Watchmeister

Well Panerai will either get it right or not sell any watches. And yes, it would be easier if ETA kept readily supplying movements and parts to anybody. But they are not. But I have confidence that others will step up to the plate. They always do. And one day all these "Swiss Watch" companies will wake up and find themselves at the bottom of the pile. Did you ever think Hyundai would have far better quality ratings than Mercedes Benz.

Does Vacor do individual piece work?

Somehow I think the watch industry will survive. The Chinese already make a tourbillon which is more reliable than the Swiss one. On the gen side what has come out of it so far is that many of the watch names have moved to more in-house movements or other alternatives. I think that is good for the gens. Look at Panerai and its latest offerings. They have added several in-house movements (or derivations of a new base movement). I hope it will lead to more innovation in the mid and lower priced gens. It seemed like too many chronos have the standard 7750 configuration because they were always plentiful and less expensive. On the rep side obviously ETA/Swiss reps will climb in value and the number of new offerings will shrink. And yes I picked up a bunch of older 7750's as back-up. But we are already seeing many different offerings including big dates, new sub-dial configurations. The rep industry has moved on because they have too. So treasure your ETA reps but the day that Breitling, Panerai, IWC and other popular repped gens move onto other movements is the day ETA becomes an Edsel. Maybe we won't have to live with misplaced sub-dials on a Daytona or AP ROO.

Looking good. But this is a first. I am used to seeing Nanuq destroy things - not improve them.

Arch- Even I knew that one. But seriously, I don't know how you find all those movements 2893, El Primero... all for low low prices.

As always Sssurfer is right. And it is definitely mineral glass not sapphire or plexi on the inner side.

How about: ebauche tourbillon perlage rehaut...

That black magic is sweet.

Cases have slightly different lugs, bezels are a little closer in proportion and case tube is larger than on reps (but accurate to a specific gen), original sapphire crystals are to spec on thickness, crown guards are correctly sized and come with a sleeve to give the lever an action more consistent with gen. But all his parts are based on one particular watch and as such are not necessarily right for later series models. Unfortunately, it got so frustrating dealing with his suppliers that he stopped making the parts. Some reps are very close on quality on those items.

Admin is of course right. Then again he owns the sight. But irrespective of that I concur that simple notification of scammers amongst mods and admin should be sufficient. Different boards have different relationships with dealers, are located in different countries and go to different lengths to secure their sights. This is a good thing when dealing with replicas as you don't want to centralize too much.

One and only one HBB for me. The most exclusive version of them all - The Swiss 7750 Mellow Yellow And I finally got a black strap to tone it down :

Beautiful watch but it is too funny. They can get the perlage on the underside of the buckle correct but can't get rid of "stainless".

I am waiting until I get the car to go with the watch. Could be a while though.

Sorry about that guys I was making a different point. You are right that all the engraved movements are missing the "i". What I was referring to was the fact that not all of the 2892 A-2 Power Reserves have the engraved movement. If you have an individually numbered 27 over #100 you are likely to find that there is no engraving. Apparently they ran out of engraved movements after the initial two runs which I believe totaled somewhere below 100.

I encountered it on an airport bus as well. Can't remember whether it was in the Carribean or Europe but it certainly does make one want to try one on. At least it did for me.

If the shiny subdials really bother you, apply a neutral matte lacquer which will dull down the sub-dials. I did that on the original 7753 Silver sub dialed Panda PAM and it was a major improvement. I do wish they hadn't numbered it 1 of 250. Would be better off with no number at all.

Looks really good. I did the same thing on one as well and the VC Overseas too. It seems to make a tremendous difference. In any case, wear it well.

As said, C1 is white and C3 is green. People mix them to try and match up to gen. I don't. In general I have found that C3 matches up just fine. I have a couple of watches with gen hands and rep dials and I relumed them with straight C3. They are automatics though so hand winds may be different. Also I haven't spent enough time with gens to look at the differences from model to model. The gens I either own or have owned have matched up nicely to C3 (once again only automatics). I am not sure if the comment up above about mixing C1 and C3 resulting in a brighter glow is actually correct. What I do know is the more super lume the better - irrespective of color. I was actually curious if there was a scientific explanation as to why one color might glow longer or brighter than another.

Although I would not use it as a daily wearer remember that you can always get it replated if you still love it and the gold has started to wear away. The good news is that it is most likely to wear away either on the wrist where you sweat or the crown from touching it so you will notice it before it gets embarassing. I never wear my gold reps (and haven't bought one in years) because the gold color is usually way off. If the gold plating actually matches up well with the gen consider yourself lucky.

4 Continents, 20 or so countries - never any problem on the wrist. I do carry two watches in a nice case on longer trips and the only comments were "nice watches". This includes all the "urban legend" countries. Then again, if you are 10 years old or look like a drug smuggler...

And if you are a buyer there is another subtlety. Is the movement rotor and spacer properly engraved/perlaged and drilled. Only the initial Honpo 150 issue had those. That is the ultimate rarity. Change the date wheel and cyclops, relume in tritium and you have a fabulous rep. The 2892/3's are all classics.

Looks great. Wear it well.

My theme is exclusivity or rarity. I start with Swiss movements either as is or transplanted and plenty of modding. That is my approach to gens as well. Current rep collection includes: - The first swiss movement relumed CD - Modded 2892/3's with crowns, CG's date wheels, cyclops,etc. - Modded 7753 Daylights with old cases, crowns, datewheels, single sided AR - Ziggy vintage Davidsen - Watchmaster 3646 (still waiting on the cortebert movement) - One of a kind Swiss HBB - MBW's with two many mods to list - Conquistador with gen dial and properly blued hands - Breitlings with Swiss transplants and gen dials when available. All relumed of course. My typical watch will take 1-2 years to complete. It ends up being too expensive but the finished product is more valuable to me than the gen - certainly rarer.

Actually they all have the same case back engraving. Any of them would be great. I would only choose the gmt first if they fix that spatula of a GMT hand. That is the instant tell on all the 7750 based GMT's. Also that movement can be fickle. So I would vote for the 7753 daylight first, the handwind second and the gmt third. But some one would have to do a proper engraving - not another "Vespucci".

They have come up for sale before. I have seen at least two others for sale over the last year. I am friendly with a couple of sports team owners in the Tri State area and from what I know when it comes to rings and watches they make many extras. All players, administrative folks, management, owners and relatives are often offered them. Compared to the cost of a championship ring these watches are a rounding error.