chrgod

I am usually not much into Panerais, but the "8 Days" with its horizontal power indicator has caught my eyes for some time. Looks as it is finally a decent replica of it.. Not much info yet. Asian movement. I like the GMT-function and date.. Is it a day/night indicator on the seconds subdial? What does the experts say? http://www.joshwatch.com/0141-p-5206.html

It exists quartz-replicas which use the genuine ETA 251 movement, with 1/10 sec subdial. The only I can recall at the moment are the Porsche Quartz chrono and the TAG Heuer Indy 500. The Indy is a cheapie at 105 USD. It has the 1/10 counter@2. Guess this has a Japanese movement. http://www.silix-prime.com/product.asp?id=1799 The Porsche is advertised with ETA 251. It has also the split-seconds function. http://www.silix-prime.com/product.asp?id=2068 Nice watch, but quite expensive at 395 USD.

I think it is genuine. Has seen some reps of this. Easy to rep since it is a quartz, however the engravings on this looks too good. Too late, I guess.. It has sold, to you?.

It has been a year and a half since last update on my collection. Time to take some new group shots! Here is my current collection of replicas and gens. I have an aim to keep the collection below 20 watches, I still have a way to go.. At left, we have the Rolex corner. Vintage Daytona, movement service and freezed subdial by The Zigmeister. GMT-Master "Retro", Air-King, SSD, vintage Sub from Silix and Noobmariner. Rolexes are great watches, I like all of them but the GMT-Master and the SSD get the most wrist time. Also, sometimes I get in "Air-King" mood, and can wear only it for a week. The Silix sub will go through some basic vintagization, my first serious project. The gen collection is a mixed bunch. My only genuine Rolex is a 1961 Speedking. A small watch, 30mm, but in very good condition with great patina. The Speedmaster Reduced is a nice watch, but a tad too small for a chrono. The Girard-Perregaux was an impulse buy. Cool seventies watch with integrated bracelet. In-house movement, cool dial and feels solid. The Eterna Air-Force is a "hidden gem". Well-built, with great AR, compass bezel and crisp dial. The Movado Chrono on the top was bought mainly for the movement and datewheels.. It will be cannibalized in case I pick up a 3717 one day. Universial Geneve Polarouter is an interesting piece of watch history. Special in-house movement and cost about the same as a Rolex Datejust at the time. It was advertised in cooperation with SAS, the Scandinavian Airline at the time they started regular flights across the North Pole. Thereby the name "Polerouter". ( Check out the page "polerouter.com). A good watch, but my example needs a service. The project Rado and the vintage Soviet military watches in the back are "out of rotation".. The big golden Soviet "Sub" with the light blue dial was my very first mechanical watch, bought of a street vendor in St Petersburg in spring 1992. The Sthurmanskie Chronograph is maybe my favorite gen. A true Soviet military Airforce Chronograph. Poljot caliber 3133. The Soviet bought rights to fabricate the Valjoux 7734 and modified it by themselves. The Sthurmanskie exists in several versions and also modern remakes. These versions with internal rotational bezel are the coolest in my mind. Tag Heuers I was actually a bit surprised that I only had two Tag Heuers... The Carrera is one of the watches I enjoy wearing most, and the Link Chrono is one I always think " I should wear it more often..". The Carrera has had service and datewheel swap, and the Link has a genuine TH 7750 movement, picked up on eBay before the prices went up. Very nice chronos both of them. The classic style of the Carrera makes it my favorite. Sorry about the smudge on the Carrera dial, it was my daily wearer the day of the photoshot. Breitling. I am down to three Breitlings.. I sold my beloved Chronomat Evo, and the Steelfishes.. I actually never really fell for the famous SFSO replica. Great watch, but I found the pearl and pattern on the dial much crisper on the gen. The Evo is a great watch, but I sold it to buy the Blackbird. The Blackbird might be my most impressive watch. The size and all the ornate details is impressive. The Skyland is well known. Fancy piece, shiny and all that. I like it, even though it is hard to get it to sit right on the wrist. The Chrono-Matic was bought from a forum member. Suits rubber very well and feels like a solid piece. Thats all for now. Will update with the rest tomorrow.

Nice review. I have been wondering why the U-Boats have not received more attention.

Jeg bor i Stavanger, men har tenkt

The caseback engravings on that one actually look quite good.. One of my first replicas, bought in Chinatown in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 2002 was somewhat like this.. Except that the subdial needles were glued to the dial..

Welcome to the Air-King club... It is one of the watches I always come back to, when I am bored of heavy, over-designed watches. I have been thinking about a gen for a long time, but never got around to it. I bought mine from Silix, and am very pleased. Some of the replicas has a slightly strange "g" in "Air-King". But since the AK has been around for about 50 years(?) there has been a great number of variations. Some eyecandy of my Air-Kings. The blue "Explorer dial" is the only one I have now. Here you see a replica with what I think is the correct "g"

Really one impressive review! Amazing with all the subtle differences between the versions.. I enjoy my V2 Skyland, even though it has been resting in the drawer for the last two weeks. As for many people I find it a bit too heavy for everyday wear.

Many of these cheap Rolexes are redials. This lower the value pretty much. Hard to tell from the pictures, but I find it a bit suspicious. Often when they do the redial, they add the "Superlative Chronometer.." thing.. To beef up resale value.. The small vintage Oysterdate is a nice watch though. I have had a few of them and never lost money on resale. Just shop carefully.

So my suspicion is justified? I sent a mail to the seller as well, will see the response. TZ sales corner is usually a safe haven. Hope to keep it that way.

This one looks identical to my replica, and is sold without box or papers... for 1300 USD. http://forums.timezone.com/index.php?t=tre...09333&rid=0 Whats more, as far asI can tell, the caseback shows that the movement does not have the regulator on the balance wheel and the same blue screws and swirl pattern as the Asian 7750.. Likely an honest seller who has been framed..?

Wilkommen bei uns! Nice nick you got. I am surprised it was not taken.

A nice watch. The pearl is much better than on the SFSO rep. If it hadn't been for the helium valve and date font, I likely would have bought one... The model number on the back, A17390, is for the Steelfish.

Velkommen, Take care! :-) There are some Norwegians in here now. Custom is rarely an issue.. Sometimes, I have had to pay "moms" of my illegal goods.. Shoot me a PM if you want to know of of a rep-friendly watch-smith in Stavanger.

Thanks for the post. I have this Blackbird, a very good replica, with a fascinating date-mechnism. I have considered a service and relume, so it is nice to see what is involved. The fill-in of the lume is well executed.

Sorry, Double post..

Google.... Navitimer 3300 I suppose. A rather rare, but not very valuable quartz- Breitling. Nice watch, though! I have seen the Iraqi AF versions. Cool pieces. No replicas of those... They are a bit too obscure for the replica makers.

Rather bad redial I guess... Vintage Rolexes from this era is an interesting subject. They can be cheap, but are often small size. This Speedking from ca 1942 is way more tempting..( for me as least) This would have been a typical Rolex for WW2 fighter pilots on both sides of the war. http://forums.timezone.com/index.php?t=tre...84614&rid=0

I have seen some cheap non-chrono versions on the watchsilix.com page ( The cheaper Silix-page). They are not very good, but most women don't care about accuracy or chrono-movements anyhow.. At least that is my experience.

A classic in new clothes, slightly updated.... Just like the Porsche 911! Looks good, but I had hoped that they would fix the pearl, and align it in the center of the triangle. A new insert is cheap and easy, though.

A rather good looking replica. It is nice to see that it is getting cheaper as well. Judgung from a quick look at the pictures, they have managed to do a decent replication of the movement as well!

The Navitimer is a great watch. One of the classics, along with the Submariner and Omega Speedmaster. The ones I have had, one regular 7750 Series Speciale and a tri-compax model were both very good. Chronograph worked well. Crisp printing on the dials is vital for a watch with such a busy dial. Probably, Navitimer replicas are as good as they will get. The sunken date will not be fixed until we have a new movement. Maybe the new Breitling-datewheel will be available for the Navitimer as well, though. Previously, I think most replicas actually were lighter than the gens. I would guess cheap plastic spacers and lightweight Chinese movement were the cause.. Most newbies have likely only seen the replicas bought by his uncle on vacation in Turkey..

Great work! I am impressed that you took the watch apart for the review! Thanks.

Nice collection! ( The only one I have of those is the Skyland). I remember you bought the Emergency from a Fighter pilot. I thought you had sold that. ( Or at least had it avertised on Finn.no. Am I right?) Wear them well!