archibald

I could only find one new piece on the Web--MSRP of $2600 being sold for $1899, so $1400 seems good for a used piece. I think I'm going to pick this up, if only because the design reminds me a little of my Lange reps and because I have never seen another flyback chrono for less than triple that price. If these people can make money selling 7753's w/ 2 DD modules (one for the big date and another for the flyback, I assume) for $1900, it kind of sheds interesting light on the profit margins involved on watches like the PAM 212, eh?

http://www.michel-herbelin.com/en/index.htm A local shop has this model--7753 w/ flyback and big date, used, for $1400. I'm thinking I ought to buy it....

Doesn't the gen have seconds @ 3:00? That would mean no Montbrillant rep for me...

Yes, and in my experience, other than Omega and Rolex, hands are the hardest OEM part to get (aside from cases, of course). If anyone can post consistent source for OEM hands, they'd be a hero. What would really be cool is if a Breit seconds @ 3 movement would come up...

In the rep game it always pays to wait. My prediction: Within the next 45 days someone will be selling the "Swiss" version w/ a Sandoz or the Myota fo less than $150. Add $175 for a The Zigmeister lume and a top-quality strap and you'll have a rep far better than the original Swiss version for less money.

Here's my idea: This afternoon one of the HGTV shows my wife watches showed an LCD monitor surrounded by a frame that displayed 20 or so paintings--the cool thing was that it had some sort of light sensor that analyzed the ambient light in the room and adjusted the screen so that the painting always looked how a real painting would look under current lighting condidtions, not a glowing TV set. If they could make an ambient light sensing LCD screen the size of a dial, they could make a watch that displays 20 or so dials in different colors and styles, maybe scrolled through w/ the crown, a pusher, etc. Be cool to have a dial that looked real in a lighted room but went dark except for the "lumed" numbers in the dark.

I have Leonado's info saved somehwere, I think, but sending your family to gigantic mall, twice, and asking them to make sure you don't get ripped off, all to save a couple hunded bucks seems like a lot of effort. Wouldn't it be easier to seek out the (what is it, 5 now?) guys who will do the shopping for you?

That's a great idea, and the numbers can be improved by someone good at Illustrator, too, whic sadly I'm not. I think there is someone who will probably do a better job than Davidsen, though. If someone is going to take on the graphics piece of this project, please PM me and I'll share some good info on how to actually get the dial made.

My guy is very good and rep friendly...but the down side is that the minimum if he opens a watch is $30...

I've posted a few gen boards to much derision from those people that i'd like to see more high end mechanical watchmakers should start thinking about ways to combine 21 st century tech w/ cool mechanical movements.... Anyway, I like sony's design.

You guys are thinking too hard. Business. Conceived, written, and produced for the whole purpose of setting up the movie...provided they have enough dough in the bank to pay Gandolfini. Here's Chase's "denial" of movie plans. He ought to start writing "denials" for Gore. "I don't think about (a movie) much," he told the paper. "I never say never. An idea could pop into my head where I would go, 'Wow, that would make a great movie,' but I doubt it. "I'm not being coy," he added. "If something appeared that really made a good 'Sopranos' movie and you could invest in it and everybody else wanted to do it, I would do it. But I think we've kind of said it and done it." Sounds pretty coy to me...

I was kinda digging the 15 grand Jesus, myself...

Got an interesting reply for Eddie when I asked about the...er...unlikely (at least in my case) serial number. He replied "Can't rep serial #'s anymore." Got me thinking....you can rep the trademarked dial, the patented design, that dude's profile, and not the serial #? My guess is the People's Bureau of Counterfeiting and Infringement stops winking and nodding so much if they make really, really good reps w/o a "tell" like #0001 or no serial at all.

LOL!, Tourby.....same problem on my PAM 051 out of the box--fixed for $40 by my watchsmith.

The big Q for me is whether or not the rose gold is PVD....if it is, I'm afraid my "Super Rep" resistance will crumble like Paris Hilton doing time time at a Super Max....

Yeah, I think you're right...Anyone getting their hopes up for a good post 2000 Daytona is in for a long wait. The repmakers certainly aren't motivated since I doubt anybody is saying, "Oh sh**, thaose second @ 6 daytona rep suck, I better buy a gen." They're buying different reps. I doubt we'll even see a native 7753--not even ETA is making those anymore--and the seconds @ 6 movements al la Rolex and JLC and zenith are as unreppable as any movement out there.

The teeth are recessed...but I have a known asian 21J datewheel that also has recessed teeth. Are the asian 21J DW's the same size as 2824/36 DW's?

I'm in the middle of sorting my parts bin, and I have a DW with a font I don't recognize--and I'm wondering what the hell it is. It measures about 23 mm on the outside w/ a 17.5 inner diameter. The print quality and general finish looks a lot like the 2824/36 & 7750 wheels I've seen, but the font makes me think Asian or maybe Sandoz. Does anyone know the measurements of ETA datwheels?

Nothing here is anything other than business as usual as far as the rep biz goes. I always try to send some positive vibes 1/2 way around the world: "It'll get here and it'll be great when it does." Anyway, I'm sure Jay will refund anyone who concludes that their wait has become too long.

Apparently it's a 10 reserve...marketed as 8 days in keeping w/ panerai tradition, at least according to watch time magazine.

I also recieved word from Jay that the (silver dials at least) overseas are delayed because of a shortage of 2824 movements. I'll post pics as soon as my watch arrives. On edit: Jay said the delay would be "very brief," has anyone been given a tracking # yet?

Looks Great!!! A note on the DW, for his piece Justasgood needed a more rigid overlay than the very thin vinyl version. I believe his 1680 has a thicker prototype version I sent him...it does have the advantage of being thicker w/ a thin layer of some kind of plastic if I recall, but unfortunately has only about 1/2 the print resolution as apparent in the zoom + cyclops pics. On the wrist, though, it looks pretty darn good, and that's what matters!! Awesome craftsmanship on the mods!!!

I've always said that trying to figure out the mind of a repmaker is a fools game. But in this case it ain't that hard. Why do they make $600 reps of $1800 watches? Because they know they can sell them. They know that a lot of people will be familiar with the Breitlings more so than, say, a Muller Curvex Chrono, or a Fifty Fathoms, or whatever equally doable yet much more expensive gen we want repped. They know that the Breitling reps are good enough that their average consumer will regard it as "identical" to the real thing and thus represent a savings of $1300 or so. They know that more people lust after a Breitlings and Tags and Rolexes than lust after Brueguets because Breitlings, Rolexes, and Tags what they see in mainstream magazine ads. Personally, I think an expensive rep of a watch they sell at costco is no bargain at all, but as Pug pointed out, the Dealers' stock numbers don't lie and I don't have a CNC machine. On Edit: But I will buy an overpriced super rep before I buy a Seiko. If all we wanted were vanilla, reliable, mass produced watches, why are we here? Shouldn't we be over at Time Zone at the mall, strapping on our brand new Hamiltons?

what happens when you send in your vintage gen to flavor flav? You get it back looking f***ing awsome, that's what.

A perfect example of quality over quantity! Incredible!