Watchmeister

You're right but there is hope on the 10 day as it has a rotor and a rotor can cover quite a bit and it covers the issue of 42 hours PR on an 8 day watch. The new 72 hour PR's have a rotor as well.

Actually the prices I am quoting are from timezone, ebay (finished sales), etc. There is a guy asking $3300 for a used 05 on TZ. On the PAM's I usually find that the best way to buy PAM's is to put out a WTB on risti. I find that there are people who really want to move some of their PAM's and are either embarassed or don't want to publicly admit what they will take for their used PAM.

Actually I believe those days are largely gone. Watch sales are down 26% at Rolex and 35+% at most of the premium brands. Ain't no one getting a premium on much of anything these days. I can't comment on Patek as they are out of my league. The illusory PAM handwinds that we used to never see in NYC are now readily available in the AD's and grey market dealers. In fact the AD's in NYC and DC are offering a discount to list now. I was thinking about wandering into the Panerai store and seeing what they are doing. At this point with the secondary market crumbling I would think long and hard before buying from an AD. The last two Zenith based Daytonas sold for $8-9k when they were $13-14k 4 months ago. BP's have simlarly fallen from a solid $10-12k to $8k. And on the PAM's you can almost name your price. A 237 Ghost which was solid at $7500 + just traded for $4850. If you put out a WTB on Risti for a 233 you can buy as many as you want in the 9's and at least one person I spoke to was into the 8's. So unless you have found one of very few watches go tell that dealer to remove his head...

If it was a standard black seal (handwind) you can buy those in the $3k's. IMHO, any dealer trying to get a price above list is a scammer. If he were authorized you could report him. My experience with gray market dealers was 10-15% off list in a much stronger market. In the current environment the authorized dealers will do the same. The other thing you will find is that the larger stores are offering artificially high trade-ins on another watch you own to effectively lower the price you are buying at without violating their agreements with the manufacturers.

I suspect no one has that answer except sssurfer. I wish I still had a picture but the funniest thing I did was putting a gen 6mm crystal (which it turns out was for the GMT's) on the watch. It made the Rolex Submariner date look small. The funny thing is that I am about to do another 28 and am just sending out a Jimmy for milling. I will either use Marco's cyclops or the ultimate crystal if there still isn't enough clearance.

Mickey- I would hang tough. As you know the whole gen 8 day and new 72 hour series are based off a smaller fiddy case (akin to 212 without pushers) and supposedly there are going to be some kick ass reps of the newer stuff on the way in the next few months.

Snrubb- You are a lucky man. Too many of us have learned of the differences between the 2893 and 2892-A2 models. It is a little known fact that the original Rep 27's "cheat" by raising the height of the bezel just that little bit to achieve clearance hand clearance. And as everyone says neither the GMT case nor a Jimmy work without remilling the case. In any case I would suggest trying an ultimate crystal from one of the newer reps as it actually does use a sandwich crystal and so it can provide additional clearance or one of sssurfer's custom cyclops which he was able to design a little thinner (and with better clarity I might add) knowing that he had the secondary magnification on the movement.

Ziggy is right. I forgot to add - kudos to you for continuing to pursue this project. We all enjoy the benefits. Much thanks for all your efforts.

Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder but yes that one is a fantasy. You should stick with the 188 or go to a 03/113. IMHO. the buttons for hour markers on the 251 are a real turn-off.

FGD- Keep up the great work. If I heard correctly you have a work of art heading toward you.

Lani- The only question left unanswered is how those 12, 3,6, and 9 markers look. It drives me nuts on the 3717 that those markers look like someone pasted on blocks of lume rather than elegant markers which taper into the dial (overall lower marker height as well) on the gen. Whaddaya think? ATB- Kruz

Thanks guys. And CC, I thought you would get a kick out of it.

Thanks for the kind comments. Half the fun on these projects is collecting the materials (as you know it often can take years). The other half is coming up with new challenges and then working with the master to achieve the final effect. FGD- The dial is fantastic - much thanks. RMC - I suspect that yours will come out every bit as good. PM me with any questions. And to all I should add that the cherry on top of the sundae are the folks that step up to help. Both guys above are just such guys as are many others around here. And that is what I love about this place.

Over the years I have worked with guys with extensive Breguet and Patek collections.So I have been fortunate enough to see any number of tourbillons and other ridiculously priced watches during the regular workday. I also have seen virtually everything imaginable having sold a very few items over a 20 year period at auction and making it a point to maintain a nice relationship with the heads of the major horological departments at the auction houses. I can say with a straight face that I have had the opportunity to try on seven figures worth of watches.

Thanks for the comments guys. See, us ignorant about Rollie guys with a little help from you Rolex experts and a little Ziggy magic can end up with some fairly nice stuff. Virgil- Good to see you hanging out.

I love the strap as well. I have had a pair of these for eons and someday the other one is destined for my illusory 28A (2009 project). Funny thing is that it isn't gen but in better shape. None of my A dials are even vaguely in such good shape. Try sending back your T dial to Panerai for a refinish or to repair the Tritium and you will get it back relumed in Lume - seriously. The one other thing I didn't mention is that Ziggy managed to exactly replicate the vague glow he has seen on the gen A's I have sent him over the last few years both on the dial and the slightly more luminescent hands. Ziggy takes care of many of my watches but on this one he outdid himself.

Ziggy had shown some pics of my 09 redone in tritium and I recently got it back and was so excited with the results I had to show them with the only appropriate strap. This one sports a case done in proper TiAln with FGD's second generation Pre-A 09 dial redone in tritium and a proper PAV strap with PVD buckle. The results in person are just spectacular. I could not be happier. I am loving those snow storms in the Great North - they keep Ziggy at home and on the bench. Here is the gen for comparison (pic stolen from the infamous T swiss T article) And one of Ziggy's original shots:

In the ever changing (and ever increasing cost) of high-end Rolexes I pulled one of my oldies out of the Watch box and sent it up North for some clean up. I am ecstatic with the results and thought I would share them with everyone. Here is a 5512 originally from Falco a couple of years ago with slow beat, Gen dial, crown, crystal, insert, pins, bracelet and improved case work. I am not a true Rolex guy as I tend to wear larger watches but it came back so nicely it will definitely get wrist time. And the obligatory wrist shot:

Yes that is the watch Ziggy had posted. I am really liking the Blacksteel and it has been getting substantial wrist time since it came home. It is very surprising what a difference the repainting of the hands make. The deeper color IMHO gives it a much richer look. Thanks for the suggestion to get a revised datewheel. At the time I did the Chrono Avenger several years ago the standard font on my ETA's was the closest thing out there.

First generation Chrono Avenger with gen dial and swiss movement and the latest Blacksteel with swiss and hands properly repainted to match the bezel. Very similar and yet ultimately sublime.

Why don't you ask the AD who is getting them for you? Seriously, I have never been able to even vaguely figure out their coding system. I have a couple of crowns hanging around and they are both mx....b.

Don't know if it helps but the last offer I turned down was around $1700-$1800 with serviced Cort./Rolex motor - can't remember exactly though.

Irrespective of what you want to view - standard operating procedure in restricted Middle East countries is to subscribe to a personal VPN. I don't know if you can do it once you are over there as the sites may be blocked to download it but it ranges from free to low-cost. I ran into this problem with accessing a shared data site (no, not porn ) last time I was in the Middle East and that was the solution. It is typically slower unless you pay up for premium (faster) service but it works. I do hope you will continue to spend time around here though.

My guess is similar. $1,000 with the mods but without movement. $1500-1800 with the Cortebert movement. We all have the same issue. I am going to keep mine though.

Ziggy- Fabulous review. Please keep posting these reviews. As our reps get more and more expensive and the economy gets worse we all have to make more educated decisions so posts like this one become all the more critical. ATB- Kruz PS I finally figured out what the G in RG stands for.