POTR

Thanks All... Already a better birthday than I thought it would be a short while ago... The girls and I will be kicking back, taking it easy, and possibly moving some stuff over to the 'new' diggs today and the rest of the weekend... Happy 4th to you all!

Misspellings with Reps are not as common as they used to be.

George, 1. They are not BBB members.... but, 2. The have fixed 37 of 51 complaints to the BBB, (tested only on those 51 cases that is still >72% solution (a solid C these days) whether or not the complaints were valid... and... 3. Over the 3 year period measured, there were only 51 complaints out of millions of watches sold... which is really more like a 99.999+% happy customer rate (which should be an A+, but is really just an opportunity for BBB extortion, but I doubt Invicta feels threatened...) I am willing to bet that the remaining issues (if not the majority of them) come from idiots who insisted on adjusting their Ronda based moon phase watches while set to the dangerous time frame.

Ok... who 'doped' the buffalo with scent? That's just wrong.

I know where you can find a 51mm, 90+ year old, Skeletonized, 0.800 silver-cased DOXA wristwatch for right around that amount...

I arrived here with hundreds of Gens and no reps. Down to a couple dozen Gens and up to 1.5 Reps and hundreds of new family members... Some of those Gens are amongst the new family now, vintage and sold, or new and given away, it's all about sharing what we all love and what makes us who we are. Maybe we can just consider the forum mixed for purposes of brand, and add other lower cost brands as their own categories in a similar manner to what is already here... Rolex is already Gen and Rep discussion as are the rest... why not add, when popularly required, new categories such as Invicta, or Doxa, or Seiko... and I am sure the members will keep doing as they have been... talking about the Gens... talking about how to use this and that as a Rep... and how cool the Monsters are compared to plain old subs, how O&W and Doxa are looking like decent deals again, how much the Cordubas look like B&R's, the Makos look like Subs and how the Ocean Ghosts are a nice homage to the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms Trinities... etc...

Translation: I don't have any replicas anymore, and am generally not interested in taking reps to the "n'th" level of realism anymore, but maybe will still consider them for cheap beaters. But, JUST LIKE I CAN'T MISS THE BIG GAME, I HAVE TO COME TO THE BOARD, I NEED MY FIX... I HAVE MANY FRIENDS HERE, AND THE CONVERSATION HERE IS ENGAGING, AND OF HIGHER CALIBER THAN OTHER AVAILABLE FORA. Therefore, I think we should add a small "genuine watch" section to the forum, to continue the tradition of better information in all areas... Am I the only one??? Answer: No friend, you are not the only one.

Every dealer has had a problem, just like any other business out there... Just Read The F#cking Manual for the particular dealer you're dealing with... plenty of damn posts already about how each one of them resolved or didn't resolve the various issues... And plenty more scattered all over the other forum categories where they don't belong... Who did this, who shipped sh!t, who shipped broken, who didn't ship, who's shipment got lost, who's 'shipment got lost', who screwed who... keep it where it [censored]ing belongs so the next person who is half responsible for his own actions can find them... instead of stringing [censored] out over several different threads (no matter who started them) so that the mess gets bigger... of course the people who do [censored] like this will complain that they couldn't find [censored] too... I wonder why? Hint.. got a problem with Josh... there's a category for him... got a problem with Ken... same deal... keep it there. Don't go running around in ever other category but asking how to deal with Ruby or why won't Silix talk to me... don't like how they dealt with you... keep it there too... LIKE how they dealt with you... can you guess where this goes??? Gee, was that [censored]ing hard?

Hell, when I get ready to start sending mine up for service (and that will probably be sooner rather than later, as the neck and hands are getting worse), I want sketches and signatures engraved on the casebacks...

So, that wasn't you over in In Topic: Difference between Copy ETA and Gen ETA complaining about conflicting information, and answering yourself? Must be someone else using your account? No, you are crapping threads, and you are 'politely' insinuating no one is sure or knows, etc... play semantics if you wish... weasle words are still weasle words... Maybe you feel it's a bit harsh of me to be upfront, instead of using insinuation? I guess you must be 'sensitive' and 'confused'... want a tissue? And maybe you're feeling just a little bit embarrased about wasting your money, and being 'incorrect' in this thread here, or I should beleive that you beleive this is the only thread in which you have done this, instead of correcting you your current li...er... mistake... OH! I see... I guess you posted this thread because you wanted to see if someone would hold your hand and talk to the "big bad dealer" FOR you then? Is THAT what this is about? Eh... whatever... see those holes in the autowind wheels of the TISSOT/ETA movement peaking out from under the rotor in that photo that was posted earlier.. you know, that one in the thread that you 'didn't post in', that is 'upgraded' and decorated different that the plain ol ETA? And isn't "in the ETA Catalog" because ETA didn't do all of the work on it? They're all still there... Was that so hard to figure out? Should you spend your money on something that isn't what you thought you paid for when you can't be bothered to read all the info that is already here, and instead make the members here re-live it with every cycle of newbies that come through the door??? I, for one, have a big enough soap opera going on around my place... I don't need it for 'entertainment value' here. And we already have enough slippery weasles running loose as well. I don't feel like anyone should have to hold your hand on that one. How's that for crapping on a crappy thread?

Hey JohnG... I've been looking at watch movements for 30 years... any opinion I would give would be based on that experience... feel free to ignore anything I say... since you have already followed that above advice... look for yourself... ETA has images of it's movements in all levels of finish in it's catalog online. Every one that comes from ETA. If your movement has parts that don't look exactly like the images in the catalog (smaller parts and 'gears', not the larger plates) then, feel free to make your own damn inquiry of yourself. Anyone else... Well, these copies are damn close, probably done on closed ETA factory equipment, but the detail, fit and finish is obviously (if you have eyes) not identical. That said, the new generation copies are probably fine from a reliability standpoint, might accept gen parts up to the point where the lesser finished rep wheels' tooth angles might be off enough to cause issue on occasion, each movement is going to be it's own little unique adventure on that part and simply impossible to hazard a reliable guess... Damn "Swiss" movements have been mostly Asian for ages now anyway... they just aren't looking over Chinese shoulders as much ensuring the "standard" since ETA packed up and moved out... damn sure wasn't to save money... guarantee it was a last ditch effort to save brand significance in light of people figuring out where the stuff was actually being made... So.. quality? Almost but not quite. And there we can leave it up to the your own individual sensibilities to determine how much you want to invest in the crap shoot. I think that the vast majority of are dealers here are great people, but I also understand that their marketing has to be tailored for the world at large and be able to compete with all the other lies being told out there by the dealers that aren't here... What ever happened to the newbie cheat sheet?

Damn... That bezel is messed up.

Poland found plenty of them before anyone told them not to let the cat out of the bag on the French... but, no one wants a cyclosarin pearl... Wish I could find an old bottle of Radium paint....

And when the well informed cheapskate still has problems with his watch too soon (and anything is too soon for him) he will complain loudly, and forever, to anyone who will listen to stay away from your shop, because you ripped him off, provided crappy service and "ruined his watch." Even if you later give him a proper service later for free. That's why, TeeJay

Administrative Privileges Besides, as some band once said... We do it all for the Nuqi.

hmm.. did I say 19 instead of 18? oops..

Going back and reading his description... The /1 came out in 57... so.... his serial is off by about 150K.

Hmmmm.... Can't see the forest for the trees? Can't see the between the lugs shot... doesn't exist for me... so if it was there, I can't say... Perhaps it was the brand new replica rivet bracelet that is bothering you?

Umm..... That "Nuke" Pearl you were really interested in, on an incorrect "squared number, hashes to 15" insert on a nearly perfectly even worn brass true coin edge bezel surrounding an aftermarket T19, which gives a rather 'wokky' looking distortion of the rehaut when viewed from the side, with a very nice SWISS gilt dial and hands (although the seconds looks like a newer replacement), in a decent looking case with Brevet Crown, with an unfortunate mis-drilled hole on the upper right lug, enclosing a very nice looking, and appropriate 1030, with a good looking caseback with bad looking date stamp. Hmmm.... Who's running the grill? The franks are a little underdone.

Yes Vly... just remember that 'empathy' thing... even more important now that sellers have no way of talking back. The only tool they have is their customer service and the ability to choose carefully who they sell to. And that's gotta be scary... because the really bad ones sneak up a whole lot quieter than the usual potential-unsat... but when someone starts rapid firing in separate messages, each one taking that much more time to answer than a single message with multiple questions... Then again, it's impossible to have a good read on everyone all the time... and communications can and will break down... I had a similar experience happen to me with a dealer after he had my payment info... I sent him a mail asking to confirm that he had received everything ok, because he hadn't charged my card yet, and he went totally ballistic on me, to include claiming to block my email. So, I made sure to reciprocate through a different email address my dissatisfaction with his new attitude after the acquisition of my info and the fact that I could track down his relevant county authorities, by name, should I have to... (of course, he is here every once in a while... and now knows who I am too ) Of course, you never can tell how tightly wound a lot of these "laid back vintage collectors that also happen to visit rep forums" are now... ... can we ?

Remember that old business adage... 20% of your customers will bring you 80% of your income.... that leaves 80% bringing in the other 20%. Problem customers belong to the bottom of the larger group that brings in less. They are the 5% that waste 95% of your time. Ask all your questions at the same time, phrase that last one better... because you sure don't want to appear to be calling into question a dealer's credibility when the dealer has obviously spent alot of time and effort providing a 100% positive experience.... and don't drag the damn experience out for a dealer you don't know... he's busy... IN OTHER WORDS... If you look like a problem now... what in the hell will you be like to deal with if you're allowed to send money?

I recognize that crystal profile... After market T19 from Helfands on theBay.

Ah... I think he is pretty much just doing Vintage Cars these days and getting ready to retire...