DemonSlayer

Damn Can't wait to get a Chief AR coating on a watch..ANY WATCH!!!

Thanks for the indepth analysis The Zigmeister. Its from helpful articles like these which has convinced me that servicing your loved watches is a must if you want them last. I know a lot of people say just get the movements replaced, but I don't think theres any guarantee you will be able to find replacement movements when the current one burns out...

Makes more sense to me to have the movement currently installed into your watch regularly serviced as a preventative measure, to ensure it runs and keeps beautifully for many years.

Thanks Rolexman and Offshore. Interesting info Rolexman, I have a feeling its how the crystal is seated, or as Offshore pointed out, the factories could have used some cheap UV set glue to set the crystal in the case, which is now weakening.

In any case I really hope the issue is resolved, otherwise this will turn out to be a very expensive watch for me (it already is in the lead )

Thanks Offshore. It appears the crystal is a press fit, I can't see any white area anywhere near the crystal.

Its soon on its way to being repaired

Some of you might recall I had a water disaster on the first day I received my Slevin. I wore it in the shower and quite a lot of moisture got inside. So I put the watch and movement inside a tupperware packed with silica gel, and then sent the watch off for servicing.

Today I received it, and I wanted to clean the dial of dust. I applied some drops of water using my fingertips, and I noticed a big bubble form and pop at the edge of the crystal at 6. This gave me an indication something was wrong. A few minutes later condensation appeared around the outer edge of the crystal!!

Is it likely this is due to an improperly pressed crystal, or is it missing some sort of a gasket?

Many thanks in advance.

Sorry to hear about that mate, personally I would take it a smith and ask if they can do anything with it. That bracelet is worth saving...

You can remove the springbars using a small jewel flathead screwdriver, this is what I was using before I bought my springbar tool and it served me fine. Just make sure you have a good grip on the screwdriver, otherwise it could slip and scratch the hell out of your caseback or the lug area.

Take the screwdriver in your hands and attempt to catch onto one of the "rings" on the springbar, and push inwards, whilst gently pushing the bracelet ends down with your thumb from your other hand. This should release one side, repeat on the opposite end.

Breitling straps... try Bob, he deals on ebay and here, check out his section. On ebay you can type in "bob breitling" and you should get some results. He's known for good quality and well priced straps

UPO is the most accurate PO replica available... The Narikaa one is probably the best 42mm PO currently being sold, but its powered by asian 21J, and its not as built well as the 4th gen 42mm PO (that was the best 42mm PO available, but its no longer produced).

If this watch is anywhere near the $400 range, I'm not impressed.

Nice PO Can't really go wrong with these, aftermarket double AR is a must for this one... no kidding.

I always believe in paying a workman for his labor, especially moreso if the guy is an artist.

So if a service is $100 and it takes 4 hours to get it apart, ultrasonically cleaned, inspected, oiled, reassembled, checked on a timer for beat... that's a lousy $25/hour.

An artist is worth far more than that, and I personally wouldn't want someone tearing my vintage gen down and slapping it back together in 4 hours.

I have a carefully constructed mental image of The Zigmeister sitting in a warm wooded den, tools askance, briar pipe nearby with a snifter of good brandy, Debussy on the stereo, all dressed in tweed and slippers, J purring on the couch, and he's inspecting each minute detail of my watches with the biggest magnifying lens you've ever seen. After each successful inspection he dips the part, one at a time, into a vat of cleaning solution, and carefully hand dries it, placing it carefully on a padded velvet cushion. Of course he changes the solution between each part.

See? That's how an artist does it... honest. Just ask J. And the results are well worth the going price.

Couldn't agree more. I wouldn't want no rush job on my gen either.. but it seems that watchmakers of the same calibre as The Zigmeister are not available in large numbers.

The fear for me in this case, is what is that independent watchsmith REALLY doing?? Are they REALLY doing a complete disassembly, full cleaning and proper oiling? If so...that's cheap. I imagine corners are being cut...call me skeptical and flame to high heaven...but if you get a quality full servicing for that price...I think you found Watch Servicing Nirvana!!

Yes, complete full overhaul. The thing is though, we don't find it all that cheap here in the UK, its only because the pound has dropped so much against the dollar. When the pound was worth $2 or around that, then the servicing cost for regular automatic would be $100-110.

p.s.

Where does it cost $80 for full servicing? Here in madrid, the cheapest I

Damn that thing sho' does look heavy A bit too much for my wrists, but a nice watch in its own right.

Thanks for the indepth review J, the hard work does show.

Amazing..simply amazing!

What a fantastic day you and Emily must have had Love the photos, love the choice of attires, and that location... that really is something.

Both you and E look great Wish you both a happy life together

Damn.. Amazing..

Cheers Azer. I thought that the 1.8mm diameter was bought seperately by those who wanted a more snug fit to the case for their Silix PO rubber strap.

Need to replace the spring bars on a UPO. The current ones are not that great, I'm having a lot of difficulty attaching a bracelet to the case, and they seem a bit too thick for the bracelet.

I'm going to order new ones, does anyone know what diameter is best used for the bracelet, or what the factories use on the UPO with bracelet?

Since reading posts by The Zigmeister and others, and learning more about watch movements in general, I now believe servicing the most liked reps is a must. A lot of us assume that the movements coming out of the factories are clean/serviced. It seems more logical to me to pay $80 for a service and ensure that the watch runs for another 5 years, than to "run it to the ground" or getting it serviced when the watch starts behaving erratically. You end up paying more in the when you do this... makes no sense..

I assume that by Asian, you mean the ETA clone? Or are you talking about a common asian 21J movement. These are not worth servicing, as they're so cheap. However I'm not sure that these movement will be able to be modified to take the GMT hand by watchmakers locally.

Therefore, in the case for the ExpII, I would go for a ETA movement. A watchmaker should have no problem servicing these with the GMT modification.

I buy what I like. I don't care what the gen costs.. These watches are for my own enjoyment, not for pure deception..

My favourite watch is the MBK Nautilus, I don't think I will ever sell it. If someone who happens to recognise a Patek sees it on my wrist, and assumes its a fake because a 23 year old can't afford it.. I have no problem with that, but thats where it stops...

I feel I should add some input here. I own(ed) several ceramic watches and for the most part they are fine. Ceramic is brittle, if struck with a hard object, it will tend to shatter. If you were to drop a ceramic watch on a hard floor, I would imagine something would break, either a link, case side, case back etc. If you were to sit on a ceramic watch, knowingly or unknowingly it would likely break too

I've banged several of mine against a door but nothing happened to it. Maybe I got lucky.. To put it short, ceramic is very hard, and scratch resistant, but brittle.

Hope that helps somewhat bro

Thanks for the info bro I'll see if I can get that episode now, will be a good way to finish for tonight

I think you need to start a thread about your movie memorabilia, will be interesting to see what other things you've managed to get your hands on

Very nice bro Love the first film, I haven't really paid attention to the others or the series. Looks like my internet speed will suffer a little bit very soon...

He's a member on Repgeek. Pretty well known over there for getting drunk and then filming himself and putting up the vids on youtube.

If the reps keep increasing in quality and number, and more and more people become aware of this and purchasing increases, then the inevitable will surely happen..