Logan

Maybe I missed the initial discussions on these.. are these going to be sprung? Also will the o-rings be outside like the genuine crowns, which really requires a new tube, or will they be designed to fit the rep tube with the o-rings inside that?

Great project.. the thing this brings to mind is the possibility of a Richard Mille replica, Given the importance of the movement in those I can see skelatoning and PVD coating movement parts being the next big thing if we ever get a decent case to start with.

Moving sub dials is easy.. many genuine watches do it, the IWC ingenieur chrono and anything with a 7753 movement are good examples. The problems is the cheap rep movements used to use unjewelled gears to do it and they wore out in a month or so. The newer seconds at 3 movements have jewelled pivots which will last forever with proper servicing.

Compared to what the guys over at Timezone or Paneristi pay, we're getting a pretty awesome deal on both the watches and the custom made parts that members like V have put together.

This is definitely a rep I want to own.. especially if they take it a little further and do a Barrichello 2 or the Montoya.

I've used some of the drop on wet, instant dry type lubes before, while they are great for some jobs they are far to heavy for watch use. Something that goes on as a very fine powder is going to be best. Remember the original poster blew off almost all traces of the graphite before re-assembly

There is supposed to be an Audemars Piguet Offshore coming with a seconds at 12 movement, and perhaps better case construction. Hopefully that means decent Barrichello and Montoya series reps but thats just speculation on my part.

Its a great big dive watch thats waterproof to deeper than pretty much anything else.. exactly how good were you expecting it to look with a suit?

I personally think the engravings won't be nearly as visible when the watch is real size on your wrist.. we get so used to looking at 10x blown up macro shots which show every last tiny detail. I'm often surprised when I visit the AD to see a watch I haven't seen before.. they all seem so tiny, especially the display backs. I expect the watch itself to feel a lot like a Planet ocean, due to the curves and the huge curved crystal. Slight ironic after all these years to see Rolex copy Omega though.

Another possible option if you have a decent drill press is to drill your own hole where one of the screws would have gone. You'll need to get the depth exactly right.. not hard on a good press. and you'll need to protect the movement from any debris. Once you're at the correct depth a suitable pin can be used to push the bezel off from inside

There are much cheaper tools which work on the same principal as this one, They do make the job easier. The Horotech one is about $65 at Ofrei's or Jules Borel.

I'm about to graphite treat two of mine so I'll let you know. Someone was reporting 3 months of constant wear a while back.. but I'm guess thats about the life span of an un-lubricated movement too so I'm not 100% sure.. I had a good look at the genuine in the dealer down here and the different crown position is quite noticeable. I had to work hard to keep the credit card safe the whole time too I might add!!

My generation 1 iPhone has been awesome, have had it for about 9 months now. I will certainly be upgrading to the new model, mostly for the GPS

I own all three (or pretty similar models) all in Ti, and I vote for the AMG, I personally prefer the chrono but unless you're ok with a movement strip down and graphite treatment of the transfer gears they are more hassle than its worth. The Eta based one like you've shown is great though. Also you should look at the 177h Panerai while they are in stock.

I'm surprising myself by almost liking that watch. Apart from the engraving that is. I wonder if Rolex really checked out the connotations of "Ring Lock System". Down here "Ring" means two things, a circle made from metal is only one of them... I'm not sure a description of sado masochism equipment for consenting gay men is quite what they had in mind!! If they do a decent rep I'll probably buy one.. but that engraving has an appointment with the lathe before its getting worn in public.

Hot water did that?? I doubt it.. My vote is a substantial impact or crushing force. Some years back Rolex had a magazine ad where they boiled a Explorer v1 for and hour or so with no damage.

What idiot paid 255 pounds?? Given the damage I'd be surprised if there was a single part that was usable. Forget straightening the plates.. never going to happen no matter how hard you try. The prices people pay for any old crap in any condition with a rolex logo are just getting stupid.

I've been trying to work out if there is a way to make a spacer.. but the only possible solution appears to be a spacer to move the dial backwards, and there is almost no space available to fit that due to the dial surround and the way it fits inside the case. Also any spacer would be visible thru the crystal. I doubt the shafts the hands mount on would be long enough to fit spacers under the dial as you need at least 1mm, probably more like 1.5. If you have any way to machine a 1mm x .05mm x 31.8mm spacer ring though? The genuine watch has the winding crown mounted slightly closer to the front of the case compared to the replica. The IWC catalogue has a great side on picture that shows it clearly. I have two Ingeniers requiring the graphite treatment so hopefully that will suffice. I have one in parts at present but am wait for some other oils as I want to strip the whole movement and lube the rest while I am at it. I did consider buying the movement just to try but its a lot of money and you're heading a long way towards a used gen watch one all up. Also the ingenieur rep cases are a long way from water proof around the chrono pushers so hardly an ideal place for a $1000 genuine movement.

The 7753 movement is also slightly thinner than the 7750 with transfer gears. I'm not sure if that presents an issue though.

Great choice of watch, the regular layout 7750's don't have too many problems, some even have a bit of oil here and there.

I did a bit of research on this the other day when it was listed. Its not a regular 7750 sub dial layout. It is the right layout for an Ingenieur or Portuguese, however its too thin to fit the rep case without major modification. Our rep movements still have the date wheel and mechanism in place, and the transfer gears which shift running seconds to 12 are mounted on the front of all that. This IWC model replaces the entire front plate which normally houses the date change with a new plate containing the transfer gears. Short answer is its about 1.5mm thiner than the regular 7750 and 3mm thiner than the replica 7750 with transfer gears. The stem won't line up if you mount the movement forward, the dial will be too far back and the movement retainer ring too deep if you line the stem up, and the hand posts too short if you try to use a spacer.

Yes its possible, but the very idea offends the purists amongst us (ie The Zigmeister), and its not exactly considered best watchmaking practise, then again our movements arn't exactly horological art either. There's two basic ways, both requite stripping the outer movement parts, ie date wheel and auto winder, then you clean everything using an ultrasonic cleaner, not a traditional watchmakers "swirl" cleaner. This part of the process works really well as the ultrasonic waves penetrate inside the movement quite happily. The second stage has two options, you can rinse all the parts using a rinse that has a lubricant in it, this leaves a coating of lube all over the inside of the movement.. not exactly subtle, and not especially effective as one lube does not suit all parts. The other option is to oil the partially assembled movement as best you can with an proper oiler (which is basically a needle that picks up oil on the end), the problem here is you need to know the movement quite well or its easy to miss hidden parts. This option is fairly effective so long as you don't have an inaccessible jewell or part. One other small benefit of both when working on reps is that you don't have to strip and re-assemble a dodgy chinese movement that you don't have a manual or any spare parts for, and often the lower grade movements don't go back together well. Some are even riveted together to save screws, those screws that there are are often so low quality that they strip with the slightest turn. So in summary, if you have a low grade movement I suppose some lubricant is better than none, especially if cost of the service is an issue. If you have a higher grade movement (eg ETA) or a more complicated one (ie 7750) then you better to take the time and do a proper strip down followed by hand oiling as per the manufacturers specs.

After all the expensive "F1 style quality control" all the first buyers of the RM11 had to return them as the chrono didn't work properly. See puristspro. Mind you the first Ferrari 599's have all been catching fire so I guess thats about right for that kind of gear. Having said that its absolutely top of my list for a replica. We already have the big date movement in the breitling bentley reps, just give us that with a decently made case. I can see any RM replica being a mod project to end them all.. PVD coating movement parts etc

There no serious dealers that I know of down here, just a few collectors who sell the odd spare watch. I've never had even the slightest problem with customs so far though.

Thinking the same thing.. I've got two and theya re now worth far more than the watch I'd fit them too. Does anyone have a link to the clarks ones?