TmeShare

Looking at the mail from my mail box as I drive my BMW away, I notice that I have postal notice to pick up a parcel at the postal office, heart skips a beat, a watch has arrived!! A quick mental scan.....what watches have I ordered and which has likely arrived I bet it is the ..............................IWC Pilot Chronograph.................... from my friend the Unicorn (999 that is). Off to the post office and I gain and open the parcel in the parking lot and find...............,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,..the much anticipated IWC pilot Chronograph on a bracelet (life is good, so many watches, so little time!!!!!!!!!!!). In my hand I am holding a watch that I lusted over when I held it at the IWC AD watch dealer. The review.........: Initial impressions: Watch seemed small compared to my Panerai's, Breitlings' and AP reps........hold on, the case is not as small as I thought and the metal link bracelet looks bigger than I thought................its the thickness, not the case size that matters (its how you use it not the size). Dial The real plus on this watch. The watch dial is clean and crisp and has admiral illumination at the 12, 3, 6, and 9 areas as well as the hour and minute hands The story is that the real one was used to model this one, probably, and most evident. Later, the same day I am sitting in another endless meeting and I am looking at the watch dial from the side and notice that the triangular marker at 12 and the rectangular markers at 3, 6 and 9 all are raised substantially .......like from the real dial, Wow very nice, hmmmm, accurate touch ( did I mention that the rumor is the that the real one was used as the model for the replica). Bracelet IWC obviously views the bracelet as something that should be adjustable without special tools and MUCH frustration. Push a button on the inside of the bracelet and slide out the pin.............no drama, no frustration.....................hug a German!! This has been reproduced without fault in the replica....................................................................the unicorn strikes again!! Overall: While I am use to larger watches the IWC Pilot Chronograph is semi-large, well done, and well worth the wait. P.S. There are a couple of ways to deal with the delay: 1) oh my God its late OR 2) Man love a seller who takes the time, even with minor problems, to fix things and make it right.......................I will take the second reason every time.......Good on you Unicorn.......make it right before you ship it!!!!! We buyers want it all.........dead on accurate and right away....too bad so sad , life is not perfect............good on ya Unicorn and to quote Al Pacino........Whoooah (if its spelt wrong so what, get a life and buy a IWC Pilot Chrono and move out of your parents basement)!!!!! WHOOOAH!! TimeShare

Something else to remember is that as time goes no the quality and reilability of the Asian 7750 will improve. Think bactk to the early 70's and Japanese cars like Honda, Toyota, ect were considered a joke. 20 years plus and no one was laughing anymore. Now I am not saying it will take 20 years but in the forseeable future we will have Asian 7750's that are much better in quality and reliability, the only way the makers will get there is by making watches and that means that we will continue to accept that we may get watch with problems..........practise makes perfect!! P.S. I have had trouble with the Asian 7750 when it 1st came out but the new high beat versions are much better.......but I don't use the chronograph function on any of them!! TimeShare

IWC Pilot Dealer and Members who ordered the watch: Time to heal the scars. All is forgiven.............................group hug!! So which watch is next? TimeShare

My Breitling Evolution from EL is perhaps the best made replica I own. It has the new Asian 7750 (28,000) and it has been very accurate and reliable. Even after the power reserve has run out it onll takes a few winds to start the constant second hand sweeping. I usually favour Swiss but this Asian is 1st rate. TimeShare

I have the black SS, Silver SS and Black/red Rubber Carrera models. The one's I located have the close to proper fonts. I believe this is one of the most accurate reps out right now. I was particularily impressed with the Black Carrera with the red hands and rubber strap. The rubber strap feels and reacts like a high quality rubber strap. I agree it makes the watch less "dressy" but I can't bring myself to remove the rubber strap as it is dead-on to the original. I have handled the real Black/red Carrera with the rubber strap and I walked away from the AD (Authorized Dealer) more impressed with the replica's accuracy. Only one real flaw on the Carrera..........what?..................after wearing Panerai PAM 111H's, Fiddy's, La Bomba etc and Breitling Bentley's, the Carrera feels and wears too small. Tag Heuer must recognize this size issue as they are about to release a 43-44mm Carrera at Basel 2007. All the style and a bigger case..........start saving now boys and watch the dealer section!! TimeShare

I have one of the new generation Breitling Chronomat Evolutions. Nice watch but at either end of the flip top claps there are srew heads on each side that continue to come loose. Any one else experiencing this problem? TimeShare

Buy a pin removal toll with a VERY long pin to push out the Tag Heuer pin. If you look on e-bay you will see ones with shorter and long pins.............you need the longest you can get. TimeShare

The sharp edges on your bracelet is the same as my replica bracelet. I have 2 genuine OEM Tag Heuer Carrera bracelets and they are somewhat sharp in the same spot but the edge has been rounded a bit but not much different then the rep bracelet. I am actually quite impressed with the quality of the replica bracelet and it is very close, say 98%, to the OEM. If you are worried about cutting a shirt or cutting yourself the very sharp edge could probably be rounded off a bit with a dremel tool. By the way check TimeZone's Heuer/Tag Heuer forum and enter Tag Heuer Carrera Chrnongraph and there is a posting, in the long list, of F1 and rally racing drivers wearing your watch and other Carrera's (supplied by Tag Heuer no doubt). Enjoy your watch, RaceMaster

Ivan, glad you worked it out and ya for a few bucks the pin remover saves a lot of trouble. Sounds like you have the all Black face Carrera. I have that one and the silver dial with the black circle subdial Carrera. Heard some disturbing news that perhaps the Black Faced Carrera is the only model with the new high beat Asian 7750 and that the black, brown and silver dialed version are not the high beat version. The trusty and Joshua sites have them as high beat and I hope they are, anyway enjoy the Black Carrera (I am about the switch off the rubber strap for a real OEM Tag Heuer bracelet I have as I agree it looks better). TimeShare

E-bay has them in 20mm and 22mm TimeShare

The Tag Heuer Carrera Chronograph bracelet is identical to the OEM, and very similar to Omega pin system (if that helps at all). The links are attached by a pin that can be removed in either direction, unlike many link pins where there is an arrow on the inside of the bracelet to illustrate the direction that the pin must be removed. The Carrera pins have a small groove in the middle that fits into a sleeve that is inside of the middle link. I am surprised to hear the 2 watchmakers cannot remove the pins/links as I am certainly no watchmaker and had no problems. There is no special Tag Heuer tool needed but you will need a watch pin remover. E-bay is a good source for these tools and it is a good investment, particularly if you plan to have many watches. The watch pin remover I use is like the one in e-bay auction 120082344138 (I am not the seller, do not know the seller I just did a quick search on e-bay for you and found the one I own). The watch pin remover you want should have as long a pin as possible so that you can push the link pin out of the link as far as possible. When you have a watch pin remover insert the pin into the hole in the side of the link and turn the dial on the watch pin remover, if you have one with a long pin you will evenualy feel/hear a snap and that means that the Carrera link pin has been pushed out of the sleeve and you can now use a plier to remove the pin the rest of the way and seperate the bracelet. If you turn the bracelet to the side a small sleeve will slide out from the middle link. Remove as many links as need and do the reverse to push the link pins back in. If you do not want to buy the tool the other option is to try the watch on and guess how many links you need to remove and then remove the watch from the bracelet and go to a Tag Heuer delaer with just the bracelet and ask them to remove the number of links that you think you need so that the watch will fit. These is not the best method as your guess on the number of links may or may not be right and the Carrera bracelet has 1/2 and 3/4 links to help you find a near perfect fit. Hope the above makes sense and you get the watch on your wrist.......nothing more frustrating than having a watch and not being able to size it right away and get it on yur wrist (I use to run into this problem myself which is why I bought the watch pin remover)!! TimeShare

Wow, what a great looking watch combo. The OEM Brown Breitling strap really makes the watch. Breitling charges the straps weight in gold but they do make nice straps - very bold stitching, nice grain and 1st rate construction. Enjoy you watch, a very classy combo. Makes me think I should have bought the white rather than the Black!! TimeShare

I have the orginal OEM bracelet and there is very little difference (the links are slightly thicker). Indeed, I was quite surprised how well done the rep bracelet was (even the pin in the sleeve to remove links). Save your money, if you dislike the replica bracelet you will dislike the OEM TimeShare

http://forums.timezone.com/index.php?t=tre...80428&rid=0 A posting, with pictures of new model to be unveiled at Basel 2007. The Mercedes Benz SLR is nice, notice the gills on the rubber strap like the gills on the side fenders. The new Monaco is also nice looking. The AquaRacer looks the same as the present one with the addition of a rubber strap. Enjoy, TimeShare

I got the clasp on e-bay for $200 plus and am very disappointed with the clasp. It is not comfortable and the stem that goes through the various holes in a strap comes out unless the hole is very small and snug and this is one genuine IWC straps. My advise buy a single deployant buckle it is probably better!! TimeShare

I wonder why there is no Tag Heuer Monaco with a working chronograph other than for quartz movements? It would appear that a Paul Newman Blue Dial Monaco could be done with the Venus/Lemania Movement as it has 2 subdials and the 3 subdial Monaco could be done with the Asian 7750. They make a Carerra with the 7750 which is a less popular model than the Monaco based on Tag Heuer's sales!! TimeShare

As per my earlier post there were no big watches for this X-mas season!! Yes, the Chopard XL, the Breitling Steelfish and the AP Royal Oak Chronograph are coming in the new year but not for X-mas!! It use to be that the X-mas season was big for reps and now it appears to be the 1st quarter of the following year!! New Year, new watches and last years debt!! TimeShare

I have the real thing with the red kevlar strap and the titanium bracelet but never really fancied the watch. I traded it for a real Tag Heuer Monaco which is a great watch. TimeShare

If all these new watches are coming out for X-mas they best be release soon or they will be New Years gifts NOT X-mas gifts!!! TimeShare

With the onslaught of the X-mas season I expected to see a few new major offerings such as the Big Pilot, AP Royal Oak (with the new 7750), etc but so far there has been very little..........how come such thin offerings this year?? TimeShare

I have a Steinhart Pilot watch (Unitas 6497 movment) and when I pulled out the crown the other day, to set the time, the crown and stem came out. It can be reinserted into the movement and I can wind the watch (sometimes and sometimes the crown spins with no resistence) but if pull the crown out the crown and stem come out each time. Perhaps a dumb question but can I reinstall the crown and stem myself? Do I turn it anti-clockwise when re-installed? Any advise, with this problem would be appreciated. TimeShare P.S. in reading an early post on a slipping winding issue this sounds like my watch, can a new stem for the Unitas 6497 be bought? and if so can it be inserted into the existing crown (the Steinhart has a IWC BIg Pilot Crown)?

In terms of Invicta "stealing" the Bell & Ross design, come on folks, not the most innovative design too start with. I can just hear the Board meeting on this watch at Bell & Ross..........."Hey lets take a square guage from an airplane instrument panel and put a strap on it". As such, if Invicta want ot use it go right ahead!! TimeShare

I see from looking at a few sellers web sites that a great new replica has arrived with little attention or fan fare. The 44mm Breitling Chronomatic with a Venus (sometimes called Lemania) movement. This is the new version on sale now with Breilting that has the crown on the left side of the case rather than the right side of the case (like the original Chronomatic from the 70's). I am surprised by how little attention we have given this watch and even more surprised by how quiet the sellers have been about this watch. The watch looks accurate and the venus (lemanina) from past experience has been a very reliable movement. TimeShare

Steinhart was actually first with a Bell & Ross BR replica. At least, the Steinhart has an ETA movement. It is called the Aircraft 8 and can be seen on their web site. TimeShare