DemonSlayer

A word of warning if you decide to remove the band, I just broke the little "teeth" on one side after removing the band to try to wash it. Can't source a blue replacement strap only black, not sure how it will look with the blue dial...

@DemonSlayer - are you looking at getting the MBK 5165 version or the Time4direct (others may have it too) 5167 version?

I can't afford to MBK Pateks right now It's gonna have to be the 5167 Asian version. From your comments and several others, it seems to be well built. I think I can live with the slow beat and the incorrect datefont.

Felt I should bump this. Andrew now has the Day-Date II's in 14 different colors/combinations.

Trusty Day-Date II

What do you guys think? I quite like this one:

However I do feel that Rolex should have left the size at 36mm, more classic.

Lovely shot Webvan. After all this talk about the Aquanaut, and trawling through pics of reps on the forums, and the gen on google, I've decided that I want to treat myself to one this Christmas.. Black dial of course Will be a nice companion to my MBK Nautilus.

The OP has the hands issue sussed.

"...hands obtained..."

Many people have mentioned this before, but really beats me how the rep makers get so many simple and obvious things wrong. OK. Forget the complicated stuff like SS cases, bezel teeth and crystals. What about cheap, easy stuff like the hands and bezel inserts????

I agree. I remember one member (I think R11co) mentioning that the SMP is a victim of its own popularity. The rep makers simply believe they don't have to try very hard to make this one accurate to generate sales for this particular watch.

I believe the reason why Marrickvilleboy managed to sort out the hands size issue is because he, or someone swapped out the original ones that came with the asian movement with the ones available on the clone movement (like Silix's).

Nice watch. I'm fairly certain that I had this exact same watch but with the gold colored DG2813 movement, it's now sold but heres some pics:

Good to know that the asian 21J movement can be swapped out with a ETA one, and quite possibly a DG4813 high-beat. The few things that put me off about this certain version was the dark insert color, (I personally prefer a lighter blue), the pearl and the oversized crown. Apart from that it was a decent watch.

Well done from a fellow Patek fan. Brilliant guide, this should jump-start Patek enthusiasts looking for reps in the right direction

Alas, these are the problems one may face when ordering reps. One thing I've learnt about the rep game, is don't have such high expectations. We have to recognise how these are being traded, I would say it's very much like any other illegal commodity such as heroin or cocaine, the majority of dealers are just concerned with clearing large numbers of these watches. The only way most of them are able to do this efficiently is by hiring others to do the sending for them, forget about QC, with this sort of distribution set-up it isn't going to happen. This isn't like buying watches from your local AD or Walmart, backed by any guarantees or waranties.

I must say I do like the fact that some dealers are taking QC so seriously, as if they are the ones who the owners of this watch, and will only ship what they themselves would be happy with. EuroTimez is one that comes to mind, Narikaa, from reading his reviews, seems like a dealer who takes pride in his QC and high level of customer service.

I have been fortunate in that I have experienced little problems regarding QC issues with the reps I have bought, I've been lucky. However when the sh!t hits the fan, its only your dealer or in some cases, a reliable watchsmith who can fix things for you.

Nice work Stilty. I also hope to build a Franken DJ one day, and guides like yours help make it a lot easier Thanks!

All that being said, I am very happy to wear my MBK rep on a daily basis. Still the best rep ever, IMO.

I agree with Jeff on this. I have mine on right now, it is without a doubt the most beautifully constructed rep to date. A very handsome watch. The way the light bounces off the polished outer edge of the bezel and the polished midlinks is very pleasing to the eye. MBK did a remarkable job with this one

Serious comment coming.....

On rep and gen forums alike, people mention 90% of the time in their for sale ads "easily polished out w/ cape cod cloth". If it's so easy, then why not do it yourself and advertise as LNIB or 95%+, instead of the usual red flag 'light scratches'.

Just curious...this always bugs me.

Perhaps they don't have cape cod cloths at hand?

Or they're just lazy buggers and can't be bothered

Search through the bay for a good aftermarket one.

In terms of the adhesive, your best bet would be two-part epoxy and that thing isn't going anywhere Or a good glue such as gorilla glue might work.

Apart from the movement, the only other difference is the crystal as far as I know. The cheaper asian version comes with mineral crystal and no AR. There may also be an option as sapphire with no AR, but as far as I know, sapphire and double AR comes on the 'swiss' version.

Watched it tonight. I liked the action, was fun in that aspect but I think the plot could have been better. Still a pretty good film overall, but I'm more of a fan of the older Bond movies, Connery being my favourite Bond.

There was quite a lot of watches flashed on there. Apart from the obvious PO, I did happen to notice that Greene's henchman was wearing what looks very similar to a Rado Sintra in black ceramic An unusual watch choice for a Bond movie I think, but made me happy nevertheless being a Rado fan.

Thanks for the input guys. I should add that regarding datefont and boldness, this Datejust has everything "swiss" except the movement, the movement installed is the DG2813 "asian 21J" movement inside, and it has the stock datewheel, therefore the font is not quite accurate.

I also have another Datejust in a similar setup as above, but this one has a definite stronger mag, making the date numbers appear quite different, even in shape. I'll take some pictures shortly. This mag to my eyes looked more similar to gen, and the black roman DJ being off (mag slightly low).

Reading the comments above however has me feeling more confident about the cyclops on the black roman DJ, and it is indeed not a very easy thing to catch onto on the flesh.

I've spent about an hour trawling through gen pics of Datejusts. I still can't decide whether or not the mag on the cyclops is too low. I've seen some gen pics which seem to indicate its lacking magnification, yet others show that it is very close.

What are your thoughts? Any input is greatly appreciated.

Thanks guys, I did wonder if they do indeed have to be torn off into pieces before using, it now seems people do use them this way to polish their watch.

I do agree with you Freddy, I still need to get my hands on a dremel, theres a few jobs that need doing and the dremel would be perfectly suited for them.

Now I mentioned it, I do find that using either the Brasso or Silvo or any aluminium and mag polish such as Mothers, there are very fine swirls left on the shiny finish. I at first believed this was due to the abrasiveness of the Brasso, but I found the same thing happening with the Mothers polish.

I think to get a really high level mirror finish, you need high RPM and the dremel would do that.

Just bought a bundle of these off the bay. I haven't opened any yet to try them out but I noticed these are remarkable similar to the Brasso and Silvo wadding polish (Duraglit) basically cotton impregnated with the polish. With these I tear a bit off and then polish with the small piece.

Are the cape cod cloths to be used in a similar way? If not, won't a lot of polish end up on your hands by just simply handling them?

Nice write up Timepiece, I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. Thanks for taking the time and the effort to write this. This should be pinned IMO.

I've slightly changed the original title of the post to now ask to post your favourite DJ/DD combination. I have a couple of Datejusts on the way. What do you guys think about a Oyster bracelet on the riveted bezel?

I think the two go really well, with the oyster balancing out the shinyness of the riveted bezel. I've tried to like the Jubilee bracelet but I'm not really feeling it yet. I personally think it looks more older style, but perhaps it might suit me if it were put on a DJ with a smooth bezel:

They are supposed to be too short, they don't extend outwards as much as on the gen. There are certain cases of the 'asian 21J' reps which have very accurate crownguards, sadly though the ETA ones don't.

Welcome, from a fellow UK member. Sorry to hear about your B&R, it could be a simple fix, or the movement might have totally crapped out.

Now that you're here, pretty soon you will forget all about that B&R when you will have watch after watch arriving at your house Trust me it really is an addictive hobby, you either need good self-control, or a big wallet

Nice shots of a nice watch. I need to get this one.

Cheers mate , I thought you had it wrapped around some type of frame, cos it looks like that, at least to me anyway

Yes it has. I collect Rado, I plan on getting one for my mum.

Pug, how are you wrapping that plastic bag around the movement?