TeeJay

Great pics, TeeJay. I've been contemplating getting a 42 mm PO for a while now. I have freakishly small and dainty wrists, so I can't wear the 45mm Ultimate. Unlike others on this forum (and yes, I'm looking at all you Paneristi with 6 inch wrists wearing Fiddy's), I try to be realistic about which watches I can comfortably wear.

If you don't mind me asking, where'd you get yours? Happy with the deal?

PM sent

My pleasure, TeeJay. Least I could do after gaining so much information from you and other frequent posters here. Just trying to make it clear that I'm not trying to force my opinions down anyone's throat. Nor am I trying to tell the admins and mods how to do their jobs. All I'm suggesting is that if any non-VIPs were ever considering making a donation to any of the forums, now would probably be an ideal time to do so.

I for one, never got the impression that you were trying to force any opinions on anyone, just pointing out the that now would be a good time for donations. My primary objection to donating to be a VIP member, is I do not have to pay subscriptions to any other discussion forum, and the extra facilities afforded to VIP members, to be honest, I really didn't find of use. I'd much rather make a contribution to the community by ways of a review or any information I can share than to shell out $$s. To be honest, I would (and will) enjoy this forum just as much without dealer sections, as I did when there was a dealer section, as it was something I did not find usefull. To be honest, there is enough 'word of mouth' on the forums that dealers can be found without the direct links that were in their forums, and it also prevents dealers currying favor by paying subscriptions or donating to raffles, it will keep things purely academic and informative (obviously with a few laughs thrown in) and that's exactly how the forum should be.

If I wanted to subscribe to something, I'd've found a porno site

cool.....now I am really looking forward to receive my rubber strap.

I think you'll definitely notice the difference between how more comfortable the rubber strap is Best of luck with the fitting, I hope you don't have any gaping issues like I have with the orange Planet Ocean (the gape was more noticeably on the black PO, which is why I kept the strap on the orange, and will likely simply order a black PO 45 already on rubber)

Sean, thanks for the backup now and earlier, it's much appreciated

I have actually purchased 2 watches from dealers here (a third was a replacement for a defective watch). I have received several watches from members here in appreciation for artwork, or literary contributions. Beyond that, anything else I have was put together from bits and pieces.

I've been a student, and I know thats tough. But, if you overspend, you go hungry. If I overspend, my children go hungry. Big difference.

Couldn't've said it better myself. When my SMP arrives, I was planning on writing a review comparing it to my Submariner, a comparison of actual Bond Watches. Sure, there might already be the Submariner Vs Seamaster review (a piece I found incredibly informative, and contacted the author to express my appreciation for it) but, that is comparing 'like for like', I wanted to actually compare James Bond's watches.

As you say, not everyone has the finances to donate, and that should not reflect on their membership. As I said, the only thing this forum needs, is discussion. Sales are 'icing on the cake'. If the sales are getting the admins in trouble, the obvious answer is pull the sales, and stick to discussion. Freedom of speech, and what-not.

Real Nice TJ

Did you shave your hand in that bottom picture ??

Zed

Thanks, Zed, no, it's just the way the light's catching my hand

which one feel better, the one with SS bracelet or rubber strap?

Rubber strap, without question. The bracelet is comfortable, but the edges are hard, where the bracelet is flexible. To be honest, on a strap, the watch doesn't feel like it's there.

Do you have any idea what it costs to run a forum? Pay for storage/hosting?

Now throw into the mix the legality issue we're currently facing, and consider the great risk and great wealth of information you've obtained here.

If this place didn't exist, you would have probably bought crap from a scam site for $300 or gotten ripped a new one for $1k plus on another scam site.

It's fair to say that this place has saved each one of us AT LEAST $100, if not more.

And you aren't willing to pay $10?

IMHO....

You have to pay to play.

Have a nice day.

I don't care what it costs to run a forum. No one made the admins start a forum. What legality? Sales of reps is illegal, so don't let ANYONE advertize ANY reps on the forum. Simple as that. That's all there is to it.

If this place didn't exist, I would not have got ripped off, because I found my own dealer way before I found this forum. They charge way less than the Cartel, and I consider them a personal friend. The only thing I have gained from this forum, is information. Information I likely would have gained from gen forums, so rather than assuming anything about people's circumstances, try and look at things with a little objectivity. As I said, this forum has not saved me money, and there is no way I am going to pay to post on a discussion forum. I am certainly not going to pay to post on a forum that, untill today, continued to tollerate the Cartel Dealers. This is supposed to be a forum to educate and inform. It should not have ANY kind of links or dealer's sections whatsoever. They are unnecessary to DISCUSSION.

@teejay - how do you recommend approving of membership?

Checking the names and locations of people who apply. See if that location tallys with their IP address, and being extra vigilant of IPs that could be from people like the Hublot CEO

I agree with TeeJay that VIP membership should NOT be mandatory. I made the decision to donate today because I think it's the right thing to do, given everything that's going on, but it took me five months to reach this decision. If someone had told me five months ago that I wouldn't even be able to view the forum without paying, I would have said thanks, but no thanks. I think this hobby of ours is not something for the feint of heart, and it has one helluva steep learning curve. I think it takes time and patience to get to a point that you realize that these forums provide a valuable and useful service. But I think this is a personal decision.

I think all that needs to be done, is keep the forum private for members only, and have applicants approved by the moderators.

I don't think people should have to pay to belong to a discussion forum, but I can certainly understand the need to remove dealer links, and tighten up on security. (possibly putting a word filter into place so dealers sites cannot be entered either on forum or in PM, that way, people will have to discuss dealers in email, and that would remove any onus of blame from the mods or forum.

I am member of several other forums, and it is not unheard of to have to pay to be a part of them. I think this would be good policy. I have not been here terribly long, but the first thing I did was up to VIP membership.

I agree, drop the low post count members and make "VIP" membership mandatory. I am constantly amazed at the number of non-VIP that like to discuss the happenings of the board.

I don't mean to sound elitist, as I clearly have no higher standing than any other, but the lack of support astonishes me.

I think this would help to eliminate the newbie issues that have been springing up, as well as keeping out watchful eyes

My 2 cents :penguin:

I don't think VIP Membership should be made mandatory for several reasons. I was one of the people lucky enough to get given a VIP membership as part of the birthday festivities, and all that afforded me, was the ability to edit my posts, larger message capacity, and access to a few extra forums that were actually of no use to me whatsoever. I have not renewed that VIP status, becausefirstly, the ability to edit my posts is not that important to me, and secondly, I was disheartened by the response to the recent issues with Cartel Dealers, and was not prepared to support a forum that continued to allow the Cartel to deal from here, and be respected here. This forum was indeed set up to allow people to discuss their interests in replica watches and prevent people being scammed. Proof had come to light of scamming, so those people should have been expelled. Simple as that. However, that is in the past, and this is about moving on.

If people are known to be dealers, so be it, let people do business with them, but, having a dealer's section was asking for trouble. I've never actually used a dealer mentioned on this forum. There are sites like eBay where dealers are monitored and have to make good their promises. Okay, the reps might not be as accurate as some of the Super Reps, but for the prices they are costing, they are still better than some of the Canal Street Junk that the Real Scammer sites pass off.

This is not the end of the world, folks. We can still display and discuss our watches, so that's all that matters

Peace out.

I forgot to say, I think the Planet Ocean is much more comfortable on the rubber strap than on the SS Bracelet. Might just be my own opinion (and normally I do prefer SS Bracelets) but thought it might be worth mentioning

Great pics! Will you be hanging onto the SS bracelet? If you're interested in parting, let me know...

As for the black rubber strap you installed, does it have the locating pin?

Thanks I was planning on hanging onto the SS bracelet for 2 reasons;

1. It was already sized for a smaller wrist and there are no extra links, so it would not be fair to pass on a bracelet that likely will not fit anyone else...

2. I can use it for spare parts for my own SS bracelet, should any links or the clasp get scuffed up or otherwise damaged, I can always just canibalize the spare for parts.

The black rubber strap did have a locating pin on it, and fitted well on my 2531.80 Project Watch. However, the POs did not have the locating hole drilled in the case, so I used nail clippers to remove the locating pin. The result is tollerable on the PO, but far from ideal...

Yes, that is extremely helpful. My dilemma: I have a PO on the way with one of those fantasy orange molded rubber strap - looks like the black one, with all the markings, etc. however it is molded orange rubber. Unless I'm missing something, I believe this is a fantasy strap which does not exist in gen world. So I want to switch to either a black rubber strap, or better yet a SS bracelet. I understand what you are saying, that it is easier to swap to SS bracelet, however I have read some threads that seem to indicate the springbar holes are in different positions on the rubber and SS versions.

From what I've read, I think this is because the rubber straps that most rep Planet Oceans are fitted with, is the Omega Seamaster strap. The Omega Planet Ocean has slightly differently shaped lugs (and a slightly different rubber strap) to the Omega Seamaster. This is why there has been some confusion and problems fitting one to the other. If you have a look at my Orange PO, you can clearly see the gape of the strap at the 6 position. It's something I can live with, but it is not ideal... As the watch was a gift, (and it was my own strap)I will be keeping it, but had it been an order, I would expect the strap to fit flush to the case. However, for someone ordering a Planet Ocean, I would suggest ordering precicely what they want, rather than ordering one, and planning to swap straps around. If indeed the lug holes are drilled differently to accomodate the rubber strap, then it might be just as problematic to fit the SS Bracelet. Then again, I have seen pictures of one Planet Ocean which had two sets of lug holes drilled so it could accept either. I would not like to speculate on how common this 'double hole' is though...

This morning, the post delivered a package that more than made my day. Inside, were two 42mm Planet Oceans on SS bracelets. The black one, my fiance had bought me for Christmas, but had been sent back to have a defective crown repaired. The orange one, a gift from my dealer who felt bad for the problem and the delays to the repairs caused by Chinese New Year. I'd not previously been too keen on the orance Planet Ocean, but, in the flesh, it's not as bad as I thought. I swapped the SS bracelet for the rubber strap, and I'm getting quite fond of it, although I am going to replace the orange bezel for a black one. Something that is interesting, is although both watches have the same sized dial, the dial with pumpkin numerals looks smaller than the dial with white numerals. Interesting little optical illusion. Time for some pictures

OK, I am a PO noob here. So am I to understand correctly that the rep rubber strap has a locating pin whereas the gen strap does not? Does that mean that the rep PO case has a hole drilled in it? If one were to buy a rep PO with a rubber strap already mounted, can he add a rep bracelet later?

I have not yet ordered a rep Planet Ocean with a rubber strap, but, have ordered both items seperately (for different watches) Neither of my rep POs (42mm, black and Orange) have a guide hole drilled in between the lugs. The rep strap (Seamaster Strap, not Planet Ocean Strap) does have a guide pin. I cut the pin off, and put it on my Orange PO. It gapes. Not enough to prevent me wearing it at all, but enough to be noticeable. It will be easier to order a Planet Ocean with a rubber strap and swap it for an SS Bracelet, than it would be to order a Planet Ocean with an SS Bracelet and try to swap it for a rubber strap. Hope that's been of help

The watches arrived today, and the second watch was the Orange Planet Ocean 42mm, so I will be keeping it. I have swapped over my seamaster strap (gapes a bit, but never mind) and will be swappnig the bezel insert for a black one when I can. In a way, I'm glad it wasn't the chrono version, as this way, I get to keep my friend's watch, and it will have sentimental value, rather than using it as something to sell or trade

Ahh, that's a little twist I didn't know about. That is very informative, thank you

I prefer more accurate than less, Thanks

Then buy from Angus.

This is not answer. I can't see on his website ultimate PO. I have good experiences with Angus, newer had a problem.

It's as much of an answer as I can give you as I can only advise from my own feelings. Personally, I would rather buy a less accurate watch from another dealer than one from Andrew, Angus, Joshua or King. If you've had good experiences with Angus, then stick with him.

Why? On his website I only see 4 gen PO.

Because I wouldn't buy from Andrew, Angus or PT.

I'd suggest Silix.

I know on the 45mm, the SS bracelet has Omega Seamaster Professional Planet Ocean. Should the SS bracelet for the 42mm also have Planet Ocean on the clasp, or should it simply have Omega Seamaster Professional? I have heard that it should not have Planet Ocean on it, is this correct?

Funds are tight at the moment, so I'm afraid I'm only in for one ticket.

Not the standard SS bracelet, but the dark strap which was on Alec's and James' watches at the beginning of the movie. When Bond was crouched at the top of the stairs before planting the bombs, he gripped the guard rail, and the clasp of the strap was visible, although not clear. It was definitely a buckle fastening, not a deployant clasp fitted to a leather strap. Later, when Alec compares the 'new model', it is possible to note that his watch strap is very dark brown leather. Does anyone know if this was an official Omega strap, or if it was a generic aftermarket strap? (I would suspect official Omega, but who knows...)

Any help would be greatly appreciated

Not too sure what card providers and services there are in America, but here in the UK, we have credit cards, and bank debit cards (I'm assuming you have those too) Normally, online sources will not accept a bank debit card where a credit card is required. When I opened an account with a new bank, I got very lucky. My bank's standard issue debit card, has Visa printed on it. Not sure if Visa underwrite the account, or what, because I don't get a monthly bill, and the card will only allow me to take out as much money is in my account. However. Online, this card gets accepted as a Visa credit card... With Paypal, rather than regisitering and verifying my bank account, I simply added this card, and the results are fantastic. Paypal treats it like a credit card, so it gets accepted, but, it simply takes the money from my account. Saved all that verification nonsense. Has anyone else had similar experiences with their cards?