Watchmeister

Congrats.Looking forward to the next 1,000.

Fantastic.

I am a fan of UPS although they do nickel and dime you with handing and customs fees.

Pete- How much weight saving would you guess can be achieved from the skeleton 7750? You also mentioned V3 midcase. Is that from a standard HBB, King or earlier version of the Diver? I would love to find a ti mid case. I would guess it would significantly reduce the weight. I do love the rep. Anything to lighen the weight would be greatly appreciated.

My latest interaction with UPS was a disaster. Package shipping from abroad disappears off the grid and then shows up as an attempted delivery. I go to the post office where it is theoretically awaiting my pick-up. I get there and am informed that their internet and phones are down. They have no ability to check on the package. Ifact they can't even process a credit card so all transactions have to be in cash. I ask them to check in the back as I have a delivery notice. And 20 minutes later what I hear from them is there are so many packages in the back they don't know where to look. It took them 4 days to get back on line and then my package mysteriously is delivered. And worst of all we are not talking $300 rep.....it was a multi-thousand gen. I won't use them anytime soon.

And they are usually so cheesy too.

Nice and all that. But with your 162520 why bother?

The funny thing is that the "fake gold watch" is what every woman is wearing in NY this fall. Having read this post I took a look around on the subway. In the course of one subway ride I came across 24 of them - all fake gold watches. A lot of them were chronos. It is this season's women's fashion accessory. And so many foiks are wearing them it is plain old lame.

Similar experiences. They have no control over their timing. Half the time the cheaper service is faster than the more expensive one. Most things get where they are supposed to go but tracking is worthless and as far as I am concerned USPS has become the Western Union of package delivery - too expensive and only people who have no alternative will use them. It has gotten that bad where I live.(i.e. the largest U.S. metropolitan City). Long live Fed Ex and UP.

Mine now has a Swiss 7750 using the original rep datewheel.

Fully agree the weight differential is a "fatal flaw" but on the wrist it is aesthetically unbelievably close. I have had the opportunity to compare. And in truth for that reason I have never bought a rep of a gold watch. Every gold rep is that far off the other way - they are way too light. But I couldn't resist the styling on this one and of course the price is right.

I would be curious to know whether the mystery movement version still exists. I was under the impression he had switched over to the manual wind A7750.

Wow, I may have to buy one of these V3's just for the cyclops.

I am not that negative on it but it wouldn't be my first choice for the new generation of ROO's.

Sorry to hear it ended this way. I bought a nice vintaged piece from him quite a while ago. Everyone is entitled to a a screw up as long as they do what they can to rectify it after the fact. Unfortunately it almost looks worse. I know a lot of folks have done a lot of mods on this particular watch. I actually elected not to relume it as I thought the V3 or whatever I got was pretty good. And yes, I did compare it witht the gen at the time.

I love the brown croc with the white dial SA. It really dresses up the watch nicely. Wear that one well.

Agreed on the $1000 rep. For a couiple hundred dollars or less you can swap in a proper ETA movement (it is an ETA movement) and do a couple of minor aesthetic mods. For my money though the Diver is aesthetically one of, if not the, best Hublot reps aesthtically and this is coming from someone who has handled both at the same time - or at least within 40 seconds of one another. No, I didn't have the balls to where the rep into the Boutique. I also have to say that I had a similar opportunity to do the same thing on another occasin comparing a V1 Black Magic I owned with a gen ss/cf bezel at the AD and I was surprised at the weight differential there. As long as I have experts on line, do any of the Big Bang reps actually use a ti mid-case or whatever causes the differential between rep and gen?

Actually I am not surprised by the post as this is a timely response to a few ignorant folks in a couple of threads who have made sweeping comments on the lack quality of rep soft goods. In point of fact there are reps that are closer to the gen than any watch and by the way that industry and the high end has been around for decades. That part of the rep industry is far more transportable than the watch business. A factory with access to the right materials and a modest number of skilled workers can produce great stuff. And it hasn't hurt that a number of the gen manufacturers are themselves outsourcing to China and other rep centers. What is relevant is that the quality of the dealer and their access to the appropriate suppliers is what is critical. Kind of sounds like watches, huh?

Great info. IMHO 15% weight differential is excellent for a gold rep of that size. Sounds better than the ss/ti versions where I haven't read the spesc but I have held the two at the same time and it feels like a bigger difference. Of course the one that is shockingly different is the Diver where that Ti mid case makes a huge difference. It is one gorgeous rep though.

Now you tell me. I have gone in and out of Milan and Rome at least 2 or 3 times in the last couple of years but then again I don't remember customs opening up my bags going through there so it may well be luck. In any case I have traveled on 4 out of the 5 well populated continents on a regular basis and other than compliments for the few times a customs agent has rifled through my carry-on it has been all good. I really am convinced that a nice traveling watch case (and for god sakes - not obvious fakes) will serve you well.

I don't know right now. Hundreds were sold to members at this forum and others and so they have and will come up in the secondary market. One of the things that folks are going to have to get used to is the "ancient" concept of rep collecting......"patience is a virtue" - well maybe not a virtue but often a necessity. And if you don't have patience to wait for the factory to get back up to speed and have the wallet for it put out a WTB.

Great stuff.

Guess Ennebi couldn't get around that crown guard patent.

Aha, another happy customer.

I was wondering if one of the key issues with all the hublots is the fact that the inner case on the gen is ti and so the SS rep version is too heavy in which case the ss underlying the gold on the rep would add more weight to make it closer to the gen gold weight versus other gold plated reps. Does that make sense?