predfan2001

Ok, here's the GMT with a SMP bracelet. Not an easy task, but I like it. I Never would have dreamed that you would have to drill new lug holes to put a SMP bracelet on a GMT. It hasn't come apart after 4 hrs of basketball so I guess it's ok.

Just got my SMP bracelet. It is not the greatest but I have been sanding and polishing on it all day. It's too flat and has to many sharp edges. Not rounded like a gen. It's not terrible though and looks much better after some work. I had no idea that I would have to re-drill the lugs, that sucked! It's on now and looks pretty good. I went thru 6 drill bits drilling the lugs. I hope I never have to do that again. I'll post a pic here in a bit. Just a little busy cooking out and all. C ya!

There's a guy that sells the engraved (engraved clasp is like ETA reps come with. Asian reps usually an etched clasp ) SMP rep bracelets on eBay for $36.00 plus shipping. Some of our recommended dealers also sell them. They're usually listed under watch accessories or in the Omega sections of their sites.

Aw come on everybody. He's doing pretty good. Lets give him a hand...he only needs two. Ok, that was in poor taste but I couldn't resist. Which reminds me, how do you get a no armed man out of a tree? Don't worry, he can't climb a tree anyway.

I'm in Tn USA. If I order on a Saturday, it's here the following Friday. 6 days is pretty fast in my book.

I was very disappointed with the 4th gen. 42.5mm PO. It seemed smaller than I thought it was going to be. My crystal was chipped inside. The clasp was total crap. The divers extension wouldn't stay closed, made it a hastle to put on. At least for me, the UPO feels better on the wrist. It sits comfortably where the 4th gen. was so heavy and smaller, it seemed to flop around all the time. My dealer let me send it back and exchange for the Ultimate 45.5mm PO. What a difference. The quality of the bracelet and clasp are far superior. The pearl on the UPO is not as good as the 4th gen., but looks great with a little work. Just a little dab of clear epoxy or glue brings it up flush as it should be (or at least gives it that appearance). I usually deal with Trusty or Brand9avenue. I was going to buy from Paul at first, but wasn't sure about the WU thing. Seems complicated. Easier to just order with a CC for me.

Make sure the opener you buy suits you needs. The universals usually won't work on an Oyster (Rolex) case. I have a Bergeon style Oyster case opener like this: See opener I also have your standard hand held adjustable opener. Between the two of these I've been able to remove any case back I've needed to. Although you really can't beat a tape ball to get an Oyster case back off-with NO damage or tool marks.

That GMT really looks good with the rubber strap. I can remember straping one on at the local jeweler when they first came out. I just ordered a SMP bracelet to replace the Speedmaster style bracelet on mine.

The logo still has the "feet" though. Ever think about this? There are bunches of Omega dials on eBay every week the have the correct "no feet" logo that sell from .99 to $9.99. I mean logos on all dials, not just Seamaster dials. This might be a way for us picky few to get the logo thing right.

No. What you do is take your MBW 16610 to the jeweler in your pocket. Ask to see a gen. Make a quick swap and walk out. NOT!!! Never show a AD a rep., are you crazy? Now friends, that's another issue. I have a friend that has a gen. Sub. I have a not-so-good rep but I always question his. He swears mine is a gen. and he now questions his. Yes, I'm a [censored] sometimes. But it's all for fun!

The crown guards are horrible, the pearl sucks, it needs a gen. crown & tube, the bezel is not correct, the insert font is wrong, the crystal sits too low, the dial looks like a refinish, the rehaut is not deep and you should have started with a MBW case. Opps! Wrong section. This is the Omega area and not the Rolex. LOL That's one fine looking SMP (uncertain about the AR though??). I envy you.

Bummer DD. I'm personally very afraid of chrono. reps. I stick to the basics. I have still never had an ETA fail or be grossly inaccurate. I have had 2 asian movement reps bite the dust with in 2 weeks and I have only purchased 2--what does that tell you?? Sorry for your luck but that's this price we pay right? Gotta take chances. Better luck next time.

Gave my favorite (Ultimate PO) a rest and wore this Hamilton Field Khaki XL today. I know you guys love lume so I took a lume pic (with my crappy 10 year old 1.3 megapixel Olympus-yeah it's vintage) since this b*tch glooows. Enjoy the fine pics

So is it possible that my Old Bradley Mickey Mouse watch with 1j swiss movement may not actually be swiss?

There are 2 for me, both gens. I traded a TT Datejust with an Iris dial (which I had $1200.00 in) for a 5513 Submariner about 10 years ago. The band on the Datejust was getting pretty loose and it needed servicing so I felt it was a fair deal. I absolutely loved that Sub. I sold it to upgrade to a nicer Sub. but I bought a car and used the money before I could find another Rolex. A few years later I picked up a Bond SMP on eBay for $800.00. I found that it wasn't quite a durable as the Sub. I damaged the crystal, bezel, bezel insert and then it quit working. I bit the bullet and sent it in for factory service. It was very nice when I got it back so I put it back on eBay. Got $850.00 back out of it which made it about a $250.00 loss to me. I should have just kept it. Since then I've bought a bigger house and 2 new cars so another gen. Sub just isn't in the budget just yet. I did end up with a SS Datejust but it's just not a Sub.

I am a huge fan of Tudor Subs and I'm always on the look out on eBay. Check this weird bird out: http://cgi.ebay.com/Men-s-Tudor-Submariner...1QQcmdZViewItem Oh yeah, since refinished dials have been a topic of comments lately, can anybody redo (say a "Noob" dial) a rep dial to look like a Tudor? I'd be in.

Amen...time for some new material

I do know a few have built a 14060 using a gen. dial and an ETA "noobmariner". I'm having no luck finding a genuine 14060 dial so I was wondering, are there any reps. that have a "fairly" good dial that could be used to convert a Noob into a 14060 nodate? (Please don't start on the MBW stuff. That is not an option) My goal is just a "fair" quality rep. I love nodates and I know some have built them using Noobs and I'm hoping somebody has enough actual experience with this to actually make a recommendation on what nodate rep. dial is the best to use. I have heard that some of the pics on our dealers website do not exactly represent what they sell. Yes, I know that the nodates are not very good but just looking for the best of whats out there as far as a dial goes.

Just got my new crystal installer. Finally put a new crystal in the 2nd watch I ever owned (I broke the original about 30 years ago). An early 70's Bradley Mickey Mouse watch. Yeah, I know it's chessy but it means alot to me.

Now that you mention it, my Rat Terrier gives me a funny look when I wear a rep.

Yes friends, you are right. I am not at the level to start mod'ing a MBW yet. I've franken'd many cheap old manual and automatic "flea market" watches over the years. Replica mods are new to me but the techniques really aren't. I have many hobbies, one of which is antique toy restoration. I have restored some like new and some that looked unrestored using "vintaging" techniques. Since starting this hobby I have purchased many watchmaker tools, new and old. Since I really like "old" stuff, my idea is to mod vintage reps. to really look like old watches. I really like Submariners so before I do a 1680 or a 5512 I am going to do one based off of a "vintage" rep. rather than a MBW. I have purchased a geniune dial off of eBay that I am 99% sure is an old refinish. They claimed it to be non-refinished but the ft/meters is over the Submariner. I have never seen an original layed out like that with a date. I plan to install this in a vintage rep. I know that it doesn't exactly fit, but I am working on that. Here's the dial, see what you think. I'll save my original for a MBW later on down the line. And here's "kind of" the look I want, just not a red. Something that really looks old but runs good enough to be worn regularly:

I would say they are all 42mm. I have Submariner and Omega reps and I know the Omegas are a tad larger than a Sub. which should be 40mm. Between SMP and POs, my Subs are starting to feel like ladies watches.

I just got my Ultimate PO this week too. I had a 4th gen that was screwed up and brand9avenue.com let me exchange it for an Ultimate. It is a huge difference, literally. The quality of this watch is awesome. Especially the band and bezel function. My HE crown comes off completely when unscrewed, not sure if that is normal or not. I think I may adhere it on some kind of way. Who cares if a non-functional HE valve unscrews anyway, I just don't want to loose the crown. I think I am going to work on the pearl a little. I don't really mind that the Omega logo is not totally correct. It's hard to see anyway. So far it has kept perfect time and I love the way it feels and looks. It's the size watch I've been wanting. I actually expected the 4th gen. to be a little bigger than it was. It didn't seem any bigger than Submariner reps. to me. BTW I bought the original 4th gen. from brand9 before I started dealing with Andrew. He's done me right so he will get all of my business if he has the watch I want. Brand9avenue is ok too but I had a little difficulty getting the 4th gen. problems squared away but they did come thru for me. They were very nice but it just took longer than I expected to get resolved. Here's a pic of mine:

You're exactly right! I don't expect a cheap rep. to function exactly like an expensive gen. I think that is part of the problem with many of the complaints I read here. I love my Planet Ocean rep. but I would never pay that much for a gen. I personally don't care about lume. I know it's a big deal to alot of people but not me. I have no need to see what time it is at night, I have an alarm clock for that. As far as diving goes, I wouldn't want to take a gen. in the ocean anyway. I always think "what if". I jumped in with my old Datejust on once and thought "oh sh#t". I only gave $900.00 for it but if by some chance it leaked, it would be bad! I had the crystal replaced locally so I'm not totally sure it's waterproof. I'm not a diver but if I was, a good quality digital would be more functional anyway. I'm sure very few professional divers use Rolexes. Probably more like a Suunto or something I would guess. As far as accuracy goes, I only wear the same watch about a week at the most. I don't have a winder so ETA accuracy is good enough. I really enjoy my reps. and enjoy moding them. It has become an interesting hobby. There's not much of a hobby with genuines other than collecting.