HauteHippie

The Zigmeister did a cross transplant on mine with a dial lume.... It makes all the difference. Now if I can ever find endlink screws for the damn thing I'll actually get to wear it!

Thanks for putting this all together RT. I will echo the sentiments regarding the Ebel. It's truly a shame this can't come to fruition. This watch has the "it" factor! The Aquaracer is a good choice from the standpoint of being easy to accurately replicate. But there's just nothing special about it from a personal interest perspective. More of the same from IWC, IMO. That said, I'll contribute to the project anyhow and add yet another high quality rep to my collection!

Back at you TTK!

I don't know about the SD as an investment. How often do you read the TZ Sales Corner? SDs rarely fetch more than subs over there.

Tough to say for sure with those pics, but the lever appears to be slightly off-center. The lever on gen H and I CGs is centered.

Non-AR only. I'm not having any coated. The best time and place for this is after having installed it so that the entire crystal with the cyclops can be coated together. On PAM models that didn't have AR on the crystal, the cyclops shouldn't have AR either.

OK, so your rep CG is thicker than mine, and according to my calipers, my Jimmy Fu is thicker that yours. I wonder why? But regardless, it just looks much better on my 063 case than either of the thinner ones I have from the rep factories. So, I'm glad I got it. In fact, I wish I had gotten a few more to have lying around for a rainy day, and I wish there were Jimmy-Fu-like CGs for Daylights!!!

Well I received two CGs with the 063 I recently purchased.... One measures .245" (6.2mm) The other measures .255" (6.5mm) My Jimmy Fu masures .27" (6.9mm) Doesn't sound like a big difference. But on the side of the case you see it because you have top and bottom edges of the case as a reference. This tends to exaggerate the difference like one of those eye/mind tricks.

New ones do also.

I love the Jimmy Fu on the 063. The biggest visual difference is the thickness. The rep CG is skinny while the Jimmy Fu spans the width of the case. And of course, functionally, the lever action of the Jimmy Fu is far better.

Of course. You don't want to be the watch guy who "couldn't come up with anything better than Rolex". Totally understand. But I'd be floored if your cousin wasn't thrilled.

You make some good points indeed. But I think it's only people like us who would receive a Rollie and say to themselves "this aint anything special".

The other thing I'd caution against is getting so creative that when the non-watch-enthusiast cousin opens the gift he has no clue whether the watch costed $500 or $5000. There have been alot of excellent suggestions, but I think it's important to remember that you're not buying it for yourself, and most people don't care how interesting the complications are and probably haven't ever heard of most high end watch manufacturers.

The good ones always have.

Simple, elegant, and classy is the way to go. Flashy and big is not. And, while I absolutely acknowledge that many watches are far more interesting and desirable to an afficionado, I like millwright79's latter two suggestions the most for gifting to someone who isn't. And, I'd probably even consider the Datejust before the Explorer 1. Go with the brushed oyster band and smooth bezel. I'd also opt for the roman numeral markers. This combo is elegant, classy, yet understated. Now, personally, I happen to really like this combo with the dark blue dial, and think it'd be excellent in black as well. The Aquaterra suggestion is also excellent, IMO, for all these same reasons. But a non-watch-enthusiast is far more likely to be wowed and impressed with a Rolex than with an Omega IMO. Here's an example (and albeit not a fabulous pic) of the Datejust combo I like. I am not necessarily recommending a used watch (although I don't think it's a bad idea), but this is a used piece from 2002 on Timezone priced at $2200 right now to illustrate what I consider a sharp gift: Although I do prefer the contrast of a darker dial against the brushed stainless case and band, it does also looks quite nice with the Rhodium dial IMO (this one is priced at $2900) -

So if I make out to Colorado for some snowboarding this winter, can I stay with you? What did you ever end up coming home from Cabo with anyhow?

LOL. OK that's funny.

Carburetor cleaner from the auto parts store...............

Well I happen to like the rotor "sound" (I don't call it noise ) my 7753 makes. And I love it when the rotor really gets going, like when you make a sudden motion, and almost tears your arm off. PS I am being serious.

I dial swap with a Joshua dial is indeed helpful. The Davidsen crown leaves a little to be desired too and the CG, last I checked, had the recessed pin. Perhaps the crown is a nitpick, and the CG pin can be remedied.

Definitely low like the MBW and TW Best. A huge "who cares" to me as it is very difficult to notice. The issue on the older TW Best was simply a slightly small outer diameter to the bezel. And even that is hardly noticeable as even the gap on gen A serials is somewhat noticeable.

The skinny, I believe, is this for modern subs: Older TW Best subs have slightly smaller bezels and require a diameter reduction for gen inserts to fit. Newer MBW subs (and whatever the case on Ubi's modern sub is) have bezels that fit genuine inserts in diameter, but are too shallow thus requiring material to be removed from the underside of the insert - but not from the outer diameter. All of them have the crown uncentered (seated low) in the case.

Here's some: http://www.watch-batteries.com/replacements_spring_bars.htm

What a combo. Looks fantastic!