cougar1

Right I see what you mean, don't worry about terminology such as 'updated dial', it just means the dial has been updated from the previous release (some years back) it is exactly the same as a 45mm 'ultimate' from PC or asian7750, i do agree the term 'updated dial' tends to throw you but it just means the same as the others. The old version had 'happy feet' etc these were all updated a year back to 'no happy feet' including the 42mm.

The only way you might get preferential treatment from the dealers is when you've bought dozens of watches off them and thrown loads of cash in their direction

You can buy directly off their sites or with some dealers like Toro...emailed directly, makes no difference, just get a dealer that provides QC pics, PC, PT and tony (asian7750) all do so no worries, you won't get any preferential treatment by just emailing them, it works the same way, although it can be helpful to check stock etc. I wouldn't bother with Mary, ok well known dealer around a long time but a bit hit and miss at times, stick with the 3 above or even toro for first order.

Here's a pic of my gen next to the super duper unmodded rep you listed above, not a huge difference visually, even the rep AR looks a little worse than it should due to the tilt of the watch.

Can't find the pictorial offhand but should be an easy fix, if you are not confident opening the caseback and removing the stem then you may be better off bringing the watch to a local watchsmith to do it, won't cost much. You will need something like one of these: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/New-watch-stem-ETA-movements-2824-2-2834-2-2836-2-/270689357446?pt=UK_Jewellery_Watches_WatchAccessories_SpareParts_SM&hash=item3f0657ce86&clk_rvr_id=306417354163 Plenty of threads showin how to remove stem to start with, you will need to hold stem lengthways with a pliers and unscrew the crown from stem to release crown. Cut the new stem a couple of mm longer than the old and reattach crown, may need some glue in there, and replace stem in watch. Voila, as said bring it to a watch maker if you can. Returning to dealer will take time to sort out, upto yourself. I wouldn't get too down-heartened, these things happen with reps at times, it's a good idea to get into some basic modding practise on a couple of really cheap reps for occasions like this.

Does sound like the stem is too short, should've really been an issue that was found on QC. There are options, such as gen mod (maybe best in terms of long run solutions) or just replace stem with longer one, easy enough mod, i'm sure there was a big pictorial thread on how to do this somewhere on here, I'll try find it in a bit...it may have been on repgeek though. On the other hand, you can't really do any mods if you want to send it back to the dealer!

Lol, I agree, it does get confusing at times with the names, lots of "1:1 replication... passed the AD check and and has been mistaken by the manufacturer themselves" sort of [censored], the one you pinpointed is this right one though and I have no affiliation with that site. The trusted dealers are there mainly because we know what we will get in most situations, if you go out on google you will often see a rep for $1000 and when you receive it you would have a $90 rep for your troubles, that sort of crap isn't tolerated on the forums, so the trusted dealers have to keep up a certain standard of will be barred from dealing. The watch above may be named differently on different trusted dealer sites...it may even be priced differently but it will be the same watch from the same factory! For instance these are the same watch from pc just with different dealer: http://www.asian7750...0&P_id=2120&ti= http://www.puretimew...acelet-eta2836/ Thats the thing about the Swiss eta movement, it may well just be a clone aswell, hard to tell these days as the asian clones of eta movements are getting quite good at copying actual swiss movements. It should be an actual off the shelf swiss eta movement if you pay the extra however it may well just be asian clone, refurbished swiss or swiss that was left around a very long time in storage and may need a service. Most people these days just go with the asian clone of the eta. If you do want to spend the extra then upto yourself.

You are right, and make an interesting argument, some people will buy a gen for the true function, others just have money to burn, others will enjoy reps but just love the fit feel and finish that can be achieved with a gen that a rep will struggle to compete with. I have both gen PO and rep PO, there's really very little in the difference in looks, and with the frankens around they get even closer. I bought the gen because it was an extremely cheap deal 2nd hand which I couldn't refuse, I bought the rep because I wanted to see how it looked next to gen. Differences without anymods are AR, Lume and pearl and finishing, also the gen loses a second a week whereas the rep 3 secs a day. Also I can dive with the gen without concern....ever. Not so with the rep. I could also dive with a seiko marinemaster and be quite happy. The vast majority of people will never see any difference between a half decent rep and a gen. In a way you answered your question yourself, the extra $4157....it is markup, some R&D, executives wages, branding, george clooneys wages etc and public perception that sets the market etc. The whole swiss watch industry has been living off this illusion they've created that we are purchasing a beautifully and meticulously crafted work of art for years...and they are creaming it in. Most brands prices should be halved at least, then they could maybe justify it. Of late they've really gotten ahead of themselves and most have displayed near 40% increases in their products over the past couple of years, can't really be justified, Rolex churn out 1 million units a year on machines, Omega are going the same way... brand power is a wonderful thing!

Wetwork, not going to go into a big reply here, the information is on the forum, just requires a little sifting through the threads, but you are right the model you listed above is the best PO around now for the past year. I doesn't look like we will get one better than this version of the original PO as now there is new models from Omega and the focus in the future by the factories will most likely be on trying to produce the new model. This willl take some time however, it took several years to get a PO replication to the standard of the above model. So rest assured that there is nothing 'right around the corner' in regard to PO reps. It is an excellent watch, however you will still find many will use it to moddify with gen parts to make it even closer looking to gen, as it still have some 'tells' if you look very closely, these frankens are mainly for the better gen lume, gen AR is exceptional, and smaller aesthetics such as He valve and pearl. I would recommend it and if you go with that one you might aswell choose the asian clone of the swiss eta movement listed as an option...and save 50 dollars, theres very little difference between the two movements.

This is his shop: http://stores.ebay.co.uk/TimePieceRepublic?_trksid=p4340.l2563 easier to navigate, he has many different deployant straps for Omega...he sells the deployants aswell but they are unbranded/unlogoed but work just fine.

Meant to say earlier....I bought straps from this guy before....for my PO, these aren't bad at all, not sure what the croc/alligator is like but afaik they are not much different from the better rep straps: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/120701665723?var=420026723443&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649 seller is timepiecerepublic Have a look at his selection, I have no affiliation with this seller. I do know a few people over on watchuseek have bought and are happy with his straps as gen omega are so expensive. Also I hate when our dealers keep stuff listed that they have no hope of getting hold of anymore!

God damn it! I hate to hear that, I've got one due, hope you get sorted out with a repair!

Excellent, congrats, looks great, looking forward to a few more pics....I've got the black xvi on it's way, it'll be definitely interested in picking one of these up soon.

Is that a rep AT in the pic? Looks like a gen, if it is a rep AT then I want one in all colours! When did they correct the happy feet on these? As far as straps go, very difficult to get good rep straps for these, go with what fischyyy said or if you could get hold of the gen croc strap that came with the old railmaster rep it will look great, alternatively look at Bellini handmade alligator straps for omega deployant...cheapish and very good quality. Other alternative is Hirsch gen croc,...which look great.

That's women for ya, can't wind the watch and do their hair at the same time It definitely looks promising that they can achieve that level of detail, I was surprised when I saw it in pics, now all we need is for the factories to step it up and do us all a favour and do that with the new POs/smp/aqua terras, ......somehow I fear it will take a few goes to get it down on these for some reason. Plus they know we will all buy version 1 though to V5 of each again anyway so they can milk us along the way!

The movement on these is decorated really well for a rep....give us a few shots When they start incorporating that level of decoration into the new PO and SMP models we might have a nice displayback rep on the horizon.

Superb rep, great pictures, and up to now I didn't think these chrono 500m were up to much, these look amazing.

Tony has them also available with josh @ PC http://www.asian7750.com/cn/product_list.asp?big_id=68&ps_id=107 http://www.1-pc8838.com/iwc-classics-c-106_212.html pc link wont hold, you'll need to go to IWC and then 'classics'

Yep will be watching this thread, alot of interest in these atm. Theres a thread over on rwi ......http://www.replica-watch.info/vb/showthread.php/mark-xvi-rep-91293.html?p=901892#post901892 that shows some nice dealer qc shots. It looks very good, lume is spectacular, minor issues, dial print/date font look a little thin but can't confirm until the reps appear in the flesh, either way it's very close.

Great post and comparison Kmac, had both and the wbk is a great watch for the money.

Wow yeah, agreed, 14.5mm, didn't realise that it was that chunky, it is very thick for a dressy watch, it would have a similar profile to a diver, ....12-ish mm would've been a nicer profile for this type of design. Still a beauty though!

Btw the eta clone is fine for all mods on the 42mm, you should not have any problem with the hands.

There's still a few floating about with low He, looks to me like many dealers trying to offload a fcukup in the manufacturing to unsuspecting newbies etc....eventually it will iron out but be careful. You'll be fine with trevor, at least if you see a dodgy he in the qc pics he'll sort you out with a good one without fuss. Also I hate all this talk across the fora of a V5.5....there never was a V5.5, there was a V5 and then there was qc fcukups in the manufacturing. I don't know where the term was coined but it doesn't help the confusion.

http://www.prestigetime.com/item/IWC/Vintage-Ingenieur-Automatic/IW3233-01.html It's a rerelease of the vintage ingenieur auto. Absolutely gorgeous watch, beautifully simplistic design.

Please do let us know how it looks in the flesh, post a few pics when you get it. I'm very interested to know how these turn out, there has been a few updates to the mark xvi's of late such as AR and case improvements and it looks like they are approaching very good replication finally. The black is more focused on but it would be interesting to know how they dealt with the dial on the silver one above as it is a little more complex. The movement should be fine btw the 2892 asian eta clone is a pretty reliable movement, it's usually a seagull ST18 and is a direct clone of the eta2892 and are great usually out of the box, for extra reliability, if serviced it should be equally as reliable as any swiss 2892 which has a track record as a fantastic movement.