Watchmeister

Here are the issues (and I am sure I have forgotten one or two): Gen came in two forms: hobnail with PVD and flat dial in SS. I love the hobnail dial but do not love the "PVD" finish on the rep as it is too dark relative to the gen which uses a different process.There is conjecture that the PVD on a rep is actually anodized. I don't own one so I don't know. So if you want the closest to gen with hobnail dial you would buy the hobnail dial with SS and ship out to Finepics for PVD process. But that adds significant cost to an already expensive rep. For straight out of the box the plain dial with SS is closer to gen. Although it is entirely personal preference if I was buying one for both business and casual attire I would go with the plain dial and SS. PVD can be limiting anyhow. My 2 cents. So I vote for #1.

V- Fabulous collection. I am sure you are getting alot of enjoyment from them. Thanks again for the straps.

Ober here LV owns and sells fancy male brands.

Gotta love the Duck. Fabulous bike. I can never get comfortable on it but it is the funnest bike to ride when I do. As I have gotten older I have settled in to my ZZR 1100 for that plush couch ride on longer trips. Been lusting for a Monster or Tuono on steroids though.

For those who have been around these forums for a bit we have seen this movie a number of times before. Unsuspecting person with best of intentions says this should be easy. Unfortunately it never is. Issues include: - thickness of medium, - quality of print - ability to line up all numbers evenly, - attachment methodology such that anyone can line up correctly on the wheel - with or without adhesive (what if you have to shift, etc) - fading issues of underlying medium - etc. By the way, I have plenty of them if you want one from past attempts. They don't line up and don't fit either. Even on the datewheels there have been past failed projects. Poor Lello did his best and I even made Ziggy do his best installing them. No go.

Five kids and no fancy cars - what can I say. Old 5 Series Expedition ZZR1100 Bourgets Kruzer And I live in the city.

You should have paid retail and asked the girl behind the sales corner out. In the US there are no unattractive salespeople in LV.

Nice to see you back. I hope everything is going well. Great find.

Great tip.

Very cute. If you are getting a 10-15% discount off retail for an expensive watch you are paying too much. Dedicated watch sellers need to manage watch inventory carefully. On the LV if you were buying it at one of their stores it is simply another product and they don't discount much of anything except during sales. But I would suspect that if you are willing to wait until one of their storewide sales you can save up to 30-40%. At least that is true on clothes at LV in this country. Alternatively, hook up with an attractive woman who works at the store. They get a healthy discount and there may be other perks too.

No discount from Tourneau. At the New York Store I was looking to buy several watches at once (each worth anywhere from $4-7k a number of years ago, so real money). They offered me anywhere from 12-15% depending on the watch. I am a fan of Timezone and Watchnet. If you buy from known dealers you can typically achieve 40% on new and better on used. Of course you have the benefit of no sales tax. But Tourneau is a great place to look. The aggressive salespeople keep me out of there though. In NY I prefer Wempe and Cellini for browsing. If you are comfortable that you know what you are buying the 47th Street dealers occasionally have amazing deals.

I have to echo the "waterproof" straps issue. I tried the 5218 "watreproof" incursores and they have never been the same. Same deal with PAM oem's as well.

Actually, its not about the materials. It's about who puts them together. I promise you that the active watchsmiths here with a good reputation do a better job of waterproofing your rep then your gen from the ad. If a watchsmith services or mods your watch he will tell you if there are specific sealing issues. I have $10,000 worth of "waterproof" gens which say oitherwise. And if you think your AD has sympathy the minute that warranty runs out you are wrong. Just ask the folks at AP or Breitling - bastards. As far as I am concerned when you swim with a gen you are rolling the dice on a much larger bet. I sure don't anymore.

Both of you have got to get a life. Actually, I guess I do too. After all here I am posting and I have nothing intelligent to add. Oh well gotta take out the kids for ice cream. Always wanted to use that icon. But I do.

I have always agreed with Neil on this issue. It has nothing to do with being a noob on the forum. It is moving forward cautiously with first time buyers irrespective of where they come from and knowing about repeat offenders. I do hope the dealers are keeping a shared blacklist though.

Ubi- Great info. I didn't know you could spell any brand other than Rolex. Very impressive. Is that sub dial arangement the same on the gen AP? I think that was always the biggest flaw on the ROO.

Great job getting the pics. We may have to invent an rwg.cc t-shirt for you next commercial - either that or Jetmid. Sounds like fun though. Alot of my friends do it here in New York as there are always 3-4 different NYPD whatevers filming in various parts of the city. And you don't even have to be good looking here. I suspect that if they are putting you and your wife in the front row of a Shakira commercial no one is looking at your watches.

36

I knew it.

IMHO, most reasonable reps are swimmable out of tbe box. A watch is a watch. There is just not the same level of care. On most better watches I am having them serviced, lumed, etc. and so everything is properly tightened and greased then. The cheapies I don't bother with but they seem to have all survived. Assuming your caseback is tight and your crown is properly installed the only time I get nervous is with chrono and other pushers. I am not recommending people do this. Although it makes no sense, I have had far better luck with water and extreme sun on my reps than gens. So far a gen AP and Breitling have bit the dust at the beach (watch out for the Navitmer crystal bezel combo on the gen). As for the reps so far nothing. And when one dies I have another 20 to fill the void. By the way, what would you expect a dealer to say? Drop it off the Empire State building and everything will be fine? In fairness though, most of the time they don't even see the watch they are sending nor are they going to run the waterproof test. So if you give a sh_t about the rep you just bought get it tested.

I knew I had that dremel for a reason. May have to give it a try. Throw upa a pic or two of the results when you get a chance. Oh, and whch attachement did you use and how did you secure the cloth (tape?). Thanks, Kruz

Hey V- I finally read this thread. Huge congrats. If anyone should own a gen it is you. I know you will get more enjoyment out of it than just about anyone here.

Jet- Nice pics and nice watches. I can't believe you have managed to leave one of your MBW's untouched now that you have been bitten by the mod bug.

Too funny. If it is one of us.

Very pretty watch.