Watchmeister

Seconds at 12 AP ROO and IWC Big Pilot with true power reserve.

What makes me laugh is that when I was fortunate enough to try on an original 3646 with the original owner's strap it was not 6mm thick. So we are all making fashion statements.

If you mount the crystal back in correctly the seal should be fine. Having said that you are a brave man to wear any watch into a Sauna. Many gens ultimately fail that test with the passage of time. I have no fear of swimming with most of my watches but steam scares me.

Actually I regard really thick straps as simply a change of pace. The generic strap culture is about as thick as I have worn. It is sort of overly done retro-chic. Mine gets worn on the weekends as it is a fashion statement into itself. I agree it is too thick. If you have the budget, my favorite "thick" strap are the Xamas straps. Not as thick and the leather is fairly soft - too expensive though. What I like about PAM's is that you can don an OEM croc strap for a classier work day look and swap out to a thick strap for the weekends. I also have found the Pre-V Pam straps to be a happy compromise.

Aha!

Wow, the listing has now disappeared due to an "error". I know what I offered and someone else has paid more than 1/3rd the cost of a gen. An idiot - but hopefully a happy one.

Congrats and wear it well.

Actually I don't believe it is so much that he won't work on rep cases. His bigger issue is that when he did he ended up with 40 watches and mixing up cases from reps and gens. His real solution was to boost the prices north of $600. If you really are price insensitive and like his finish (and dlc is readily available) just take apart your watch first and send him the parts only. He is not going to know (nor care I suspect) whether it is rep or gen. But his pricing only makes sense for gen watches anyhow.

Absolutely stunning. And tritium to boot.

Beano- You had to go there. Yes it is genuine and it will go for a high price. Here is my project (bezel, 199 improved crystal/cyclops, revised datewheel, gen crown, Jimmy CG, Ziggy dial relume, etc.): That dial is just screaming out buy me. Best of luck to everyone. I can even guess who the bidders will be. I suspect someone is willing to pay more than me as I do have Ziggy's fabulous dial. But there is only one way to find out.

The funny thing is that the Fiddy's are one of very few dials that has the proper gloss on the words on the dial. IMHO, in general it is not until you see a gen dial next to the rep that it becomes obvious.

It is great to see everyone's watches. Of course I can think of a dozen folks with truly extensive gen collections. We will have to see if they reveal themselves.

You can still get cases. They are few and far between but they do still exist in unassembled form. It is the CG that is impossible to get as people (myself included) routinely used them as the finishing touch on project watches. And with the recent use of the gen crowns it has made the CG's only more valuable. In truth I am not convinced they are worth what they currently go for. But as someone else said they are worth whatever someone else is willing to pay. To the extent that people have untouched Jimmy CG's I suspect they would never part with them at any price.

Looking for a veteran member in the LA/Santa Monica area to assist with a possible pick-up of watch in the area. Please PM me. Thanks, Kruz

Stunning stuff. Wear them well.

Sanro- You don't have to justify anything. Congrats on a great watch and a great story. I think I have spent that much on reps and frankens. At least you have a timeless work of art for your money. No one should ever be embarassed about owning gens. In fact it is too funny. And by the way I suspect you would be surprised by the number of similarly valued watches owned by forum members.

The combination would be very expensive. I think you are talking something north of $200 when you can find them. It is the CG which is the rarer.

Ziggy- Chill out. There will always be scumbags. And I still can't tell whether he was claiming he did it. Although other idiots claimed he did and he did nothing to tell the truth. In any case it is ridiculous that he is posting it if he is not the owner. Most importantly, I see that folks had already clearly stepped up over there to point out who's work it is. And I would be remiss if I didn't post the very first Ziggy FM. To this day it is one of my favorite Ziggy relumes:

Looking good. Wear it well. At some point you will give-in and end up reluming.

Neil- I do hope for a speedy recovery on your end. On the issue of protecting the membership I find that one particularly galling. This forum has sacrificed all kinds of revenue calling out scams and questionable practices. The level of posting by some dealers is substantially less on this forum verus others for exactly that reason. And on Ziggy, you could not be more wrong. This is the only forum that has forced questionable modders off the forum. And as a result this is the only one where Ziggy will post. As for why he posts less than he used to that is once again a function of the membership. Whenever he has negative things to say about other work he is attacked. He long since concluded it is not worth it.

Welcome and best of luck.

Dave- Good list. Are you leaving the boards or simply telling us you are done buying reps? I hope it is the latter. There are many folks here who don't buy reps or who go back and forth. If you have been around for a couple of years we all seem to go through phases once we get beyond the Pokemon "gotta have them all" approach. It looks to me like you are in Phase 3. Life cycle of a Long Term Repologist : Phase 1 - Buy a lot of reps - they all look good Phase 2 - Start Modding them with good and bad results Phase 3 - Get disenchanted and buy gens only. Ultimately not so satisfying either. Phase 4 - Creep back and buy that occasional rep and/or frankenwatch Phase 5 - Ultimate Zen - Mix up gens, out of the box reps, heavily modded reps and even work on frankenwatches as budget allows. Number of watches purchased has fallen dramatically but satisfaction has risen Just remember it is not that reps are reps or gens are gens. Watches are watches. There are good and bad ones and expensive and inexpensive ones. Mix and match to suit budget and taste. All the best and hope you hang around- Kruz

Very nice piece. I have been trying to get up the gumption to put together a rep of this one. Another forum member was nice enough to send me a gen bezel as a gift. In any case, wear it well.

D- Although it is not helpful to the durability the "light polishing" with a cape cod does make a big aesthetic difference.