Logan

Don't risk it unless you have no other option. Its better to get it fixed locally even if it costs you a little. You run a huge risk of loosing the watch sending it back. Its no co-incidence that many of the dealer disputes around here stem from watches sent back for repair that never arrive.

Remeber the dealers here will mostly have an "understanding" with their local post office and customs to ensure the watches they send out are not confiscated or stolen. You don't get the same protection sending it back the other direction.

Yes its to do with build quality.. well more accuratly its down to the tolerances allowed for in the threads, and the smoothness and fit of the o-ring surfaces. Also the design plays a large role, for example thicker case backs and crystals are required as depths increase and the design and o-ring placement in crowns, helium valves etc.

Speaking of helium valves. I always place a good drop of epoxy over the inside of any replica helium valve to seal it shut permanantly. The are often the first part to leak

Great post.. like many people in the world outside the US I'm not the biggest fan of George W, but the loose change "doco" really is the stupidest thing I've ever seen. Whats worst is that people who should know better are so polarised toward one side or the other that they really belive any nonsense so long as it goes against the other side..

But the other question is what watch were you wearing at the time and did it survive?? Reminds of those idiot posts over at Timezone where they ask if its ok to clap at the opera while wearing their new Roelx in case the movement gets damaged...

Beautiful.. now why can't the rep guys get the damm crown guard made properly?

Its often worth replacing the o-rings provided with newer and sometimes more accuratly sized ones. The rep ones era often very low quality and in many cases are only there for appearances. Sometimes you can fit a second o-ring inside the crown tube where there was only one originally.

Actually I measured mine and you guys are correct.. its a 26mm.. wierd but I always thought the straps tapered. Oh well, sorry I can't help then.

Not fishy.. just the way the rep business works.. many little factories making many little parts assembled in many little factories in many little places.. no conspiracy.

I have no doubt we'll see a decent rep of this in due course like we always do.

I'm puzzled by the lack of the rubber strap so far though.. my experiance dealing with chinese manufacturers is you have a prototype within 12 hours and full production in 24 so I can't imagine why its looking like being months??

The only obvious issue is the lack of the fatter, curved top, H series crown guard. But for some wierd reason nobody has accuratly repped that yet.

I'm currently at about 25 finished watches.. plus another 5-6 in various stages of modification or repair.

The Link I had and the IWC gst I have both are new 28k asian 7750's.

Look out for an older Navitimer or Chrono Avenger. Both of them shipped in volume using the old movement.

Perhaps you chould check out some pictures of the real thing.. pretty much every combination of brushed, polished etc exists

Silicon grease, use as little as possible, you really just want to wet the o-ring and not much more. Its often worth replacing the o-ring at the same time. THeres not much you can do for the threads although a little grease to help ot close won't hurt.

www.julesborel.com is pretty good, also cousins material house in the UK.

WOOF!!!

My avitar says it all I expect.. Awesome dogs, although very high maintenance to keep as pets.

Remember there have been many different generations of Navitimer over the years.. our better reps are very accurate, just not the same as the generation of genuine in the picture.

Either way you'll be paying way too much for whats essentially just another ETA powered watch, though a nicely made one. If you really want genuine go second hand, you'll pay way under retail and if you shop around you can find some incredible deals on hardly worn watches. I paid less than half the new price for my Breitling Chrono avenger and not much more than half for my Planet Ocean, both were in very near new condition and were being sold as the original buyers had taken a change of heart after their purchase.

Forget the scond hand departments of the big watch retailers though.. head for the smaller second hand dealers of even auctions in your area. After all its not as though anyone will fool you into buying a fake!!

Just a thought.. but a lot of the dealer disputes on the boards here seem to start with a broken watch being returned to the dealer for repair which then goes missing in transit etc.

If you are able to, I suggest having the watch repaired locally, or having the dealer send parts for repair.

Personally I would never risk two more sets of customs to send a watch back unless I'd completely exhausted all other possibilities

Its looks far to well made to be a rep, and its nothing like any rep crown I've ever seen. The area where the two tiny o-rings sit is much better machined than most rep parts

Also it is sprung I believe. The thread that the stem screws into appears seperate from the surrounding part with the orings to me. I'd bet it has a tiny spring hidden inside.

My pick is that its a genuine part from a well worn manual wind watch which would explain the wear level.

One other tip is to strip the watch down as much as possible. So bezel off and crown and if possible pushers removed. Also take the clasp appart.

@rek001

The pro's often use a small board to hold the bracelet in place and in line while applying the finish. This helps keep everything lined up. In my limited experience its not as hard as you might expect using the proper polisher and satin finish wheel. Forget using a dremel or pretty much anything hand held.. trust me I've tried

You will never get it looking even with steel wool, it will end up with the brush marks running all over the place instead of being even and in line. The professional way is a proper satin finish wheel for a polisher, they arn't all that expensive and you can find a cheap polisher/grinder at disount hardware stores.

You will probably need some small boards (ice block stick) with emery paper of different grades stuck on for getting into the tight spots.

I'd love to see more of those pictures. That brushed finsh on the Navitimer looks awesome.

It never ceases to amaze me why anyone is impressed by this.. its a new in house movement.. big deal. Watch manufacturers were making movements that did all the same things as this one many decades ago, and they worked everything out on slide rules and paper, no CAD back then. And if that wasn't enough they made all the parts manually, with no computer driven machine to do the work for them.

And not only did they achieve all that, but they sold the watches for about the same price equivilent as a modern mid-range Seiko or similar. The fact that this new movement commands $22,000 says far about the gullibility of the Panerai customer than it does about Panerai's supposed watch making expertise.

Use something flexible, as you'll end up hitting the bezel on things again, and hard plastic cement type glues will crack easily. I use a silicon rubber adhesive, its slow setting so you have plenty of time to adjust things and its very strong. Its also water proof and flexible enough to withstand bumps and knocks.

One hint.. make sure the surfaces are properly cleaned, the old double sided tape leave all sorts of crap behind and handling will leave oils on both surfaces.

My Swiss movement 1950 has one so they do exist. I've no idea where you could buy one seperatly though. My watch came from Eddie originally.