baltic

Me too, I'm back in the IWC game!

The Zigmeister lume on a 7753 PAM 196: My collection glowing nicely

Congrats on a great piece. I've got a 7753 196 too, it's had the The Zigmeister treatment and has a Lello DW awaiting fitting. It's sporting a Don Carbon Fibre strap (excllent value) and is running at +1 sec every 3 days!!! As you can see the Ziggmeister's luming is second to none

Sorry for the delay in posting as I've been checking through my e-bay records to find out where I got the box from. However I'm afraid the seller is no longer registered as a seller on e-bay!

Aye I got mine from the Bay

Guilty as charged m'lud :-)

You'll get an 861/1861 in that price range reasonably easily if you err towards the 2k end :-) Unfortunately you've got no chance of a 321 unless you change the $ into

As Pug said if you want the 'classic' moon watch get the Speedmaster Professional 3570.50 with solid case back and hesalite ctrystal. The change from 861 to 1861 involved adding an extra jewel. As far as anyone can conclusively prove an 861 has not been on the moon everything points to the watches used by Apollo were 321 calibres. However the 861 was re-tested by NASA in the early 70s. For more info on the Speedmaster google Chuck Maddox or try speedmaster-mission.net. You can pick up a modern Speedy Pro on the bay for a reasonable price, especially from Japan as there is a high turn over of watches there. Happy hunting!

@EV_ great review, nice to see another convert to the Speedy cause! My rep of it was the first rep I bought, in fact I loved it so much I sold it to help pay for a gen!! My review of the rep and gen is on By-Tor's Omega rep review. @ Pugwash, good luck in the hunt for a gen, you won't regret it!

Congrats and welcome to the wonderful world of gen Speedies!

Erm, haven't done this for a while, so here goes... HOOF!

Ah, great minds think alike - 69 was a great year! In my opinion the Speedy Pro is the best watch full stop.

I have 2 of my all time favourite the Speedmaster Professional. My grail being the 1969 Pre-Moon, same vintage as me

That's the tutorial I used myself, it worked a treat.

Ah good idea, I'll do that now, cheers.

Just to let you all know I've sealed the case back on the PO and have completed my first ever proper bit of watch repair work! I'm mightly relieved I can tell you! The hardest and most tricky part I found was removing the stem from the old crown as I had to 'gan canny' with two pliars - eek! The old crown tube was easy enough to remove with a pair of fine needle nose pliars, with a twist to break the loctite or what ever sealant was used, it then pulled right out, mind you the qulaity of steel used was awful. The new crown screwed down nicely on the stem and the new tube was popped into the case and I used UniBond metal repair which seems to have done the trick. What I've learnt is that with some basic tools a lot of research (this place has been fantastic for this) and a bit of guts a 'relatively' straight forward job like this is achieveable even by a short sighted clutz like me! It also increased my admiration even more for The Zigmeister with his incredible skills on the more high-end jobs. I'm off for a calming pint now, cheers!

@ jdavis & gavidoc, thanks guys I'll keep you posted how it goes - today's the day!!!

@jdavis - thanks I'll look out for it. Did you find it easy to remove the stem from the crown?

Hoof!!!

Bumpity, bump bump!

Oh one last thing, can anyone recommend a decent glue for the gen tube? ta B

Brilliant, many thanks Zig!

Hi Zig, thanks for the info, is there a specific size extractor to use? You serviced and lumed the watch last year and it's still going strong! @Andreww & Takashi ta for the input.

Hi, I've researched the dreaded UPO crown tube stripping issue and decided to get a gen crown and tube to fit my UPO. I know the rep tube is a press fit, but can anyone advise on the best way to remove it? I know the gen tube's diameter is too small and will need cementing in place. Any advice greatly appreciated. B

Definitely get the lume done, The Zigmeister did mine and it's transformed the watch. I've got a datewheel but I haven't had it installed yet. The watch is running at +2 sec/6 days!!! and i really don't want to have it taken apart when it's running so well. It is the most accurate watch I own rep or gen.