Watchmeister

I don't think he wants to take apart his friend's watch. No worries though. You don't need the whole datewheel. It is the standard 7750 layout. The interesting thing is that this font is really nothing more than stock ETA with the font bolded. In fact I have a bunch of older ETA movements and the font and numbers are very close. No rocket science here.

Unfortunately you re right. The surround on the piece of wood should be sapphire - not plastic. Here is an interesting article: http://www.thewatchquote.com/IWC-Aquatimer...ers-No_5678.htm Does the pusher at 4 o'clock double as chrono reset and inner bezel adjuster as it does on the gen?

That is because they start from scratch. We will see a perfect 111, if and only if, someone feels there is enough interest to do a whole new one.

Yeah, but I don't own the car to go with it. It's kind of like that t-shirt american parents bring home to the kids after they go on an adult only vacation - "My parents went to Florida and all I got was this lousy t-shirt."

The dial and hands comment is very telling. Switching to other genuine parts can have additional consequences. I own gen crowns but when you stack them up against rep crown guards they often look worse than the better reps as the rep CG's have larger holes and so the rep crown compensates for it.

Maybe someday someone will go to the trouble to make a properly sized GMT hand.

Definitely 183H as a test. Although it is nominally 1mm bigger on the actual case it wears much smaller than one with crown guard. If you want elegant bling try the gold (231 or 232?) radiomir. The gold color is fairly good and it screams elegant. It is the only PAM I will wear black tie.

I am with Chieftang you make that trade. Don't let the A's get you down. It is not a manual base or marina. On a 63 there is so much going on between the hand stack and sweeping second hand that ain't no one staring at the "A" (except for you). On the 89, any color dial other than anthracite is the wrong color. Now that would drive me nuts.

One of the few enjoyable sections in a national publication I have seen in a long time. I am a fan of the freak too.

Have a great time. I am just back from sun and fun myself. I highly recommend it.

I forgot to add - selfishly speaking, I hope just enough people drop out from the original list so I can sneak in.

Lello is selling an overlay as a courtesy only. He is also selling an entire date wheel where he has purchased the date wheel and replaced the existing one with his new one. So all you would have to do is pull out the date wheel and replace with his. IMHO, if you are going to buy one you should get it already put on the date wheel. This is one of the movements where you can readily get the date wheel. IMHO, it is a good service and worth the price difference.

I am in for one.

It looks great.

This is looking very good. My only comments but I am looking at pictures is that the font on swiss made surrounding the six could be one shade bolder. It also looks like the 9 o'clock subdial hand has a black bottom and I believe it should be silver. It may be the case but I can't tell - the numbers on the inner bezel should be the same boldness and size as on the outer bezel. Here is a pretty good pic: Anyone who thinks I am wrong please chime in. This is looking really good.

Yeah, I was initially thinking it was the Rangers as well.

Yellow? Is that the Bananarama tribute watch.? It is better done than the last version though.

I would guess you can only swap for a 7751and maybe not even. The Asians will manipulate the base 7750 movements for specific purposes. The 7750 based PAM GMT (89, etc.) is a good example. If I remember correctly you can't cannibalize the asian movement to allow the Swiss to provide the same functionality. It would only be worse on 7751 oriented movement where you have multiple additional functions (day and month). Stick with the Asian or buy a gen.

A second hand gen is often a better choice. But that works with only a few brands. And if you are someone who loves 44mm and larger watches (as many here are) that is not a realistic option. On the 2893 and 7753 PAM's the gens still trade in the $5-7,000 range. On the HBB, how cheap will that get in the second hand market in the next couple of years - $6,000 or so. That is still a pretty major purchase. There are certain brands (Omega, Breitling, etc.) where you can get an older version for under $2,000 but they are the exception not the rule. IMHO, it is not the pricing that is so upsetting on the HBB but what you are getting for it. My favorite reps are the $600+ reps which are well put together with solid movements. You can invest money and time and try and make them better and not worry about the watch becoming a paperweight. I am still very curious as to how many people actually buy it.

Dave- Thanks for the tip. I am ordering immediately. May be it will time out with the return of the watch from Rob.

Because it is all one color. Truthfully, the graphite dial with red lettering has the wrong color sub-dials (should be the same color). Someone else should comment but I believe it is that type of issue on the other color dials.

Mine is on the way to Ziggy and I will ask him if there is room for an overlay.

Is it the rep strap? I assumed it was gen.