Watchmeister

Yup. I just get tired of hearing that the Asian 7750's are as good as an ETA. They are not or at least the quality control is not as good. But you are absolutely right that with proper care the movements can last a lifetime. The funny thing is it is often my ETA movements which need adjustment sooner than the rep movements.

I may be reading it wrong. I thought you took a black dial and repainted it white and lo and behold - the Albino. I have nothing bad to say about the watch. It is gorgeous.

If you cook the way you build watches I will be over for Thanksgiving later this afternoon. That piece is looking good.

I am wondering if you can re-engineer an old MBW to take the movement and then it is gen dial city. The funny thing is I would be adding feet back to all those dials I butchered the first time.

Funny meaning you showed a watch which is basically gen except you redid the critical dial which is what has everyone foaming at the mouth. The watch is gorgeous but everyone is focused on the one element which is fake. Am I missing something? I could tell you similar stories about legendary Daytona dials which have been discussed ad nauseum on the gen forums and I know the guy who made the custom redials. But that is neither hear nor there.

I bow down to an evil genius.

I thought there was an issue beyond proper servicing on the basic parts - things like parts not properly finished, etc. Having said that I agree that with a servicing the movement should be fine. One of the things I have never investigated but was curious about was the quality of the mainspring on the Asian versus an ETA. But I may just be kidding myself.

If you have never uncased a watch, removed hands or adjusted hand tubes which is an art unto itself run to a watchsmith.

Great article. And I will bet the cops came with a camera crew from America's Top Cops.

Very nice stuff. I have been sitting on an original sharkie myself for a long time now waiting for my Pre-V project. But I am well behind you timing wise. I am loving the brown one. Can't wait to see the finished project.

I just keep coming back to this one. That looks fantastic. Wolf outdid himself on the case work and of course the CG is the icing on the cake. For my money that is the nicest one I have seen yet.

Great stuff. I am a TiAln man myself.

So now my gen set will be called out as rep.Life works in funny ways.

Happy Thanksgiving to all my fellow ugly Americans. I still haven't figured out how to cut and paste from photobucket on an IPad so you will have to take my word for it. AP White Themes franken today and 28 franken for the bulk of the holiday. Because that is all I took with me for the next few days. Yes, I dared get on a plane yesterday.

I missed the funniest part of this. The Albino was all gen except the dial was reprinted from black to white? That is too funny.

So the movement changes the date in the right direction, has the right size and font on the date wheel and takes a gen dial without having to remove the feet? if so, than it is priceless.

If it is a gen then definitely take it to a service center. They will probably insist on refinishing the entire case and it isn't cheap. A few years ago it was $800 or so. If it is a rep then do as everyone else suggests and do it yourself. I believe that the rep gets dinged up more quickly than the gen for one of two possible reasons.The first is the quality of the metal is inferior ( but I have no idea whether that is the case. The second and more likely reason is that the the crystal on the gen protrudes more on the gen "protecting" the metal from certain bangs. On a humorous note if you regularly sand down the bezel to the point where you have to shorten the screws you are actually shortening the height which will make the rep more accurate to the gen.

I just want to see whether they throw Nanuq off of that forum now that he is a confirmed rep owner, poster and even a leader of one of the largest fake sites.

OEM straps are pretty rare at significantly lower prices. Even leather or croc straps in poor condition can fetch $300+. That is why Hktan and Apbands are so popular.

In addition to folks logging back on I suspect there are folks who still lurk from time to time and now that some of the other older members are reappearing they are actually posting.

You guys can get killed by them but you can't wear the,.....classic On a serious note at the AP boutique in NY they typically have some in stock. if not it is 8-12 weeks. And last I asked prices were $350 for leather, $450 for standard croc or alligator and $550 and up for hornback.

That is one heck of a piece. Someday......

Which is more expensive - the bike or the watch?

Truly a one-of-a-kind piece. Wear that one well. It has an awesome pedigree.

While waiting for your custom deployant (if you are going to do it) do what everyone else does who has the clasp pressing on your skin.....just swap the strap sides. Changing the length of the buckle side can help as well but it may not. The other way to go is to pick up an AP bands buckle or gen AP buckle ( but it requires a diver sized width on the strap). You would be surprised how many gen owners have the same issue. There are a disproportionate number of gen owners using the AP bands buckle for that reason. The deployant is not AP's finest hour. I was recently in the boutique in my town and one of the newer ones already had a larger strap buckle combo. I forgot to ask whether that is how the latest are being offered or whether it was just that one piece.