cougar1

As far as I know both are UPO but there is an old UPO and a 'new' UPO 5th gen, the new UPO has newer no-happy feet and other anti-counterfeit logo on back etc. Somebody else who is an expert on UPO's might explain better but both can be frankened, however why go with the old one when the new one has some better features. It looks like the only dealers selling the old one are dealers trying to get rid of old stock or they have access problems finding the new 5th gen version. Go with one of the 'better' dealers than time4direct!

Lol, I'd be trying to surgically remove the digital display that had spread like a virus from my hands to my face by the end of the evening I think i'll pass and stick with the single malt and slippers in my old age

Wow, pretty mindblowing stuff, wouldn't like to be on the old lsd while messing with that. Cool tho, it still won't replace the precious wristy for me at any stage of my remaining life.

Jesus, that's sad, on the other hand didn't anybody think to check to see if he was still breathing after being 'saleeep' for the whole first day?

Lol, thats funny, and kinda sick, what have you been feeding that mutt?

You need to get back on those meds and quickly just joking. Seriously though rwr is mostly rubbish, there is no cartel controlling the forums, we are just consumers (like you) trying to make the right decision, and the forums help give us direction in what is otherwise a minefield of scamming and rubbish. Stick with the forums, the (big 4) as they say. This forum is the real rep connoisseurs forum tbh, the others are fine, no issue with them but the others can be like either crèches or Hitler youth camps (bloody overzealous mods!) at times. At the end of the day though we are all searching for the same thing and In time you will really value the research and direction that people like By Tor and others give us. The alternative would be that we would be thousands of pounds worse off and have much much crappier watches.

Such a ridiculous decision, V2 looks just right, not too much, not too little...a perfect balance! Sort of like the IWC Portuguese...stunning! And then they go and take it away!

Yes watchedens quartz arent bad for a beater, nice dome on the crystal and slightly better subdials than the seagull. However it has it's flaws...omega logo is applied, and the watch ticks still a nice watch though. Tbh I've had both and always thought the were pretty nice watches in their own right...and they are...but then I bought the gen, and wow, neither is even remotely close unfortunately. TBH buy neither, save the money you would spend on either each month and eventually pick up a 2nd user on ebay. however, saying that, some nice pics of watchedens quartz here:

Yeah, definitely something odd about that He valve, looks like the grip was never applied, however it could just be the lighting, doesn't look too bad in the 2nd pic. I'd ask them what the hell is going on with the He valve, tell them you want a closer more detailed picture? Now is the time to accept or reject, not when you have the watch in your hands. Saying that the everything else looks good, dial looks good, the pearl I thought was off centre from the first pic but it is not, just the bezel is a click away from centre. In fact the pearl on this one is amongst the best I've seen on any PO rep in terms of size and flush to the bezel.

Just to edit, I would honestly go for the black dial version of this quartz if I was going for any version. The white dial seems to be off-color, although that may just be the pics. One thing is for sure, with quartz you've got reliability headaches sorted at least, and honestly, a small ticking sub-dial is not going to be the end of the world.

No real good reps of this atm...believe me I have been looking. However there are some not too bad looking quartz versions around if you want one of those: http://www.puretimewatch.com/category/aqua-terra/ http://www.puretimewatch.com/product/aqua-terra-chronograph-ss-black-dial-quartz/ In actual fact the quartz would make a decent beater at a reasonable price, I just wish the factories would have a crack at a decent high quality auto aqua terra, chrono and non-chrono. It's all PO this and PO that at the moment!

Lol Gran, Where can I trade my gen po for those two? Itza very niice!

Keep the thread here posted it ye can guys as to progress, always interesting to see the coming together of a gorgeous watch. On an other note, I don't mean to be sour or anything, but after seeing a minty gen go on tzuk just there for under 1K GBP (granted this is a rarity!) I'd nearly have to question the sanity of going all out on a complete super franken. Especially when good 2nd user gens are just about still available for semi reasonable prices. Although they are going up quite a bit over the past few months. Frankens are great but at the end of the day they are not gens. But if you're happy with it then that's all that matters.

Also in case anyone is interested, the He valve full assembly is the very end part called: (Pusher, Stainless Steel, Omega 086ST0115). At least I hope that is the full He Valve assembly!

No problem, hope you get sorted, I've seen a lot of people criticize their layout so hopefully they might get the message eventually. It just seems needlessly cryptic. Yep the pendant case tube(X12870) is the crown tube (Omega part: 090 ST 1232). I had to look twice at their description of that aswell Also yeah, I would pick up a gen crystal gasket just in case, you could possibly reuse the one from the rep but just to be on the safe side I'd pick one up....luckily it isn't too much of an outlay for a gen part.

The white/black dial 42mm is: X22568 Crown is: 41284ST .....shiiite heres a screen grab on what they have for 42mm PO case no 168.1651, anything else you need you'll have to email them the part no from the list above. Bear in mind they might not have listed parts in stock and may take a couple of weeks for them to be sent from the manufacturer.

It's X22568 for 42mm. I've emailed them a few times about how much of a nightmare the site is, they seems to be happy that the whole process is automated at the expense of customers nerves! To search for more case parts for 42mm PO if needed go to Omega case parts search and type in 168.1651 into case number and select all in the other field and press show price/availablity. (Of course the show price/availability only shows price...and not availablity....sigh! OSrep did you get what you need since?

CousinsUK is such a pain in the neck when searching for parts, it used to be so much easier, they made a previous simple setup for finding parts into one of the most awkward searching systems I've ever seen.

OK tgchrono2, just sent you a PM.

yes but where are you getting the gen parts? ebay?

I'm in Ireland, let me know if interested, and we might be able to strike a deal. Don't need it anymore as I have gen. Also only worn twice and bracelet never worn, was on nato when worn. Also removed original pearl and put in smaller more centred pearl. Still not right but looks better than the vast majority of smp pearls. Otherwise watch is not altered. Not sure if I'm breaking forum rules by posting on this part of forum, probably should've pm'd you, I was going to put it up for sale in a few weeks anyway when I do a clearout. Pics below, lighting not great. Let me know what you think.

I have a WBK version asian21J, never really worn except a couple of times, if you want to buy it let me know and I can send some pics.

These are all excellent suggestions, they would suit your situation perfectly, not only are they all accurate but they also fit your position in life at the moment, young med student overwhelmed with fees would probably not have a Rolex on their wrist unless they were from a certain social background (i.e. stinking rich!) ...and if you were that then you would have the clothes and car to match the watch most likely. So best to stick with suggestions above as they can be pulled off reasonably realistically. I would also add to look at the Tag Aquaracer 500m rep as it is a really accurate one. Also the speedmaster date is accurate as mentioned above. As far as acquiring gens go, then by trading up and saving and generally looking for deals then they can be picked up 2nd hand at reasonable prices, saying that though omega prices have gone through the roof of late. I picked mine up because I wasn't happy with the reps of these particular watches and they would've been all time grail gens, especially the speedy pro and smps. Saying that I wore a rep of the speedy pro for about 4 years before I got the gen. I knew it was a watch I had to have gen. But in most cases I'm happy with reps if they are at least decently done, there are some good ones around and it takes your own reading to really zone in on them. For instance in another thread I was looking for an Omega Railmaster, this is a watch that I love but see no real reason to buy the gen 2nd hand for $2000, the rep is extremely accurate looking to the gen on the wrist.

The bluish wave pattern is a seamaster professional (smp) the versions that have 007 on it are special editions and some have flat gloss dials/some have gun barrel grip dial. The standard version smp has wavy dial, it is a classic these days and the wave pattern defines it tbh(but that's another story ) As for good copys, I've never seen good reps of the special edition versions with dial variations, there are a few of them about but I don't think there was ever much demand for them....even in the gen world. The wavy dial version has not bad reps, try wbk (stan) for a reasonable deal if you want one of these cheap. Tbh, I've always had issues than I couldn't get over with smp reps, they look good, wbks rep looks good for around 100 dollars but stuff like misplaced pearl on smp reps just did my head in and I eventually bought the gen. Sorry not much help on that but I the smp is a watch that was never repped brilliantly imo and you are probably better off sticking with a PO if you want more accuracy. I know that is not much help but just my 2c. Diff bet expensive reps is usually the movement, most of the time more effort goes into better finishing on the higher priced versions aswell but that is not always the case. For instance the cheaper PO now has identical finishing to the eta version, just cheaper movement. However it largely depends on the watch, some will have huge differences such sapphire vs mineral crystal, AR vs no ar etc. The best thing you can do in this instance nail down exactly what what you want (this is always going to be subjective depening on taste) and then is do research on that particular watch to find out exactly what versions are available and then process from there. For instance there are spectacularly accurate hublots reps around, but I wouldn't wear a hublot if you offered to pay for it for me so I've absolutely no interest in them as they are hideous. Decide on your taste first, then go with what is available. If you like the PO even chrono then tbh you could do worse. Also the handwound speedmaster pro is not a bad looking watch but I went and bought the gen of that aswell as it is not quite up to par with ....anally retentive people like me. Not sure if I helped or just confused the situation more

I have to admit I wasn't really up on vintage railmasters, but did a bit of looking into the CK2914 from your post. I had seen it before, classic looking watch but bloody hell the price on these, wasn't aware they were that expensive. Surprised somebody hasn't done a watchco esque style clone of these and marketed them.