archibald

the pin that holds the lever in the 196 falls out and the lever on the 050 is ugly. can a gen guard work with these reps?

A little searching goes a long way:

I put an OEM guard on my 51.

Speedy1 put one on his 188.

That's why I love this place. I learn so much here.

I love the pronouncement: "it will never look like a genuine." Probably, there are 16 other things that will forever make your rep not look like a gen, things that will be noticed long before the nuances of the steel's composition. Relax and enjoy your rep.

I'm in as can be.

17 months on my 196 from Scottie, which I wore today in fact.

Unserviced: 3 days to 3 months. Serviced: keeping COSC time after 6 mo.

The standard seagull movements are readily available from the likes of Ofrei and Cousins in the UK, however still haven't found a source for any of the more complicated ones (venus in particular)

Exactly. The big date at 12 opens up a world of possibilities and so does the functioning center tourbillon (pop one of those babied in a faux tourbillon rep, which BTW, often use the seagull auto movement w/ nearly identical dimensions). The tourby seems to be, by several times, their most expensive movment, @about $1000 by the time it gets to the made-up brands on ebay.

picking up a few higher end seagull movements could be an interesting side line for our dealers who make regular trips to china...

I think it's a case of misinterpretation.......altho' the photos from KING could be misconstrued as being deceptive....because of the logo placement......I genuinely don't think that's the case.....WHY?.....if you were deliberately doing that....the members would be howling that there are wild discrepancies in the received item......and everyone would be jumping on the bandwagon.....!

The fundamental problem is that too many members....seem to think that they are buying a mirror image of the genuine.....and that's rarely the case.....a lot of members are expecting a 99% ratio for the price......whilst paying 5-10% of the cost of a genuine......it's unfair....!

I think you're dead on about expectations. And I think that's why some care thought is put into many dealer's pics to, can we say, put the watches in the best possible light. King's probably sick of people bitching about the He valve being 1/2mm too low. You have the skills to make an $80 day-date special look like a genuine patek in a straight-on, reveal-all shot. Others do not have those skills. I don't think anyone who's been around the block takes Kings hamhanded logo thing too seriously...or in the old days when some would set the time to 9:15 to hide the datwheel color. It's part of the game.

But dealers shouldn't read the posts around here and confuse the "mod game" with a demand for out of the box perfection. I've argued and will continue to insist that for many around here the persuit of perfection, the actual attemt to bring a watch as close to 100% replication as possible, is the end not the means. It's play. The fun is in the persuit not the result. I have a bunch of seriously flawed reps I wear on a regular basis w/o a care in the world. I also have spent nearly $600 bucks getting my PAM 051 an A's-crossbar away from indistinguishability from the genuine. Both are fun.

What I did was I heated the watch up by immersing it in hot water, then quickly removed the watch from the water and slowly, carefully pryed each marker off with a very flat ended screwdriver on the side. It required only a little force, because it appears that the heat had already softened the adhesive up a little.

Then, you remove any residue from the prior attachment on the markers and on the bezel itself.

After, you apply a thin layer of epoxy on the bottom of the marker using a toothpick, and carefully set the marker back in its place, give it a hard press, and let it dry for 24 hours to allow enough time for the epoxy to cure.

That's just my experience and results, yours may differ.

I wonder if you can use the solvent they sell to remove epoxied-on crystals...dab it on w/ a Q-tip.

Who is this guy?..............does he just google his info or does he know it first hand?

Ken

I don't know, but it's great to have hime here. Maybe he can tell us if:

-- a functional moonphase is in the works?

-- ditto for a center tourbillon

-- it's possible to get our hands one of the big date @ 12:00 movements.

If you're using the bezel as an indicator for the position of the HE valve....then you need to get your head sorted out.....and / or your sense of perspective......

I agree 100%. But that apparently didn't stop whover took those pics from giving it the ol' college try. Bottom line: As long as someone isn't altering the pics in a misleading way, they are free to take pictures from any angle they want. Or position any moving part of the watch they want, for that matter.

Or you could use King's approach, which is to put your logo wherever the He Valve is :

There are so many muller reps, you have to choose the piece by piece--for accuracy the 8005 conquistador and 2852 casablanca are tops.

Ok, I've heard enough hearsay.

Show me these dealer pics that hide flaws. I'll be here all day, I can wait.

Hope you didn't have to wait too long on this pressing issue Of course we can debate motive all day long, but to me it's prima fascia evidence that the majority of pics of valve-free, rotating-bezeled watches like, say, Submariners have the bezels smack dab @ 12:00 and the majority of SMP pics look like this:

LOL! Look! A Black Helicopter, Princess Di and Jack Ruby pilot and co-pilot!

You guys crack me up. The guy put "replica Panerai" on it because maybe he'd somehow get stuck for big taxes if it got intercepted on the way out. He included the emails because he wanted to be, like, extra extra sure eddie remembered he promised to replace it and didn't send it to the wrong place 'cause you know, damn it, he worked a lot of hours for that $200.

There are several hundred times more idiots than there are half-assed conspirators in the world.

Just do it. I did.

are there any 1.9's or 2.0's left?

They used to do it to hide the old white-that-should-be-black date wheels and "officne", but the only one I really notice these days is the Seamasters--there are a few exceptions, but mostly the intent is to disguise the HE valve position. You can find a few straight on shots, but you can find just as many shots w/ the bezel turned slightly left to make the valve appear higher.

If you're worried about it, wait for a review before buying...

You took my advice, and are wearing it well! Looking gorgeous on your whrist Clive.

It gives me allot of satisfaction to read your enjoying this watch so much. Also thanks for the positive feedback on the forum!

Regards RR.

Looks Great, Clive!

Davidsen has pics in his section--the back and dial look fabulous. Crown looks typical rep. Can anyone who has a davidsen guard comment on its in-person accuracy, fit, and finish?

Interestingly my two most recent CDG Unitas movements (231 and 217) both came with whta looked like a recessed cannon pinion but the extended cannon pinion was in fact already installed. They simply needed a little shaving of the hands to reveal it.

That's tha main improvement on this movement, IMO.

I just don't see what the hullabaloo about this movement is. Look, until they get the engraving on the plates right, anyone who knows what an OEM movement looks like will spot the reop movement in 1.35 seconds. The other 99.9% of the planet couldn't spot it as a rep movement if it had "made in china" stamped on it.

Is there a H seriesw/ "working" swans neck movement available? If they've fixed the "Officine Panerai" font on that one, then that would be something to get excited about. Last I heard that movement has been "about to be released"released since May.

I could feel the thud all the way here in Thailand......as all those asses hit the floor.....

Actually, I'd have no problem if Neil were the dealer, even though he's not.

Isn't Luckky presently occupied?

Anyway for those ready to move--I can tell you who the dealer is.

BTW, can anyone get Muller's website to work? I've never been able to get past the into screen, and the lady at Nieman Marcus has figured out I'm never going to buy a gen so she won't give me any more books...

The dimensions are 43 X 32, it is available in either black or white, and the current price is $1250 firm for the 2824 version. I'm still working on a final 2892 price. Which reminds me: I've PMed everyone who contacted me but if anyone new wants on hte list of potential buyers, could you tell me if you are interested only in the decorated movement version or interested in both the 2824 and decorated? Would just save both our mailboxes a PM.

Whew! I think I have replied to everyone (more than 30 people PMed or Emailed) and answered everyone questions. If i missed anyone, please let me know...

To answer the most common questions:

The count: We're looking good, but we won't know till it's nut cuttin' time. I've pre-sold 2 locally and two RWGers have their money ready to go at any time--so we're half way there--if 1/6 of the the others who have expressed interest end up pulling the trigger, we're there @ $1250.

The gold content: I've been repeatedlyassured it is 18k gold cast directly from the SS piece, which is a 1:1 CNC copy of a gen.

Dials: Yes i can source a very limited number of OEM dials, most black or salmon most in excellent condition...I just picked up a black dial just to have both, but I think the rep dials are right on.

Hands: I'll post here as soon as I find out if the rep's hands are blued or painted (they look blued to me. Compare w/ pics of the vegas or white dialed Conq, which are painted), and Iif the lume on them is C1 as on the gen's hands. The dealer is trying to find out and will let me know ASAP.

The method of payment: I'm not going to worry about it until I have 10 people who say, I'm 100% ready to go depending on who the dealer is and how the paymnent will be done. One thing is for certain, I strongly prefer that all transactions are done directly to the dealer.

I absolutely hate when people do this in my "either-or" threads, but I'm going to do it to you. You shouldn't get either of them until you look for an "old case" 196.

The 212 has way too many flaws for the version it's on and, as somebody pointed out earlier, the 250 and 251 suffer from the same problem as the later 188's and 196's, namely a shitty case.

The 250 looks close enough to the 196 that the better construction more than makes up for the slightly less cool looking appearance.

If I couldn't find a decent 196, I'd go w/ the Swiss 250.

Thanks for your nice thoughts. You know you are a grown-up when you wake up on the morning of your birthday and your wife is in one of the children's beds, one of the children is in your bed and the bed is wet.

That's also when you know how blessed you are...here's to many more happy and healthy birthdays to come!

Hi Archibald, can you just confirm the dimensions, the price and the availability of either black or white dials please?

Thanks

The dimensions are 43 X 32, it is available in either black or white, and the current price is $1250 firm for the 2824 version. I'm still working on a final 2892 price. Which reminds me: I've PMed everyone who contacted me but if anyone new wants on hte list of potential buyers, could you tell me if you are interested only in the decorated movement version or interested in both the 2824 and decorated? Would just save both our mailboxes a PM.

The OEM crown doesn't fit. I ve tried it already.

Is the problem w/ the tube? If so a gen tube might be able to be made to fit...

While in Venice a couple of months back, I tried both of these on. They are LARGE watches. 48mm long and 39mm wide. Thick too. Any possibility these might become available?? Hope dealers are reading this.

I think our Big Watch fans would be all over these.

I've added one more. I'm pretty sure I tried on a version of this one too. Completely smooth and integrated crystal. Even bigger at 55mm long.

I'm 100% with you. And the tragedy--the horror, the horror--of it all is that all three are as easy to rep as any watch out there. All could be powered by the new version asia 7750 or 2892 copy, both decent movements. All solid backs. Similar parts are already being produced for other reps--the hands, the cases, the dials, even the pushers!!

As i posted in another thread, If they produce any one of those three I could die happy!

For all noobs: Here's how it works. If you are discreet, it's one in ten thousand you'll have problems. If you write "replica panerai" it is 9 out of 10 you'll have problems!

CORNERSTONE IS CORRECT. In the metal calculator I downloaded, I mistakenly selected 24k gold from the pulldown list, not 18k gold. 18k gold is only 2. 0something heavier than SS, not 2.46 like i have in my calculator. [b]Thus the gold in this watch is worth about $1050. Still an amazing deal, IMO, since we are essentially paying for the gold + $150 for a 99% accurate ETA powered rep.

The watches ARE cast directly from SS so cornerstones figures ARE correct.

My agenda is clear, to convince enough of you that this is a great deal (which it is) so I get my watch $500 cheaper than if I bought 1 pc.

Please bear with me on the identity of the dealer. He requested to remain anonymnous until I have 10 serioes buyers. We're almost there. The watches exist, exactly as per EL's pics (except w/ 2824 for the price quoted). The dealer is famously honorable.

As Pugwash points out, you can get a used muller for $4000 bucks, but they won't be gold and they won't be anywhere near new. Actually, you can get a used muller for about $3000 from trusted ebay sellers, especially if they are the well used, stainless steel version of the most common muller model made... like the one pugwash linked to. Gold casablancas are considerably rarer and you won't get a used one for anwhere near 4000 pounds.

So, if you are really interested please PM soon--we are getting close to last call., as soon as 10 are ready to pay the dealer directly, we move.