chet

Yep this is a good watch and a good deal. I'd be all over it but just purchased a new Wenger at Sams Club before Xmas to use as a daily beater.

You're saying the crystal isn't scratched but now has a fine layer of metal from the door deposited on it. I doubt a cloth alone will remove this. I would try a very fine liquid polish on a microfibe cloth. Perhaps a fine silver polish or one of the jewelers polishes offered on the web. Must have been a soft metal, aluminum would be my guess, so a polish should be able to cut it and remove it from the cyrstal. Be very careful using a Dremel, even at low speed. Better to do this one by hand.

What bugs me is misrepresentation of the movements, the most critical part of any watch. No matter how great the rest of the watch may look, what good is it with a crappy movement? The misrepresentation is not as bad as it was a couple of years ago, at least from the reputable dealers, but don't call something Swiss, Lamania, ETA,. when it isn't. Be honest and call it Asian or CN, etc. And stop shipping dry, contaminated, or rusty movements. No excuse for this in my book.

Best sub IMHO is the BKmariner. Closest to gen out there.

It has been over a year now since this topic was first broached and comments/ideas invited. Was anything ever implemented or has it just rolled over and died?

How about the Aquatimer- $388 for version with Asian V7750, but $1058 for version with gen Swiss V7750. We see double the 21j movement price all the time for "Swiss ETA" equipped watches, but I believe that is likely for the cheaper made ETA Asian copy, not the same ETA supplied to Swiss watch makers. There is more than one Asian factory turning out ETA movements, and the Swiss only purchase the top notch movements, hence the higher cost for a watch equipped with one. The way dealers list movements in their specs can be misleading. Chet

I'm relatively new to the rep hobby and this thread brings up some question s I've not been successful finding an answer to. 1) I've read that the movements offered by rep dealers stating "Swiss ETA xxxx" in their specs, are rarely true Swiss made movements but only Asian clones of the ETA design. The impllication being they are not of as high a quality as the "true" Swiss made movements. 2) Then I read that the ETA movements are almost all made in Asia and supplied to gen Swiss watch manufacturers. I assume then there is more than one Asian factory suppling ETA movements and that quality can and does vary amongst them, with the Swiss buying only from the best Asian factories. 3) The dealer pricing in most cases doubles or more for a "Swiss ETA 2824-2" vs the common Asian 21j movements in most all reps. Is this pricing justifiable in the experienced time accuracy and longevity of the ETA versus the 21j? Or is it a crap shoot depending on which movement factory supplies the movements? An example is the Seamaster at $108 for the 21j and $238 for the ETA. 4) An interesting pricing question arises when you look at the Aquatimer. The Asian V7750 model is priced at $388 while the "Genuine Swiss 7750" model is priced at $1058. Almost triple the cost! How can we as buyers, when making a choice between the standard Asian 21j and what is stated to be the Swiss ETAxxxx movement option, be certain the ETA that will be supplied is from one of the better Asian movement factories that supply the Swiss manufacturers their movements? That would seem to be the only justification for spending double or triple the cost over the 21j Asian standard movement. Am I missing something here? Chet