unreformed66

This surprises me. I've only had a few Selittas across my bench but have found the quality to be just fine. As good as ETA in my opinion and I've done literally probably a thousand ETAs through the years. What exactly are the problems you're finding with them? I'd be interested to know.

I've seen fake Seikos before. There were some out there 20 or 25 years ago that were VERY bad. I don't know where they were coming from but they had crappy dials, crappy cases, and 1 jewel movements. Like the previous poster said, there's probably just not enough economic incentive for anybody to make them these days, but it has been done.

I see a lot of that kind of stuff on some of the "gen" forums GenTLe, a select few who purport to know everything, treat others with contempt, and generally turn people off to the hobby. On one particular forum I was answering questions in the watchmaking section trying to be helpful (I've got 26 years experience in watch repair) and was quite frankly contradicted in almost every post by a couple of asshats who want to be the center of attention and the ONLY source of advice. And a lot of their advice was pretty questionable to start with. People like that are on every type of forum I guess. I showed one up for the moron he was and all of a sudden they started leaving me alone although they still pick on others. I'm fairly new to the rep game, I've only been fiddling with them for a little over a year. But it's an enjoyable hobby just like my gens are an enjoyable hobby. Just for different reasons....;).

Ouch. So how hard DID they kick you over that one?

I've used gen parts on an Asian 2824 with good results in the past but of course you can't guarantee that they'll work every time due to manufacturing differences. I've not found any that wouldn't yet but with my luck yours would be the first! The hardest part of fitting a new stem is getting the length right and not screwing up the threads on the stem. I messed up more than a few a couple of decades ago, but like any other skill the more you practice it the easier it becomes.

I've been repairing watches for the last 26 years. I'm pretty new to the rep game. That being said, I haven't had any trouble yet with anything I've run into. I've shaken my head and cursed a little sometimes at some of the stupid things I've found but nothing has been insurmountable yet. Yes, you have to pay attention and think about what you're doing because there ARE differences. I wonder if the problem today is that so many of the modern "watchmakers" are only trained to do a select set of movements and aren't willing to do anything else. I've worked on everything from 200 year old verge fusees to repeaters in the last quarter of a century and was trained the old fashioned way to PAY ATTENTION and not take anything for granted. Sometimes more than a little analysis is involved in figuring out how something odd comes apart but again, it's nothing any repairman who's willing to take the time shouldn't be able to do. Let's face it, these things are being put together by slave-wage laborers in a communist country. If they can do it with little to no training then anybody calling themselves a watchmaker should be able to.

Well, I suppose that's one way to find out just how much you don't know. I was that guy once. Of course I was about 11 at the time....;)

It's really not possible to answer your question without being able to see the watch. It could be that the crown tube is stripped, or the crown is stripped, or a little of both. I'd advise changing them as a set anyway if at all possible but with reps parts aren't always available so sometimes you have to make do with what you can get ahold of.

There's really no good way to diagnose a watch long distance. There are so many things that it could be from a broken balance staff or a broken pinion somewhere to a balance jewel retaining spring being popped. The good thing is that these movements are easy to work on and parts are not hard to find.

That's kind of my take on it as well. Something for the person who doesn't want what everyone else is wearing. Of course there are other brands that the same thing could be said about.

So where do you guys think that IWC falls in the hierarchy?

I was wondering the same thing myself. Quite frankly the watches you've linked to here look like they are WAY overpriced. And I don't trust any "retail" website that wants my information just to look. I always think it's a phishing attempt...

Sharper Image? Well that sure doesn't make me want to end up on their email list....;)

Try Sprite or 7-Up instead. It's not so acidic when you blow it out your nose while bazooka-barfing! Hope you get to feeling better soon. I'd rather get punched in the fact than throw up. I just HATE throwing up....

You have to sign up to look at their site, are there any other pictures of this watch you can post here? I'm curious to see what they've put together.