TeeJay

The bracelet attatches just like the Planet Ocean Big Size, or the SMPs or a Rolex... Spring pins which are accessable through notches in the end links. If you have the correct tool (a 1.5mm screwdriver will do) removing the bracelet is not at all difficult. As mentioned, the 42mm PO has 20mm lugs, and the 45mm PO should have 22mm lugs (although some earlier generations of the 45 did have 20mm lugs. I have one myself) Hope that's of help

I'll see how my finances stand friday...

King. one of the four dealers who make up the Cartel (Andrew, Angus, Joshua and King) I'm not sure what her site is, but I'm sure someone in this thread said she was offering it for $600... I knew I wasn't imagining things, here's the post :

Hmmm. My .2c... Nice looking watch. One question though. On of the inside lugs was shown with a blow up of the text. The other lug also has text, but it is not blown up. To me, it appears to read 'Titanium'. Would this marking be on the gen watch? Personally, I think this is just another case of the Cartel trying to rip people off, but, it is good to see people standing their ground and saying they would not buy from them. Note how Angus has not addressed any of the requests to justify the price difference. If King (Cartel dealer) can sell the watch for $600, what's the excuse for another Cartel dealer to sell it for $800. Exhange rate fluctuatios are possibly a factor, but not that big a factor. Yes, it looks like a nice watch, but, as CC pointed out, seeing someone wearing a genuine one is highly unlikely. To the comment about it looking almost spot on to the genuine watch: That's awesome, the watch is an accurate rep. But. People still get called out for wearing accurate reps if they look like they couldn't afford the genuine watch... They're judged on their own appearance, not primarily the appearance of the watch... As for the value of comparing $800 to a $1400 purchase... If someone is getting more product, then obviously it is a better deal. Just becuse someone will spend $1400 on several watches, that does not mean they would justify spending $800 on one individual watch. Another factor which comes into this, is the person's attitude and philosphy on wearing their watches. Do they have one favorite watch which is worn most of the time, only to be swapped out for a 'special occasion', or, are they someone who likes to change their watch to match their outfit? If they are someone who frequently swaps out their watches, so would not necessarily give one watch priority wrist time, then obviously they would question the value of something of the higher price, which they know will hardly be worn. $800 is a lot of money for something which will only collect dust on a shelf waiting to be worn...

No directed at me, I know, but personally, I prefer Omegas better. I used to really like Rolexes, but I think that was because that was the only 'high end brand' I'd really heard of. As I got more into watches, I read a comparison between an Omega Seamaster and a Rolex Submariner (which the Omega came top in) so I decided to take a look at them. I liked what I saw. Larger dials and hands, so clearer viewing, and better engineered bracelets

I'm going to be replacing the bezel insert with one accurate to the 6200 model

They will indeed. Sure, there'll always be someone prepared to buy their product (for the forseable future at least), but ultimately, I think people are being softened up to reps and 'generic' products, and will gradually move away (certainly EveryDay Folks) from the brand names, if they can get an acceptible substitute for cheaper. Absolutely. I'd never heard of Panerai or Vacheron Constantin before posting here. Admitedly, I seem to be 'immune' to the lure of the PAM, as, nice as they are, they just don't do enough for me for me to want to actually wear one... Still waiting on my VC Overseas (42mm version, supposedly) so time will tell on that one... Absolutely :biggrin: Watching the episodes is nowhere near as much fun as walking around The Villiage though, and realizing that on those 'long drives' (like in Arival) they were just going a few meters, turning round and filmed going the other way, and winding up somewhere that takes less than 5 minutes to walk to :biggrin:

Not meaning to be argumentative, but I have found as a result of reps (and other watch costs) I am less likely to buy a gen watch now than I was say a year ago when I got my Sub. I could have bought a genuine one, but I bought a rep because it was the cheaper option. The remainder of the cash went towards a vacation in Portmeirion and the associated holiday expences

I don't agree with that aspect either, but from the opposing point of view. Even if I had millions in the bank, I still wouldn't buy genuine watches, because I don't think their brand name justifies the price tag.

I'd say this part of the article sums it up best: 'Terrorism' is the modern 'Communism' which America was so scared of back in the early 20th. Anything bad, blame it on the Communisisisisiists!!!!1 No one ever stopped to think that there's nothing actually wrong with communism, other than the fact it doesn't really work in practice... I'd be interested to know how money from Chinese produced replica products, would support Islamic terrorism... Something I think the article does not take into account, is that people are 'softened up' to Full Out Replica goods, by cheap generic items, for which we have to thank America and the Wal-Mar Mentality... Something of a Global Irony there I'm sure I've said before (I certainly have privately) about a sweater I bought for

Would you still consider it a new watch, even if you had replaced every major part? (Say over an extended period of time)

Wow, I can't believe there's been so much discussion on this issue What with the amount of people who modify their watches, I'd've expected opinions from all directions... Oh well

I think Timex make something similar with less complications to the dial, and considereably cheaper

A bit of a Ship of Theseus debate really, I just wondered at what point someone considered a modified watch to be a different watch, or, if they always considered it to be the same watch, even after most (if not all) the original parts were replaced... Just curious really

Personally, I've always had my best results from Asian movements rather than Swiss. My 2220.80 SMP, for example, Asian movement, completely untouched out of the box (other than re-alligning the bezel insert, but that has no impact on the timing) and it runs at +4 secs a day. That's within COSC standard, so why pay the extra for a Swiss movement when an Asian can be just as accurate...

I know entirely what you mean about things going well making things like this take a back-seat. I've been involved in a similar situation since Dec 06, where I'd paid someone $200 CDN to make something for me. After a month, they said that they couldn't make it afterall, as the parts they'd required weren't available, but offered to refund my money in four installments, so I agreed to that. One installment, returned fine. But a month later, they email me to say they've lost their job, so can't afford to make more repayments right away. I said that that was understandable, and to not worry about repaying the money until they'd landed a new job. Every month, I'd shoot them an email asking how things were, and, each time, they'd say they had an interview lined up, but, mysteriously, this would always fall through. In the end, I said not to worry about the money, and just to send me something from their own collection as a way of settling the debt by proxy. They didn't really want to do that, but offered to get me something else as a compensator, and to then still refund the money when they landed a job. A few months on from that, and I hadn't received the compensator, despite promises that it was ready for shipping (twice infact) so I just sent an email saying that enough was enough, and I'd gotten to the point where I just wanted to know if they ever intended to repay my money, or if they'd just played me for a chump. The response, was that they had actually landed a job, planned to make the repayments from their first pay cheque, and would post the compensator immediately. That arrived, and, although pretty poor quality, is workable into a nice project. I'm still waiting to see if they make good their promise of repayments... The only reason I let it all go on for 7 months was because I figured it wasn't a huge amount of money, and, I occasionally had other more pressing concerns in my life to deal with, and, times when all was well and it simply slipped my mind... All in all, it was pretty chickenshit behaviour in an attempt to scam me, but they didn't have the cojones for it, and came through (in part) on their promises in the end. I don't have any tollerance for people who behave like this, and can't understand why people here are so reluctant to call people out when they are proven to be POS scammers, when reluctance to do so can lead to others also falling victim to similar behaviour...

A few months back, there was a thread where certain dealers had been proven beyond doubt to be 'less than trustworthy'. Nothing was really done then, and I doubt anything will be done now. I love the community here, way better than on RWGI, but seriously, people need to learn to stop 'turning the other cheek' in the hopes things will be 'made right'. If someone's a POS scammer, then that's all there is too it, and they should be acknowledged as thus and treated accordingly...

Still wearing and loving the 2220.80 SMP. I had the misfortune of having to see my fiance's biological father today, and a few times, I caught him checking out my watch (he runs a minor watch repair stall on a local market, keeps all his funds 'under the radar', and has never paid a day's child support in his life... He knew my Submariner was a rep, but this one really had him guessing

That's cool And nothing wrong with treating a rep with some care, afterall, it's still a watch, and if it looks nice, why not keep it looking nice

I'm more of a believer in the phrase 'Charity begins at home'... Haven't seen you on the boards in a while, I hope life's been treating you well

Did you mean me or the OP? If you meant me, then yes, I'd totally agree, he would've done it even if I was wearin a gen Rolex. I could afford one if I wanted to buy one, I just refuse to pay an overinflated price-tag because of brandname.

Well, you don't have to believe me, that's up to you With regards Alphas, sure, they 'have the look', but only to a degree. As contradictory as this might sound, I'm not so keen on Alphas (or like) because they are self-branded clones. I want the dial to say 'Omega' (or whatever), because that's what the watch I like looks like. As you say, it's 'fooling ourselves', or at least 'fooling/satisfying' our eye. I wasn't [censored] off about being called out in the Snoot's Boutique because they were correct, I was [censored] off with their lack of manners (Then again, they're white South African, so what can one expect?) and they way they did it. Also, it annoyed me because they were offering services which they as a business could not provide. They have a sign on the wall specifying them as Rolex repair speciallists, but the Snoot doesn't actually have an in-house watchsmith, and only sends them away to Rolex. Sure, I can see how they can't send a rep back for repair, but there are ways and means of going about it. As a business professional, that wasn't the right way

If you hadn't cut the end of my sentence, you'd've had your answer Indeed, they say Omega