GhostfaceZX

No cars under my name! Sold it to feed the rep addiction

I noticed this Sunday's Big 5 sporting goods ad for my area showed a Humvee brand watch that looked very similar to the SeaDweller/Sub without datemag. $17. Link

Do you have any pictures of what this gen taper should look like? I wasn't able to find any... The pictures of the full watch I've seen don't really show the clasp up close, but the side views didn't seem to show any taper. Also, is it possible that there were in fact gen bracelets that didn't taper?

Well, jraines...lets see the latest addition to your collection!

Most of the PAMs I see have leather or rubber straps....why aren't the SS bracelets more popular? Also, do the gens come with tang buckles as well as deployant releases for their leather/rubber straps, or only one or the other?

That's good news....I read somewhere on these rep boards that Texas and Alaska were bad for customs seizures for these reps...if you're not in those areas, then I'm pretty sure you don't have much to worry about.

I'll be happy to help as well, but I live in California, so it may add quite a bit of transportation time to your shipment.

Can you post a picture of the movement near where the stem enters?

I took my GMAT about 5 years ago, but calculators weren't allowed at that time. I thought it was much much MUCH MUCH easier than the SAT's, and I had my SAT back when they were easier than they are now.

I just got an Asian movement Bond SMP GMT last week. I did have some issues with the worksmanship (stuck rotor, bent crown stem, crown stem unscrewed from crown), and supposedly, they come from the same factory as the ETA movement version. The endlinks are the 1-piece version and doesn't perfectly look like the separate brushed/polished parts like in the links. The links are actually 9 pieces, not 5 (the polished pieces are separate) and look awesome IMO. The reason I know it's 9 pieces is because I had one that I removed for bracelet sizing fall apart on me. I also am having issues with only one of the catch wires on the clasp release actually hooking onto the [censored]. However, I love this piece so much that I don't think I'll be buying any more reps for myself for a long while. Oh one more thing - I noticed my bezel has 80 clicks...is that normal?

Hey Edge, the donation button is returning an error...

Wow, that is terrible...is the seller offering to help you out at all though? Maybe next time, something different on the customs description would work better.

I actually like the Marc Almond version without Gene Pitney..but RIP

I seem to have better luck with the accuracy of my asian movements as well. I have 2 ETA's that run about 15 seconds fast per 12 hours, adjustment at max slow. My Asian Bond SMP has gained 3 seconds in the last 48 hours. All my calibration is done against the www.time.gov website.

I can't get over how much I love the way this watch looks...I keep staring at it and thinking to myself "This is one great looking watch". Now I'm in trouble - none of the other watches I look at stir up the same emotions. I can't find anything that I like the looks of as much. Maybe this is the best way to kick the rep addiction - finding the watch that makes all others look pale in comparison. Best thing about it was that this was my least expensive rep. I opted for the Asian version. It was not problem-free in the beginning, but I have got it to the point that everything's running properly, keeps good time (+7 seconds in 24 hours), and tested water-resistant in a bowl of water and under a running faucet.

Tried it this weekend, and it doesn't work. The main problem is the strength of the glow. With the amount of the powder that's able to fit on the actual markers, there's barely any glow. I coated all the hands except the GMT on my watch and charged it with a light source, then looked at it in the dark. All of the hands (including the GMT) were glowing with the same color and intensity. Didn't try to lume the dial, so the watch still looks great The graininess of the product is also an issue as cracker mentioned.

My friend had his gen for a few years, and when I looked at it, the center of the hologram was still there, but the edges had worn away.

I wonder if the gen would pass most of those tests as well.

Received the Asian Bond SMP GMT this week... Sofar, I'm unable to report on the true reliability of the movement, but I do have several issues with the watch listed here. 1) When I first got the watch, I shook it to wake it up, but nothing. I didn't even hear the rotor turning. I wound it by hand and got it ticking, but still no sign of movement from the rotor. I brought it home and took off the caseback and found the rotor was stuck in one particular location. I found some glue remnants on the top of the rotor, but that wouldn't have caused it to stick. It was able to turn, but once it got back to the same place as before, it would get stuck, like something was adding friction at that point. I unscrewed the rotor to look underneath, but didn't see anything. Screwed it back in place and voila, it moved fine. I'm guessing it was misaligned on assembly. 2) Crown is crooked on stem. Not a HUGE problem, but it is annoying since I have to thread the crown very carefully (and make several attempts) to lock it or it will want to cross-thread. 3) Plastic movement holder (no movement clamps or metal movement ring) is quite loose...if I pull the crown to set the watch, I can see the dial shifting in the case. I cut a small piece of business card, folded it up, and jammed it on the side to make the movement holder snug to the case. 4) Crown stem unscrewed from the crown. It didn't take very much force to come off. I had to take the stem out and super-glued the stem back into the crown. I tried rethreading it into the crown several times before, but there didn't seem to be enough friction to make stay. Every time I adjusted the time forward, the crown would unscrew off the stem and the watch needed to come apart again. 5) Only one of the clasp lock wires are hooking the [censored]. I took that clasp lock apart to bend the wires, but it only helped a little. Now, if I want the inner wire to hook onto the [censored], I have to press both buttons when closing the clasp, then release and see one of the buttons only halfway out. Pressing the clasp harder on my wrist will fully lock the inner wire. I don't know if anyone would consider those problems reliability issues of the asian movement, but without having the right tools, someone who encounters them will not be too happy. Overall, I think the watch looks great, and I'm wearing it proudly. The bracelet is much more comfortable than my rep Rolex Exp 2. I'm in the process of regulating the time now...seems pretty difficult to get it close enough to where I'm happy with it, but I'm sure I'll get be able to finish that up soon.

Putting preferences aside, is there any practical reason for a domed crystal? I just received my Bond SMP GMT this week and it's slightly domed, so when I look at the watch from an angle, there is some distortion...I would imagine a more curvy dome means more distortion as well.

I'm really wondering what the appeal is of having a dome crystal. I actually prefer watches that look flat.

The clamps actually look like fishhooks that are facing outwards. There should be 2 of them total on opposite sides of the dial. Hook your small screwdriver and pry it outwards, imagining the fishhook eyelet as the axis you rotate it on. The dial is held in by the pressure on top of the fishhook like thing squeezing on the very end of the dial feet.

I believe the blue one with the wavy textured dial is called the Bond SMP. The limited edition with 007's all over is called the 007 edition SMP. Someone correct me if I'm wrong. There is another Seamaster Professional that looks completely different, and that's the non-Bond version. I've got one on order as well (Asian GMT version) and am planning on the bezel realignment, but that's definitely something I'm not concerned about (in terms of damaging the watch).

I should be receiving my Bond SMP any day now, and one of the first things I wanted to do was a relume. Checking ebay, there are tons of glow in the dark paints/powders, and also a variety of colors. I was thinking about trying this with a blue colored glow paint - anyone have any feedback about whether these glow paints are appropriate for reluming?

I got my cape cod polishing cloths from Ace hardware. I think around $6 for a pack of 2.