Watchmeister

I had assumed he was permanently gone like Finepics. Best of luck for all those owed money or work.

Movement and dial swap into any case other than a case which has the same movement will require that you check the movement spacer. The two issues would be different placement of the "holes" where the movement spacer bolts into the case and whether the hole where the crown stem goes in on the movement lines up with the case tube once the movement spacer is installed. If you are swapping it into a case which is set-up for the same movement it may well be fine. Before you PVD the case do a test swap. If you are keeping the movement, dial and hands as one unit it should be an easy test. Finally the PVD itself should not be thick enough to change the fit.

Does it have a serial number of 01?

Unfortunately, the whole Paypal fiasco has made life very confusing. Presumably those who make a one-time annual payment have no idea when that anniversary comes up. It might be helpful if that list gets updated first as it is a one-time upfront and will bring in the largest amount of money quickly. I would also guess that those whom have done it before and have established the value of membership to them will be the easiest to get to re-up.

Nice pics. Looks really good. Good to hear you have no QC issues. Is the orange inner bezel lumed reasonably as well? Am I right in saying you have to leave the rotating bezel at a half click to get the best alignment versus the dial? In any case, wear it well.

Tell us whether you bought the 7753 or 7750 or show pics and then you will get intelligent answers.

Maybe yes and maybe no. The Asian 7750 PAM came in two versions. One had longer chrono pushers to reach all the way through the movement spacer. The other version has built-in extenders in the spacer and shorter pushers.

These 187's get weirder and weirder. I don't know how you clean that up.

Thanks for all the shipping advice. My "rep" got to its destination and now the intermediary is sorting it all out. Idiocy on my part but I will have to see how this plays out.

IMHO, this is the stock $250 version with new Asian 7750 movement and you got a good price. Bezel Markers are more rounded than Honpo (better) and glued not screwed (bad). On the silver surrounds on the dial markers, don't remove them. Paint them black. The gen has Tritium reservoirs - just black. The blue 1000 on the dial looks good though. Raised He on the valve is the giveaway and less accurate bezel. And no neither the dial nor the case are the same on the Honpo versus the next generation. I have been plugging away on modding this one for a long time. I have the dial for the 7753 version on the way with the objective of mounting a 7753 movement in the Honpo case. This should be as good as a rep gets. Unfortunately I will have close to $1,000 into by the time I am done so I would have to say you are smarter than me. Wear it as is. Perhaps relume if the lume is not yellowish tritium color. Otherwise just wear it and enjoy it.

I am no expert but the likelihood of a direct fit is extremely low. But your watch smith should be able to adjust accordingly. I know Ziggy has refit many different hands on various movements for me.

Looks great. Wear it well. I see you have learned "the trick" of setting the inner bezel at a half click to get the best alignment with the main dial. Too bad the basic strap doesn't fit as that strap is one of the best rubber straps I have ever had (including gens).

Well, does all this price variation imply the cartel is becoming a duopoly? If I didn't already own one I would not be buying now. I would be letting it settle down. Even if the the ceramic bezels truly are from the genuine fabricator these pieces will come up second-hand and that way the prior owner has already acted as your guinea pig. Than you either pay for a well put together one or buy a busted one at a big discount and service yourself.

You mean there are people on this forum over the age of 18? And even if they are over 18 I thought all people who bought rep watches managed to avoid those nasty 1040's.

Thanks for the compliment. Here is my other favorite buckle: but it goes on this strap :

We may never be able to prove that the Ceramic bezel on the rep is from the gen factory but what I can tell you is that I walked into an AD and very carefully compared the finish and fit of my Mellow Yellow bezel with another ceramic bezel HBB in stock and they are identical. So IMHO the story is completely plausible.

I have to disagree. I buy parts for projects all the time - dials, hands, CG's, cases, straps, buckles whatever. Wanted to upgrade my 188 dial - no problem. Lost the little rubber thingy on top of the chrono pusher on the Mello Yellow - no problem. Without the parts I would not have the guts to do some of the projects I do. And yes Angus is fabulous. The other members of the Big Four are helpful as well. That is why you want to build a relationship with a dealer rather than simply hunting for the lowest price.

Seems fitting after watching vets (who know better) frothing at the mouth. Myself included of course.

No guts, no glory!

Excellent review. I love this one as well. The big tell tales are the AR coat, date font and hour markers. In truth the hour markers drive me crazy as they are just so fat (even when cut straight) relative to the gen. And yes I am gearing up for the next AR coat run and relume and movement/date wheel swap. Wear it well.

You mean like a "Hands Across America" thing?

I prefer the first dial as well. But the 2007 caseback is far more preferable - no fake wood with little boat on it. It still has my two big issues which is misaligned rotating bezel and sloppy marker lume.

Holy Cow. Over a $1,000 for a couple. So much for the good guy theory. Good luck on that one. I was feeling pretty silly having dumped $750 into my Mellow Yellow between the watch and Swiss Movement transplant. Now I am a frigging genius!

Well if the earlier loop about the ceramic bezels being sold out the back door of the OEM supplier is true than it makes sense that the rep manufacturer is just marking up those he has left. And yes, no one wants to be long inventory of a watch which no one will pay for.

I always thought it was odd when these pieces were offered that some had brushed bezels and some had polished bezels of the same ceramic models and they all came from the same factory. If the answer is that the rep factory was able to get a finite number of polished bezels from the gen ceramic shop it does begin to make sense. You have to admit the ultimate irony would be for the market to be so flooded with gens that the gen value continues to fall and one day we wake up and that polished bezel rep is worth more than the gen.