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Real tungsten without the plating would be nice too, the new Big Bang looks pretty cool, and the tungsten has a colour that stands out from other silver metals. I'm guess Hublot make the parts using a similar technique to the ceramic ones. Tungsten in pure form is not actually that hard, but combined with carbon alloy (see link below for more) to make Tungsten Carbide is is one of the hardest substances know, just slight less than diamond. It is used as the cutting tools themselves in most machining so as very hard to machine itself. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tungsten_carbide There are loads of tungsten carbide watches and jewelry available. For example: http://www.tungstenworld.com/Tungsten-Carbide-Watches/

The standard diver extension is crap and many don't fit the clasp properly, so a genuine one would be a nice upgrade.

Welcome, Its good to see another Kiwi here, If you need any help from a local let me know.

I showed these pics to a fireman friend.. given the damage to the front of the watch and the lack of damage on the back he came up with an interesting guess.. It was probably on someone's wrist when the damage took place!!

This was discussed in detail on RWC a few years back. from memory the quartz case to too thin to take the auto movement.

Thats sad to hear, I've followed his posts over the years as a Timezone lurker, I suppose his information has probably helped to improve a few reps along the way too but I guess thats not appropriate to post on Timezone!! He will certainly be sadly missed by the online watch community. I hope his collection finds it way into safe hands, I would expect he probably has quite an incredible watch box.

Just remember that whatever you use is going to be on your skin for a long time and your body will absorb some of it. Many lubricants that are designed for machine parts are not friendly to your body. WD40 and many mineral oils for example are not safe for long term skin exposure. In particular teflon based products are know to be poisonous due to the chemical used to liquify the teflon. Any food oil or baby oil is probably your safest bet. You only need a tiny amount to do the job, it won't smell if you don't use to much. Another trick is to ultra sonic clean the bracelet first to remove any excess polish, which being abrasive leads to squeaking and stiffness.

Cool site.. can anyone imagine how much a 47mm Bentley in platinum with platinum bracelet must weigh?? 300 grams plus? Maybe pushing 400??

Don't forget the Rolex movement has a free sprung balance ( I think I have that description right), and is regulated by adjusting tiny threaded weights inside the balance wheel. Its a lot more complex to make and get working right than an ETA type

I suppose the one benefit we have with the replicas is we can strip the watch down and deal to the ridiculous gas escape text fairly easily.

Your best defense against bad QC is to get some tools and learn to fix basic problems yourself. Sadly this just isn't an industry thats ever going to have the kind of quality control some of you are expecting.

@robj.. I don't know what 1950 rep you have but the ones we all have need the bezel removed to get the dial and movement out. The dial is bigger than the inside of the case so its not coming out any other way. Secondly rubber sticky balls are not a good idea on any case with a display back. The crystals are not strong enough and you'll probably break it using one. Resetting the bezel is tough though, you are spot on on that. You really do need a press and suitable die to do it safely.

You need to remove both the case back and the bezel to remove the movement. The silver forged case openers on ebay (the hind with a handle on one side) don't fit without a lot of work with a file to open them out a bit. The alloy one from the dealers here is a better bet.

The usual problem with these technologies is that the rest of the movement needs to be almost impossibly efficient in order to keep running, and this is tough to do. I read an article a while back about JLC trying to develop a watch version of the Atmos clock, which is powered by changed in atmospheric pressure. Ultimately they gave up as they could not get the prototypes working reliably enough for the real world. I will be very interested to see if any manufacturer releases a watch using the is technology. Does it strike anyone as rather ironic though that the swiss manufacturers and their customers spend millions trying to achieve what a solar cell and a quartz chip does with near perfect efficiency for a few cents..

I really wonder how long these record can keep being set... after all this isn't like art where there is only one, there are quite a lot of old Rolex's out there, Rolex has produced around a million a year for quite some time now and who knows how many back in the heyday of mechanical watches. If the mainstream media were to report this you could have hundreds, maybe thousands of rare old models appear on the market suddenly. This whole market has the feel of a bubble about to burst to me..

Is there anyone who can setup a torrent of this for those us outside the US?

My genuine Chrono Avenger has a blue tint from an angle and is clear straight on.

The original chrono bracelet is slight narrower between the inner row of links than the real one or the better replica bracelets like on the older SMP's. The good point is the clasp is very very good. The engraving and the finish inside are much better than even the older SMP's had. The real end links will not fit the chrono bracelet due to the width but will fit the older SMP bracelets. The better clasp from the chrono will fit the older SMP pin type bracelets but some very tiny holes need enlarging to fit the pin and sleeve instead of the screws used on the chrono bracelet. As for fitting the real chrono end links (826's from memory) into the replica chrono case.. its a bloody mission. The hole positions on replica cases are notorious for sloppy positioning. Its hit and miss as to whether yours will fit in easily.

Great reference, thanks.

It looks a LOT like a Richard Mille case. Speaking of which.. a half decent Richard Mille replica please??

It looks like its designed to fit over an inner case of some sort which has the threads for the case back and the crystal mounting. Also the crown and pushers are obviously fitted into this inner case as there is no threading in the ceramic. Based on all that its probably genuine.. but who knows how it ended up on Ebay??

Enough people die while diving every year without adding to the total by using a low grade "novelty" watch with zero quality control to time your dive. I love my reps as much as anyone here but I'd never venture off the boat without my Suunto dive-computer watch. They are pretty cheap and make diving much safer than a watch and tables willl ever be. Here is no reason the rep wouldn't work in theory.. its just not worth the risk. I'm not sure where in the world you are diving but in more and more areas dive computers are a requirement anyway.

That model does use a 7750 (called an omega cal 1154 from memory), the 3303 model didn't start until the Americas Cup series.

Great effort.. Its awesome to get this information out into the hands of us enthusiasts.

Back before there was rocket building, nuclear programs, and so on the most skilled mechanical occupation was probably watchmaking. People forget that today and allow self taught amateurs loose on watches they have no business playing with, let alone performing complex modifications to. Its a pity we don't have a few more people here with some real watchmaking skill, we desperately need them.