Watchmeister

Ss far as I know only Angus (and Toro??) are getting true carbon cases. They come in very limited supply from a forum member rather than the factories - ergo more than double the price.

Howie- I think you would be surprised to find that many of the better newer reps are bought by the dealer with 15% margin or less. Many of them are actually loss leaders for dealers. The days of dealers doubling the cost are over for anything coming from the better factories. The funny thing is the money is in the canal street reps.

You can also go visit the AD and dream staring at the gen. I must confess I have resorted to that in the past when waiting.

So far as I know he did not take pictures of the process. It can be done with a relatively inexpensive standard sandblasting kit used for automobile body work. But the trick is picking the right blasting material and amount of pressure involved. It also requires a good amount of taping parts off and repolishing...not an easy task.

Great group you have there. Never tried the Challenger but love the 187 and Hublot. On the Hublot, did you change the lume color or keep the same "mint" color? I have seen and worn the rep and the gen but never figured out what to do with the rep. Did the luminosity actually improve a lot?

D- Far and away my favorite gold watch. Wear that one well. I may break down yet. You make it look good.

Gorgeous watch. Congrats. Wear that one well.

I actually find Canada Post to be excellent - far better than USPS. I must say that the minute I ship in or out of China (Hong Kong or mainland) I expect the package to disappear off the grid. In any case, best of luck.

Congrats. You picked a great first one. Wear it well. And as Cats suggests I suspect it won't be your last.

In theory (and it is theory) that watch is part of the next generation of ROO's that are supposed to come out. They just released v2 of the Grand Prix and hopefully the new 44mm will come out next.

Two days? I don't think I have ever gotten them that quickly from anyone. But you certainly know you are in good hands. And the wait builds character.

Well that explains the case. Great watch Well that explains the gorgeous case. Wear that one well.

Just came upon this. Great post. And yeah, there is gen dial....and then everything else. Wear that one well.

You would buy the LWO 283 as part of a donor watch ($500 and up). Tag Heuer and Concord amongst others made watches with that movement. You will need a gen dial for sure. And you will also need a modder to work on the case (bezel, mid case and case-back. It will also require a custom movement ring. That work is typically $800+ in and of itself. So just to get the project off the ground you will need $500 (rep) + $800 (work) + donor watch ($500+) + dial ($1200+).

Please get the Grand Prix done first.

A $3.5k franken of an Ap Offshore (currently $27,500 new and $14k or so used) is no different than a $1300 franken of a $4k sub. The numbers are just bigger. And of course I should add that an AP Offshore is a baller watch.

I didn't know they are offering a true fored carbon case? Are the rep factories making them or is Angus buying from the forum member who makes his own cases? I do have to agree that the dial is different but not better. The case in that pic on the face of it looks good. They have either gotten better at faking it or it is carbon.

The guy even shot a side view of the crown and pushers which line up.

I vote for right.

Dials do come up on eBay. I have never seen the bezel separately though. I own a gen and a rep and the bezel mechanisms don't look the same so I question whether the gen bezel would fit on the rep.

It isn't that they lied. Let's just say they have no idea. Most dealers don't even live in the same country where your watch is made or shipped from.

Just goes to show.....if you try long enough there is a solution. Congrats. That really ups the game of your franken.

In truth these models just started coming out when all the rep factories started getting raided so we are only now seeing second generation Grand Prix's. GIven that a number of the parts on the grand prix are similar to the models you are showing (pushers and pushers guards, clear casebacks and dresed up movements' etc.) I do think they will get around to making some of these models. They did have a good run with the original Offshore models so I suspect it is simply a matter of being patient. The interesting question is whether another factory steps up to fill the void. The AP factory was apparently hit pretty hard so I would guess (and it is a guess) they are moving slowly. It doesn't help that they were pretty tough with the dealers and allowing for very little profit margin.

I still say the best value is a used OEM. They come up all the time, seem to last forever and are already broken in for you.

Are you planning on offering a buckle? If not I need to start looking for one. This would presumably fit on my 16520?