Watchmeister

In fairness to Paul, in spite of a fair amount of frustration I did ultimately get a refund within 3 months of the last crazy sale. Best of luck to those who go foit. The prices are certainly tempting.

Although many of the reps dealers may well be rip-off artists and I stand by sticking with trusted dealers, I do agree that there has been significant growth in the availablilty of reps. I attribute this to the internet and to the growth in prodcution and distribution. The internet has pluses and minuses. Although it serves well for unscrupulous dealers to set up numerous fraudulent sites, it also provides instant global access to legitimate dealers and interested buyers. You know longer have to lurk in a dark alley in Hong Kong or sit on the corner of Canal Street waiting for the next rip-off dealer to show you his wares. On a humorous note, I also think that all the posts on gen forums complaining about the accuracy of reps may have fueled growth (at least in the high end spectrum) from some gen owners.

The crown and cg combination makes the watch. I love it on a 44mm. I am surprised it wasn't repped before the gen came out.

They are expensive but they are unique. If you have the discretionary income they are well worth it.

IMHO, it is a QC issue on the 7750 version. Of the three or four that people that I am aware of that have had them for more than a month at least two have had movement or hand issues (myself included). They may be expensive but they still have all the issues of old Asian 7750's. You could be fortunate and everything is fine or not. Mine does not reset properly just like the one on Eddies' photogallery. I am sure that the next run of 7750's will be substantially cheaper but you may want to factor in a service or replacement movement. I had actually heard that the minimum on the 7753 was more like 25, not 50 and that the 7750 had a minimum of closer to 100. I will have to pursue this. My own conclusion is that unless the price falls into the range of other Asian 7750's I would save my money up until someone does come out with the 7753. Having said all that, the case, crystal and dial are fantastic. Still my favorite rep (aesthetically).

Are all you folks who have had no problems saying you have not even had to, at a minmum, glue the subdial and/or main second hand into place because they slip and then don't properly reset? Well, this post has been useful for me because what it tells me is that I have bad luck. Funny, it never happens with the Swiss 7750 or 7753's. My new approach based on everybody's feedback will be to buy only previouly owned Asian 7750 watches. Maybe that will get rid of the bad luck factor. The other possibility is that quality control issues have been reduced. I am just amazed because if you had looked at the last poll on RWGI many people (read dozens) had concluded what I did. Old Asian 7750's were a crap shoot. Doesn't make me or other owners feel any better about their 187's though.

Actually Ziggy did it on my Chrono Avenger. According to him it was an easy transplant. The only downside is that you can't use the datewheel from the Asian movement (although the font is based off a different Breitling). I do have to say that the Datewheel that came on the Swiss 7750 actually had a closer font. I will take luck over skill every time. On Andrew's comment he may be right that surveys attract unhappy people. But I would just say that in general once a movement lasts a few weeks dealers never hear about it. My Breitling is the perfect example. When it broke down several months later I would never think of returning it to the dealer. Hell, if you talk to other owners of the most expensive rep on the planet (187) which unfortunately come with that movement there are several of us dealing with necessary hand gluing, stuck pushers, etc.And once again none of us are running to the dealers. I am told the new 7750's are great and I hope all watches move toward this. But for my money, the old Asian 7750 may be a good movement but whoever makes them has no quality control. Finally, on the comment of ETA's having problems as well my experience is different. I have more than 20 ETA based watches including 2-7750's, 4-7753's and three 2893/2's. Beyond the occasional service I have had no problems. I am always willing to pay up for ETA, although I have not tried the chinese movement yet.

Thomas- I have to completely disagree on the old Asians. If yours worked fine, you are lucky. I ran a poll at old RWG specifically on the first generation Asian 7750. If I remember correctly there were more than 120 separate respondents. I can no longer get on to RWGI but here were the rough results. 10-15% didn't work properly out of the box, 25% had a problem within 3 months or less and 50% within 6 months. That is not to say that 100% had problems but rather that if you bought a watch with that movement there was a 50% chance that you're watch was now a paper weight within the first six months absent an expensive service. When they first came out on the PAM 196 which I think was the biggest seller with this movement at that time Ziggy was inundated with them. Over several months he got dozens of them. The quality control was absolute crap and he posted to this effect. He even showed several in minute detail as to why they were so poorly constructed. Ultimately, he stopped taking them for quite a period of time. You couldn't pay him to work on them and this is someone who routinely works and rebuilds fabulous complex vintage movements. But I have to say that he never said it was a bad movement - just no quality control. I am told that the movement has a better track record in non-chrono watches. From personal experience, I have had three with chrono functions. I know all the rules of engagement on 7750's and own gens with this and the 7753 movement. Two crapped out and were replaced with Swiss 7750's as the cost of repair was not that much lower than buying the new movement. The third resides on my $800 187. Already the chrono hands don't reset properly but I am hoping it simply requires gluing the hands. And I am not the only one on the 187. It uses the old 7750 which is why people should either wait for the 7753 or add $200 to the cost for new Swiss movement. If anyone can get onto old RWG they should dig up the survey. I was wondering if I was the only one with bad luck back then and so I collected data. ALL THESE COMMENTS RELATE ONLY TO THE OLD 7750. I do not own any new 7750's and the poll did not cover them. Alternatively, someone can rerun the survey. The original survey was meant to take the subjectivity out of it by specifiying several intervals where the watch was still running properly. The final category was still running fine after 6 months and that was less than 50% of the respondents. You tell me.

To each his own, but I have to say that I agree with you're girlfriend. The snake shed its skin and you should shed the strap. Unless of course you have the matching boots. Just teasing a little. Is it waterproof at least?

The good news is that he will continue posting select items from time to time. The bad news is that it will continue to be one at a time. And it is not Traut whatever who you have to thank for his caution and selective offerings. Other idiots on these forums have not done right by him. For now, I am glad he is back offering anything. Great person and great dealer to deal with. His price is his price but his offerings are usually fantastic.

With the Canadian dollar approaching parity with the U.S. dollar I think you are doubling his expected price.

Bignasty- You are right that the exclusive period with Watchonpo is over. The barrier to entry is the price and the minimums. The minimums are substantially smaller for the 7753 than the 7750 which is what makes me hopeful that someone (read Eddie) will elect to do the 7753. On Paul, it would be great if he elected to do it. I wouldn't hold my breath though as there are a number of watches on his site that he initially listed with a $0.00 price which never came to fruition. The one I remember without looking is the fourth generation Fiddy with swan neck movement and sapphire crystal.

They are held in by small screws as are the gens (I believe). Albeit the gen has white gold markers.

You can ship safely to Finepics and as you can tell from all the accolades he does a fabulous job. I am in the US and Ziggy who is based in Canada has relumed a dozen or so watches for me this year. I have never had a problem shipping to him and I have sent more than 20 packages. He does a spectacular job as well and is a true artist with difficult movements. I believe he is off for the Summer but you might PM him to set up for September in case he does check in. I suppose it is possible he has an opening for the Summer. Not that he has said as much, but you can always ask.

Actually, if you push a button on the underside of the case the bezel pops out and functions as a Kung Fu "Star." I think I saw it in Kung Pao, one of the funnier infantile Kung Fu movies. You have to love the cow. Although it is growing on me too.

Ubi - I don't have the 1987 versus the standard 44mm Luminor but here it is versus the 1950 which has been depicted against other watches:

V- I don't know what price Eddie will charge but I feel fairly confident it will be significantly less He will let us know when he is ready. Unless, of course it turns out to be the 7753 version. We will just have to wait and see. Exper- On how it will compare with the Watchonpo, since only one factory makes this model we should expect them to be very similar if not identical. Unless of course it is the 7753 version. Sql_Pl- On the numbers, the highest number I have heard of is 50 something. To the best of my knowledge there have been a total of 150 pieces made by Watchonpo. We will see what happens with the numbers now that obviously someone else is or will be making them. Chronus- You have the flaws just about right. The date font is actually fairly good but it is the usual smaller 7750 based datewindow. They did find a way to center it better between the 4 and the 5 but it may be an optical illusion as it is the original Asian 7750 movement. The quickset date adjuster is just cosmetic as is but it is a functioning button which is blocked by the spacer just like the Asian 7750 196's. The helium valve is cosmetic but is properly placed and sized. The laser etched "he" should be engraved and bolder. The blue on the dial looks pretty close to me. Finally, although the pushers look fantastic and are fully functional in terms of the screw down locking guards (for deep sea diving of course ) they are most likely a little long but leaving the pusher screw down locks partially open it looks exactly right. Having owned the watch for close to three months, with flaws and all it is a kick ass watch. If Eddie offers it in the 7750 version I am sure it will be at a more reasonable price. Selfishly speaking, I hope it is available with a 7753 in it. I know that many of the current owners would happily buy that version as well.

Has Anyone Noticed Eddie's Photobucket. Take a look. http://s39.photobucket.com/albums/e186/300...%20GALLERY/187/

I am very jealous. Good for you. But there may be another one with Unitas movement and a solid back in somebody's future shortly.

Nice pic. Is the accessory for shaving or assasinations? Well, I guess you will never be late, in any case.

Ubi- I am with you. Often the new version will have a new flaw and you end up combining pieces of various versions. I am in the process of mounting the innards (horological term) from a 7753 Panda into the case from my old school Asian 7750 196. You will also find that as time goes by, if so inclined, you will continue to mod the ones you love. My 2892's and 3's went from stock rep lume to regular Luminova to Super Luminova. The crowns went from stock to Lello and will ultimately go to Palp crowns. And once they receive gen hands (in the mail) and the upcoming cyclops and datewheels they will be as close to perfect as possible. The best advice, if not buying $100 reps, is to go with the movement and work from there.

Actually, I think you would have to up the cost of the Guangzhou car to $30,000 -$47,500. This assumes the standard "original movement rep to gen ratio" remains in the 10-15% range and you add another 2% for mods.

Hey Panerailord- You're back. I knew you would be. I do find it interesting that many people own both and take more pride in their reps. I do.

I did speak with him. They are legitimate posts and the 47mm was sold instantly. God only knows when he will get that movement again.

I am with Sevomd.