Victoria

My Bell and Ross 46 mm 01-92 Second is my gen Breitling B2

Mind reader! Was about to post this question tomorrow.

For me:

A snooty restaurant "hostess" made me wait a while to be seated. I looked at my watch to ascertain if I had time to wait, flicking my wrist casually. When I looked up, she LITERALLY had her mouth wide open, staring at it.

God that felt good. The cow.

I think you would be surprised at how many people actually notice your watch (why do you think they sell so many watches, both gens & reps). But the vast majority of people are either too shy to talk to a stranger or feel that by complimenting you (without having something of similar complimentary value on their wrist) they would be diminishing their social status by acknowledging the potential bank account strapped to your wrist.

Good point. But they don't even compliment when it's a cute cheapie watch either.

I am a big-time complimenter. Watches, jewelry, earrings. And I always notice when my porters downstairs have gotten a haircut. I'm a people-person, in that inimitable American phrase.

Sociologists have a term for this reduction of status among peers,

Oh yeah! What is that term...now it's going to kill me until I remember, Freddy.

In the Social Norms class we had at school, they spoke about this.

It's a similar reason as to why newly middle-class people have a tendency to treat their servants badly, whereas the "to the manor born" rarely do. The nouveau bourgeois do this to separate themselves from those now they consider under them, in part to be effective in ordering them about.

Of course, in England it's considered rude to point out anything personal about a person: watch, haircut, tattoo. Trust me to be rebellious about this...

I can't wait to hear if Bob ever gets another compliment, since I notice they come in pairs, one after the other.

but it escapes me at the moment (and I know the term for that one -- absent-minded).

The watch I was wearing? Vintage 1972 Omega Speedmaster Professional Mark II, which I had bought three days earlier.

Awesome story, and magnificent watch, Chrgod. Happy it was in Houston it happened to you (that town has serious money, and they are used to beautiful watches).

My last compliment was about my gen Rolex TT -- not the one you saw in the Wristies -- last Sunday. This worries me a little, since both Bob, you and I have gotten compliments about gens in our stories.

Only the fantasy HBB in YG has gotten me regular compliments...would love to hear compliments about reps!

They raced em...but they never did well. The esperante LMP was always DOMINATED by the R8s. As far as Panoz goes, the AIV Roadster was cool, but IMO, the Esperante is a glorified mustang. Why do I say that? It is. Interior bits, motor, trans, suspension, steering system, etc, etc...all mustang bits. For that matter, the AIV Roadster was a glorified Mustang as well, just a bit more glorified than the Esperante. They were making quite a buzz in the early part of the decade, but they fell off the map after they took forever getting their models out, etc. When it came to cars in the "Sporty GT Roadster" category, there were a few options.

Wow, what a buzzkill.

Ah well. I'll punch any man here who calls me "a typical woman" about anything, but I'll keep my meathooks to my sides about cars. I know nothing about cars or engines. If it looks pretty, I'll buy it.

As I mentioned, I'm in the market for a car, so that's probably why my attention was caught by the Panoz.

EDIT: Ooh, I didn't see your photo at first. WOW, awesome car. What is it? *g* ...and I just love how huge American garages are. I know people in London who would consider that a small manor home.

Just watching the Travel Channel (I love this channel!) and viewing an episode of "John Ratzenberger's Made in America". He's at the Panoz factory -- a roadster car assembly factory, where cars are completely assembled by a skeleton staff.

Never heard of Panoz, but my God, what beautiful little sport cars! This is my favourite -- the Esperante.

They even race these cars in LeMans!

Why am I always the last to know?

For the first time ever, somebody noticed and made coment about a watch I was wearing.

I was at the bank, making a deposit ... had my hands up on the counter filling out the deposit slip, etc. After the transaciion, as I turned away the young teller said, "Have a nice day. Nice watch." Huh! I turned back ... I couldn't believe it. I had to ask, "What did you say?" "Nice watch.", he replied. I smiled. "Thank you."

YAY!! What a great story. I'm so happy for you.

It's hard to explain, this double-take we have when we hear a compliment about our watch, BobM.

I liken it to getting my teeth bonded when I was a kid. Before I had a saucy, Madonna-gap between my two front teeth. Then around the age of 16-17, I walked away from the cosmetic dentist's office (in the US, naturally. The British could care less) with perfect joined pearlies.

Two days later, a metre maid (actually a guy) told me not to park where I was, having leant into my car to say so, and as he lifted his hand from my car window, he said, "You have a million watt smile".

The same little gurgle of satisfaction, mixed with modest shyness, and deep gratefulness I felt then, is how I feel whenever someone compliments me on my watch.

And I love how it's blue-collar people who are the ones who spare one a nice word.

I don't think any one of my richie friends has said word Uno, about my watches.

Oh, the watch I was wearing ... a 30 year old knockoff of the Corum Liberty head double eagle gold coin watch with a burgundy alligator strap.

Bah. Trust a banker to notice a gold coin watch.

Hello Vbarret,

Where did you get the spring bars from?

I have just been told form my dealer that the spring bars he has in stock are too fat for the holes in the SS bracelet.

I am thinking that perhaps he encountered the same issue as you??

Any thoughts?

I got the spring bars from River, and I use the bracelet exclusively on my PAM 111h from Andrew (I have two). The bracelet I got from Davidsen.

He warned me twice that his bracelets are very hard to install. As you can see above, he was right...

After I got the tip of bending the "wings", the tubes didn't seem too fat. Otherwise, there is no way I would've been able to fit them in without busting up my 111h.

I never tried the bracelet on the DSN 112 because it came with threaded lugs...

Would say to give River a PM and see if he stocks those springbars still. I had read somewhere that he ran out. OTOH, DSN also has them, but I don't know if he actually sells them (they come as part of the 112).

My favourite American jokes of them all -- Helen Keller jokes.

Q: What do you call a tennis match between Helen Keller and Stevie Wonder?

A: Endless love

Q: What did Helen Keller say to the shop assistant when she knocked down some merchandise?

A: Just looking!

Q: How did Helen Keller pierce her ear?

A: She answered the stapler

Q: Why did Helen Keller wear gloves?

A: So she wouldn't get a sore throat

And my favourite:

Q: Why did Helen Keller masturbate with only one hand?

A: So she could moan with the other

Freebie Chav Joke:

Q: Why did the chav stare long and hard at the Orange Juice carton?

A: It said "Concentrate"

And one more. Actress playing Helen Keller on stage.

FRIDAY

Still with a sniffle, so in bed most of the day. I will be wearing this humble thin little watch. But cute!

Gucci snake coming atcha!

SATURDAY

The DSN Fiddy on an OEM Bordeaux strap, and OEM buckle, just like PamPam in TeeJay's Orlando Bloom thread. Yay!

I can't believe I'm wearing a USD20,000 watch!! And if you ever catch me really thinking that, I give you permission to slap my face.

I stood on my head to get this shot! And if you believe that, I'll sell you my Fiddy for just $19,999.

What is true, is that I HAVE A SWEET TOOTH FOR RED STRAPS. And red nails.

SUNDAY

Resting in my giardino segreto, is my new Louis Vuitton Tambour Regate watch bought from RWG member, Garethsm.

The Titanic should be so lucky.

The movement -- lovely. And you should feel how heavy it is!

The Wristie! Not sure who the bimbo is, but I like her lips.

...have a safe, happy weekend guys!

Shall I copy+paste my response in Bergie's thread? lol. Humans are pretty self destructive by nature. Guns are good, when they're in the right hands. The vast majority of humans are completely idiotic and totally disposable. Now I'm waiting for someone to try and argue otherwise. Come on, someone take a shot, say that intelligence is totally an issue of socioeconomic circumstance!

@vbarrett : "as allstate stands. are you in good hands?"

CC, I just want a piece of the rock.

Well, that was inevitable. I guess we will never know who outed him.

I'm fairly sure it wasn't anyone with that name I know on RWG. The "voice" is totally different (even if they are doing it on purpose).

That it was someone from this forum, however, is a little more likely.

Yay! Now I know where I can buy my Paneri with Zenith movements!!

I haven't been able to log onto that site since they changed over the servers. Oh well.

Ahh, I was just about to reply that RWI is up for me. But I seem to remember that Sssurfer used to have a problem too, and the response was DNS servers -- they were "working" on it, but at the time, could do nothing about specific member problems.

Piratedzeus is a member here and a Mod there. I'm sure he will reply soon, or perhaps you guys could PM him too.

left torso shot with IWC 07 CD

Wow! I'm not much for tats, Lani, but that's a great shot.

And do I spy with my little nosey eye a hint of a goatee? You old salt, you.

You gun lovers only help to perpetuate incidences like this by your refusal to even acknowledge any correlation between the availability of guns and gun violence.

You can outlaw all the porn in the world. It won't stop sex.

You can outlaw all the drugs in the world. It won't stop junkies.

You can outlaw all the booze in this world. It won't stop drunks.

You can outlaw all the nastiness in this world, and we'll be stuck in some anaesthesised v-chip Pollyanna Rated-G world, where nothing bad happens, and all is sugarcane candy dreams.

Or you can see what is happening to these boys, and help them. They are crying out for help. But no one listens. They just care about advancing their little pet ideas about what is wrong with this world.

SCOOBS! That is SO beautiful.

And I see you have a Greg strap in tan with antique stitching?? Either way, matte perfection.

looks like they locked it

Good. No one replied to it, as many of them are on their way back from work.

A Man of Strength

"A strong man has faith that he is strong enough for the journey ...

but a man of strength has faith that it is in the journey that he

will become strong."

I don't recognise this quote. Did you write it Nanuq?

It's beautiful.

Black kids do this kind of thing. It's called gang violence, and it happens all the time. Sad but true. The only thing that is more sad is that because of the fear of more gang violence, other kids and family members do nothing to help identify the killers, perpetuating the cycle. It's a shame, but quite the reality.

But specifically, black kids don't usually enter a school with a personal arsenal of arms, and kill their classmates and teachers.

It's possible that they don't do that, because in places where they study, there are metal detectors and police standing guard outside. But something tells me that's not quite it.

White teenaged boys have issues, more than other sexes and races. We need to address them, as a society, because those who don't act out when kids, go on to become lone serial killers later on.

Fetch the popcorn

Do you guys know how EERILY similar this thread is to THAT famous thread?

First poster brings something to the forum's attention. People flock from miles around to give an opinion, with dozens more reading it. This time, though,Two Tone was me, cooling things down.

Then comes this bit of news on Risti, similar to what Lanikai did (a slow exposition), and it changes everything all over again. More people stay tuned to see what happens. Finally, the last act was the photos.

What will the last act be now...will Finepics come back to make trouble? We shall see. I hope this dies a much needed death.

BE PREPARED!

Being a Guide was one of the most fulfilling experiences I had growing up. I'm just so sorry my parents couldn't be involved, because of Transatlantic unhelpfulness -- but I had a great vicar and the local gentry who gave both the Scouts and Guides much support.

I was a CYO (Catholic Youth Organisation) counsellour, but gave it up after I entered Med School. I'm an only child, and have no "way" with kids, so I preferred to mentor 10-12 year-olds. I found they were most receptive, and still deferential enough to listen and not just talk back like adolescents tend to do.

As for the incident, how can we extrapolate about one song? Isn't that what people have said since the 1920s? That music "degenerates" the young?

Nah, it's not one song. Or even a musical genre.

Tangentially, how many rap songs are there, which glorify violence and criminality, and yet black kids don't do this type of thing, either. They are surely no strangers to guns, at that.

And I'm sure there are a lot of kids who listen to the song the Columbine kids and this kid now did (or watch Basketball Diaries, another influence people said), who don't go on a killing rampage.

Nah. It's about individuals and how they relate to their surroundings.

The vast majority deal with it, in silence, and in pain. And the very very few don't.

Is it OK to blow my nose?

Only if you're a Supporter.

Run for the hills...

V and VB - sorry but I still think you're wrong about the Fiddy's value. I stand by my LV Sub analogy, everybody wanted a piece of the LE 30th Anniversary Sub and many bought several to safe-queen away for a few years. Now you can't give them away and I know of one well-known vintage dealer who gets calls every week offering him LVs.

I agree that it's not "worth" $20,000, not sure why you think I think that. All I said is that stuff is worth whatever people think it's worth, from geeky Star Wars collectors to snobby PAM collectors.

There is a glaring flaw with your analysis above, though.

Panerai are the newest kid on the cult watch bloc. In many ways, they superceded the Rolex marque (so closely intertwined historically anyway) with niche collectors.

Of course, vintage Rolex hobbyists will scream, yell, and say that's pish, but by and large, I think people will agree.

Thus, the Panerai marque is on the way UP and has been since 2000, whereas Rolex is stable -- always classic, always covetted, but a little overdone, OTT, and too repped.

New money without style or knowledge wants to impress everyone.

New money with style and knowledge wants to impress just a select number of people.

That's why loads of people would rather buy a scuffed up Rolex that looks like it's come out of a Blitz shelter, than a shiny new LV Sub.

As for the Fiddy, what price desire? At the moment, 20k. If Defacto had taken the leap earlier, he might be 11k the richer today.