Watchmeister

Add a gen dial and that equals insanity.

ignore my post. I am dyslexic.

Here are my guesses. Dial $1200, movement $1200, decent case with Hev $800, hands $300, bracelet $300, crown and tube $150, superdome plexi $300, assembly, etc. So I say it starts at $4-5k and you can buy a gen for $10k. And of course you know you can sell it for the same $10k. So they are labor of love - not common sense.

D- That is stunning.

Outrageous! Wear that one well.

If that is the case another modder bites the dust. With one or maybe two exceptions they all do. I hope this is not the case.

You are absolutely right if it is life threatening. But honestly the number of those cases is very few. Other than sitting in a hospital bed there are very few situations which don't allow you 30 seconds on a computer or smartphone to simply post that you are away. IMHO, when you are providing services for remuneration this defacto becomes a job - whether full time or part time. If you were to disappear from your day job for days or weeks without any communication you would likely lose it.

Did he start shipping the watches from his "secret location." Seriously, I am glad he is back but there is no excuse for not putting up a quick note saying you are going to be off the forum for a while and giving folks some sense of how long.

I can tell you how but you aren't going to like the cost.

It's gorgeous but I think I will have to stick with my Sears Craftsman tool chest.

I vote for Safari or other SS or ti model unless you are a rap star, professional athlete, Russian Oligarch or Sheik. That hunk of gold on the Ramon is huge and truly ostentatious. So unless you really are in that league and have been wearing large gold pieces before your friends are going to be laughing at you. Now if you are one of the above go for it.

I do. And make no mistake, that is a one of a kind. I have gone through many watches - rep, gen and franken but that franken 47mm ain't ever going anywhere. Mine isn't.

On the 23, the dial, hands, crystal, bezel, crown and cg are gen. The case is either a Fu or gen (I can't remember) and the caseback and movement are original Honpo. I just remember that the gen bezel couldn't fit on what was available in rep cases at that time. The 27 had the same specs but as I mentioned has long since disappeared. On the 29, Honpo never made a t-swiss-t. in reality Honpo never made more than 100-150 examples of any specific watch in their first runs. And their dials and other parts often changed in subsequent runs. It was a different time.

That was on answer I knew was coming.

Thanks. I was wondering what it might actually be worth.

Great stuff. Do you have any concerns on the crystal/bezel gasket? That is where I have historically had issues on a number of reps.

I am loving this one. It makes me regret getting rid of my EL so many years ago. Then again by the time I got done with the Fiddy I was out of money anyhow.

I do love it and it is a nice change of pace but it does make the watch wear much bigger. For me as long as it has that strap on it the watch is more of a weekend wearer. I do like the presence though. I am contemplating commissioning a flat croc with silver stitching to "thin it out" on the wrist for daily wear.

I wouldn't take it off my wrist. I am a fan of the 02 bases. And in tritium it really is a showpiece for the beauty of tritium. Needless to say, yours is gorgeous.

And this is what is frustrating. Although all the reviews people do can warn us about inherent flaws in the rep design or construction there is no way to tell on the QC. The question is always who is doing it and exactly what are they testing for. Is a dealer really checking every watch to make sure there are the appropriate gaskets and seals? Any one dealer can sell hundreds of one model.The dealers have made great strides and the better ones will rectify the situation with a replacement or a repair but this will always be our concern. So I agree with the approach of pick what you like, find out the already listed problems and then proceed carefully. No matter what a dealer states I assume that any watch with an He valve is going to need sealing up before taking swimming. But write ups like this are really helpful. is anyone going to accept a diver watch without a case back gasket? I now know to ask a dealer (if I order one) whether my Diver has one before accepting it. The next question is who else is going to take off their case back to make sure there is a gasket. And there are always other things you can't account for. I see the fogging came after washing dishes in hot water. Well, if there is steam involved I can tell you very few watches will survive a steam room. I have fogged up more than one gen watch that way.

Here are most of the 20's I have done over the years. I just wish I was still in my 20's Honpo 29: Old School 24A (Long gone) Franken Honpo Triplets (first one is long gone in the hands of the legendary Archibald): PAM 27 PAM 28 PAM 23

The funny thing is that it is the deep sea diver watches with he valves, thick crystals, etc. are the ones with the most opportunity for leakage.

If you are going to go with Velcro I would try the black velcro with carbon fiber and Panerai embossed in black. As the velcro sraps go it is reasonably subtle and the gens do come up at reasonable prices. If you keep your eye out you might find a 1 keeper A/B series.

It is just really hard to tell with those pictures. I am now leaning more toward gen. the pics make the dial printing looked washed out but the depth of the sub-dials looks better than any rep dial I have seen. As someone else mentioned at a minimum it is a 7753 movement. But the price is now up to $4500. If you really wanted to own one I suspect you could own one with box and papers for not a lot more. You would be surprised what happens with a WTB on Risti. I have bought a few pieces remarkably priced that way. It is the best way to ensure you are paying a market price.

Very nice looking. And by the way there are plenty of gen AP's with quartz movements (not Offshore but Royal Oaks).