Watchmeister

They both look fabulous. Wear it well.

I own the SS and really like it. I don't own the ti but I was in Wempe a couple of weeks ago and tried the ti Chrono (gen of course) and it was a vdry sweet watch. It is a guy's watch though. Not shiny.

Beautiful work on the VC. I love the brush work on the bezel. Most importantly, enjoy the 111.

That is why I am not buying the HBB. No way to swap movement so if it dies you have a $600 paperweight.

I am still adjusting to the sticker shock on the new HBB. I have paid substantial sums for reps with solid movements. This is one where you do not have the rescue opportunity of swapping movements if it dies. So I am curious as to how many people will actually buy it. Not looking for comments. In fact I have purposely closed out any comments so that people who do want to buy it but may be embarassed will be encouraged to vote. I just want to understand what the larger community's feeling is toward this development. This is not a one-off exclusive rep but one of a thousand. I do hope those who are buying it will vote so. Apologies for the spelling above. I can't figure out how to edit the poll.

I am not surprised at who is not buying at these prices.What I want to know is who is? $600 for a potential paperweight is frightening. In the past I have a rationalized buying Asian movement watches as either inexpensive or readily able to replace the movement if it dies.

Beyond Chinese market there is also the Japanese market which has the longest history of buying well made knock-offs of expensive branded products. As for what happens on prices it is less clear in my mind. The business model has changed beginning at the factory level. Based on experience with legit companies manufacturing in China as well as what I have heard from 3 different dealers who are not part of the cartel I suspect the issue begins at the factory level. The factories themselves are demanding longer runs and higher prices. Why? Because they can. Also many manufacturing companies are trying to dramatically improve their scale and results either to sell the business or to take them public in the overly inflated Chinese stock market. Most rep factories either make other legit items or are part of larger groups which make legit items. In any case the distributors/dealers to markets outside of China end up with higher required minimums and prices meaning they are assuming more risk in their inventory and as a result they are going to charge more and try and sustain higher prices longer. In spite of all the discussion of cartels and impact on pricing I think the biggest impact come from the earlier links in the chain. Ultimately price will impact sales and we will see who flinches first - manufacturers, distributors/large sellers, smaller dealers or the buying public. With the dramatic growth in the "middle class" in China if the largest group of buyers are in the domestic market (albeit at half of what we pay) I don't think we see this getting better any time soon. If we are not the drivers of the market we are certainly the cream of it (or rather those dumb enought to pay those prices). By the way both the Chinese and Japanese markets are likely better conditioned to buying Asian movements. Getting back to the thread - very nice watch.

It's gone and someone got a very good buy.

It is a great rep. I bought the older version with a good old fashioned real 2892. Some people have mentioned that some are not coming with the proper movement so make sure you check it before you buy. Also focus on the ring around the date. It is a dead giveaway if you get the wrong one. If you are very meticulous stick with the black dial as it comes with silver hands. The white dial version should come with blued hands and unfortunately the hands that come on the rep are blue but look terrible. I have never been able to source gen hands so you end up repainting the hands with some obscure paint made by Ford for its cars and truck. Shoot a PM over to Archibald if you are still interested. He is an expert on FM's. I would show you pics of mine except it is with Ziggy awaiting the mysterious hand paint. Hey Arch- Not to make you jealous but a certain store opened up here. And its neighbor is AP.

Davidsen is always "improving" his dials. In truth they are not always improvements. If you got a different dial than what you expected he may think he did you a favor. If you don't think so just contact him. He is fairly reasonable on stuff like that.

I believe it is a second gen. There have now been 3 or 4 generations. The first gen was the best. Over the years I have swapped out the movement and dial. The only thing you can never fix is the CG's. They are off a little. But when you are done it is a pretty good dead ringer. The classic was made by a defunct factory.

Looks great. Wear it well. And there was an 001 L Swiss L. On everything except the subs they switched over to L Swiss L early on. There are any number of B series where the switch took place. Even an A series or two. I guess when you lose a few watchsmiths to radiation poisoning due to hand application you are bound to want o switch to lume sooner rather than later.

Too frustrating. $600 for a watch that may become a paperweight sooner rather than later and cannot allow for a swap to a Swiss movement? I had been looking forward to the ceramic version but it never occurred to me that it could price out at $600 with an Asian movement. Every other expensive Asian based movement watch I have simply built in the cost of a Swiss movement. On the one hand it is well within my personal rep/gen ratio. I believe it is under 10% of the cost of a gen. On the other hand I have always followed the simple rule that once you approach 10-15% of the cost of a gen it should either have a solid Swiss movement in it or building in the cost of a Swiss movement still leaves you in that range. Of course this one will be well over 10% when the gen's are discounted 40% six months from now on Timezone. Now the next generation comes out and the prior generation remains at the same price. I don't blame the dealers. It is a for profit business and the manufacturers and distributors are getting smarter and greedier. IMHO, we all just have to decide whether to ride out initial dealer exclusives or not. The funny part is that after the ridiculously long loop on various cartel issues what we end up with is honest descriptions and ever rising prices. I had put more than $_0,000 into reps over the last few years. I may go the way of others here and buy 3-4 gens instead this year. Naw, that violates my sensibilities too. Actually this is not a laughing matter. My old plan B is increasingly my plan A. Let somebody else take the risk and buy it from them in the aftermarket when they are tired of it and after it has withstood the passage of some time. Or worse, wait for Paul to get it.

Now I am curious. Can someone post the link. I just fried my computer and am having to rebuild the bookmarks - just too painful.

This is one which if you give in and buy it you don't admit iit.

Actually, I prefer the fantasy graphite version with red lettering to any gen dial put out this year. I am considering calling mine the RWG Connaisseur's Limited Edition. The blue is cool. Not a fan of the brown.

Ubi- Needless to say, I am back. I will bug you tomorrow.

Heck, I sold my PO Ultimate (at a profit I might add) to the U.S. Customs officer who was inspecting my bags last night. He was so enthusiastic about it that far be it from me not to turn him on to RWG. Well being in front of a Customs officer who admired my PO is true.

That ain't no Polex. Looks great. Wear it well.

Well don't let the AR stop you. I am sure we can talk a certain provider of excellent AR into doing a "cold process" run for crystals with cyclops.

Nothing as best as I can tell. I had heard more than a month ago that it was being worked on but the dial was still an issue. However I didn't hear that from Honpo. I am under the impression that Honpo has taken a pass on a 7753 version.

This is looking better and better. Soldier on Angus. On a humorous note it is good to know that Mike Horn can't keep his bezel markers on either.

I do have to say Ubi's 6263 is fabulous. The mystery movement is keeping COSC time. And yes, Ubi it did see face time on the beach this week and got a very nice comment from one of those wearers of the WG daytonas.

At that price I assume it is ceramic. It looks good though. I have not bought one yet and had two basic questions. Does this version usually come with white datewheel (versus black one) and have the movements in the reps been working fine? I had previously thought there had been only one or two limited versions with white datewheel and that was the basic giveaway on the reps as that edition had a total of 500 pieces. Be gentle as I know nothing about Hublot. The ceramic version is intriguing although $600 for an A7750 rep seems steep. Oh well, whatever the market will bear.

Looks good but I would still kill for a proper H series crown guard.