TexBiker

I've been wearing Rolexes, Breitlings and Omegas for 20yrs and I've never had anyone make a comment about one of my watches. None of my friends or family care about watches or jewelry in the least.

I've had three ETA SOSF reps (two from Silix) and all three of them have the "little box" in the proper location. I've held them side by side with my '06 gen and you'd need a 10x loupe to notice any difference in the second hands....other than the color of the tip, which is a bit brighter on my gen. There are quite a few other details that are much more obvious...such as the color/quality of the lume dots. Put the rep next to a gen SOSF and the second hand will be the last difference you notice. If that little detail bothers you so much, then I doubt any rep will make you happy.

Very nice! All my gen Omegas wear stainless or NATO straps since they are heavily used/abused, but that croc looks very classy with formal attire. I'm impressed!

The rubber is fine...if you like rubber. I only keep rubber on my actual dive watches. I don't care for a rubber strap on "everyday watches."

$130 - $150 for the calfskin. ~$400 for the croc. Add another $300 if you want the gen deployant.

I've purchased several genuine Breitlings and Omegas from him, so I don't think he knows or cares. I certainly wouldn't be stupid enough to advertise the fact. Yes, the gen SS bracelet is much nicer than the rep. Better finishing all around...much smoother and no sharp edges. But even a gen Breitling bracelet feels like crap compared to an Omega.

That's Joshua's site...hard to go wrong with him.

My AD sells the rubber strap for $135 if it has it in stock...or $170 if he has to order it. Don't understand the logic there. However, after trying leather and rubber, I decided to put leather on my everyday SOSF and left SS on my gen. If I used it for diving, I'd probably get a rubber strap.

When the second hand of my rep is at 12 o'clock, the little box is in exactly the same place as the gen pictured above. The second hands are the same.

I usually get a response from Silix within 48/72 hours via email. He's not the fastest, but he's reliable.

No...they are the same.

On the gen, the tip of the second hand reaches the middle of the "double ring" around the outside of the dial. I have three SOSF reps (two from Silix, one from another dealer...all three Swiss ETA) and the tips of the second hands reach the same point on the dial.

22mm

I've received two of them from Silix in the last two weeks. Second hands on both look perfectly normal to me.

I've had the blue rep side-by-side with the blue gen and they were virtually identical. Both of them look different depending on the lighting...changing from a very deep, dark indigo to an almost cobalt blue.

Generally speaking, a faster rate will yield a smoother sweep since the second hand will "tick" more often during the same time period (28800 = 8 "ticks" per second, 18000 = 5 "ticks" per second). With the 28800vph movements, the second hand stops/starts so quickly, it appears to sweep continuously at a glance. As you slow the rate, the start/stop movement of the second hand becomes more noticeable. However, the difference in rate becomes less obvious as the second hand becomes shorter. The individual "ticks" are much more apparent with longer second hands since they are covering a greater distance with each revolution.

Here's my blue SOSF: I also have the black dial SOSF, but I'll probably be selling it soon. I simply prefer the blue since I have many other black dial watches. For what it's worth, my local Breitling AD told me the blue faced SOSF outsells the black/white versions by more than 3:1 in his shop. In fact, the white version sells so poorly here, he doesn't even order them anymore unless a customer requests it.

Well, it's been a while since I took a history class, but I'm pretty sure the lander was on the moon, too. If I leave my watch in the car, I still consider it to be on Earth.

So was Neil Armstrong's. Two of the Apollo 11 Speedmaster's are in the Smithsonian...Armstrong's and Collin's. Aldrin shipped his to the Smithsonian, but it was stolen in transit. Someone, somewhere has a very, very valuable Omega! Here's a nice hi-res photo of Aldrin wearing his: Aldrin On the Moon. And here are Collin's and Armstrong's watches: And just for the sake of trivia, Wally Schirra was the first to wear the Speedmaster in space in 1962. The Speedmaster is still the preferred watch for cosmonauts and astronauts, although it's the Speedmaster X33 version now.

That's correct. I paid $28 for EMS shipping...which is a tad less than most of the other dealers I've used. Air mail was quite a bit less expensive, but I don't mind paying extra for EMS in most cases.

Seems your dealer was mistaken in his assumptions. My brother-in-law just recieved his SOSF from Silix and his was ETA with double-sided AR...just like the one I got from Silix earlier this week and exactly like the one I got from Josh a couple weeks ago for almost $100 more. Seems this was just a good deal all around.

Here's mine...

Appears to be both...hence the term, double-sided AR, just like the gen.

I have both and prefer the 4th generation PO to both of them. However, if I had to choose between the SMP and UPO, I'd take the SMP. The UPO is a fantastic rep, but I'm a decent sized guy (6'5", 240lbs) and the size is a bit awkward for me. Something about the dimensions just don't feel right. Just my opinion...YMMV, of course.

I had my watchmaker inspect mine this afternoon as he was adjusting the band for me and it is a Swiss 2824 ETA movement...not an Asian copy. Regarding the AR, it's the best I've seen on any rep and just as good as the gens I've handled.