TeeJay

Maybe I'm looking in the wrong place, but I couldn't seem to see any prices for the phones. Replica or not, I think my father in law would probably like one of those, as he works in the telecommunications industry, and has about half a dozen cell phones for various business and personall uses. Could anyone point me in the right direction?

I guess people will all have their own criteria by which they judge something's value. Personally, I am a penny-pinching JewBoy... I won't pay more for anything than absolutely necessary, and will not pay huge price tags simply because something has a 'Brand Name'. In terms of watches, I'm not desperate to pass the watch off as genuine, so I don't care if the watch is only 80-95% accurate. As long as there are no glaring errors like spelling mistakes or movement faults, I'm happy enough. In terms of what I'm prepared to pay, my personal limit is about

It'll all get worked out somehow, but I have a feeling it'll wind up costing me as much in repair fees as I paid for the watch itself... From now on, I stick with the dealers I know I can trust Sounds good, I hope this deal goes better for you

Info assimilated... As I thought... Indeed, another morning has passed without an email confirming the state of play. To be honest, I'm on the verge of just taking the watch into a local repair shop, who I am more than happy to give the business to. The only thing preventing me from doing it, is I dont see why I should spend a penny to have an item repaired which arrived faulty, and was clearly never QCd in the beginning

Looking good

No problem at all, glad to be of help I cannot really say from personal experience, but, people have said that 1.8mm spring bars give more satisfactory results.

Nothing more complicated than a 1.5mm screwdriver. You could probably pick up a reasonably good set at a dollar store which would be up to the job. There are proper Springbar removal tools available, but a small screwdriver will do the job just as well. It's literally just a case of flicking back the spring bar, applying a little gentle pressure between the lugs with your thumb to keep that end of the bar springing back into place, and then flicking back the other end of the bar. When fitting the rubber strap, simply reverse the process :smile:

Possibly, but, when one reads about people being stalled by tales of watches not passing QC, and the arriving item also having faults, it does make one a tad scheptical.

Although discretion is indeed an admirable trait, with matters like this, it is always helpful to know who the dealer is, as sometimes, others have had similar experiences, but said nothing, and, if no one ever says anything bad, then someone who was once a good dealer, can indeed 'go over to the DarkSide', and start ripping people off, and, unless people speak up, then other buyers will likewise fall victim to poor deals... I hope you get the issues resolved, I'm at something of an irritating impasse with a dealer myself, which I suspect will result in me having to ship the watch back to them at my expense afterall. If I do have to do that, I will be seriously [censored] off...

No problem whatsoever. I know precicely what you mean. When I first got my 42mm Planet Ocean, I wore it on the SS Bracelet, and, when it had to have the crown repaired, I got a pretty crappy SMP as a substitute. The bracelet it came on was junk, and another member was selling an unused strap, so I figured I'd put it on the SMP, then put it on the Planet Ocean when it returned. I only wore the SMP on rubber for about a week before the Planet Ocean returned, but I found that I couldn't stand wearing it on the SS bracelet anymore, and put it on the rubber strap immediately. (I hadn't minded the SS bracelet before that) When I ordered my 45mm Planet Ocean, I was sent a rubber strap as well, which I instantly swapped (I have never worn my 45 PO on it's stock SS bracelet) The weight of the watch (be it SMP or PO), while noticeable against the edges of the hand on SS, is negligable on rubber. The one downside I would point out, is on the rubber strap, the watch (again, SMP or PO) does not easily go under a shirt cuff... Best of luck

No problem at all. The black rubber strap goes okay on the blue SMP. I admit, it doesn't look as nice as the rubber strap looks on the Planet Ocean, but it's certainly wearable. (The strap is seriously comfortable, by the way...) Joshua does have the Rubber Seamaster strap. It might be listed as being for the Planet Ocean 42mm, but I can assure you that that is a Seamaster Strap, not a Planet Ocean strap. The 42mm Planet Ocean has 20mm lugs, so it should fit without problems (other than the intricacies I described above) Also, if you were only going with straps as a last resort, Andrew sells a replacement SMP Bracelet... For considerably more than the rubber strap, Joshua also sells various Omega leather straps. Sean Bean wore his blue SMP on leather in GoldenEye, and it looked pretty good :smile:

I would not like to say for 100% certain that the Ultimate Planet Ocean is waterproof. But. You can always take the watch to a local watchsmith (an independantly owned family company is better than an official dealer) and have the watch pressure tested and waterproofed. Silix sells the 22mm rubber strap for the Planet Ocean.

The rubber strap most commonly associated with the Planet Ocean, is actually designed for the regular Seamaster. The difference, is in the small details. The Planet Ocean strap has 'off rounded' notch holes, and a 7mm tongue on the buckle. The Seamaster strap (which most replica Planet Oceans are force-fitted with in the factories) has rectangular notch holes, and have a 10mm tongue on the buckle. With regards to it fitting your rep, remove the bracelet and examine the space between the lugs. Does it have a small hole drilled into it? If it does, then chances you'd be able to get one of the rep rubber straps to fit. (The rep strap has a 'notch' at the lug end, which goes into the guide hole and prevents the strap from flexing away from the case when worn. If your watch doesn't have the drilled hole, you could always remove the guide notch, and use 1.8mm spring bars (pushes the end of the strap against the case better) to prevent it gaping from the case while worn. I believe Joshua sells the rep rubber strap. Silix sells a 22mm Planet Ocean strap, but I'm not sure if he also sells the 20mm Seamaster strap you'd be after... With regards the NATO straps, yes, they are cheap, and don't look too bad, but, I've found they're not very durable, and start fraying after a while. Hope that's of help

How about an Omega SMP 2254.50 on the double-ridged rubber strap like Flav has in his signature bar? Not as big as a Planet Ocean 42mm, but you'll still get nice large indices and hands for easy visibility, and it'd fit your criteria of being on rubber

Probably as cheap and easy to get a replacement bracelet than having it repaired. Forgot to say, I think Andrew or Josh sells the SMP bracelet

That's an awesome piece

Still wearing the Planet Ocean Big Size I wish I'd gotten this watch ages ago rather than the 42mm. Looking forward to getting my 2531.80 SMP back though

No problem, I'll let you know what my fiance thinks when the watch arrives, as she's already got a Chanel J12, so in the best position to compare the two watches... It'll be quite a wait before Cait gets the watch, her birthday's not till september :biggrin:

Problems... The only problem I've had with my Submariner, were a piece of lume coming loose (I think I can identify the impact to my wrist which may have done this) and the pearl getting knocked out... My 42mm Planet Ocean had a problem where the threads in the crown stripped after about a months wear (I understand this was a common flaw of the Planet Oceans) The dealer had the watch repaired, so I had to pay for it to be shipped to him, but not for the return shipping. Other than that, the only other watch I've had a serious 'out of the box' problem with, is my X-33 from Silix. We are still emailing back and forth about precicely what will be done, and who will be accepting the charge. Personally, all I want is a replacement movement and case back, (which are the only flaws with the watch) but I don't see why I should pay shipping on those, because the watch could not have been properly QCd, or the flaws would have been immediately noticeable. The various watches I have which are dead, are dead solely because of my inept tinkering with the timing...

Hee hee If I spend to much on her, my fiance gets jealous To be honest, I don't think she was over keen on the Chanel J12, but abolutely loved the Big Bang Aspen when I showed it to her on the computer to see if she thought my fiance would like one, her reaction was enough to promise her one as a birthday present

Absolutely. The one thing I would point out with that, is with the Casino Royale Limited Edition Planet Ocean, people have pointed out that the base model used, was not the latest generation PO available, and recently, people have noted that their 2531.80 SMP's have arrived with dials which are missing the 3 marker... As you say, reps do evolve, but at the moment, there certainly seems to be 'backsliding', so for people who really want 100% accuracy, budgetting to have mods done might be a more realistic goal, than to hope that the watch will be perfect 'out of the box'... Best regards

So... perhaps they need to consider that no rep will satisfy them 'out of the box', and they ought to budget to have modding done...

Will they ever fix the logo? Does it really matter? Why does it have to be 100% perfect to the gen? These are reps, folks, not gens being sold at 'cost price'. If such trivial details are really essential to people, then either mod the watch with OEM parts, or just buy a gen watch in the first place... I've got as good an eye for detail as the next guy, and sure, flaws are noticeable, to me, because I know what I'm looking for. Doesn't spoil my enjoyment of the watch any though... I think the 'Super Reps' are starting to give people unrealistic expectations...

The dial DOES have lume. Admitedly, not in the league of a Ziggified Superlume job, but, it DOES have lume. When I get the watch back from being waterproofed, I shall happily take pictures to prove this :smile:

That is all against the teachings in the Qur'an!