Logan

A hundred years ago everyone carried a pocket watch, many of them gold. Today nobody (essentially) does, so you've got a lot of spares. The point is you don't need millions of them to preserve the history and heritage. It's only us watch geeks who care anyway, to the general public they as obsolete as a ten year old cell phone.

Having said that the energy and time wasted to create gold bars to sit in a vault always strikes me as pretty wasteful

Seems to be rolling along again..

You're right, its 46 vs 44 for the 3717, but you can get very close, especially if you use the spitfire rep you'll get the 3rd pusher.

I'm sure this will get repped within the next 12 months.

I like it.. Pity about the display back, if there is a closed back version that would have been a much better idea. Still I might have to grab one just for fun

A very small amount of locktite works well on screws like this. Use the correct type, low strength, removable.

If you paint the dab of loctite onto the screw then let it dry before fitting it you get much better control over the quality and spread.

Keep in mind there are a number of factories who make Rolex reps, so it should easily be a totally different case set.

If you add a Top Gun dial to a 3717 case you're very close.. could nearly build your own with a couple of parts.

This is definitely an amazing watch.. The only thing is I'm not sure it's one I'd recommend to a completely new collector, there is a lot to go wrong with these and it's important to understand what you are getting.

imagine a Ferrari to commute to work in, and you'll get the idea. If you love it buy it, but grab an eta based rep for every data wear and keep the tourbillon for special occasions

It's possible to get these very good with a little time. One tip, there are 3 different lengths of screw, but 2 are very close, if you mix them up you'll get a crappy build and screw heads sitting proud and catching on clothing.

The shortest and longest one go in the bezel, the middle length go in the strap attachment points. You will need a micrometer to tell the difference. .2mm from memory.

They should really just get the noob factory to make them.. Honestly you really can't tell the difference. A proper movement service and some good o rings is all it would take

Packages returned to China always go missing.. it's not even worth trying to return anything in my opinion. Better to just have it serviced yourself.

No they are all like this to some degree, and be careful tightening the screws if its ceramic.. you can crack the parts pretty easily

The waterproofing is entirely the inner case, so this won't have any effect. All HBB's let water inside the outer case parts.

Hublots have an inner case, which is water proof (hopefully if it's a rep)'then the outer parts which are only cosmetic all attach to that. The gaps are just the outer parts not fitting quite right. Have a look for some big bangs parts photos and you'll see what I mean

It sounds to me like you need to learn some watchmaking skills so you do the work yourself.. It'll take a bit of work but it's well worth while especially if you plan to stick with the hobby for a while

Who is Angusbridal? I've ordered for years from the real Angus at Puretime and I've never seen Angusbridal mentioned anywhere.. are you sure you haven't ended up at a scam site?

Happy 5th !!

It sure is an ugly watch.. but you're right, the build quality does seem extremely good, especially for a 2nd tier brand and a watch that I can't really imagine being a massive seller..

It could be the night shift version from a real factory.. or maybe Dior is way more popular in China then we realize.

Are the transfer gears on the genuine thinner than the Asian ones? Is that why the case requires machining?

I'm going to say the middle one.. but only because I've never seen a rep of that.. otherwise it would be pretty tough to tell.

Avoid any of the seconds at 6 chrono's, otherwise the Ingenieur's are excellent, or the pilot series, Top Gun or 3717.

You're about 4 years too late.. There was a really good 2824 based rep, I sold one a couple of years back. It was pretty good, proper end links, very good case, etc. then there is the holy grail, the Asian 2892 based 007, and in fact there was a black bezel regular sea master version of that too but very rare.. My 007 is safely in the watch box.. It's never getting sold, although I can only guess what it might fetch today. The quality of that is exceptional, right up there with the modern 1:1's. Mine still rates as one of my best reps ever, and trust me, I've had quite a lot :-)

I can only suggest keeping an eye on the used market and see what comes up. Unless another production run gets done I don't think anything new will happen.

Funny thing is I saw the same post just a few minutes after a typed this one.. I don't know how I missed the thread, but it's awesome news. I'll definitely be buying one, I have waited years for a good Compressor rep, and it's been a long time since a new brand got added to my collection.

The weight difference will be the inner case. Like all Big Bangs the genuine is titanium but the reps always use steel.

So you've applied some kind of clear coat to the case to change the surface appearance?

Sadly there are no good ones, I've been holding out for a Extreme World Chrono, or even better the MC Alarm model for years.. Same with Reverso's, I don't know why JLC's are not repped well, they are just as popular in Asia as all the other brands