Logan

Assuming the Asian eta 2836 gmt uses the normal ETA hand sizes (and I re-call that it does) then the best 2893 conversion will be the incorrect hand stack version. The hand stack will still be incorrect but the 2893's GMT function will work properly, and you won't have to swap any hands. Any Rolex enthusiast that can spot the hand stack is going to know its a fake in seconds from arms length anyway

Thats a beautiful movement, I'm looking forward to seeing the finished watch

I can tell where its not.. any of the markets or street touts who invite you upstairs to "just look.. no have to buy". They only have the lowest grade junk, I asked about higher grade stuff but they really were not interested. The junk was priced about the same as a cheaper Eta based watch here anyway

Its a tricky job, you do need the stem in place while working on the movement in the holder. My solution is to have a bunch of round dies from my bezel / crystal press, I put the movement face down into one of those to the dial contacts on the very outside only to avoid damage. Another trick that works quite well is to use the back of a loupe, sit the movement face down into the back where your eye would normally be, the angles sides mean only the outer edge of the dial in touched. I'd love to know the "official" way to do this though.

So much for Rolex's 10 year ahead marketing plan.. will be interesting to see if they respond to the rep's availability in any way

Keep in mind that if they do manage a second at 12 version with a ceramic bezel then it'll be a lot more expensive than the current one.

252's are notorious for shipping with really low grade crown guards, I've no idea why as the rest of the watch is very good. Yours really needs stripping down to see whats going on. It might be as simple as fitting a thinner o-ring under the crown to give a bit more space.

Looks genuine to me, I think its just the angle and the bezel protector that is making the crown look unusual.

It'll work fine for a while, but the manual wind mechanism in a 7750 isn't built for every day use, and you'll wear it out pretty quickly. You're better to oil the rotor bearing which will make it a lot quieter. All 7750 based watches do this, ever genuines are quite noisy compared to others.

If he's a watch lover, especially one with a sympathy for reps, I'd put it to him as a bit of a challenge.. ie ask if he tell if its a rep or not.. let him guess for a while then come clean.

It can be expensive owning gens.. My Breitling Avenger needs looking at soon.. I'll be paying the price of a pretty nice rep to get that done

The issues as follows: The 7750 has sub dials at 6-9-12 or 3-6-9 with an additional gear plate, the 7753 has sub dials at 3-6-9 The 7753 is thinner than a 7750 with 3-6-9 sub dial layout due to the gear plate, this means the crown and pushers are in the wrong place for a 7750 case if the original movement was the 3-6-9 layout. The 7753 requires a date pusher at 10pm, it cannot change date via the crown without rotating 24 hours each time. The 7753 date wheel is different to the 7750 and requires a larger date apperture in the dial in a slightly different position. Hublot never made a 7753 based Big Bang, they use a 7750 with a gear system somewhat similar to what replicas use. No Hublot case (genuine or fake) has the date pusher. You need to search the archive at replica collector, several members tried this modification some years back and had many problems. I don't recall anyone completing the modification successfully.

Pretty much impossible to get.. and they don't fit the case or dial from a 7750 based watch, if thats what you had in mind.

Yes there was a rep a few years back, not especially good quality and it wasn't real titanium. The real X-33 had quite a few problems with the crown which also acts as a pusher, you can probably find a real one for quite a good price, especially if you're prepared to send it off and get the crown upgrade done. I tried on a few genuines and very nearly brought one a few years back. They look awesome on person and have a real presence due to the size and unusual design.

I can see my two Trpoic 39's being sold to fund a couple of nice reps at this rate. I'd always intended to use them for MBW's but I'd struggle to justify it at that price.

One problem for us here though is Bidens strong support for intellectual property rights, and that includes wanting to bring China into line. He's also been on record siding with the RIAA and MPAA on a number of issues.

Nice review. I never wear my 187 because the bulk and weight makes it feel ridiculous.. but maybe the titanium version would help.. Its weird this never made to it to our dealers, most of the Honpo models ultimately do arrive via our guys.

Wow thats terrible.. My thoughts are with you. Take time to heal.

The funny thing is, I'm exactly the opposite, I hated the PO when it came out, I brought three different reps, and ended up selling them all as I couldn't get used to them. Then I built up an Ultimate PO in black with the new black rubber strap and its one of my favorite watches now.

I was able to remove some markers fairly easily from an old 187 case by heating each marker up very hot with a butane torch. After a while the glue breaks down and the markers pop right off with a pull from tweezers. If you are re-fitting them try JB-Weld glue. its very strong so long as you de-grease the parts first. Also make sure you have removed any old adhesive from the rebates in the bezel

Rolex's own documentation suggests using a clean new leather buff stick to gently clean dials. You milage may vary on rep dials however.

I had a couple of small issues fitting mine. The holes on the case were not quite located correctly, so I had to file out the holes in the guard slightly to fit Its not especially difficult though if you have suitable tools Secondly the rep crown is deeper then the genuine so the lever did not press on the crown when closed and therefore did not lock. I am fitting a genuine crown to this watch so thats isn't really an issue either. My watch is the newer generation 252 Northpole from Trusty. Your results may vary depending whose watch you start with.

I've been playing around recently with some old movement parts trying to re-finish them to a higher standard.. its tough work. This link really helps understand how some of the more unusual ones are achieved.

Given the number of problems reported with the seconds at twelve model I'm not sure I'd want that, Maybe the regular 7750 with incorrect sub dial placement is still a better option..

Titanium is usually the solution to people with skin reactions. I don't know of any woman's size reps in titanium though, but there are plenty of genuine options