HauteHippie

No clue what it's worth, but if it were my great grandfather's its true value would far exceed any number found in a blue book.....

Any bulb type dust blower works. I use one from a camera lens cleaning kit. As far as movement holders go, I found Bergeon holders on EBay for lower than OFrei prices. I think you did right to buy quality tools. Cheap tools usually don't save you any money, as in the end, you replace them for good ones anyhow. I have purchased a cheap Bergeon clone spring bar tool, and half of the small fork broke the 2nd time I used it. It's still usable, but when I get a chance I will replace it.

Mmmm... you could play quarters into that rehaut, or do shots of Patron out of it.

Just got back from snowboarding all day while wearing my Frankensub. I've done this for years with rep mechanicals.

Speechless. Way back when I bought my first rep from Replica Lord. Old timers will remember this shady operation. Well thankfully, shortly thereafter I found TRC which, back then, was the only forum in town. There, I quickly found River, Eddie, and TTK and my pocketbook has suffered ever since. It is truly sad to see two of these three fine gents bowing out one right after the other. I wish both of them the very best and know I speak for everyone when I say they will be sorely missed. EDIT: Good news Admin!!! Eddie will be back!!

It's a nice strap. I have 2 SC straps myself. However, it's just not a Crazy Horse. I have one of them also and there really is no substitute. :-)

It depends. The type of AR that comes on reps is either the totally non-durable type or the spin coat eyeglass type. These can be removed with solvents and patience as already mentioned. The industrial AR coats, such as those we're currently having applied in the group AR run, that are applied at high temperature are not going to come of with household solvents. They are even very difficult to remove with acid washes. The company I'm dealing with has 3 methods to remove AR coatings, and has told me that sometimes all 3 fail with the high temp coatings.

Once it arrives in China, the USPS is no longer tracking the package - the Chinese mail is (or more likely isn't).

So maybe it's just super-anal me, but the lume in Andrew's pic looks really bad. The date font is improved but not quite right. The cyclops looks good as does the crown. But if I were to buy this watch, I'd still want a The Zigmeister lume job and an archibald/kruzer datewheel.

Non-issue.

Pugwash, the whole point of extension tubes is to allow you to get closer to your subject. The extension tube decreases the minimum focus distance of a lens by increasing the distance between the sensor and the lens. So now the lens will focus closer but won't focus at infinity. They are simply hollow tubes with no glass elements whose main purpose is to create a poor man's macro lens out of a non-macro lens. But, in my opinion, extension tubes on a zoom are difficult at best especially when you're dealing with a lens that extends to zoom.

I vote yes but defer to The Zigmeister. That stamp is puzzling.

For those who have talked to me about the next run, the deal is the following: Any crystal with cyclops can ONLY be coated single sided. The reason is the following: The durable coating (used for double AR) is an extremely high temperature process which will melt the crystal cement and make a mess in the coating chamber. Therefore we must use a non-durable coating that cannot be touched with bare hands which is applied at room temperature. And it can only go on the inside of the crystal. So, what this also means is that crystals with cyclopes MUST be collected for a run all to themselves and can't be combined with runs of double sided crystals. In the run currently underway we do have some getting single sides coated, but they don't have cyclopes so we're using the durable coating on those. There should be no difference in anti-reflective properties between the durable and non-durable coatings.

The cyclopes are shipping from the lens manufacturer to me today. I will want to perform some sort of crude inspection before offering these up for sale, but in short order I will start contacting the folks that have committed to purchase. I will offer paypal as a payment option (however due to not having a premier paypal account there will be a 5.9% fee to be covered by the buyer) as well as postal and bank money orders. Here are the nitty gritty details copied from post 1 in the thread: Updates: 13 Feb 2007: The magnifiers are done and shipping out to me today. Final specs: Diameter: 6.9mm 6.75mm Total Thickness: ~1.19mm 1.22mm (should (still) work on 95%+ of watches) Magnification: 1.55X to 1.7X depending on rehaut (distance from date window) Material: Sapphire AR Coating: None. RWG Pricing: $25 USD each up to 2 pieces $20 USD each for 3 or more pieces + a couple bucks for shipping and packaging per order

Yes it is (unless you can get all your crystals to me within 3 days). There does seem to be sufficient interest already for a second run in the very near future, however. So stay tuned.

Too much information.

Greg straps over Don straps in a landslide. But then you can get 3 Dons for the price of a single Greg. Just don't get a Greg AND a Don because the Don will never see any wrist time. Also check out www.vintagerstraps.com for Greg-like straps. Micah makes 'em out of gorgeous hides that are thick yet pliable and comfy (like the Greg Crazy Horse). They're basically Greg straps with different choices of leather and a slightly lower price tag. I have a Carrier and will be getting a Copperplate in the near future.... The strap fetish is worse than the PAM fetish I tell you!!!

Pics ?

They should be shipping to me any day now... I will be contacting the lens shop this week.

I don't think I've ever chimed in on this thread. So I must say what a great thread it is. The problem for me seems to be finding sufficiently thick hides from which to make a strap. I've learned that I really don't like straps with internal filler.

Your skills are complete, young Jedi.

They do seem dedicated to achieving perfection. Are these the same printers that did the 7753 wheels (and will do the next run of 7753 wheels when the 187 comes out ) ?

Wow, that is something else. Sometimes I wish I had lived 200 years ago...

Plenty of experts, it's just an old boring topic. Your watch is definitely not scrap, and I'd say you're being too conservative. The slope on the outside needs to be steeper, and the insides need some removal too. But you're probably right to hold off on the insides until you can have the gen crown sitting in there as a reference.

Yea, that is what's known as the "kit lens". A jack of all trades and master of none. One thing with lenses is that you really do get what you pay for.