archibald

I also backed off the watch when I saw Finepic's post, and I understand his frustration. I could understand (if not agree with) the charge of heart if Finepics had offered to trade labor or parts instead of paying cash, but it looks as though Finepics was offering hard cold cash, so IMO there is no excuse on the part of the seller. If the seller of that watch reads this thread and cares to reply, can you tell us if you ever posted on a rep forum under the name of "Chef?" Could be a coincidence, but I had a very similar thing happen with a seller who posted under the name Chef, with similar writing style to, and whose first name was similar to the handle of the seller I believe to be in question in this thread.

The original post aspired to make required reading the links. The assumption is that the republican right is deceitful and nasty. The point itself is that they are, in this case, defiling the sacrifices of the 9-11 dead by politicizing historically less politicized government agencies and using their own entertainment industry operatives (which I don't object to except they tried to promulgate outright lies) to do the same thing they have, like you do above, criticized Liberals for doing. @watchwatcher As far as the path to 9-11's accuracy and Lorne's participation in anything untrue: Every member of the 9-11 commission--republican and democrat--said the film was filled with inaccuracies that incriminated Clinton and they did see the deleted scenes. Lorne has been proven to be responsible for the film's production. But of course you are free to believe whatever you want despite facts which aren't even questioned by his public defenders. norwash himself claims to not be a conservative activist. You take him at his word. Others might want to look at his record: --He wrote an article called: “Rebels With a Cause: How Conservatives Can Lead Hollywood’s Next Paradigm Shift.” Reads a lot like activism to me. Feel free to read it. --He has described Michael Moore as “an out of control socialist weasel,” which, whether you agree or disagree w/ this assessment, is a common reaction among right wingers to Moore's work. --He is a regular interviewer for and contributor to right-wing websites like FrontPageMag. Take a look at front page mag and let me know if you think it is nonpartisan.

I'd love to see a rep el primero, but like ubi said, the Monaco's movement is based on the 2894-2. If they repped both of those movements we could have sccurate speedmasters, lots of mullers, zeniths, ebel 1911's, vintage movados, 40mm PAM chronos, and many more. I wnder if the el primero would be easier to make if they reduced the beat to 28k...

Sounds great. I understand the milling, but what do you fill the links with?

I've been trying to get stuff engraved for years--very hard to find someone who has the technology needed to do the engraving properly and is willing to engrave trademarked "content." There is a post somewhere (PAM phot gallery, maybe?) in which someone claims to know a guy who meets both of those qualifications. If you find someone let us know--I tell you, some engravier could have a tidy little sideline income, enraving our babies after the shop closes

I think the poster you're responding to is grossly overstating what many posters have been trying to understate--that this thread raises a few warning flags. It's not too often a new guy shows up around these parts using his innaugural posts w/ offers to make rep parts, and opining on the theory and practice of scamming retail giants. On boards like this the mind wanders: Provocateuring. Entrapment. At best, too-earnest "I am Newbie, hear me roar." Nothing personal, pardner. When you post the .AI file of the new PAM dials you'll be a hero, and rightly so because then you will have graduated from talking to speaking. But until then, trying to open a "Who loves to commit felonies" discussion probably wasn't your best call of the day.

This sounds like a scam, but it seems like paypal could potentially take a big hit on these type of operations. I must be missing something about lag times: Let's say crystalcranium went through w/ this thing, then tomorrow decides it's a mistake and he's probably going to get shafted. So he takes the money out of his paypal account, then spends 10 minutes on the phone closing the bank account connected to paypal and opening a new one. When the chargeback from the credit card company company comes next month, paypal has nowhere to go, right?

You guys should kiss, buy each other a dual time zone watch, and make up. Lord knows I'm the least sensible person around even when I'm not in the middle of an argument, but the WU scam thing and the seven weeks thing seem to cancel eachother out, and personally, after reading the thread, I'd still do business w/ both Niel and Craytonic, so I don't think either of you are going to score any more points with anyone reading this thread, since they probably feel the same way.

I think that is also an improvement over previous versions. babola, what makes the case "almost" 1:1? I just finished staring at it and aside from the brushing it looks perfect. Not doubting your eyes, just trying to figure out what I'm missing...

VERY well done...are those movements readily available? I'm picturing it in a rhodium plated Jules Audemars case w/ blued leaf lands.

Has anyone used their pushers for the Daytona? The gold ones are about 40% of the price of NOS genuine, which have no Rolex markings anyway, but I wonder about the fit and finish of the generic.

1 for me, please.

Unless you have a gen, your 168 is brushed and polished SS.

I have a 4 day degree in this type of thing so I'll defer to the OP if I'm wrong, but I think the bezels and dials are done by 2 different processes. The dials are probably made exactly the way you say--reconstructed in illustrator using vector fonts and/or Live Trace then laser engraved (sweet technology: the equivalent of 1400 dpi and fonts that appear to be truly raised even though they are engraved) onto some substrate (mylar maybe), lumed, die cut, and stuck on the blanks, or at least that;s how the one dial I deconstructed was done (Rolex TOG). The bezels are more than likely CNC milled and engraved. Obviously the bezels on this model are not 3-D scanned, but raher are done in a CAD program. I think the repmakers just have a different view of things--they make these things to make money and the understand that in the real world, nobody knows what a Panerai is, nobody enlarges their wrists to 10X, and if you know how Tachymeter is spelled on a 51 you've already figured out a rep is a rep long before you notice the fonts on the bezel. It has no beneft to them to spend the extra time and money to get these things perfect, and they want a couple visible flaws anyway. That being said, I'll make a deal with you: you rovide the artwork for an accurate dial and I'll see to it that it gets made and offered as an aftermarket part if no dealers will take on the project. Probably the best one to do would be a simple 111 dial with accurate placing of L-Swiss-L and the correct crossbars on the A's. I'm dead serious if you are...

Well, if that's the ISP...looks like HewhoislikeGod is going to be Hewhoisroyally[censored]ed before too long.

There's a bit of that in this version, and also the fact that this wheel was printed in the late 50's using late 50's technology. Every number on the wheel is different, and each is flawed by todays printing standard. The task before us is a balance between preserving as many of Rolex's "flaws" while eliminating the flaws caused by our technology....which is not easy because sometimes getting rid of one gets rid of the other. Any input you might have, pugwash, would be greatly appreciated...and (modestly as per our means) rewarded. As we move along it's becoming clear that we're having to work more than a few numbers by hand, so patience is a must, guys.

I've gone from hate to kind of like GG's old designs, which are understated elegence compared to the abortions he currently tries to hawk at half MSRP--the RO is my fav but I kind of like the Nautilus too.

If you can prove HewhoislikeGod sent you the PM in question, I doubt we'll hear from him, or if we hear from him, I expect we'll be told he was just passing along info he got from someone else who must have scammed you. Clearly, somone committed at least two felonies, one of which carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 51 months in Federal prison thanks to the use of Western Union. I expect you'll find that that hotmail, Western Union and California and Federal law enforcement agencies will give you their full cooperation should you choose to aggressively persue this, which you should. If it were me, I'd make damn sure that whoever did this someday regrets being such a small time weasel, paying a big time price for $400.

Gorgeous. Love the layout. Best of luck on its transformation from paper to reality!

@ watchwatcher: I have no problem w/ Loren, his boy, his organization, or any partisan or non-partisan group that does good for that matter. But let's face the undeniable facts: 1) The evangelical christians have chosen sides politically in America, they are extremely active in politics, and they have close ties to the bush administration. 2)As my post proves beyond any doubt, Loren funded, produced, and had his son direct The Path to 9-11. 3)The Path to 9-11 contained several scens, each of which blame Clinton for not doing his part to stop 9-11 and which, by ALL accounts (including the entire Republican membership of the 9-11 comission), were made up out of whole cloth. In fact, ABC was forced to edit and add discaimers to the film in the days before it's airing. Clearly, The Path to 9-11 was a good bit more than a "docudrama." @ pugwash: My basic point is this: The Bush Administration, whether you agree w/ their policies or not, has crossed a line--and IMO that line is using the deaths of my two close firends (a 6 year colleague on the plane and a three doors down neighbor in the Pentagon) to get votes. The links are intended to demonstrate how this is being done: --2 articles outlining the strategy itself--a series of speeches and legislative initiatives during the week of the 5 year aniiversary, and a larger political strategy to remind america of the horror of 9-11 while portrating the Democrats as weak on terror. --2 articles which describe 2 tapes, neither of which can be independly varified as having been given to the media by Bin Laden. The tapes are authentic to be sure. What strikes me as odd is the timing of their release--the first, which centers around several of the 'masterminds" whom we have captured was released hours after Bush announced that those people were going to be face trial. Unless Osama wants to give the president a hand, why would he release a tape that "stars" guys we have caught on the very day Bush's "message of the day" centers around the capture of these guys? The second, showing an "American taliban," was released on the very day the "message of the day" (comments by the president, speeches by the director of homeland security and the FBI head) was that there are terrorist cells in the US made up of American citizens. There are only two possibilities: either the CIA knew which tapes Al Quaeda was going to release and then the administration formed their daily PR message around those tapes, or that the tapes were in our possession and released by us to support the PR message. Either way it just ain't cool. Conspiracy theory? Sure. But, in the context of the larger strategy, does anyone have a better idea? "Accident" just doesn't fly. Twice.....Nothing happens by accident in politcal PR, definitely not twice. --a few articles which prove that the path to 9-11, which all agree is a partisan document, was produced by a partisan group allied with the Administration to be aired on september 11. --finally, an article that shows that the latest tape, released by the justice department on 9-12, has been in their posession for some time before. My allegation is this: That the administration is bringing all of it's resources to bear--the governemt agencies under its control as well as their usual network of supporters--to use 9-11 in general, and it's 5 year anniversary in particular, as the centerpiece of its self-described political strategy for the 2006 elections.

LOL! Me too....I bet we got it from the same source. Was it the ebay seller who must have come into a load of them & had at least one for sale for a couple of months in mid 2005? Never thought I'd use it. Question: I know the dial will drop right in, but will an OEM bezel fit this rep? As far as plating SS, most reputable platers resist doing it and those who do use a couple of different treatments and undercoats to improve adhesion. But I can't imagine it's going to be a long wait before we see "retail" gold PVD which is supposed to work perfectly on SS (most of the "low" high end companies do it--Constant, Mont Blanc, etc) and last for decades. I'd love to have a full gold version of this baby...

I originally posted this in another thread, but deleted it to avoid conflict in a thread that had a different intent. As some of you know, I like politics, and understand that the game is played hard and played to win. In fact, I like it that way. That's what makes it fun. I also make no secret of my partisanship, and I probably won't convince some of you that I've become pretty disheartened over the last couple weeks, not as a partisan (I think my party will do well in November), but as an american, at the way a line I never thought would be crossed is being crossed. Big time. It seems to me that every institution that is intended to protect our system of government--Law Enforcement, Intelligence, the Media, Religion, and even the entertainment indusrty--is being used by those to advance the political fortunes of those in power. If I'm wrong--do me a favor: show me how the following links below don't show that the above is true. Believe me, I'd be grateful. Because if this is what it takes to win elections in the 21st century, I don't wanna go there. Saturday, January 21, 2006; Page A01 White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove offered a biting preview of the 2006 midterm elections yesterday, drawing sharp distinctions with the Democrats over the campaign against terrorism...and describing the opposition party as backward-looking and bereft of ideas. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...6012001853.html Sept 8 2006 When President Bush and his top aides gathered in July to sketch out a strategy for the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, it was clear to all that they had to try to reset the clock — back to a time, before Iraq, when portraying Mr. Bush as a steely commander in chief was a far simpler task, and before Hurricane Katrina, when questions about the administration’s competence did not weigh so heavily. From those discussions emerged the speeches Mr. Bush has delivered over the last week, the leading edge of a remarkably intensive and aggressive campaign in which he has tried...[turn]the conversation... back toward the broader war on terror. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/09/us/polit...ect.html?ref=us On the same day President Bush announces that all of the masterminds of 9-11 whom we have caught will go on trial , Al Queda releases a video starring several of the men, now captured, mentioned in the president's speech. "Al-Jazeera broadcast Thursday a previously unshown video of the preparations for the Sept. 11 attacks, in which al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden is seen meeting with some of the planners in an Afghan mountain camp. Al-Jazeera did not say how it obtained the video, ... Islamic militant Web forums said the entire video would be posted soon on the Internet. Such advertisements in the past have come a day or two before the video appears on the Web." The very next news cycle, a previously unknown "American Taliban" appears to describe upcoming plans by Al Quaeda. Thursday's was the fourth in a series of long videos that al-Qaida has put out to memorialize the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the Pentagon and World Trade Center, said Ben Venzke, head of IntelCenter, a private U.S. company that monitors militant message traffic and provides counterterrorism intelligence services for the American government http://www.wtop.com/?nid=105&sid=900672 While CIA officials say they have not been able to authenticate the 75-minute tape, an agency spokesman says it "appears to have been produced by al Qaeda's media organization, al Sahab productions." The tape is marked with the same logo and graphics seen on previous videos released by al Qaeda. The man on the tape is identified only as "Azzam the American." U.S. officials say they had not previously known of the nom de guerre. His face is never fully visible and he makes no reference to where in the United States he might have lived http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/story?id=206661 Back in 2005, an interesting note appeared on the website of, Christian Youth With a Mission a group founded by long time conservative activist and huge republican donor, Loren Cunningham. The institutes website described a film project they were working on as the "Untitled History Project." http://216.239.51.104/search?q=cache:yGNh7...lient=firefox-a Industry publications were soon talking about a project about the 9-11 attacks ...."being filmed relatively quietly. No production announcement has been made, and it's being shot around town under the nondescript working-title "Untitled History Project." http://jam.canoe.ca/Television/2005/07/27/... The nature of the project was revealed via a scoop to FOX News and as the first film ever to recieve permission to film at CIA headquarters. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,163964,00.html Produced by: UHP Productions Ltd. [ca] http://www.imdb.com/company/co0163444/ Aired on ABC with much controversy and admitted falsehoods, aired by ABC as The Path to 9-11 And directed, as it turns out by Cunningham's son. http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/001491.php and..."partly based on information from Bush administration PR official" http://mediamatters.org/items/200609070004 Today, we get previously unreleased videos.The majority of links to the most recent tapes (there actually have been two tapes released this week) can be found on conservative and RNC funded blogs. http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=...ly+released%22+ According to a news story, the tape was: "was turned over by Michaels to federal prosecutors and the FBI Wednesday in a secret meeting at a midtown hotel. While she told NewsChannel 4 about the rendezvous, she declined to comment on what was discussed, as did the FBI and the U.S. Attorney's Office." http://www.wnbc.com/News/1463815/detail.html

With all respect to my fellow members and to the 9-11 dead, the above links were, in fact, posted to illustrate exactly that "it is a bit grubby going all political" with the sacrifices made by those who lost their lives on 9-11. IMO, those links prove beyond a shadow of the doubt who is going all political. Even though I offered links without any of my political views attched, obviously they were presented to express my horror that 9-11 is being used politically. I believe that the act of politicizing the sacrifices made on 9-11 is far more damaging than posting links that outline the process of doing so. In deference to you and the OP, I have deleted the post in question from this thread.

edited

My first result w/ a dremel was a disaster--it works great for the removal and gives a surprising degree of control...until it slips and takes off a swath of the case. Definitely not for a guy w/ my fine motor coordination or lacj thereof. I bought 3 sets of "Craftsman" swiss cut files from the doallr store for $3, so we'll see if I fare better w/ those. A couple q's for the experts: 1) Do you guys work w/ an already modded case in front of you, a magnified pic of an oem, or both? 2) Once you get the shape right, what is the exact process for returning the steel back to it's original polish? Finally a decent thread on CG modding!!! Thanks guys!