chrgod

It is a while since I made mine, but I am using Photobucket. If you downsize the filesize you should be ok.

Thanks for the warning, A. I am just joining the Bandwagon.. Show us your country! I love small, weird countries! One of these..? 1. Andorra – Officially known as the Principality of Andorra and also sometimes referred to as the Principality of the Valleys of Andorra. Covering a total area of only one hundred and eighty-one square miles or about four hundred and sixty-eight square kilometers. It has an estimated population of only eighty-four thousand people. This charming country is actually a popular holiday destination, with its magnificent mountains and beautiful landscapes. 2. Antigua and Barbuda – This twin island-nation is bordered by the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. Its total area is pegged at only one hundred and seventy square miles or roughly about four hundred and forty square kilometers. It has an estimated population of eighty-six thousand seven hundred and fifty-four. 3. Barbados – This island-nation of the Lesser Antilles only covers one hundred and sixty-six square miles of total area or around four hundred and thirty-one square kilometers. It has an estimated population of about two hundred eighty-four thousand five hundred and eighty-nine. 4. Grenada – This island-nation is situated in the northwestern parts of Trinidad and Tobago. It has a total area of approximately one hundred and thirty-three square miles. This size is equivalent to three hundred and forty-four in square kilometers. It has an estimated population of one hundred and ten thousand. 5. Lichtenstein – Officially called the Principality of Lichtenstein, this country is situated west of Europe. Bordering Lichtenstein are Switzerland and Austria. Its total area is approximately sixty-two square miles or about one hundred and sixty square kilometers. It has an estimated population of thirty-five thousand seven hundred and eighty-nine. 6. Maldives – This island-nation has a total area of one hundred and fifteen square miles or roughly about two hundred and eighty-nine square kilometers. Its estimated population as of 2010 is three hundred and ninety-six thousand three hundred and thirty-four. 7. Malta – This country is formally known as the Republic of Malta. It has a total area of one hundred and twenty-one square miles. This is around three hundred and sixteen square kilometers. Located in the southern parts of Europe, it has an estimated population of four hundred twelve thousand nine hundred and sixty-six. With an area this small and a population this much, Malta is one of the countries with a high population density. I will bet Lichtenstein or some of the weird South-Eastern former Communist states..

I recon the XVI has a colorless AR. I am a noob when it comes to AR, but this tint of this coating reminds me of the one on the most recent "colorless" Panerais. The reflections seems to be even less. I like it. "The two-crown style is a winner. I would imagine you like the LONGINES "compressor" as well?" Yes, the Longines Compressor is a nice piece, buty I would have missed the date. For IWC, it is the Vintage Aquatimer, which carry on the two-crown style for IWC.

Yes, that is correct. There has never been a good replica of the previous Aquatimer, so I had to get the gen. When new, in 2006, it was about the same price as a Submariner. On the current seconds hand market, it is about 1500 USD cheaper.. I assume it is partly due to the IWC-movement being based on ETA 2892. Still, I find the modern style of the Aquatimer more interesting then the Sub. I like the two-crown style, the flatter case and the fact that IWC is a less known brand. The Ingenieur on the comparison picture has a well-worn Chieftang AR, while the Mark XVI has a brand new AR-coating by Domi.

Should not be to difficult..

I had the AR on my IWC Mark XVI done through Domi in Germany, as part of a service. Just got it back. the result seems good.

Friday 13th... Time to wear my only Day-Date watch. Fresh from service at Domi.

Hmm.. A quite rare watch. I am a noob on Hublots, cant help you. However it might be an idea to change the title of your post to include the name of the watch model you request info about. That way you will attract the attention of those who have knowledge of the hublot. The sellers mostly carry the same models, however customer service vary. Good luck!

Glad to see it arrived well. Hope it can be restored to some of its former glory! It was included in an eBay watch lot I bought some time ago. At ca 39mm, it is rather large for a vintage watch. Its 17 jewels 21600 bph movement seems to be in decent shape. Interesting piece! There is little info on Le Gran watches. It seems to be a US brand, I found a vintage ad online. Wear it well

I belive the Japanese call this normal wear marks "Wabi". Nice case, remindes me of the Gerarld Genta style on the IWC Ingenieur.

Who will buy from a seller who uses the nick "Scotty _the_hotty"..? The answers to the questions in the bottom of the ad is funny reading.. > On 09-Apr-12 at 19:57:22 BST, seller added the following information: HI, DUE TO SOME JOBSWORTH, I AM SHORTLY GOING TO HAVE TO REMOVE THIS ITEM OFF EBAY BECAUSE AS I HAVE STATED, I CANNOT PROVE ITS AUTHENTICITY, HENCE ME SAYING" BID ACCORDINGLY" ANYONE WITH HALF A BRAIN CELL KNOWS WHAT THIS WATCH IS AND WHAT ITS VALUE IS. SO ANYONE THAT WANTS THIS WATCH, MAKE YOUR OFFERS NOW! YOU CAN ALSO CONTACT ME VIA ..xxxx... On 09-Apr-12 at 23:10:05 BST, seller added the following information: HI AGAIN, FOR THE LAST TIME!!! I CANNOT BELIEVE THE AMOUNT OF EMAILS FROM PEOPLE POINTING OUT THE OBVIOUS. AT WHAT POINT WHEN YOU READ THE DESCRIPTION DO YOU NOT REALISE WHAT THIS ITEM IS!!! I HAVE NO, NONE, ZERO, NADA, NICH PAPERWORK WHATSOEVER!!! DO I NEED TO SPELL IT OUT ANYMORE??? IT'S A F**E! WITH A STARTING PRICE OF £200, WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU WERE BUYING? AT NO POINT WHATSOEVER HAVE I USED THE WORD GENUINE OR DESCRIBED IT AS SO!!!!!! ON THE OTHER HAND, YOU WILL NOT FIND A BETTER ONE OF THESE TYPE OF WATCHES....

Thanks for the review! It looks great on mesh.

Thanks for the comments! Yes, there are minor differences in the dials as well, when it comes to "Germany" or "Made in Germany"... In order to be in line with the caseback it should have stated "Hergestellt in Deutschland". I assume the replica makers are used to display caseback being easier to sell, even though this replica targets a more "upmarket replica customer". I doubt if they sell this rep to tourists in Chinatowns.. I would love if it was possible to buy the closed caseback somewhere. One "Fun fact" from the Nomos' Watch encyclopedia: "Winding a NOMOS watch with the help of chocolate If one could completely invest the amount of energy of a bar of chocolate (about 1,020 kJ/ 244 kcal) in the winding of a manually-wound NOMOS watch, it could be wound 3,400,000 times with the energy gained from the chocolate bar. The watch would thus run for 5,950,000 days. In other words, if 16,346 years ago, toward the end of the last Ice Age, a person living at that time had eaten a bar of chocolate and had used this energy to do nothing more than winding a watch, then he would just be running out of energy today."

In the world of watches there are the big players; Brand names which even the average Joe knows.. Then there are a couple of less known expensive brands, and a forest of relatively new brands which are not well known, even to the average WIS. Nomos is in the latter category. To be honest, I had only a vague knowledge to the brand before I spotted the rep at Trustytime last month. Then, starting to investigate the history of the brand and the accuracy of the replica, I got interested. List of references at the bottom. Much of the information is cut and paste from the net. THE BRAND Wikipedia "Nomos": In Greek mythology, Nomos is the daemon of laws, statutes, and ordinances.. Nomos was founded in 1990, by Roland Schwertner in the small but famous watchmaking town of Glashutte. With three employees, Schwertner travelled to Glashutte just two months after the collapse of DDR. The first watches were made in 1992. By January 2012, the company had 81 employees. Their first building was in the hillside above the village, but in 2005 Nomos moved into the old train station in Glashutte. Just across the road from A. Lange & Sohne. 2005 also marked the release of their first automatic movement. Prior to that, Nomos was most known for their manual wind movement. The old building, which is now the Chronometrie. (Picture from TZ.) The new office/ factory. The old Railroad station. Nomos is a true “Manufactory” that designs and builds their own movements. According to their website, they are one of only 3 watchmakers in all of Germany to wear the label of Manufactory. Thereby, they are allowed to type "Glashutte" on their dials. By law, 75% of the value of the movement must be created in Glashutte, to use this name on the dial. Nomos does between 75 and 95 percent of the work on the calibers itself. Nomos has also created several tourbillions for Wempe. This is the current line of Nomos watches: Current line of Nomos watches. MOVEMENTS The current line of movements used by Nomos. Note the "Sonnenuhr", which one can wear around the neck.By setting the date and point it to the sun, you can read the time on a lazy summer day.. A truly environmentally friendly watch.. No batteries or polluting oils. Nomos movements. Manual and Automatics. Nomos name their movements using letters from the Greek alphabet. The original hand wound models introduced in 1990 used the tried and true Peseux Caliber [ETA 7001], to which NOMOS added continuous improvements over the years and starting in 2005 only the updated calibers alpha (base movement), beta (incorporates date function), gamma (with gangreserve/power reseve indicator) and delta (date and gangreserve) are used for the manually wound models. The Caliber Alpha is the most basic movement, 23.3 mm in diameter and 2.6mm high, with hours, minutes and subsidiary seconds as the only functions. This manufactory caliber manual wound movement has 17 rubies and a power reserve of about 43 hours. A movement that is perfectly matched for the minimalist watch-a watch like the Tangente, the Ludwig, the Orion or the Tetra. The automatic movements used in the Tangomat, is called Epsilon. It is a 26 jewels with ca 46 hours power reserve. The finish is nice, with sunburst pattern and blue screws. Sunburst pattern on the cog wheels. The Nomos Epsilon movement, detail view. A bit different from the ETAs or Mioyta clones.. Genuine Nomos movement. The “Glashutte Ribbing” on the movement plates is different from Swiss style Cotes de Geneves. Apparently it is the angle used which is slightly different. Nomos has excellent webpages, free from the annoying wait for flash graphics to download and fuzzy design which are so popular with other brands. Easy to find information, even technical stuff. Just in style with their no-nonsense Bauhaus design! Interestingly, Nomos has the following mention of "Fakes" on their online Encyclopedia: ""Fakes All over the world and in all walks of life, the number of fakes has soared. There are Chanel T-shirts, which aren’t Chanel, Louis Vuitton bags which have never been anywhere near the Louis Vuitton company, there are cigarette lighters, trainers and silk scarves which are nothing more than cheap copies. You can find fake Lange & Söhne watches, toy cars and food processors. According to the dictionary, a fake is a modified or copied version of an article, a work of art, a literary work, a historical document, a signature. There were already fakes back in the 18th Century: The “Prillwitzer Idole,” fantasy figures of early Slav gods, were made at that time by an East German goldsmith (from Prillwitz). Even though NOMOS Glashütte is not one of the luxury goods manufacturers which suffer from copyists (because it would probably be too expensive for many of them), fakes, particularly of the Tangente do turn up now and again, on internet auctions. The “Tangete” (sic!) model serves here as one example: a customer acquired it at a supposedly reasonable price on the web two years ago, complete with its own special spelling. "" (From Nomos' online Encyclopedia) THE WATCH All Nomos watches are influenced by the Bauhaus industrial design concept of the 1920’s’ where designs are both functional as well as aesthetically pleasing. Bauhaus was a design school in Germany, from ca 1920 till 1933. Seeking to achieve a modernist design style, the primary intention was to integrate art, as well as technology and craftsmanship. For those interested in cars; Audi referenced the Bauhaus styile in their cars around ca 2000. The Tangomat has Nomos’ first automatic movement, launched in 2005. The case size of the gen is ca 38.3mm and 8.2mm thick, quite similar to the replica. Current Tangomat models in sale includes Date models, GMT-models and a black case. The black case model seems to be rare. The current line of models in the "Tangomat" range. PVD-case, GMT-functions and date-models are available. Genuine Tangomat. Note the shape of the "8". Genuine Tangomat. Note shape of lugs and the lugholes. All the Nomos I have seen on the net have display casebacks. There are great varity in the details of the design of the caseback varies. Some say “30 meter”, others “3 atm”, some say “Geschutches” other “gesch.”. So, I guess the replica caseback is ok. Nomos watches can have different lug designs. I recon both designs are inspired from the Omega Seamasters of the 1960ties.. The lug design on the Tangomat seems quite boxy and rigid. The lugs stand out 44mm. THE REPLICA The first Nomos replicas came out on Watcheden some months ago, without any fuzz.. The large, white dial and thin bezel makes the watch wear larger, and will satisfy those who are used to wearing 40-42mm diameter watches. The flaws I have spotted on the dial is a slightly thinner text, and a more square “8”. For me, none of these are dealbreakers. The slightly thinner “Nomos” text is more elegant. The strap is ok. It is a thin leather strap that feels very cheap and nasty at first encounter but it quickly gets better. Its minimalistic design flatters the watch. Nomos uses Shell Cordovan for their straps. Engraving on the strap buckle is ok. I like the slightly wider "M" in the "Nomos". The case design with the odd lugs does not feel familiar at once. The lugs are very thin compared to the case, and you immediately think that this is not a “Tool watch”. But, it is stylish. Replica crown and case. I like the dial, with the silvery shimmer and crisp text and numbers. The subdial has a very slight concentric pattern, like the genuine. Replica. Note the difference in the shape of the "8". Very slight cocentric pattern on the subdial. Lenght of the seconds hand is ok. Good finish on case. Well made. Minutes hand too short. Replica crown is good. Hand length on the replicas is one of my replica “obsessions”. As usual for many replicas, the Nomos rep has a slightly too short minute hand, ca 1mm. For most buyers this will not be a problem. The movement is of course the biggest tell. The display caseback immediately communicates that this is not a manufacture German movement, but rather a run of the mill Seagull ST16? Nice finish, never the less. Quite loud rotor, but all in all it does the job. Replica movement. Position of the seconds subdial seems to be correct. The crystal is flat and has no AR. To my knowledge this is correct. All in all, I am happy. I have a test of "Would the watch fool a "normal" watch interested guy?" From the front, the watch definently pass the test for a watch interested guy who has heard of the Nomos brand. From the back, the watch would not fool a normal WIS, who knows the look of a basic Chinese movement. If you like the style, buy it! Keep in mind that the genuine is not expensive and you can get a true Manufatcure movement for less than the price of a basic Tag Heuer or Breitling... This replica has opened my mind for a new brand.. A sign that "fakes" are not all bad.. References. Nomos homepage Nomos Glashutte. Article on Timezone WUS Review on the Tangomat Datum Details on the Epsilon movement ( clubnomos.de)

Sorry to hear of your problems. Yes, watch modding can be frustrating, it is a steep learning curve.. For me it has been on and off the last years.. Regarding rep watches taking gen dials, unfortunately it is not common that a gen dial can fit straight in.

The high end Seikos, MM and Ananta, are true tehcnical marvels. However I have never really got to like them. Design wise, they are too similar to their cheaper sliblings. I guess some finds this rather an advantage. For instance, the hands does not extend all the way to their registers, making accurate reading difficult. The dials are also a mess of different type fonts and hand styles. Never the less, nice watches and kudos to Seiko for being a true innovator!

Try Orfrei.com

Beautiful watch. The BCE must have been one of the first superreps, back in 2005-2006.. and it is still one of the best Breitling reps. I like this style so much better than the recent Chronomat B01. Maybe it is time to grab one before the model is discontinued.

Very interesting. The changed datewheel really does make a big difference. I was not aware the rather bad fit of the crystal and caseback.

Here is some of the QC-pictures. ( I have already approved them).

Just ordered one, at 118 USD. Will see what it is like!

Ah. Finally some real life pictures of the Portofino. Thanks! The Zigmeister is not impressed by the quality of the Asian 2892s. It will be interesting to see whether there has been any improvement in these latest versions.

Would look great on a leopard strap....

A new watch manufacturer has been replicated.. Nomos Glashutte ! http://www.1-pc8838....36-p-12085.html (White version) http://www.1-pc8838....6a-p-12086.html (Black version) Previously, Nomos used mainly manual wind movements, based on ETA. This replicas mimics the "Tangomat" model, which uses Nomos' in-house Epsilon-movement (no-date). Here is an article on Nomos and their Tangomat. This replica has Asian Automatic. The finish of the movement is of course far from the gen. From the front I think it looks good. I like that the seconds subdial seems to be in the right place. Welcome to the world of counterfeits, Nomos.. Only good brands are replicated. At the end of the day: . Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

Thanks for the review. Happy to hear that your first experience was positive. In my experience, the rep strap gets much better after some use. I feels very plasticky when new.