Watchmeister

Congrats on a wonderful watch. I am afan of the 1680's. Wear it well.

Delta- Thanks for the link. Every person I have ever been to was a multiple of the numbers mentioned above to the point where it was very difficult to justify. I will try him.

Glad to see you solidly on the mend. But just so you know we don't care how sick you are. Ubi and I are now used to calling you at all times of the night....and it ain't gonna stop. By the way not to make you laugh too much (as I have listened to the result more than once) but I am off to Mexico tomorrow. No I am not kidding.

I suspect you don't feel that way with cufflinks.

Not a fan of button downs. But it is not the collar I am focused on. It is the cuffs. If a cuff isn't big enough for my Panerai or ROO to peak out suggestively (rather than sitting on top)I have no interest. Remember it is all about the watch.

I tend to think of it as an original movement and dial elevates the watch to a franken with the same functionality of the gen. And $2-3,000 versus $10,000 plus is a very different proposition. And the other half beyond the money is the fun of hunting for that movement and dial and pursuing modification perfection. But you are absolutely right that for that kind of money you could be buying a gen - just not an AP. Although you can have my pathetic and ancient 34-36mm gen two tone RO for not much more.

Ubi- Watch looks great. I may have to give-in and add a few parts to my big guy. I think it is time to sick R on that movement. If he can handle Unitas....

I dug up some of my older watches the other day and was having some fond thoughts about the various projects and thought I would share them here. These are not the $4,000 Vietnam specials but they are works of art in their own right and each has its own little heritage. I thought this an appropriate vignette as we disappear off the grid for a day or so. The first Ziggy Great White- This is the very first MBW full works that Ziggy did for me. I had bugged him for months and it was only when he got mad at the prices certain other watch smiths (and I use that term very loosely ) were charging. This one sports vintage relume, full case and CG work, gen crystal, watch materials insert with proper tritium pearl and unique properly engraved case back. I would be remiss not to add that Archibald got his hands on it and added his own touches with the case back and the necessary Watchmen vintage datewheel, etc.. The Gift- As everyone knows Ubi is one of the most wonderful and generous resources around here. And this particular watch just showed up at my doorstep a couple of years ago. Beautifully done with aged insert. It sports a gen T39 flat crystal, gen vintage crown and tube, drilled lugs, shaped CGs, faded bezel, 2846 ETA and watchmeisters datewheel. The caseback is correct for a great white as well. Still trying to find the Nato he sent with it though. The Longterm Project- This red sub started life as one of Tribal's first Rolex mod projects. Several iterations later it has had a dial relume, the usual gen parts additions and some additional case-work and of course another vintage datewheel. The Falco 5512 Long time member Falco offered this one up some time ago and I couldn't resist. It has subsequently gone back and forth to Ziggy for clean-up once or twice. This one sports slow beat, gen dial, insert, crown and tube, bracelet, etc. Have a great weekand all.

Oh crap, now I am going to have pay attention to the kids. Just don't tell my wife and I will be a hero. Can't you picture it. "Honey, I know I have been too busy lately so I have decided to break away from the computer all Sunday and spend some quality time with the kids."

My guess (and it is a guess so the builder of this wonderful project can weigh in) started with the seconds at 9 because that was what was available when he started the project. Also MBW had done a 6 piece limted edition along the same lines using original movements and dials but more rep parts and so you had something to start with as an example. I built one using the case, dial and hands from an MBW which was being parted out and adding my own movement. Here is the original MBW when it was offered: Marcus took it to a whole other level adding gen hands, crown, etc. I am now working on another one trying to use the seconds at 12 version. It will probably be a couple of weeks before I know whether it will fit. No matter which one you use it will require having to remill the case, reset the crown hole and potentially fine tuning the inner bezel.

Great combo. The strap is beautiful. It really makes the watch harken back to its origins - Fiddy and before that the 6152. One of these days I am going to get me one of those. But until then I will just look and admire. For me, the 233 is the perfect combination of traditional lines with Panerai's first in-house movement. A wonderful combination.

I am impressed you could type. Wonderful gesture.

T- Fabulous stuff. Thanks for the pics. Is the RO chrono 40 or 42mm? By the way hoping to finish off the white franken in the next few weeks. Just picked up a black Themes dial and am going to play around with that one as well. I love the AP's.

What they said. The first one is a rep. There should be a full "bar" of the textured dial in between the date and the inner bezel.

Congrats. Wear it well.

You are absolutely right. It requires gen movement and significant case work.

Marcus' watch is a work of art. I know what lengths he went to in making it. Now I am experimenting with seconds at 12 and seconds at 9 cases and gen and rep dials and inner bezels to see what works. They all will require case work and a new movement ring work to allow the movement to sit properly and align the pushers and the lowered crown. My MBW-based original franken is long redone and gone - here are a couple of pics. Now I am on to the next experiments to see if any other combination works. I am hoping to have something intelligent to say in a couple of weeks though.

T- Another great project. My vote is for no lume on both and satin yellow on the gold but that is just my opinion. I actually think the electroplating should look good on the blue hands as I have a few of the original hands and they are much brighter blue than on contemporary blued hands. You shouldn't need to worry about second hands. So the Angelus hands will be available in a couple of months? Very exciting and can't wait. Are we supposed to have placed orders already on those?

With the raft of new interesting reps and recent gens and frankens the Ingy will never see the light of day on my end. As it is I have a pair of GST's and the 2006 Cousteau (with the one and only RepAustria's wood caseback) and they all have proper datewheels, Swiss 7750's and Ziggy lume. And they never get worn. When I get my act together (read as learn how to use the new camera) I will sell of some of them. Back to the topic at hand, I think you are nuts to buy a BB King as a daily wearer unless you have 8 inch wrists. I also find that rep to not look credible to folks who know what it is and to look cheap to those who don't. My 2 cents.

That's a good question. I have never looked at the back (and I have tried on the gen ) . Is it a sticker on the rep or the gen? I have encountered that with one other watch I can't remember and I ended up spraying a light coat of a sealer to preserve it. The funny thing is that it turned out that the sticker on the gen actually did fade so I had made it less accurate.

Here is mine: By the way mine has not seen the light of day for a couple of years now so if you are looking for one in ETA with Ziggy Relume, proper date wheel and light AR (I think) shoot me a PM. Frankly you can have my BB real cheap too. That one has never been worn. Is it possible I have too many watches?

Please keep posting pics as your watches come in. I am thoroughly enjoying the pics. It looks like it is the next blacksteel. And I have to say a big thanks to Lani for getting this started.

Ingy is certainly the more versatile watch But as others have said they are night and day. The Big Bang King is obviously huge (and by the way weighs a ton). Also the Ingy is an old school $3k'ish watch and the King is a $15-20k new watch. Only you know which one looks more appropriate for you. I am willing to bet you would be happiest with a 42-44mm watch anyhow. I wear 44mm and 47 mm PAM's on a daily basis and the king wears even bigger. So unless you have been running around wearing a Super Avenger I would guess you will be disappointed.

Bump for a good cause and an awesome opportunity.

You start with a manual wind stem, thin it out and then re-tap. I know Ziggy does it.