hooky

Time never stops... just the watches do....

btw, agree with Freddy. Seems the movement should go see a watch smith.

Is it about this watch?: http://img03.picoodle.com/img/img03/3/10/1...rkm_b674bfd.jpg

I cannot really see it clearly, but there are fingerprints all over. Is that on the crystal case back or is that inside on the movement? A good watch smith would not have left (fatty & acid) fingerprints on the movement, so if it is on the movement, I wonder if it really has been serviced....

Good luck!

J.

I believe you're not sure if it has been serviced. 'd better ask the seller if it has been cleaned, oiled and tested and regulated, after all it is a precious movement. And if not serviced, you can still let it be serviced. Won't be as expensive as an A7750 I assume, less parts...

Great Watch, great strap.

Just ordered another strap from Greg Stevens myself. And also a key fob with the CRAZY HORSE leather to check that leather for a future strap for a Panerai. But as I see this one: PERFECT COMBINATION.

Wear it well, it is one of the most beautiful Breitlings i saw passing along here on the RWG...!!

Hi, great choice. I also have the above Hublot and as a matter of fact, this week I will order the smooth Hublot strap (Ice Bang strap), because it looks great. As YOU noticed also... Super!

And also the Breitling Black Steal. That is the newest version I assume?

--> What strap do you have on it?? BECAUSE IT LOOKS AWESOME!!

I am in for

Depends on your personal definition of REALLY nice. REALLY nice can range from $650 to $1300 depending on a lot of factors.

LH parts could push it higher...can always take things further until you're content.

Enjoy the 177H

What are LH parts?

haha, 650usd - 1300usd

My PAM177H

160usd for the watch

40usd for sapphire

80usd for AR coating by Jakub plus shipping

125usd good Titanium crown + install

140usd relume dial & hands

75usd cannon pin fix

95usd better movement with swan neck and better inscriptions

65usd complete service of movement

45usd crownguard fix to make it more tight to the case and fix the pin

175usd greg stevens strap

total: 1000usd. Cheers!

This method has been done a lot to silence the rotor. Just use the search button on this board.

make sure you don't put to much grease on and wipe excess grease of. And make sure no dust or small hairs stick to the rotor or drop in the movement. You could use a bergeon blower for that. no. 4657.

Cheers,

J.

And how about the AR coating, which makes this Cousteau Diver so distinctable. The specs say no AR coating. And the AR makes this model stand out!!

Secondly, the weight of these models will be a lot lower. So no 'genuine' feeling.

Third, the specs say 'synthetic sapphire'. Which is MINERAL. So even if the watch has AR, on mineral AR looks a lot different.

Just my 2 cents.

Hey,

what you can try to do is get the rotor of the movement and try to oil the ball bearings with some sticky fat. I used bergeon 2855-50 Kt22. This stuff is not specially made for it, but it helped me on some 'Tarzan' rotors of the 7 Days.

some experts might say that oiling the rotor is not good. But it works. Don't put to much on it, since oil etc. can get into the movement (with high temperatures) and you don't want that to happen.

good luck.

This is really amazing. Sorry for that

Yes, I guess new Portuguese movement is the same as previous one. However, I want to have a look...

Francisco.

Nope, I am not amazed...

According to my watch smith with every extra small wheel, around 10% of power is lost due to extra friction.

Some nice detail...:

My watch smith worked on a genuine Portuguese Chrono some weeks ago. He told me that the genuine has a somewhat similar modification. But then jeweled of course. But the most important thing, the genuine has A LOT MORE POWERFUL BALANCE (WHEEL/c.o.c.k. dunno) than the standard ETA, for the purpose of pulling those extra wheels.

so for our Chinese friends at the rep factory, they should jewel the thing and use a more powerful balance. but my guess: Never going to happen...

who knows... I have no opinion of 29j watch until I open it....

For me Portuguese is one of the most beatiful watches... my interest is to see if finally a better movement is avalaible...

Francisco.

I think it will be of the same quality of the new 'improved' Daytona seconds @ 6 that you reviewed. I have 2 of the new Portuguese. Both have problems already. I let my watch smith remove a gear and freeze the seconds.

There is a chemical solution used for Bluing metal often used for Gun barrels...

I remember my watch smith mentioned something about guns when talking about blueing.

Today I was at my watch smith shop, discussing if it is possible to blue the chrono seconds hand of my pam253. (i have a spare hand). He told me that it does not always have to be done by a torch. also some other way, chemical or something.

I will try this in the coming weeks. If it works, i will post about it.

cheers.

Thanks F., great review!

Hey JJ, why don't you ask if Andrew can sell you a single sapphire glass? Or maybe get that sapphire together with the next order.

Assuming it was mineral which you have now in the watch... Because then, even after some repair, sure thing it will have some scratches again my friend...

Good luck and have fun @ RWG!

But its just as durable as sapphire, just man made?

Hi my friend,

you get what you pay for.... just 108usd will only get you mineral crystal. Not sapphire.

when they write 'synthetic sapphire', you will get mineral. that is their way of working. And yes it is confusing. but you get what you pay for. and 108usd is cheap....

And your other question:

all sapphire used in watches is man made and thus is synthetic. Otherwise with 'nature sapphire' the crystal will never really really clean to see through i guess. And will also be way too expensive. remember how much they need to cut off with a domed crystal for example....

cheers!

WOW!!! THIS ONE LOOKS AWESOME.

Congrats on this very nice looking project. Perfect with the gorilla strap...

Guys....

When the replica sellers write: sapphire, the mean the synthetically made hard to scratch sapphire. The best to get in replica watches.

BUT....

when they write synthetic sapphire. IT IS MINERAL CRYSTAL.

good luck.

It is not only about if lots of light is reflected or not, it is also about the blue/purple oily surface of the AR coating. The original also has this.

And about the lume:

If you walk from outside to inside, for example a pub or something darker area, the original already has the lume effect, since normal daylight is enough charge the lume already. That is very noticible. The rep does not do that.

Matz,

that is very very difficult. Getting spare parts is nearly impossible. Also a lot of work for Andrew to get. The factories don''t sell these parts, but will repair if they receive the watch. Best is to ship the watch back to him so that the factory can repair it.

good luck.

you want reliability? --> remove the 5 extra gears between the 9 and 6 and freeze the seconds hands.

you want fully functional? try a complete service or the graphite treatment. Do a search for more info.

Otherwise, better stay away from this model, it is a ticking time bomb...

Hi,

Nice watch, nice choice. but beware that it is no longer available with sapphire crystal. only mineral with no AR.

Plaifender pointed out that the 3 o'clock subdial is off and a big tell. Also that the watch does not have AR coating is a BIG TELL. The original has. Also having no superlume is also a big tell. I let mine being superlumed by the master The Zigmeister. And AR-ed by Jakub, K2222.

But most important with this watch is the risk of crystal explosion. Do a search on this forum, you will find it.

It happened TWICE already with this watch. So instead of getting another seconds hand, I would rather spend the money on a new case + glass which should cost less than 50usd. Yes that's what i wrote... 50usd or less.

And if you are already looking at bigger or smaller numbers on the dial, believe me the biggest tell on these watches is first missing AR and missing SUPER LUME.

By the way, the chrono Daylight versions have real sapphire and do not tend to break. (...). There are better PAMs out there, like the new improved pam252 for instance.

Good luck.

Humid in the watch can also be in the UK/EU right now. Specially if someone is doing the laundry in the home, making the home a lot more humid and moist with the heating on.

I had this humidity problem before with my watch smith. He had a very practical solution for it. He unscrew the case back, but the watch with the crystal down on a piece of soft cloth and put that for a short term on a warm lamp/light.

He specifically warned not to keep it to long there, because otherwise the different oils which are in the watch might leak out of its place when the watch become too hot.

after warming directly put the case back back on it.

Cheers,

J.

It's worth it guys. Even if you just get an explanitian and Jakob gets a bit of a shock. Prob thinks he has no hope of being found. Too many times this sort of thing is forgoten. If it were me down a grand or so I would not be giving up easily even if it cost me money. Under the circumstances I think you are quite entiteled to hand over what info you have. If you have his mums phone number it should be an easy trail for a compenent PI to follow from there.

Col.

OKAY, altough i got my watch back already, but still he has a saffire crystal of mine, I'm willing to pay 20usd for the P.I.

WHO'S NEXT?

cheers,

J.