southcoast68

Gotta love those pointed crown guards

I had an interesting conversation a few weeks ago at a Ford dealership. I brought my Mustang (6 Cyl.) in for a scheduled oil change and when I got there, I noticed I had parked next to a F150 4X4 truck. Not thinking anything about it, I went into the waiting room while they took my car into service. A minute later, one of the techs came out and the guy at the counter handed over the keys for the F150 and said "you got another one". He then told me that that was the fourth F-series truck they processed as a trade in that morning! This was Saturday, and I imagine they save this kind of work for times where the service department is not so busy, so it may have been four F-series trucks over a period of a few days, but still, it really brings to light the current state of affairs. He also told me they had a customer who traded an Explorer and a Lincoln Town Car in for a Ford Fusion since he could no longer justify the cost of feeding the other two vehicles. I said to him "gee, pretty soon you are going to have a run on Escape Hybrids" and he said they already have. However he also said that Ford is not following through on demand, "people ask about them and we have to say that we have none in stock, so they go up the road and buy a Toyota Prius". For those members here that may be more familiar with the auto industry and technology, my opinoins may be total rubbish, feel free to chime in with added input as this will turn into a interesting discussion. I personally don't feel that we as citizens of the US have not nearly done enough and I agree with the opinions on how Americans have turned fat and lazy. Of coure we want it all while investing the minimum amount of work and effort. I think the average American who pays in the neighborhood of $400 a month for a car payment probably feels "hey, as long as I'm paying that a month, I might as well have a large luxury or performance vehicle with a V8 and all the luxuries of home". Of course, this mode of thinking only gets us into financial trouble again and again. I'm no different, your talking to a guy who grew up around big V8 Detroit iron, owned many V8 trucks and cars as everyday transportation, and I even still have my old '68 Mustang with 428c.i. V8 sitting in the garage (its doesn't go far these days), but I know I'm going to have to change. Many probabbly feel as though something needs to be done to curb or reduce fuel prices, and I'll bet that many are looking to next year when we know who the new president will be, and look to him for some relief, although I don't believe it will happen. First off, over the past few years, the American people have been made to believe that $2.99 is cheap when this figure would have been considered sky high just a couple of years before. Most realize that depending on where they live, they rely on thier car for transportation and will pay the freight because they have to, and big business realizes this. Its not the actual cost of bringing the fuel to you, its what the market drives the price to, they charge you that much because they know they can. I also do not believe that opening up drilling closer to home or dipping into the strategic reserve would do any good to lower costs at the pump for the above mentioned reason, the market is controlling the price. Nor do I beilieve that the price will or should go down, I only think we can hope for a stabilization at where it is now and as the economy re-circulates, peoples wages catch up to the current costs of fuel and everything else it effects. The previous statement may not be very popular with some, but consider the following. Only when the avarage person feels that its back is against the wall will they do anything to change, whether is it eating less, excersising more, or learning to modify habits to save fuel. We in the US were faced with the same problems in the early seventies, we reacted, saved some fuel, and then forgot all the lessons learned when the eighties hit and people started to find more money in thier pockets and more credit at their disposal. We started buying bigger vehicles again, driving more and looking for more convenience in what we did. As was said before, the drive-thru, although being a big convenience to alot of folks, has been a major contributor to lazyness and wastefullness. More and more traffic on aging roads and no real commitment to better develop mass transit has led to millions of grid locked cars during rush hour, all ideling, with A/C units on wating to get to thier destination. Some may say that more mass transit is a pipe dream, but we can send folks to outer space to build a space station, we can spend billions protecting our interests over seas, why do we have such a problem maintaining and enhancing the infrastructure that helped this country grow in the first place? If the price of a gallon of gas went back down to just $2.75 a gallon, this conversation and all the banter of finding alternate fuels and conservation would be lost in a heartbeat. We gotta realize we are doing it to ourselves and that this old story will never go away until we change our ways. I don't know how to do that yet so I am not saying I have all the answers, but I do feel that things will have to change somehow. Lets start tomorrow by taking a lunch to work, or walking down to the favorite lunch spot instead of driving there. Lets slow down a bit on the highways and let our engines breathe a little easier, lets try to change gasoline to something we choose to use when we want, not something we require everyday. I guess the one good thing about watches is that they take no gasoline, wether rep or gen, and a lot of them make thier own perpetual energy.

Thanks for all the input. This sellers site (Brand9Ave) states that it is 43mm dia. and 15mm thick case, its also states that it is a asia7750 full working chrono. (of course all dealers have some incorrect info. from time to time whether intentional or not). Other sites show similar model with faux chrono for cheaper, but the dial is different. Well, its not like I have $240 to throw away, so I'll probably table this for further thought later. If it indeed has the same case size and weight as the normal Aquaracer, and indeed does have a full working chrono., I would not mind having one. I'm just weird that way.

I don't know what is happening inside my head, maybe its all the ROO madness lately, they are everywhere. Anyway, APROO's never did anything for me at all, I really did not care for them at all, until lately. Over the past couple months I've taken more notice of them and they are growing on me. Anyone know if/when the EOD PVD black versions of this seconds at 12 model will be available? One seriously elegant looking chunk-o-steel there, thanks for the pics!!!!

No one here gives a crap about any of this or about you!! What you did was inexcusable, you don't impress anyone here. Also, as Shundi said, please don't think all folks from Masdsachusetts are like this tool. I'm from Mass and my parents tought me much better than that. Vent over......... Now, how about we leave this thread behind, way behind and get back to the watches.

I just took a look at your sales post again (for the twentyth time in the past couple days). Even though its the black dial, I'd love to have it, I'm just tight on cash. I need to put up a few more of mine for sale (if life ever grants me the time to photo them and put them up). Good luck on the sale, who knows, if I can swing it, I just may grab it off you. Cheers.

Yeah, but I may pick one up anyway. If I do, I'll review it (although my photo skills are lightyears behind yours).

Hi all I was just browsing around the web and came across this; It's not from one of the approved dealers here (I removed the name from the pic), but it is a dealer I have used before with good results. Anyway, can any one of the TAG faithful tell me if this is a fantasy model. It's not on the TAG official site and I cannot find any other info on it (yet). I am thinking that this one along with a blue dial day/date version would look real sweet in my collection. Thanks in advance for any information. Cheers

Reading all this reinforces my current trend in buying reps, only buy the cleaper asian models. A while back I bought a SUB LV from Trusty, his $118 special. It has a Asian movement and guess what, it is one of the best I have considering its price point. It runs great, has a good power reserve, snaps the date over right at 12:00, has great date font, and above all, looks really stunning. Even the crown guards look good and I have compared this very watch along side with a gen, and the little differences I found are not even worth caring about and could even be explained given the differences the gens have from year to year. Now I'm not saying the next person to buy this model from Trusty would get quite the same experience I did, as always, YOUR mileage may vary. What I am saying is that I took a chance on a $118 rep and won (that time) and I did not have the concern of "getting the swiss movement I paid for". As far as I am concerned, this watch does not need a true ETA to be a joy to wear. With that being said, I do understand a lot of folks strive to get thier favorite model rep with a true ETA in it. Its based on the feeling that that particular rep is special in the fact that is has a heart that is a cut above a Asian made copy. Its much like owning a gen, the feeling that that particular watch has nothing to proove and truly is something that not everyone alse has or can get. This argument I feel is not going to go away since many folks in this hobby are willing to pay as much as a couple hundred dollars more for a rep due to the fact that it was advertised as having a true Swiss movement inside and these same folks are going to feel ripped off by thier dealer if it is ever proven that what they bought is not what they got. I also feel that this situation will not change unless our buying habits change. If I think I can get a cool looking, well made and properly functioning rep from another dealer selling only Asian copy movements for a cheaper price, then why go to the extra expense of buying a rep with a supposed swiss movement inside, especially if it is getting this difficult to tell them apart? We all jump at the latest offerings and are often willing to pay a premium for them. Heck, if you have the money and can justify the purchase for yourself, go for it. But realize that the rep industry is always going to hype up a model in hopes of making a sale, its business plain and simple. As far as having to communicate this back to your dealer, I think the "having it serviced by a watchmaker and supplying written proof that it is not an ETA" and then negotiating a price break on your next purchase or partial refund would be a reasonable way to go. Other than that, getting as educated as you can about the bobby and making informed purchase desicions is your only defense. We are all going to get stuck from time to time, it is just the nature of this hobby (and life), I know it sucks, but unfortunately............ It is interesting when you think that some of the best reps we have seen in the past few years are a lot of times better as an Asian version (Noobmariner, SFSO, UPO Lite, etc.). I can remember getting excited over a rep that had a self winding movement of any brand as opposed to a cheap quartz Good luck in getting your issue sorted out with your dealer.

I remember first collecting reps around 1992 or so. Then it was mostly Rolex only and bad reps of Rolex at that. Lots of Canal St. like merch and "flea market" finds, lol. After taking a break for a few years, I got curious to what was available now that the internet had become so much more common place and found these forums (it was actually a discussion on Watch-U-Seek that had a link to RWG1). After a while reading, I ordered my first rep in years from Josh (a Sea-Dweller) and was I ever impressed with the improvement in quality!! Of course now, the SSD kicks that one in the ass all day long, but still... I guess the expansion of the dealers business has afforded the community an ever increasing supply of amazing products, and that is certainly a good thing. Really though, back then I never thought I'd see so many brands represented and represented well.

Hi all This crossed my mind when reading another post that mentioned a dealers website not being "up to snuff". I remember when more dealers operated out of a photobucket album and used e-mail for communication. I wondered if the grand website offering a lot of different choices and having easy checkout with credit card processing was better for us all or not. Sure if I were a dealer looking to broaden and grow worldwide, I probably would try to cast the biggest net I could to get the most fish that I could. However I think that maybe it was better for the hobby as a whole when things were smaller in scale. I remember when MBW was a term steeped in mystery. It seemed the only way to get at thier products was to be reffered by someone else, know the secret handshake, or be a long time board member with good connections. It annoyed me at the time, but I understood why. As a newcommer, nobody knows you from Adam, and some sellers just preffered to keep a low profile and only do business with someone they trust, and thats cool. Now, more and more dealers have relations with MBW/MBK and I think that is great, but I wonder if it would be good to see all of MBW/MBK products offered on a high visibility website, or just through more intimate channels like before. Now this is not a thread started to pick or otherwise critisize the way dealers do business, that is up to them. This is rather a thread to ask the populus here in general what they think. So what say you, do you like the ever increasing high profile way of buying reps, or are you more comfortable communicating via e-mail and photobucket albums? Cheers

I use a "presto" type hand removing tool that works great (just make sure to protect the dial). These are pretty cheap and readily available. To install hands, I postion the hand with rodico or tweezers, and then push them down with the eraser end of a pencil (just make sure the eraser is of the soft pink type). The eraser is just firm enough to apply pressure, but soft enough not to scratch. For second hands, I use the tape trick, which works well. Even though I have a hand presser, I usually go this route as it is quicker for me. I experienced an anomaly just the other night on this very same subject. I am putting together a chrono project and ran into trouble with the small chrono hands. The movement is a ETA7750 (real swiss from Ajoesmith) and I am using hands ordered from Borel specifically for the 7750 (hour 2.00mm, minute 1.20mm, center seconds 0.25mm and subdials 0.17mm). The hour, minute and center seconds went on with no problem, but the subdials are weird. I position them on the posts and push them down into place, a few moments later they pop off on thier own. The last time I was not even touching the movement, and "pop", it bounced off the side of my hand never to be found again. I am assuming that the hands in that set were either the wrong size or poorly made, either way, I'll be ordering more hands and hopefully have better luck in future. Anyone else experience this?

You're reviews are always well appreciated, thank you!!! This is one rollie rep that I feel I would never own because thay never seem to get it right. Seeing your two reviews on these have got me thinking of a new possible addition to my stable. One question, the bezel insert printing seems a lot better on the noob-factory version, in your opinion, if you had the MBK version, would you change out the insert for a better one? Thanks again for all the hard work on these reviews!!

Yep, I'm getting it too and my last post (before now) was just yesterday.

God, I think I need to lie down for a while!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Check Silix, I believe they had it at one time.

I frequent here, RWI and Repgeek, but lurk and read a lot more than I post.

I understand how you feel Armin, I have been obsessing about getting another new watch for a coulple of weeks now. I have been feverishly looking at the trade sections of RWG, RWI and Repgeek for a couple of weeks now looking for something good. I have found many many good watches too, but I just cant seem to justify spending money right now, its like dying of thirst in the desert and the top to your canteen is rusted shut. I am having issues with what I spend on reps and want to get into more genuine territory, but the costs are skyrocketing. I was watching a Ebay auction for days on a Movado Datron, it was non-working and needed a service, I let the auction go with 23 minutes to go because I just could not deal with the current bid price of over $800 and I felt crappy about it because it is one of my personal grail watches, but $800 for a 30 year old broken watch?, I just could not do it. I also realize that what I don't pop for now will probably be twice the price next year, but there are real bills to pay and I have to be responsible about it. Heck, I remember when you could pick up a real nice Omega Speedmaster Pro for about $700 used, now they are $1200 and up on the 'Bay. I guess I should just take By-Tor's advice and just buy something and not stress about it. As far as family understanding, well I guess I am lucky, my wife does not understand the watches themselves ("looks like just another watch to me"), but she does understand that they make me happy. This past Christmas, my wife, my brother and my mother were all in colusion to get me a special gift. My wife and mother came up with the idea, and my brother built it, its a bedside table with a hidden front door. Behind the door is a compartment holding 3 trays of compartments to store watches (it can hold about 36 watches in total). None before has a gift affected me so, just knowing the family understands the "addiction" means the world to me. Is this watch thing an addiction?? Awww yeah!! On-line porn does not even match up

Sorry to be a bit off-topic with this, but I googled Glycine Airman, and found this site hxxp://www.glycineairman.info/ (replace xx with tt). This site shows many pics of supposed fakes, so if anyone is thinking of a gen of this, be careful. Just a freindly heads up.

Nice job!! I always liked the pie pan dial versions, welcome. I have a question on the hour wheel and cannon pinion, are those parts available from ETA as stock from Borel or Ofrei and are they difficult / easy to install. I have a couple franken justs with the hands slightly bent to clear, and I'd like to get back into them to do the job properly at some point. Thanks

Hi all I have a question for those members in the US who do transactions worldwide using a bank draft or wire transfer. I have been told by my bank that they would not be able to tell me just when the money I recieved would be in my account. My question, in your own experiences, would this money go into my account in a similar amount of time as would a regular check? In this case it was a bank draft from Canada, and no, this is not replica related, just a question in general. Thanks in advance

Sometimes, it seems like the only thing consistant with Rolex is their INconsistency.

Awesome!! Thanks for the update.

Somebody paid $270 for that huh, amazing.... My god, I just looked at those other 3 links. Its amazing that Ebay doesnt give the boot to those auctions.

I think the Deep Sea is a good attempt in keeping up with the "bigger is better" trend in watches today. For me, the RolexRolexRolex engraving that appeared a couple years ago was a nice subtle addition to thier new models, but the "Patented Ring Lock System, etc" frontal engraving is a bit too much, especially in black. That text should have remained on the case back only, IMO, other than that, I am warming up to it. However, the very existence of the Deep Sea proves to me that Rolex IS aiming at collectors. Lets face it, who needs a watch that can go to a depth of over 12,000 feet?? Professional divers use more computerised means of monitoring time when on the job nowadays, and I don't forsee a lot of divers spending 5 figures for a watch when they can get a Seiko that can do much the same job at a fraction of the price when in the diving bell, and rely on the diving equipment supplied when on the job. Even commercial diving companies I don't think would spend that much for watches for thier crews when they are already providing the before mentioned diving equipment. Remember, back in the day, ROlex tool watches, while still costing more than other brands, were not even close to the cost of a Rolex today even when considering the relative cost of all things from then to now. Companies like Comex and Pan-Am used Rolex for thier design enginuity, solid construction, and VALUE. Nope, I see the Deep Sea on the wrists and in collections of WIS worldwide, not necessarily as a diving tool. Of couse there is nothing wrong with that, for the most part, watches today are more for personal expression as they are for telling time, when I want the time when I am at work, I look at the lower right corner of my computer screen. The design of the Daytona seems safe for this year , and they produced some really yummy looking dials for this year, something to look forward to in the world of reps.