Watchmeister

Great thread. I will be staring sideways at my crystals for now on.

Pete- Great stuff. Much appreciated.

Great review. The one thing I had never noticed heard was that the case back differential was that big.

It is an old E series dial with small numbers which have long been discontinued. It was used in an ss, ti and even the King of Prussia (or something like that) bejewelled watch. I just love the vibrant blue against the gray. I also suspect AP won't be doing another sandblast case anytime soon. Every gen Chronopassion owner who wears it has to be unhappy. They have moved into carbon and other durable darker materials as has Panerai and others. I have even contemplated PVD'ing a case light grey as the finish would hold up better.

No Mr. Z pointed out that the darkened recesses on the top of the outer bezel are too dark. I suspect they may even have been painted on the rep. The gen obviously has some sophisticated finish (light sandblasting maybe) in the wells. Simply lightening them up makes it much closer aesthetically. On the brushing be careful because I actually thought the rep brushing was fairly accurate at least on the main case.

Updated pics with Bezel mod.. While I had the watch with Ziggy I had him do Zorrolondon's suggested mod of lightening up the outer bezel "wells" and voila......the watch is complete. Thanks for the suggestion Mr. Z. Now I am determined to find out whether the genuine textile/carbon strap alternative will fit. Has anyone tried a gen strap yet on this one?

I have been wearing the AP Chronopassion fantasy I put together way too much lately and as a result the inevitable scratches on the bead blasting have appeared one by one. Someday I will find one to refinish it but until then I opted to add a beat up gen strap and go with a "Wellworn Traveler" look. See what you think.

The Doxa's are gorgeous pieces but IMHO it appears they have peaked in value. The last few have traded at very reasonable prices. I am loving that Silver sharkie though.

We do.

Fabulous classic. I remember when Promoters built that baby back in the day. D, wear that one well.

Now that is just mean. But I am with you.

Great group effort. Clearly a lot of love went into that watch. And that is what makes frankens so satisfying. Wear it well.

You sure you want to be in front.

Great rep. They really have these PAM reps down to a science. It is amazing how much better the case backs have gotten over the last four years. Remember the reps of the Florence boutique edition, now where did that entire word on the storefront go?

So I can't put this in the category of being called out but rather calling myself out. A number of years ago there was a very good rep of the original Muller Vegas "Roulette" watch. Shortly after I got it and while it was still in the active rotation I show up at a one-on-one client meeting. Sure enough, he walks in wearing the gen in gorgeous rose gold. And yes, he had gone to Vegas and won big over the prior weekend and walked into the Tourneau in Caesar's and bought it on a lark. At that point I knew I wasn't going to sit there living in fear so I showed him mine and the story behind my getting it. We have been friends for a long time so it was all just a good laugh. But you know what, when we did the inevitable switcheroo we both noticed that my rep had a better "roulette" function than his gen. He still wouldn't trade though.

So I guess the appropriate adage for gen watches using ETA is start with an ebauche and go from there.

Great stuff. And just to reiterate, although parts can look very similar, as T says, there is a world of difference between an ETA and rep movement (never mind a high finish 6497-2 vs gen Panerai). I have always wondered if Panerai uses a different mainspring. Even the blued finish on the screws for the Panerai movement are very different from the ETA high beats I have owned. I once had Ziggy service an ETA 7753 at the same time he was doing a gen daylight and as I recall the differences were fairly material. T is the man though as I don't have the skills or courage to disassemble my gen movements. Great post.

Now that everyone has had the opportunity to hop on the moral soapbox let me remind you of a few things. First, the person has been banned so it is not like he is here to defend himself. Second, while you are bashing away and his friend/colleague is still here there are watches and money at risk for other members. And so far Rockarep has lived up to all of his obligations - even reaching out for email info when he didn't have it because he was unknowingly banned. If I were in his shoes and aware of all the sniping I am not so sure I would be so cooperative. Most folks who have been put in this position historically were not - think back on all of those trusted modders...RBJ, Finepics, DW, Risti Kevin, the WM SD escapade, Paul and the Crazy Sale, etc. So for those of you who are having fun just remember that you are not doing any favors to your fellow members.

I must admit I have never gotten over open casebacks and generally avoid them for that reason. But in truth for 99.9% of the world they won't know the difference on some of the better and newer reps and as folks say...it is sitting on your wrist. At the end of the day everyone has to choose what is more important. Over an 8-10 year period I have moved my thinking toward a bifurcation of watches....those that are and will stay reps (because they can never be that good) and those that you can amass gen parts for and ultimately make a project out of it.

Yes. That is why generally people don't bother with the movement or a gen dial unless they do both.

IMHO, don't go there on this watch. Save up for the gen. I would never build a $1000 plus franken of a $3000 piece without a gen dial, hands and movement. Either save up your money for a gen or build a lower end version. I have made this mistake.

B- Great stuff.

It does look great but I am amazed no one has asked the more interesting questions? Why and where are you carrying a machete.

The question is whether the seller knows. Someone should offer to sell him a movement since he claims he would happily buy a movement to complete the watch.