omni

Gee, I almost bought an Invicta once, the king of homage watches when they started.

Welcome back from the edge Lani. Let you know, Ubi had actually been so concerned he called me direct to get reassurances that our hospitals were up to par in Hawaii, I reassured him that we are not the backwater some think we are. Swine Flu, yee gads! Time for a long pau hana. Malama pono brah. Omni

Randy: I've traveled 2 solid months through Europe with my 2.5 year old at the time, Dems is correct, our little guy did better than his Mom & Dad! And at that age, you are not hearing "Are We There Yet" all the time. Stilty: Envious, we loved Hongcouver BC, when you are from a tropical island, we tend to gravitate towards cities & mountains for our vacations it seems. Traveling with your kids is memories of a lifetime for both parents & kids. Congrats on a good trip.

John, The subject of "fake people / fake watches" had been in various articles before but this is a recent article dealing with how the recession is effecting "Swiss Made" premiums. Luxury goods take a beating in these downturns, this being the steepest since the Great Depression and it has to have the luxury goods producers even more on the defensive as consumers opt for the cheaper brands and substitutes, often times replicas of all goods or homages of luxury goods, something you seem to be personally into at the moment. Its the reflection of "I want my purchase to count in these trying times" so "money is no object" attitudes have been flushed down the toilet. sur3wyn: Thanks for the article link.

Lani: You are sick because of too much work, that's obvious. You work yourself so much its unhealthy and your life is only as good as your health, physically and mentally, both effect each other. Its the spirit reminding you that its break time for mana. Get well soon.

Late to the party, Happy Birthday Kruzer.

$2,100 ...........Beyeshop.com

I'll attest to that, my business partner asked me to find him a secondhand 196, which I did and bought for him last month, $5,500 from watchexpo.com in Newport Beach, Cali. They specialize in pre-owned. Check them out, a lot of good inventory. Edit: BTW, I was able to bid them down from their asking price.

Hope you do, haven't seen you in a very long time.

I think what myself and wife have observed and agreed upon, I could have far worse obsessions/hobbies than watches. However, despite the horology, the forum can suck you in and take over a good part of your waking existence at first if you are not careful...........its that back & forth ever increasing camaraderie starting from a common thread of interest and then finding yourself shooting beyond that, into absorbing & living all things watch-talk. Eventually for what I've seen of all the forum oldtimers, finding the balance between online and offline life eventually finds all of us and sinks in.............aaah, but sometimes it takes years for some, so good luck to all the newcomers!

Yes, welcome. One day we'll get to report a 2 or 3 member GTG, we are close but there seems to be a lot of water between islands still so driving to a gathering is not in the cards since the Superferry is now bust. Nice to see fellow islanders. Stick around, there is so much good camaraderie and knowledge here.

I think that sums it up for almost all oldtimers, especially those that have moved on from replicas. (cough-cough)

Happy Birthday from Maui. A toast to you Mike for making another year great for the folks here.

I have to agree with Lani, the HBB I have is just plated on the bezel and never contacted my wrist. And all aftermarket plating I've had done on my car emblems/trim always wore off, usually from wax & washing.

The HB was an excellent everyday watch since only the bezel was RG and not overpowering for a sports watch. I wore mine constantly most of the time for a year and the rose gold plating looks as good as the day I got it. Back to the OP, the plating nowadays on these reps does hold up pretty well on a daily use watch. Here's my 2 year old.

I have one of those inexpensive screw-in type link pin pusher tools, it doesn't always line up properly and I windup sometimes putting a dink in the link edge. What I use mostly is bulletin board metal push pins and a hammer over a soft piece of wood. Works for me.

Welcome watchgirl. I'm sure you noticed the preponderance of naked women avatars and signatures.............the members love females, you are a welcome addition.

Hey Lani, not really aimed at you or anybody in particular so yer' ears shouldn't be that warm! We all have our own ways in how we attempt to interact with women. You know, married men really don't live longer than single men, it only seems longer.

Sometimes its the hardest thing to do with my wife (like having my teeth pulled), but honest dialog between partners is the only thing that keeps people together since you can't really know what a person is truly thinking unless you talk to them about it. You've gotten a lot of easy-way-out or sneaky suggestions from the members, but P4GTR said it best.....

I just think there is a whole world of difference between: "I'll buy you a Daytona if you give up replica watch collecting because it irritates me." to "Because you're buying me a Daytona, I'll give up replica watch collecting because I know how much it irritates you."

Just thank her for the offer but say no. If your wife is doing this "because she loves you and knows how much you want this watch" she'd buy it for you unconditionally. She still may if you give her that answer. Face the reality, you are being treated like a child or worse yet, a pet dog, rewards for good behavior. Not uncommon, women do this with sex all the time, forcing some men to cheat on them. Basing a relationship on things instead of respect for each other.............its a slippery slope and one I wouldn't want to travel down in my marriage.........but to each his own. Not the way I'd want to live.

Welcome azt3c, you live in a great place. I was in your hometown last year, punting down the Avon with my lady, had a top floor suite at the Millennium looking down over the Cathedral. Great city, in fact all of South Island is spectacular.

You have to look at the whole presentation of the "sixth sense" technology, ala being like Tom Cruise in "Minority Report". But near the end of the presentation they show a wristwatch projected onto a wrist for telling time. How cool is that, never have to worry about upgrading, you could project "virtually" your favorite watch on your wrist, no need for a gen. Of course according to her last statements in the presentation, if they make it into a chip implant for your brain, then it can just make you think you see a "Rolex" on your wrist.

R: Your dream will come true because the "parent" fulfillment wish will make it happen, you have it in your person to make yourself feel complete in life. I've always been about Ohana and nothing in a bond is stronger for me. Lucky we live Hawaii. I've lived all the cities I've ever wanted to live when I was younger, I've been on Maui 30+ year now, you'd never get me to live in a city again. You are heading on the right course from a "Miami in the Pacific" resident to the outer islands. @ Corgi: Its just wanting a better Paradise despite some of the lack of easy access to services often found in metropolitan areas. Some people have to have a city to survive, not being able to keep themselves active or excited about life by their own means, others want the country to simplify in the later years because life should get simpler as you get older and wiser. @Docblackrock, I swear that picture looks like my vacation from Lake Como of one of the villas near Bellagio. Where is it from? - Omni

These look like Phoband's watches (The dual time Citizen he has up for sale in another thread) and his tourbillon is a Homer chinese tourbillon.