Sogeha

I have been looking at TD sites, I know very little about Royal Oaks having only just started to notice them. I have been flicking backwards and forwards from page to page trying to compare, but I'm not even sure if I have the right watch. I read the sticky on modding an AP and I've been looking at genuine ones on the net and in the AD. I have a lot to learn. Belated congratulations on your appointment to the admin team by the way Legend.

All the dealers seem to have the V6s at the moment. As has often been said the ETA clones 2824 or 2836 are best for out of the box reliability. The S3135 is probably best seen as a placement holder for a serviced Yuki 3135 or a genuine 3135. The movement is notoriously unreliable, but makes fitting either of the above very straight forward, the important dimensions are the same. Stem height is correct and I believe the hands can be reused too. I'm not sure finding a genuine dial would be easy at the moment, but I'm happy enough with the one it comes with. Not perfect, but really very good.

I love a good franken thread, do you have any before and during pictures to share please?

You can't just dangle that in front of us. Please give us more details, do you do it for a living? Do you take on work for others?

Titus are an undervalued make and I like that dial.

Please tell me about this watch, it's a perfect dress watch

The best is from Rolex, everything else is a compromise to a greater or lesser extent. Do you want to buy it and wear it or are you interested in modding it to improve it? While Rolex like most expensive watches are luxury goods and the price reflects it, it is unrealistic to expect a USD300 watch to be exactly the same as a USD8000 watch. It is truly amazing how good many of the reps are, but some things you either live with or this hobby is not for you.

Reps, gens, Seikos and vintage stuff, erm well over 200 and still buying. Never mind the wear per month ratio, a couple of times a year I discover a watch I didn't know I owned. On the up side I am well aware I have a problem. I don't have enough storage space :-)

Bienvenido. Apuesto mi Español es peor que su Inglés.

Hi, First post, so welcome to the forum. Sadly my knowledge of IWC stands at approximately zero, but I would suggest reading everything on the IWC area. Actually the second post down seems to be what you need to know.

I don't know how many times I've looked at this on HF, it's a really nice piece. I keep looking at your dial work too

You have no idea how much I wish this was possible for me.

Kind of you to say so. I'm still kind of new around here, but I don't think there is an active poster that is in it for anything other than the love of the watches. I think there are plenty of members who could buy pretty much any watch genuine if they wanted. I am fortunate enough that my budget does stretch to genuine, but I couldn't buy everything. I just saw a Ulysses Nardin for USD100. I like it a lot for that price, but not for full list gen. i know I post a lot of rubbish really, but I'm proud to be a member here and to know a few of you personally. Like most I'm on a few genuine forums, but truth is if I ever want to really know about a genuine, I'll ask you guys, not them. Best wishes to all, Paul

Thank you Mike, you deserve some kind of recognition for that.

Very true. I dismissed a Phong 16610 build on cost grounds. Last week I saw a genuine mid case for USD1500 and even that doesn't really work out. Put all gen parts in and you are getting really close to gen money, yet still have a bitsa. Phong only makes sense on vintage stuff IMO. Still it is interesting to know how convincing his stuff is. Actually I am quietly pleased that his cases fail on such detailed examination. I have no desire to rip anyone off and if ever I did let go of one of my fakes I wouldn't like the buyer to be able to scam with it either.

That is superb. Some of the builds on here blow me away. Time to up my game, stop ordering more reps and start sourcing parts for frankens.

Sage advice Automatico. Thank you.

Please don't be putting pictures like that up on here. I have enough addictions with watches, pens and cars. I don't need leading astray. Now I'm thinking about my old school calculator, a Texas Instruments with flickering red display. :-) Back to red Subs, this one looks kind of cheap now http://www.hodinkee.com/articles/new-watches-in-the-shop-march-29?mc_cid=57e499529f&mc_eid=a54c549482

Is that labour or labour and parts I wonder. Perhaps you could post pictures so we can see what you mean or perhaps the mods can investigate. On the one hand it sounds like Slay got ripped off, but on the other perhaps RA is entitled to a defence. I'm very interested in getting to the bottom of this as I am currently collecting parts to send to RA.

See, you end up being your own harshest critic. We OCD over details. Yet the more genuine vintage pieces I see the more I realise that almost anything is correct. For a long time I've been looking at the bevels dbane883 achieves and thinking I could never do case work to that standard. Have you seen the "what 10000 buys" thread? If I screwed up that badly on a rep I would dump the case and never use it, yet it exists as a genuine. Someone thought it was okay. Same goes for mix and match parts, later crowns, dials, hands, bezels are pretty much normal.

I don't think you need a very thick skin around here. I put my 5508 up for criticism and was suprised how kind people were. I've worn it for a few months now and kept on reading. I now see small faults nobody mentioned, though I sure they were seen. 1016 are lovely, my current one isn't anywhere near as good as yours. One thing I do know it it is difficult to get a decent hour hand. It should extend into the chapter ring. However I have seen many, many genuine 1016s online and in London dealers that have clearly had a replacement hand set at some point and have a short hour hand. I'm no expert but I think you have a build to be proud of. Enjoy it.

Is that your work? That's the first Royal Oak I've ever liked.

Well I've thought for a while that the best vintage Rolex are built by members here. Amazing what a few months reading can do. Even I can see that case is knackered. On the other hand I've seen people asking more for just the dial. i do have a question for the gurus, what about laser welding it back to shape. I hear more and more "reputable" dealers are having it done.