archibald

I have owned both MBW and TW Best LV subs, and I agree that a modded MBW is marginally better than a modded TW best, but I still think a reality dose is in order. I do not know about current pricing, but when I bought my LV's a used MBW was about 50% more expensive than a new, discounted TW Best. So what do you get for that extra dough? The fact is that you get the ability to fool 99.9 percent of the people who see your watch instead of 99.8%. On the other hand, if you do your own mods, it is certainly easier to mod a MBW than it is a TW Best, so that narrows the price gap. Hopefully now that lucky is on the scene the "soup nazi" factor is no longer an issue, but at the time I was looking it was a dealbreaker.

PT, thanks for the much needed clarification. The problem, incidentally, has nothing to do with you--the simple fact is that too many less than honest rep dealers have advertised "solid" gold and sent wrapped or electroplated. A couple questions for you: Are there any watches available with solid bezels, crowns, etc. I'd love to see a TT Turn-o-graph-or Daytona w/ solif gold bezels, etc. Why don't the makers make these parts in 18K? After all, 18K is the "gold" standard in genuines and, as your math shows, we're only talking about 30 bucks more cost for an 18k bracelet. Since almost anyone can tell the difference between 18K and 14K gold, anyone who wants solid gold in their rep is faced with a choice: Do you want an 18k plated rep that is too light and may not last or a 14k rep that looks off but is closer to the right weight and will last for years with good care? If we could get 18k parts, that problem would be solved for not too much money.

Man, the one joe got is damn close--we're into super-anal-retentive territory finding flaws on this version: On the dial side, the only issues I can see are: The He valve is less than 1mm higher on the Genuine The Genuine hour hand has less lume area and more metal area and the minute hand is a hair longer The 12:00 omega logo is a little low on the rep Very visible AR coating on the Genuine A general "crispness" difference--dial text, bezel cuts, crown, etc--but you ain't never going to see 1:1 on fit and finish between rep and gen. Ever. That sure aint 2 grand's worth of diff. I'll wait for the price competition to kick in and then pull the trigger on this baby without a second thought.

Paul could have a birthday package w/ my name on it already packed and ready to go and i would not moneybooker him a dime.

This is an embarrasment, but I have 8 mods or frankens in the works and have finished a grand total of ....zero--a pathetic record courtesy a six-year-old's attention span and the inability to find the right places to look for parts. Here we go: FM curvex chrono frankenmuller, white gold silver dial; need hands, crown tube. FM Long Island frankenmuller, rose gold, white dial; need hands FM Cortez Chrono frankenmuller--bronze dial to go with this hideous python strap I bought at a pawn shop; need 2824-2, hands, back engraving. PAM 036 and 029 combined to make the brown dial Ti version of the 029, which i think is the 155; need solid Ti back, redial PAM 51 mods--dial reprint, relume, date sticker, cyclops, AR, case rebrush, OEM guard; need cyclops, AR, redial TT El Primero frankentona for my dad; need el primero, hands, case Santos 100 mods--new, flat stone in crown, redial, rhodium platind of bezel screws, custom strap, case rebrush and polish--almost done w/ this one. Just need the dial sized. A PAM franken that will remain a secret because an OEM part is for sale somwhere and I don't want one of you guys to buy it before I get the dough to pick it up.

Does he do Panerai dials? I'd like to have a black dial turned brown for a project I'm working on.

A very welcome sight indeed...welcome back The Zigmeister!

You could always buy the TT and have the case plated to match--which would probably cost about 75 or 80 bucks from a top notch plater--I don't think there are any major difference on the dial and bezel, etc between TT and full gold.

Still nothing from the sapphire guys over here who it seems were dicking us around--thusly I don't mind mentioning their name, out of california. I did however here from the SF11 guys who called to ask if I was still interested. I simply told them what has transpired: that we've decided on sapphire, that we've placed an order, but that if something bad happens to that order SF11 would be our next choice. He said, fine, no problem, it was a small order anyway, but if we need them to give them a call.

Just posted in Gen. discussion. Any suggestions to improve the post? http://www.rwg.cc/members/index.php?showtopic=1151

Someone bumped an 8 month old thread...these are long gone. chieftang has a cyclops project going, I think, and rumor has it that the Chinese are going to start paying attention to mag, and sapphire cyclopses are very hard to install--so unless there is gigantic demand for 6mm cyclopses for 27, 28, 29, and 63's (which are not being made) I doubt there will ever be another run.

To admin's list i would add: GP and DJR: 40-50% FM: ~25%

My inbox is all Viagra, free Best Buy gift cards, Liberal Propaganda, and Diet Pills--so unless I wake up to an email I say we figure my guys couldn't find a way to beat finepics' guys and were hoping our impatience would carry the day. I vote for starting the ball rolling in the UK. Finepics, have you heard back from the vis a vis a guarantee? I'm dead tired from a brutal day-off football game with my merciless children, so I'll post the thread in general discussion before work tomorrow. I also put down some fragmented ideas about the money bit in a PM to finepics...can you forward it to Kruzer and ssurfer and whoever else might be inclined to join our merry band of brothers now that we may need some dough?

All new folks owe it to themselves to head over to Richard's site and check out The Zigmeister's articles--if you need to make a decision on a watch based on it's movement, if you're thinking about starting to tinker around with some simple fixes, or if you just want to admire what a first class watchsmith can do, your time will be very well spent. I hope The Zigmeister will come join us over here at the new RWG, but until then, it's good to know we can still find his stuff.

One more question before I head over to TRC an PM Davidsen: Is the lume on the hands the correct "#3" color of Super-luminova?

I'd be happy to start the thread if sssurfer doesn't object to starting a new thread. I'm really thinking that 100 is the way to go, especially if we can extract at least a partial guarantee. Looks like we have more that 35 in this thread alone, plus whoever else is interested.

Could you put a drop of metallic paint on the cap before you intall the hands?

Not to mention that it fixes a flaw that is far more visible, IMO, than many of the flaws we pay more to fix. Also, unlike crown guards, lume, etc this mod is easily transferable from watch to watch even if you have about 10 thumbs like i do.

Fantastic. sssurfer, Kruzer00, what say you?

JJFlash, Ahnold, and archibald...and I bet more than a few others. BTW, Bob: Excellent straps. Please let us know if larger sizes become available.

Left a message and sent 2 emails. The last one: "B--- my friend, I'm dying over here. Got a bunch of watch addicts breathing down my neck. Please, please, please give me your best price while I still have a sphincter. Seriously, I need your best price by 9:00 PM EST, 6:00 your tme, or we're going to have to go with a company out of the UK who's in @ 35 USD and will deliver in 4 weeks [Oops: all's fair in love and reps]. SF11 is still an option, but I'll need a prototype first since the SF11 lenses we've experimented with show excessive distortion around the edges. If you believe that your SF11 lenses will perform identically regardless of the material, not having a prototype would not be a deal breaker provided our agreement explicity states the lenses can be be returned for a full refund if we believe there is excessive distortion, even if the dimesions fall within the perameters you provided in your quote. Best, J____" His reply: "J____, I'm working as hard as possibly [sic]. You will have your price by tonight or tomorrow noon at the latest time." ON EDIT: Since we know that our price is going to be between 35 bucks (finepics or my company if they match the price) and 42 bucks (our agreed upon limit of finepics + 25%), I think we should start a separate thread to guage interest so we can order the right amount--we may need 100, since I bet just among us we'll take 25. Kruzer's in for 7 and my watchsmith and I are in for 10 between us.

The very cheapest route is to order custom glass lenses at the highest mag possible @ 1.3mm CT which cost 8 bucks and nobody has to pay to have them milled down. But the trouble is, they don't magnify as much as genuine, as sssurfers latest pics and measurements prove once and for all. Joe, you're right: a bet is a bet, so unless you can prove that the total cost of "your" lenses will be less than $8 plus shipping, I think I have Kruzer's pp address if you need it. I vote 6mm sapphire. Mon is my day off, so I'll have all day to track down the sapphire guys. If the price ain't right, or there is otherwise a prob getting the promises from email to contract, I vote we move forward w/ finepics lenses.

spremni was right about the 212 and the 187, BTW...and I hope he's right about this, which is my fav Pam. I've never been able to understand why they would make every historic PAM and not this one--standard bicompax chrono all the way. On edit: Probably the runnning seconds at 3 has been the problem--i wonder if they are going to just use the Venus copy, or find some way to have the seconds @ 3:00. If they do that, it opens up a wonderful world of other reps as well....

Ms. A is the photographer in our house, so I'll ask her--but I can tell you 100% the macro mode on her 8 megapixel Canon (Can't remember if it's a Rebel or EOS or what, only that it put me in the poorhouse in December) is VERY disapointing in macro mode. I thought, "Geez, for this kind of dough, I'll at least be able to take so decent watch closeups." Nope, the old fuji finepix is three times as good.

Translation: Rehab, probably. And if that's true, we should send nothing but prayers, good vibes, or whatever you personally send people when you wish them success. As the son of a recovering alcoholic, I can tell you the next weeks and months are going to very difficult for Gran and his family.