anton

They are probably not replicated, as they are cheap here in the states to begin with.. (50-100 USD). What I do know is that they are most likely re-branded chinese made watches, thus the price for them being so low.

Hey! Is this your phone number or was your watch made in the future????? ------------ I don't think there would be any gens made in this number sequence...if so, then think of how easy it would be to locate where the SN was sold and then obtain papers for a "lost" item.

I guess that depends on which version the rep is based on. If it's the newer one, it should have either seven-digit serials or serials in the high nines.

Black dials are usually gobbled up by the buyers before the whites because they are in demand. Unfortunately, they are also hard to find in majority of the models.

Let us know when you come into town! I'm a native here (so are others) so maybe we'll spend one day for a GTG and then go off to either downtown for a rep supplier or midtown for a gen supplier. I'm looking to maybe getting something for the wife. I sure could use your input.

This watch is assumedly an alternative to the AP Royal Oak Jumbo, since the Big Bang is the "copy of a copy" of the ROO. But I can't help to think that it looks like a Yacht-Master alternative instead.

Here is the reference picture: Doc, there are indeed several iterations of this same model, right? I assume that this is the model that J&A put investment on. If so, then they have a bit of a way to go. Nevertheless, a good looking rep.

Apparently there is. Here's one iteration: Being that it probably uses the Valgranges movement, I'd be darn well upset if it costs as much as the BB Chrono.

I'm not surprised that the gouging, coupled with the demand for such a product would command obscene prices for such a mediocre item (yet I own one, too.) This is also done in gne-watch territory as well. Remember our old friend the 116520 (Daytona) in White dial/SS? The most-sought after watch today and yet it is the one with the lowest SRP. SRP is $6500; but it can't be had for less than $10-12K today.

Well I guess I also need to consider overhead, eh? Meaning that this dream is over my head!

this makes me think... could an artisan craft their own ceramic bezels? and at what cost?

law of economics, my friends...surely if we don't buy; that's probably a fraction of the dealer's customers. now, if the demand of this product dropped by an overwhelming majority, then we could expect the price to be lowered. Remember when the Cousteau was offered for darn near $800? FOR AN ASIAN 7750??!?!?!? I'd pay $800 if there were a 2-year warranty attached, though.

A sex phone operator huh? So I guess you hold the phone up to their faces while they do their, um, 'hands-free' operation? I was almost laughing to myself when I read this and the rest of the thread. I guess sex does certainly sell.

I was originally a TAG Heuer person, now a Breitling fanatic. I don't have much, but three so far. Thinking the Emergency may be my next choice. SA side by side with a Motors T: and my recent collect: a CWS from 2000 (in the six-digit serial, low 100,000's)

My picture was taken at a slight angle, so there's room for distortion. Armin, here's a reference picture of a gen 6.75 Notice how the pushers are not asymmertical with the crown, as is evident with the rep. Also, the crown is "sunken" towards the bottom of the case. But hey, the Blackbird and 6.75 are still good reps. Woody, I'll be posting a video soon. EDIT: Here it is: It's my first video posting thru photobucket so forgive me for the poor quality. Video on Photobucket

On the gen, the crystal is affixed to the case and the inner bezel rotates thru a gear system similar to the Cousteau Diver only that outer bezel movement turns the inner bezel. On the rep, the inner bezel is affixed to the crystal.

On the main seconds counter (@3), the "20" and "40" designations should be lower and nearly touch the "25" and "35" markers. Same goes with the "10" and "20" minutes counter @9. The Hours @6 subdial seems a little small as the outer ring of the subdial should reach the markers at 5 and 7.

I would say that it's +/- $1K with all those mods, including initial price of rep. Still better than $4200.

As with all Bentley reps, the obvious tell is that the crystal does NOT turn with the bezel on the gen. That's all I know aesthetically; other than that in regards to the movement, please read my post about the Cal. 44 that I posted recently.

I've search these forums to no end and have seen no movement-related differences between our Bentley 6.75 and Blackbird reps when compared to the gens, so here's a little informational spread... Our reps are a "mega-modified" A7750 movement made to run just like a Cal. 44. Now I've never held either rep in person, so I have no initial experience on how they dunction, but I do have a gen Crosswind Special, which is built on the movement. Front view: Side view: According to Breitling, this movement is based on a 2892-A2 with chronograph and big date modules attached on top. But personally, I think it's just an 2894-2 with the big date module. There is bacially no difference between the two; since the 2894 is essentially a 2892 with chrono module. Notice the second picture (the side view). This is what I consider to be the glaring flaw that is present on these reps because the A7750 is an integrated chronograph movement. So you can always tell a rep from a gen based on the offset of the pushers to the crown (about 2mm), which are not on a straight line on the gen (again, due to modular movement). The date starts swapping over around 11:35pm and "flips" at 12-12:01AM. The clockwise turn of the crown in the second position turns the date. One thing that I did not like about this movement (or maybe it could just be my watch being that it's seven years old) is that when the gears are engaged for the chronograph function, the seconds counter (@ 3) seems to jump about two seconds ahead when starting. It's not affected, though when it resets. Additionally, as the chronograph seconds move, so do the minutes counter as well in a quasi-sweeping motion (albeit slowly) whereas the A7750 will move one minute once the seconds hand gets to about 58-60 secs. So, folks, those are the main differences I've noticed between the movement and movement it's meant to mimic. Please feel free to contribute to this thread, since I am a novice.

Well, as we all know, this is just a crude prototype. Give it a month or two and they'll be improved. I bet this is the 21J movement.

For Thursday---today my CWS gets its' wrist time:

I second the shoes argument. I've had a pair of Ferragamos and they've withstood the test of time (with regular maintenance) and after five years still look as if they've just stepped out of the cobbler's shop! Buying a pair of $400 shoes can be well worth the investment, since I've been through $100 shoes that have visible wear or crack after the first week of break-in. Butback to the original topic at hand, how did we go from a watch discussion to our buying habits?

this is the quote in question: "Our ceramic bezels and cases are made by Kyocera in Kyto (Japan). They are leader in ceramic and have an annual turnover of more than 10 billion$. Nobody, except Comadur(Swatchgroup)is doing ceramic cases and bezels in Switzerland. But they produce exclusively for Rado (which belongs to them) and tey seem not yet prepare to produce for third party." Now, barring Mr. JCB's lack of proper English skills, it really should be read this way: "Our ceramic bezels and cases are made by Kyocera in Kyoto (Japan). They are the leader in ceramic production and have an annual turnover of more than USD $10Billion. Nobody except Comadur (owned by Swatch Group) is doing ceramic cases and bezels in Switzerland. But they produce exclusively for Rado (which belongs to them) and they seem to not yet be prepared to produce for third parties." So the country or origin of the ceramic bezels are still questionable on the rep or gen; but since I am inclined to take things from the horse's mouth...you see where this is going.

Is this true? Did I not just read from another forum (and JCB said it himself) that the ceramic bezels actually come from Kyocera; a ceramic manufacturing plant based in Japan?