My guess is the Panerai Crowd probably gave him some probs w/ the last addy and this one is his answer. LOL! Maybe he sent them a pic of pool, too...

Grea distressing work! Flav is the Dean of Distressing! Has anyone ever tried to file a crown a little to simulate a few decades of winding and droppage? To me, the last frontier on the Old Boy reps is the crown, which usually look in much better shape than the rest of the watch, at least in the pics people post. Did Panerai make a version of this watch w/ a solid back--I love it but would probably never shell out the dough to replace the Poljot.

That's an 8 year old watch, right? Does PVD change color over time? If so, then maybe we want to copy the color of aged PVD for those A series reps. As far as pricing, the best PVD I've seen first hand was done by Jack @ IWW in the summer of 2005. It cost $365 combine with a case rebrush on a 51--which means the PVD alone was probably just under $300. I despised the PVD (the look of PVD in general, not the quality of the work) so much, I sold the piece about 3 days after I got it back. I believe the buyer of the piece posted a bunch of pics, which may be still be searchable on old board (probably July 2005). It might be worth it to search IWW over there, too--maybe someone passed along the method(s) he used?

They're starting to learn this....sort of. They've learned they can sell a lot of watches by increasing their attention to detail several notches, fixing flaws that two years ago would have just sailed under the radar through mulltiple versions. But they've also learned that those of us demand a superior level of detail will pay much more than $200-$400 for it. My guess is that there are still, perhaps unwritten, rules against perfection. The flaws that exist on the super-reps are too obvious to be unintentional--missing words on the back, serial # 0001 or no serial at all, for example. My guess is that if they do get the mag right on the 104 there will be several other flaws, intentional or not. What we need to do is pray to the rep Gods that these flaws can be modded away. I'll make a deal with them: If you put a dime thin crown on these babies and fix the "A's" I'll still buy 2!

I don't order from Paul a lot--maybe 7 watches in 3 1/2 years, including a high-ticket piece 27 days ago. No problem at all except during his Lost Weekend a couple years back--and that was eventually rectified with the watch and a consolation prize.

If they actually do get the mag and font right, which I will believe when I see it on my wrist--it would be possible to make a damn near perfect 104, especially if they do a D, E, or F series. If the get the "A's" right, I'll have a heart attack. Picture it--a nice 7750 104 w/ correct mag, The Zigmeister lume, lever fix, and OEM or improved aftermarket crown.

If that's the watch you get, it's the best version 111H available, which means it's worth, what, $225?

Damn..link is not working for me. I do like the ceramic Black Seal, though.

You can NOT use the Chinese "lemania" movement, which is not a copy of a lemania movement at all but a venus 175. I believe the lemania that Breitling used, some variation of the 1872, will run at least $800-900, since you'll almost certainly have to buy a whole vintage watch. By the time you buy a gen lemania movement, the dial, look for hands (this will take months, I bet--I've had otherwise complete frankens sitting in a drawer for over a year waiting for hands), and have the movement fit into a rep case if that can even be done, you might as well go buy a real vintage Cosmo, which it looks like you can get for about $1800 in great condition.

Dude, thinking about the Bentley gives me a rash, and I'm no dermatologist, but could it have been a 48mm of steel on your wrist on a hot summer day that gave you the rash?

The subdial spacing on this movement looks identical to the 7750. Any confirmation on whether this is a gear train special or a new design? If it's gear train job, they might as well do the ROO movement. Then at least we'll be able to complain about running seconds in all four positions.

That guy is too much. Celebrities offering to buy it off his wrist, just happening to loose the box "in a move," "don't take it to the Congo." I actually emailed Biver about this one.

Different cultures, different entertainment. There used to be a Japanes show which centered around some guy walking up behind people and screaming. The point was the release people got watching the breaking of social rules constructed in a country where lots of peolple are jammed onto a small island. That's a big part of porn, isn't it. Make believe subversion of social rules? The reason American porn scenes always finish w/ a facial is precicely because most people don't finish every boinking of the missus w/ one. BTW, years ago when I lived in the Milwaukee area I had a buddy who lived three doors down from Max Hardcore. Here's one for you freiudians: My pal and I used to laught about how he was pretty indiscriminate about where he jizzed but absolutely obsessive about his yard.

That would be great, and it's the tip of the iceburg, as long as the spacing is adjusted: VC Overseas Chrono Tag Monaco Breitling Montbrillant FM Conquistador Chrono/big date curvex chrono and on and on and on.... Maybe even the Mare Nostrum if thickness is not an issue...

I guess I can figure out why people want boxes and papers for their reps, but can anyone clue me in as to why any gen collector would sell theirs? They can't possibly get more $ than the lack of boxes and papers will cost them when they resell their watch, can they?

That's too funny. I bet they think their prop sub is real...

And it would need to be redesigned to copy the subdial spacing of those new reps, most of which would be copies of ETA 2894 and FP 1185 based watches.

I would think they'll use the new 7750 eventually, unless the higher beat somehow makes it harder to successfully add all the complications.

TTK probably knows the OT Forum is OT--maybe, like me, he's puzzled by the current fad of low-end gen fans dissing reps, comparing them to Hamiltons, etc, which of course misses the whole point of reps by 16 miles. Or maybe he's just f'n around...

How are the prices? There's a street vendor in DC who always has 2 or three decent reps. Judging from his prices (he starts at double RWG dealers' prices and will only go as low as about 160%) I assume he's buying from one of our guys @ retail and re-selling. He doesn't like to show them to me anymore since he's figured out I'm just trying them on, but the last time I was there he had a TT Navi, what was probably a Noobmariner, and a 45mm PO. I've never figured out why these guys don't stock better reps--seems to me the risk is the same and the profit margin higher. As status conscious as DC is, certainly there are plenty of people who would pay jacked up prices for good reps. Hell, I'd pay a small premium to save on shipping, be able to inspect before I buy, and not have to wait.

Since the only thing I ever attempt is installing is gen dials and hands on Mullers--I guess the handy Swiss screwdriver set, hand puller, dial paper, and rodico are the only tools I need....oh yeah, and toothpics! I'd love to see some pics of non-Rolex cases you've reshaped, w/ that dremel! I've always been tempted to hit the Cartier Santos case because it would be 1:1 with a little more width to the rounded, polished area....

You know, if it weren't a wacky chinese "chrono," it would have actually been a very decent deal. The strap looks pretty good, actually. On balance, I would say you did not get ripped off by any stretch of the imagination. Enjoy!