Logan

So far as I know all Breitlings use the same case back opener.. although its possible the SA might be larger? Horotec make a proper Breitling tool to fit their case back tools, and I think it fits Bergeon too. Otherwise the adjustable "jaxa" style tools works fairly well, although you have to be careful not to slip and mess the case back up.

To remove the rotor alone you need to turn the silver locking ring outside the bearing. There are proper tools for this, although a pair of small tipped pliers or heavy tweezers will work. Getting it back on without the tool can be tricky but is possible. The bearing is attached by three screws from underneath, its the end ends of these you can see. You need to remove the top plate from the movement to get at them.

Just to clarify.. mine is the "Good" version of the watch, correct dial, case back etc

Just one other comment about this rep.. the markers and letters on the bezel are only glued in place, and typical of reps they used crap glue. To make matters worse the edges of the markers are quite rough and catch on clothing etc. I was able to quite easily pull the 4 square markers off with a finger nail. I suggest therefore re-glueing those with JB-Weld or a similar high strength epoxy. I'm smoothing the edges of all mine as well but its a very fiddly job. I can see this is really going to be a favorite watch when its all finished.. but its taking quite a lot or work to get there.

I rotate about 10 out of collection regularly, and that comprises both reps and genuines. I guess I swap about every week or so.

I have one of these from Trusty. Its very well made apart from the crown guard. One mine the crown guard is by far the worst I've ever seen.. truly terrible. I can't understand why as the rest of the watch is very very good. Happily I have a V "H series" guard specially for this watch. I needed to do some gentle work with a micro file to enlarge the holes by a tiny bit as the holes didn't quite line up perfectly. Also the existing crown is too deep so the lever does not lock. I plan to fit a genuine crown but need a new tube to suit. Overall it'll be a very nice rep once finished.. but its definitely a project watch

I was in Hong Kong a few weeks back. Spend some time looking at Gens.. amazing selection. The ladies market has plenty of touts with catalogs asking you to go see watches with them. And a few hidden under other stock that they will bring out if you look interested. The quality is rubbish though.. total rubbish. I followed a couple of touts upstairs to look.. but they want several hundred for watches that should be $20 at the most. I asked about good quality.. but they really only want to sell what they have for 2000% markup. I didn't get time to cross into China, but I hear the Low Wu centre in Shenzen, which is directly across the boarder is very good for replica everything. I don't know if that includes the kind if quality we see here though.

Definitely male.. however more and more girls are interested. I hope we'll see more ladies models being made. The Chanel J-12 in white ceramic, mens size seem to be a popular look for sporty girls at least

It sure would be nice to make an accurate Ice Bang without the polished sides. Especially starting with the new all ceramic rep.

Only if it was fresh clean water, if its salt water you need to clean the movement asap before everything corrodes.

Very nice setup. I am sure you can have a lot of fun with this. Where were you able to get it from?

Its an interesting thought.. but probably not one we should say to much about..

Very nice work. I guess I'll have to buy a watchmakers lathe one day.. just to play.. A question for ubiquitous.. where did the crown tube in your picture come from? Is it genuine? I have a couple of gen crowns but they don't really work with the rep tubes as you end up with doubled up o-rings.

Amazing.. but I can't quite decide if they would look incredible or ridiculous on my wrist.. late 30's white boy.. slim build.. I feel you need to be 250 pounds, have a beard and wear a large hunting knife for some of those..

Probably the biggest newbie mistake.. damaging hands and dials taking things apart. Be very careful with hand removers. I prefer to use manual hand removing levers on reps, very slow and controlled.

I'd have a 2893 instead of a dodgy modified chinese made "eta" any day.. no question. Interesting point too.. I used to have a genuine GMT master 2, and a rep of the same model. A favorite trick was to hand both to people and ask then to pick the difference. People picked correctly about 60% of the time for various reasons. No-one ever noticed the hand stack.. not ever, not even so called rolex "experts" If I were you I'd be grabbing those watches right away, and store them a while, the value of genuine 2893 movements is only going one way.

None of the 7750 complications are especially hard to make.. they are just a bunch more little parts just like what's already there, there's no precise balancing or anything, like a tourbilion for example. The venus movement already has a basic column wheel so nothing tricky there. The swiss are clearly using complications as a way to keep ahead of the rep makers, and make accurate reps impossible, so our side will have to catch up soon.

In my experience everything we wish for in the rep world happens sooner or later.. usually later, but it does happen. Its not that long ago that repping the 7750 was considered impossible by many here. I wouldn't be holding your breath for a high end low volume movement like a Patek, Lange or Richard Mille to be done, but a Rolex 3xxx series is very likely to happen. Due to their popularity I would thing the new Panerai movements are a possibility but not for a while. I definitely expect to see more 7750 variants like the rattrapante, column wheel, and power reserve and big date versions done, I'd also not to be too surprised to see a 2894 done even though its a very complex movement.

One reason we don't encourage taking reps into AD's in that the AD's have excellent channels of communication back to the manufactures, and of course their legal teams. If people keep walking into AD's with top quality reps and flaunting the them, and where they got them, then the AD is going to push the manufacturers to "Do something about it" That means more legal threats to our dealers and soon enough legal pressure here.

Rolex is going to Asia.. literally, the designs you're seeing today are mostly for the Asian, and some some extent the Russian markets. Have look around any Asian city and you'll see more Rolex's being worn and more Rolex's for sale than you could possibly imagine, Everyone and I really do mean everyone seems to be wearing one, Its like it some basic indication of worth like a high school diploma or something that everyone feels they have to have. With America in recession and Asia booming you can imagine where the sales are coming from. Rolex aren't stupid, they are responding to what sells best in those markets.

The 3000 model has now been replaced with the 4000 model which sells wholesale for about the same price. Its basically the same unit but with a colour LCD screen. You'll probably still find the 3000 model for sale at top dollar online though so shop around.

I use the Mac version.. so I'm not sure how valid this is.. but if you use .mkv format for the files then it'll give you the option to include chapter markers and subtitles in the file, but subtitles are included as a separate track so can be turned on and off.

King's site has been down for me since just after this model was posted.. JCB's lawyers or just coincidence? Anybody have any alternate page?

My dream of a perfect Ice Bang is a huge step closer today.. now to find a decent bezel with the engine turning on the sides instead of polished..

I find genuine owners fall into two camps when I show them some really great replicas.. One pretends not to be interested and refuses to accept that they could possible be any good.. and the other group wants to buy half my collection. Don't forget many of us started out with collecting or at least a strong interest in genuines.. and then moved to rep's once we discovered how great they can be