Toadtorrent

Updated to show more description of how the jumping occurs.

Don't do it...that thing is junk. 30 GBP tops... One of the mods put it nicely: "To be honest it is not even worth the time to look at the site you have listed as there is nothing new or better out on the web that can't be found here on our site. Take a little time reading through our forum and you will soon realise that you have landed in the right place for all your rep shopping." This board exists to save everybody time, frustration, etc in their quest for quality watches. Welcome aboard. Read me Noob Guide and you'll hit the ground running. And remember...we exist as a community because of member participation. Read...search...learn...share.

Looking great. Are you going to go the Franken route on this one??

Tritium...signature of the vintage watch. What is it? Pugwash tells all here. Ok...there has been some amazing aging work on some of the member's pieces here, to create that fantastic vintagized look. The Zigmeister's tritium lume work on Lani's 5513 3-6-9 No talk of aged tritium can go without mentioning Stephane's SRSD... Old tritium doesn't have to be aged and yellow... Nanuq's chocolate dials... How about TMG's Franken 1655?? All of it is good...let's see it all!! Here's one of my contribution:

It's true. The couple that do are excited about watches in general...own gens and want to get into reps knowing that I do both. That is what is nice about RWG, that you can take a relatively obscure hobby (meaning the PASSION for watches, rare collectibles, vintages, vintagizing, modding, tinkering, accuracy, ephemera, etc vs. just being able to buy what you want) and share it with piles of like-minded folks from noobs with an initial interest, to veterans with heaps of experience and knowledge.

I love this forum! Amazing answers, solutions, and documented experiences.

It took me awhile to figure out what you were talking about...funny!! If the bezel can be taken off and replaced easily...I would suggest asking for a new bezel instead of shipping it back. Even better...add the part request to another order, and they will be glad to send it out. If you return the watch to them...they have to pay shipping to you plus the labour to fix the problem. If you put in a new order and ask for a part...you pay shipping. As to Yodap...heh heh.

Welcome aboard. You did indeed find the right place for watches. RWG is the best watch forum around. We have the coolest people, and some of the best watchmakers, collectors, and masters of ephemera around...including the gen forums. RWG is about watches and community...and not just replicas. To get you up and running quickly...read my Noob Guide: This will get you oriented to the board and replicas, and also include some links to actually doing some work on watches. I've posted a couple tutorials on swapping mechanical movements to get you started on the type of tools you'll need and the work involved. Sourcing a movement that will fit your Omega might not be too much of an issue...and likely the people on this forum will be able to steer you towards either what you need or an alternative to it. Good luck...and enjoy the journey. As to the your son's watch...if it's for a special occasion...nothing beats a genuine.

This board exists to save everybody time, frustration, etc in their quest for quality watches. What Ken said sums it all up. Welcome aboard. Read me Noob Guide and you'll hit the ground running. And remember...we exist as a community because of member participation. Read...search...learn...share.

Try a shopping mall or Chinatown watch place that does repairs. Talk to them, and see if they would be willing to work on a replica watch. They will likely call it fake...whatever. Just tell them what you need done. Most would be willing to work on a gen ETA movement if you have them...but likely most will not be qualified to work on chronograph movements like a 7750. Dial repairs like this are simple though... Don't be turned off if they give a lecture about how crappy fakes are. Many can't appreciate the quality of the watches we get. Do a search for NYC watchmakers...it's been discussed a number of times. Try different variants of "New York", "NYC", etc...

Your issue may be because many of the PAM reps come with a loose lever. This needs to be tightened so that the crown can't spin. How this is done...I'm not sure...haven't gotten into the PAM thing too much.

Sounds good. I wasn't sure if it would fit, as I don't have UPO and haven't been following the threads too closely. Add in a tube and crown mod, and you will be totally set. You wouldn't have the part numbers handy for what you did get would you? Someone else was asking for them on another thread based on the header, and it might be good to have the information posted here for cross-referencing ease. Cheers!

Hey there. I tried to find the post for you...but in my limited time, I couldn't find the one I wanted. Search for it on the Omega section. There was a tutorial outlining how to do the logo swap. EDITED: I did find it...and Search is my friend - Logo Swap Tutorial The deal is that the gen dial is expensive. The mod is much cheaper. The UPO dial is great except for the logo. The logo is great on the Silix dial...but the dial isn't. If I remember correctly, you have to: Use the standard Josh/Andrew UPO dial Get another dial with better feet from Silix (Jay)...but some people apparently have been having problems getting this from Jay...saying he won't sell it You flip the back of the dial over and you'll see glue holding 2 feet on the dial Scrape off the glue to free the feet Do the same on the Silix dial Swap logos and reglue with epoxy or whatever Obviously you'll need tools to decase and remove dials. For tutorials on dial removal, I just posted one for the Franck Muller which is really similar: Toad's Guide to a Muller Dial Swap You can also look at my Ajoesmith repost on doing a movement swap on a Submariner (it's linked in my Noob Guide). It will show you the same principals applied again. If you want a gen dial...I'm not sure if it fits properly.

Thanks!! More like playing with it and watching things fly in the air on the jump!! "Oh...that's why they have that top plate screwed down". Good thing I took photos along the way.

It comes with a bracelet option I thin...but the Muller bracelet for this caseline I wasn't too much of a fan for.

INTRODUCTION The Franck Muller Crazy Hours rep in my opinion is one of the best value for entertainment watches around. For around $100, you get a jump hour movement that's...well...crazy, and provides hours of entertainment to children and adults alike. For a full look at this watch, check out my review pinned here: Toad's Review: Franck Muller Crazy Hours Color Dreams The major problem with this watch when it arrived, was that the rotor didn't seem to power the watch. Manual winding was fine and that's what we've used on this watch since we obtained it...but with new found bravery and new found knowledge thanks to Ajoesmith and others, I figured what the heck, let's try a movement swap and a moderate dissection of the watch to figure out how this thing works. NOTE: I am by no stretch of the imagination a watchmaker, nor do I know anything about watches other than what I have read here. Working on this watch in this fashion has guaranteed that The Zigmeister will not work on it, nor is it fair that I should send it to him after this work given that he should not be wasting his time fixing my mistakes. I know little about best practices other than what he has posted (which is quite a lot, and hopefully some of it has soaked in...thanks The Zigmeister!!). However, given that the Master doesn't work on modded movements, I figured what have I got to lose? Woohoo!! I ordered some replacement movements (yes...some...given that I was assuming I was going to screw this up royally) for a cost of $45 or so a piece from Peter (Watchstation). I purchased tools over a period of time from a variety of places (locally where possible from H.W. Perrin in Toronto, Ontario). The pictures were taken on a Canon G9 using standard fluorescent lights and a Gorilla pod. Without further delay...are you ready?? MOVEMENT SWAP Above are the tools I used in the swap. You may use others...but this is what I found worked for me. First things first...get the strap off using a Bergeon strap tool on a Horotec decasing pad Open the caseback using a small screwdriver...I don't know what size it is... This is a view with the caseback off. Note, it looks to be a DG2813 ebauche in a high quality plastic movement holder. Remove the stem by pressing the stem release button. I use a busted, cheap strap tool for a pusher...it works great. Rotate the stem in the winding direction while pushing the release button gently. If you can't do this...get away from the rest of the work. Dial and movement mounted in Bergeon movement holder with plastic movement holder beside it. Get ready to remove hands (you should set the hands to an "hour changeover" position to make resetting easier. It doesn't have to be a 12-o-clock with this kind of movement as there is no date to worry about). I use a dial protector. Upon closer examination I notice the paint on the hands is flaking off. Crap. Man, that looks cheap!! Oh well...remove the hands with a hand removal tool. Bergeon makes a nice one...mine is cheap..which makes sliding the feet under the hands tough as the ends are a little too thick. I've read you can file them down...but that takes time and effort. With the hands off, you can see the flaking paint very clearly. Remove the dial fastening screws on the sides. There are 2...well that's what I did. DOH! You do not need to remove them, just loosen them enough to loosen the dial posts. Loosen the other one...do you see something missing??? Did I say "dial postS?" Note the numeral layout on the movement top plate (or is that the bottom plate??) The dial is off. What the heck is that crap at 10-o-clock?? Aaaah...thin double sided sticky tape. But why?? Shoddy assembly has resulted in a busted dial foot...nothing a little tape can't cure. It seems to work...but I don't have any new stuff handy. Take new movement and place it on a holder. Remount the double sided sticky tape on the new movement...or get new stuff. Make sure the tape is mounted flat otherwise the hands jam in certain spots because the dial is not flush...trust me. Place the dial on the new movement...inserting the dial feet into the slots on the movement (obviously you have to loosen the same 2 screws above on the new movement). Back on goes the dial protector. Position the hour hand in the spot indicated by the "shipping" hands on the new movement when you pulled it out. I should use a proper Bergeon hand set tool...but I use the bits from a hand set press...works for me. I don't use the press as I find it's too bulky and the movement holder I use sits too high for the press...but the bits work fine. Turn the time adjustment until right when the hour jumps...then position the minute hand at "12-o-clock"...I didn't do this part. I just positioned the minute hand at almost 15 minutes past as that's how the movement shipped. Did that work fine? Nope. But it worked fine enough to indicate how many minutes I was off on the setting. Test the hands to make sure they are lined up properly to your tolerance level on the hour changeover. Reset them as necessary. Ensure the minute hand clears the hour hand, and make sure the hour hand clears the dial. You'll know if something is not straight as the hands will not sweep/jump smoothly - they will either scrape the dial or collide into each other. NOTE: I scraped the flaking blue paint off the hands. I like the blue better...but I don't like shoddy blue. Maybe I'll paint them again...maybe not. I just used a screwdriver. Is that best practices? Uuuuh...no...screwdrivers scrape metal...and in the case the hands. I should have used a matchstick, pith wood, toothpick, etc...but that would entail I knew better before I did this. Oh well, the scratching isn't noticeable on the small surface area. I do miss the blue paint though. Put the steam back in by inserting it back in and turning gently in the winding direction. Do not press the release button for insertion...only do this on a 7750 movement. Blow off dust on the dial and the movement. Close it up...and you're ready to go. HOW DOES THE MOVEMENT WORK?? I have zero expertise in this area...and am just describing what I have deducted from observation and playing around...so feel free to correct and enhance details as you see fit!! As you can see, the numbers are actually equally spaced around the dial by "4" additional numbers between each consecutive hour indicator. The movement essentially works by preventing the hour hand from "sweeping" to the next conventional hour (visually in this case from, 1 to 6 for example), until a threshold on a spring is reached that allows the hand to quickly jump to the next cog stop...but that movement spacing is such that it jumps 4 conventional 5 conventional hour spots, instead of 1. This quick change is seen as the "jumping". Another view of the dial side with the top plate that holds everything flat. Underneath the top plate...we get the view above. Compare the jump hour movement with a DG2813 pictured above. You should note the following differences: The overall movement is indeed based on the DG2813 but uses a slightly different base plate (or whatever that main mounting plate thing is called) Jump hour movement lacks the datewheel complication in the "SW" quadrant Jump hour movement lacks the quick dateset mechanism in the "NE" quadrant The jump hour base plate in general is raised to account for not needing a datewheel to rest on top There is no second hand drive mechanism resulting in a solid cannon pinion as you don't need a second hand mount In closer detail, note that "spring #1 is what prevents the jump hour gear/post from moving until enough force is applied to cause it to snap....similar to the the click stopping of a "Wheel of Fortune" wheel. Spring #1 presses underneath the cogged portion of the jump hour gear/post. The Asymmetrical gear is powered by the turning minute hand gear, and the asymmetrical bit means that there are only teeth on part of the gear (the part that activates the generation of power to operate the jump), and there is a nautilus shaped wheel (not circular) on the underside that causes power to be built up only in the latter stages of the progression of an hour...right before the jump. This is sthe underside of the asymmetrical gear showing the nautilus shaped wheel. The spring in the top-left quadrant pushes the swing arm against the nautilus shaped wheel to keep movement in check and aid in the power build up and snap action. This is the position of things in the middle of an hour. Note the asymmetrical gear is at about a conventional 7-o-clock, and the swing arm pictured in the picture just above, is pushed up, showing the nautilus wheel is building up power. In the pic above, you can see the whole nautilus gear piece is actually comprised of 3 parts: The nautilus gear it self Minute hand gear And the jump hour hand driving gear All these pieces are held together by a rivet in the middle that allows the minute hand gear to move freely a little within the limits of the pin moving in the nautilus gear driving slot. As the power is built up right before the slot, you can see the swing arm is almost at the highest point as it is being pushed up by the high point of the nautilus gear. The whole unit itself is driven around counter-clockwise by the nautilus gear pin being pushed against the now hidden nautilus gear driving slot as the minute hand rotates while connected to the minute hand gear. This is the position of things just as the swing arm is coming down (you'll have to excuse the perspective shift from the Photoshop work...and the fact that the nautilus gear is not quite in a "fixed" position relative to the 5 teeth on the asymmetrical cog on the bottom...bad photo-editing work). As you can see, the swing arms starts to come down as it gets past the crest of the nautilus gear. Because the swing arm is curved, the peak of the nautilus gear essentially rides this curve as the spring of the swing arm comes down. The force of the swing arm coming down causes the asymmetrical 5-toothed cog to engage the hour hand and rotate quickly to "jump" into position. The nautilus gear driving slot allows enough free rotation for the pin which connects the the asymmetrical 5-toothed cog and the nautilus gear to move in, allowing the whole hour hand driving assembly to "jump" while not affecting the minute hands regular progression, which is connected to the minute hand gear. Right after the jump, the swing arm is in the low position, the minute hand gear will have to rotate counter-clockwise enough for the right hand side of the nautilus gear driving slot to rest against the nautilus gear drive pin, thereby causing the whole assembly to rotate again...build power again...and obviously prep for the next jump. This is the position of things right after an hour jump. Note the swing arm is now down...showing no build up of power yet. I put things back in their proper place...and put the top plate on using Rodico to place the screws. Yeah I know...I need a new piece...that one is dirty...but I'm cheap!! CONCLUSION That's all I have to say. Hopefully you found this interesting, useful, and informative. It certainly was for me. If you're interested in the differences between the Crazy Hours movement and the Totally Crazy Hours (with Crazy Date)...check out Nakortheblue's Post HERE. Thanks to The Zigmeister for all his tech posts and words of advice and encouragement. Thanks to Ajoesmith who really started all this thought in my mind that I could actually do something like this. And thanks to the many others before me who have contributed their experiences and made RWG the place to be. I look forward to your questions and comments...and more importantly, your corrections with improved descriptions!!

I do like the red printing on the dial.

I was called out by a watchmaker...not really called out as we were having a game and he is quite into reps now as well. The funny thing was, I asked him why he said certain watches were reps...and the things he "called me out on" were totally wrong. So...just because they call you out, odds are good, they don't know squat. He would call out on the font, or how the hands mount, or missing "Swiss Made" lettering, etc which if you know the gens, you know the number of variations and the ones that have it or don't have whatever markings.

An Asian clone of the ICHS GMT modded 2836-2 is about $100 + shipping. For $170 I would rather have a proper GMT movement if it could be made to fit. Any updates on your research into this one?

Great site indeed. You found the best one! RWG has the best pics, best technical information, and some of the coolest and most helpful members around. Read my Noob Guide pinned in the Intros section and that will get you up and running with a taste for some of the information we have here. Check out the reviews some of the folks have posted here...they will knock your socks off. We have some serious review folks here!!

>sniff< That brings a tear to my eye. Mine on the other hand says "no way, it's fake...but check out the design and construction...it knocks the socks off your 'genuine' piece of crap in both design and construction and costs less or possibly a lot less".

Great to have you aboard! Feel free to do a complete and thorough "brain dump" of all your experience, knowledge and photos of your collection to share with vacuums for information like me!! It sounds like you have much experience with high end movements in general. I would suggest reading lots of the tech posts of our resident movement meister The Zigmeisterzumba who will be able to provide some information on his vault of knowledge working with the idiosyncracies of the Asian 7750 movements that comprise most of the work people would want to enlist you for.

Wow. Really...WOW! And after another outstanding The Zigmeister lume session and proper servicing...you know what looks as good outside, is ticking as good inside. I think you need to post some macro shots of that lume so we can drool some more. Beautiful!

Welcome aboard. I'm assuming you found my Noob Guide pinned in the Introductions section. That will outline what to expect from your purchasing experience so your expectations are met and are not too out of line with reality. European shipping dealers used here are Narikaa, Homer, Eurotimes, Precious Time and I can't remember who else. Do a search on european collectors and you will find lots of reviews and recommendations concerning which one to go for. There are lots of watches that fit your bill in the 45mm range with decent lume. You need to first select a brand you're interested in, then a model, then source a collector who can get what you need. Read the reviews and the guides and you should be good to go. If in doubt...buy a few.

Indeed...Happy Thanksgiving to my Southern Neighbours!!