Watchmeister

I can answer that. He did it himself and it was a labor of love. It is a work of art and I had forgotten about the strap - very nice touch.

A big happy birthday to a long time and much esteemed member of the forum. Enjoy the day. Don't you think you should reward yourself with another PAM.

B- Got it. Is it worthwhile to see if DSN has the older dial as well? Do you know if there is more than one caseback number option?

Thanks for everyone's suggestions. B- You have obviously given this topic a lot of thought. So my takeway is all basic cases are the same. I have Eddie's sapphire crystal with Chief's single sided AR so I will probably keep that. I will ask Davidsen for older 127 dial and hands. Do all casebacks have the same number on them?

P has it right. I initially thought the first one was fake as the date font looked like the rep not the gen - until I saw the recessed sub dial. I do have to say the first one still bothers me and I can't quantify why. I know P is right but I would still not have bid on that one.

If staying within the daylight family the good news is that the date changing button is usually functional but is blocked by the original spacer. The bad news is that there were two different movement spacers for the 7753's. One relies on longer chrono pusher stems. The other has built-in extenders in the spacer and are virtually impossible to get out so you would have to make sure that the spacer factored this in. On the bi-compax question remember that that configuration is based on a 7750 derivative - not the 7753.

All of the daylights (188, 196, 250, 251 and Pandas) come in a 7753 version for which you should be able to source a dial from your favorite dealer. The other question you would have to find the answer to is whether the existing movement spacer will work with the 7753.

PAMman is correct. If you see threads in the hole and a vague hexagonal outline than the spring loaded mechanism is in there. The way to fix it is to simply screw in a standard 0.9 ETA stem and pull hard. It should pop out. Of all the ones I have seen only one or two that didn't fix it.

Aha, the AP strategy. It is somewhat galling that they are making a series for Tourneau. Why not Zales?

This may be old news for folks but I thought I would recount my own recent experience as a warning. I was the winner of a PAM at a very reasonable price from a low count ebay member. Needless to say it was the only item he was selling. The person claimed to take paypal. However once I won the seller informed me that the watch had already been deposited with a shipping company which provided escrow service (i.e. you pay the shipping company and than inspect it before the shipping company releases the cash to the seller) so there would be no problem. What amazed me is that the seller created his own virtual shipping company within a couple of days of the auction ending. The Company website (in this case Hayward-Freight Inc.) reads as if it is a U.S. company complete with U.S. physical address (in this case it was in Florida and didn't exist). and demanding payment via Western Union (yeah, too funny I know). In truth there are 10 different reasons why alarm bells should go off but it is amazing how technology facillitates this enterprise. Needless to say I never sent the money. But I do have to give big thanks to an unnamed veteran member who was able to instantly tell me who and where the host for the shipping website was and when the site had been created. He was even able to check with the Interstate Commerce department and establish that the shipping company didn't exist. I spoke with Ebay and found out it is an increasingly common occurence. I believe the term from the Ebay operator was "flavor of the month". All the best, Kruz

I stuck with the standard Inge based on concern with the chrono movement. IMHO, if you want a chrono go with the slevin or CD. If you are going with the ti AMG chrono than be prepared to spend some time with a cape cod as the finish is a touch too granular and dark versus the gen. I don't know if the cloth actually did anything to the surface but it does remove the oxidation which builds up on ti. It worked wonders on a Chrono Avenger.

Thanks for a well-done review. Just looking at your pictures the flaws I would guess are most prevalent are the inner bezel being the wrong color, the date number in the day date window being half the size of the gen date number and pretty significant difference in bezel engraving. It also looks like there is a significant difference in the caseback depth but that may just be the pictures from different angles. It is a beautiful watch though (rep or gen).

That was what tipped me off. T- Wear it well.

S- It was great to meet up. Enjoy that new beauty. All the best, Kruz

I suspect I have the movement.

One of my holy grail projects has always been doing an original movement Fiddy. I don't know if it will actually happen but while I am dreaming... Assume I have the following: G Series Decorated Movement Eddie Lee original 4rth generation fiddy with his sapphire crystal (after market single sided AR though) My guess is: Davidsen Hands Davidsen Crystal (Is it better than the original Sapphire crystal that is on mine?) Davidsen dial (Same question) Anything else?

I will let someone else comment on the dial. I have seen the black and it looks fairly good. The real issue is that the gen is made of titanium and so the brushed ss is going to look off and the weight is very different.

Not the same dial as above but same concept: Chad- Good luck with your new acquisition. Everyone raves about these.

I haven't followed the 232 closely as this year I am focused on vintages when it comes to 47mm but I was curious whether it is the Davidsen or standard dealer version which everyone has been raving about. Has anyone ever compared a rep to a gen on this one? My most basic concern is always whether the color of the dial is accurate. Once you get away from black or white it gets much more difficult to know.

What they said. I hope yours doesn't because the gen doesn't.

Truly a brilliant review. Frankly, much better than many purist reviews I come upon. Wear that watch well.

Well, if you prefer the complications visible on the back go with the Tourbillon.

Congratulations on your new job. Best of luck! And for pete's sake be careful with your pictures. The forum will always survive but we want your job to as well.

Well purists may think we are low-lifes but they are happy to take your money. And make no mistake many drool over some of the vintages folks put together here. RWG is a diverse place. There are many folks who came here out of purist forums and with a history of buying gens. And in truth playing with reps has caused me to buy more than one gen. So I guess rep forums really do benefit the genuine manufacturers.

George- I am sure your friend will thank you. Good night to all.