P4GTR

Kurt I received a letter sized envelope today with a ragged hole around the clear front address space. Seems like the crown possibly made a break for it after you sent it away for adoption.

Checked under a loupe, mine are centered. How bad is it, can we get a wrist shot?

The rep Carrera bracelet is really good. You're in good shape. I have some suggestions after trials and tribulations with my own 42mm Carrera (rep). I sold a current production gen TAG, and at the time used some of the profits for my Carrera rep. Have to say I spent quite a bit of time researching, and got bit along the way. Let me say that the rep bracelet is excellent, gen leather is worth the price, but grab the rep deployant. Aftermarket leather worth a damn is pricey, the gen is an exceptional value, even at twice the cost, $100 gen leather is much more substantial than anything you can find for $60+ I'm happy for you, thats a great watch you picked up.

I think we're comparing apples to oranges! Thats quite a GMT, any information/thread on the build? I'm interested to know more. Completely agree. Anyone have some suggestions which trusted rock to look under? I think i'm about done with this build after I sort a permanent bracelet. It's been fun, however I need to be reasonable about how much time/money im willing to spend on it.

No crooked numbers indeed. Nice looking Carrera DD! I think I see it, there is the micro adjust lever present on the movement? No "new" versions of this watch, this oversized 42mm in all of its variations is the new model as far as i'm aware. Fantastic rep. The gen has silver colored screws in the movement instead of blue (already mentioned, I know), and if you look closely at the TAG shield on the dial, the TAG font is missing the pointed arrow heads like the gen. The dial texture is a little different on the gen. These are things that are so subtle, which makes this such a great out of the box rep. As far as the mvmt screws, blue burnished screws look damn cool, however when you get the 7750 serviced (which I hope you will), you could opt to have them changed out, thats my plan. The Ti case looks great, I applaud your taste- especially in staying away from that limited edition fake carbon fiber stuff on most of the Ti models. I didn't know they had a plain 42mm Titanium rep until I saw yours. By the way, you did well on buying gen leather, too. You obviously did your research. The aftermarket stuff I've tried is too close to gen prices and too far from gen quality to consider. Gen leather is the way to go, lesson learned, and it's on my list to pick up. The rep bracelet is fantastic, I recommend you pick one up. The end links on the rep are a little "pillowed" looking compared to gen, but they really knocked the rep bracelet out of the park. Gen end links are steep, something like $80 per, or a pair.. either way. I'd rather re-profile the polished center stripes to a flatter appearance then pay platinum prices for steel. Loving my Carrera!

Thanks everyone. Updated the initial post, will keep any future updates/pics added to the original post moving forward. Most people here would probably pay not to have to wear it in public!

See, and it would bother the hell out of me. Thats a big selling feature that they've replicated the TAG movement correctly. Having owned a similar gen and sold it, this "resemblance" attracts me to filling the loss with this rep. In this hobby, it is interesting to see what details bother one person, while another couldn't care less about.

Patina added to hour markers and hands. Mixed a combo of flat white, yellow, interior tan, and thinner in unequal parts until I liked the color results on a test dial, then I moved onto the GMT. Here's the result. It's 4:30 AM here.. Forgive the pictures, more to come soon.

I went through two dremel battery chargings for this! My first step was to pull the tube and take a cutting wheel to the crown guards and get them as low as possible. The steel on this particular case is super hard! Lots of hand sanding at the end to blend it back to shape. A little update: I put the case and bracelet links in a tupperware along with a few lbs. of change, a few slices of some coarse sand paper, a couple of bolts, and shook it around for a while. Took quite a bit of abuse, and resulted in very little aging of the case! The bezel insert didn't even get scratched! . This is one brute of a case, i'm telling you! It looks like superficial/artificial scratching. Maybe it was the sandpaper slices. I'll buff it a little, then back to the hopper for more abuse. Rocks sound good for next time. So now i'm a little disappointed there are no lug holes on this case. I'm thinking about adding some patina to the hour markers and hands, currently dredging through searches for some ideas on how to get this done. I suppose an older style bracelet with a correct clasp would be cool. I know it comes down to being a fantasy piece, and probably bores the [censored] out of you all, but I can't help that I've taken a liking to it!

Its just about... gen! Looks great.

I can't imagine. Or having the twig nestling in stubble (5 o' clock shadow) all day, and/or having to shave/trim daily. ahaha... Yes. I can't blame the OP, I caught myself recently looking around online to see what the consensus was on the subject of manscaping, too.

Since you put it that way..

I've never seen any higher quality MB's than what we have available from our dealers here. Even if these are the best around, I don't think they are very good. I love Narikaa, but unfortunately I have had this problem with the enamel chipping on the black MB's. I dont think it can be avoided with the black painted metal. I got one from him that is plain metal, and it has held up much better. Gen refills are not necessary, I have Parker G7 gel ink refill in it now. You can sand the pen hole opening open a little if need be, or even take down the refill tip a little.. Refills are not a problem.

Nice! Is that gen? Wearing my latest creation-

Thanks all. Not sure what to do next, if anything. It was fun to test my skills without jeopardizing any expensive parts. Suggestions? It's just a 21j, so not much I can do. Not willing to invest much into it. Crown looks a little big, suggestions?

(nothing to do with you wiesn) $275 for a pusher!? Rolex; Swiss for robbery.

Any updates/pics have been transposed into this initial post for ease of viewing Recently got this inexpensive GMTII from Speedbird here on RWG. This particular version had the same case as the submariner, so the crown guard and crown were way off for a GMT. The bezel was free spinning, the insert had fallen out, it was a bit of a mess (which I knew going in, not speedbirds fault.). I wasn't sure what to do with it at first. I wound up removing the crown guards, aging the insert, I installed a new spring and pellet to fix the bezel, and here it is. I don't expect anyone's jaw to drop, I am not trying to replicate a 6542, just wanted to see where I could take it, and here are the results so far. Case shaping. Removed stem & tube, plugged hole then spent lots of time grinding away with the dremel, sanding and polishing. still not straight.. more grinding better tube back in mock up, lets have a look.. Bezel fixed, insert sanded down & faded using oven cleaner (which has lye in it). Spray a little on a rag and wipe the insert, watching carefully, it works rather quickly. Wear gloves, don't get oven cleaner on your skin. This is how she stands as of now. Update: Case aging I put the case and bracelet links in a tupperware along with a few lbs. of change, a few slices of some coarse sand paper, a couple of bolts, and shook it around for a while. Took quite a bit of abuse, and resulted in very little aging of the case! The bezel insert didn't even get scratched! . This is one brute of a case, i'm telling you! It looks like superficial/artificial scratching. Maybe it was the sandpaper slices. I'll buff it a little, then back to the hopper for more abuse. Rocks sound good for next time. Update: hand & hour marker patina Patina added to hour markers and hands. Mixed a combo of flat white, yellow, interior tan, and thinner in unequal parts until I liked the color results on a test dial, then I moved onto the GMT. Here's the result. It's 4:30 AM here.. Forgive the pictures, more to come soon. The following day... Went over the dial again for imperfections. Shook the case/bracelet up again in the tupperware. Better pics. It's raining here in Tampa, so lighting is not optimum.

Really cool, Don.

Just get a beard trimmer and use it with the lowest guard. Balls are difficult, use same thing just be extra careful, get the obvious, and dont worry about getting too detailed. I've heard people shave their whole situation, balls included. Razor burn and stubble from hell I bet. Hair removal creams can burn your balls in like 3 minutes flat.

looks like theres a 21j in it, not an ETA.

i'd be glad to, alas, the SMP and PO have different He and crowns. None the less, if thats the comparison you want I'm more than willing to oblige. Absolutely agree. The date font does appear to be as white as 6,9,12. Some pics are taken via a loupe. The fonts are not that far off. I think the Omega print on the 6.9.12, compared to the Omega center specs were done on two different runs. One run produces the dial, hour markers, and 6/9/12. Second infamous run prints the omega info, albeit a dab of different. I'm a guy that loves a 42mm but wasn't looking to pay the exorbitant cost associated with the occasional 4th gens that popped up for sale. A newly available 42mm case with correct He placement, correct lug width, serial #, and improved bezel/pearl are paramount for someone that wants a 42mm, especially someone that isn't going to franken everything. The likeness is sneeringly spot-on, the case set is waterproof (MR tested it for me, and I tested it on arrival) and the only real upgrade would be a lume job, which isn't very expensive in the way of mods/frankens.

I know the SMP is not like-for-like against the PO, but in these shots, I've used my gen SMP to help you gather your own conclusions. A multitude of shots with flash and natural lighting using Canon Rebel EOS, to show what the 5th generation 42mm Planet Ocean looks like.

Im taking some close-ups with my Canon EOS. Stay tuned, i'll post a new thread.

cool story, thanks for sharing

I received mine yesterday. asian clone version, from MR. Perfect transaction. QC, communication, waterproof tested, the whole 9. Very impressive watch and transaction. I'll probably do a review, if not at least post some pics soon. Without a doubt. The only PO i've ever owned was a 42 POrikka. It made me realize how right a 42mm PO was for me, however I was not fond of the orange version I had. I knew the new 42mm was going to be a keeper up until if/when I buy a gen. Maybe I won't swap parts out, but it's serviceable, and reliable. I didn't want another few-month-then-fail 21j. They must be using different dials for the 21j's, the font is white on my dial/dw.