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Hello all, has anyone ever bought this watch? What are your experiences with it? How is the AR with this version? How close is it to genuine? I have noticed that the "DAYS" is larger than in the original... or is that an illusion? Thanks in advance for all the contributions! http://tswatchltd.com/15580-iwc15580-big-pilot-5019-black-ceramic-ny-25j.html

Was bored so I took some shots in the snow from a couple of watches out of my collection. I hope you enjoy them Oh and a wristshot

I have an IWC Laureus with a problem, as you can see: Local watch shop quoted me a little too much to fix this, so I am wondering how hard it would be. The movement is a Miyoto 0S10, and I did search online and here in these forums for stem removal instructions. I can see there is a small hole on the back of the movement with a "<--PUSH" instruction, and I can see something move in there when I push the stem in, but I could not get the stem out. Any tips/advice/wisdom you care to share would be appreciated.

My beloved IWC GST 3707 in titanium with a replaced ETA 7750 I have been a follower everywhere. Unfortunately also dropped several times. The last time the dial broke, with several pieces coming off it. This watch has been commented by so many of you since it is now out of production and almost no replicas for sale. I have been in contact with both dealers and watchsmiths regarding a new dial but can't find it. Can anyone please direct me where to search further? -How/where do I source an original dial? Obviously gen IWC dealers won't help me. -A replica? It is too sad to only have this watch in the drawer with a broken dial.

Hi All So this gen vintage IWC watch Is up for sale. I may be interested but would like some input from those who know a lot more than I do. Not sure if it's PC to ask your opinion on price but that would help and any insights would be great. What do you guys think? Cheers Paul

Really new to replica watches and new to the forum (my first post), always wanted a nice watch but could never afford the one I really wanted Made a purchase for the IW388001which I love but the one I got was pretty low quality. What will be a good version of this model, good quality, and what's the average cost? Also if possible where will you recommend to buy from. Thanks for your help ( and sorry if question is lame or if I missed any forum rule)

Hi Guys, Looking to offload my Gen IWC Mark XVI, but before I do I want to get the watch serviced and the glass and bezel polished (few unsightly dings on the bezel, one slight one on the glass). Can anyone recommend someone on the board who is able to carry out such a task? If anyone can provide a quick turnaround, even better! Also, could anyone tell me whether the IWC Mark XVI has internal AR, or external? Regards

Hi all! I just received a IWC Big Pilot 5019 Miramar from Joshua and I love this watch. It looks great! However, the automatic winding rotor makes a clicking, grinding noise with every movement. It sounds like a manual wind (amplified by the big case), except it happens every time I move my arm! I have plenty of other automatics and am used to the whir of a winding rotor, but have never heard this gear clicking before. And I've tried searching the forums and online for a solution but it most of the noise complaints are of the whirring or rattling kind. It's a little hard to describe, so I've attached a couple of videos to show what I'm talking about. As you will be able to hear, it is so loud even when moved gently, that the watch is basically unwearable right now. Any advice anyone can offer would be greatly appreciated... Thanks in advance! PS I asked Joshua about this, and sent him a video: he said it was normal noise and just louder because of the big case... but none of my other Autos have ever done it, so there must be a way to at least improve it! IMG_4507.MOV.mov IMG_4516.MOV.mov

Picked up the above from Sora at Shinewatch but hate the jittery Miyota 8215 and fancied putting a high beat in there anyway....plan to chuck in a 2824-2 unless anyone has any better suggestions relating to hand size? Otherwise I'm gonna need hands that fit an ETA movement before resorting to my last resort of modding the existing ones. Anyone got any kicking around that they fancy parting company with? Or can point me in the right direction of a source?

Hi Guys, as far as I know the only platinum IWC they made was a 5002. Friend of mine showed me this yesterday. Any thoughts appreciated. Thanks (sorry for bad quality pic´s)

Hey guys. I just ordered my first rep the other day from Andrew and I'm looking for as many gen parts to upgrade when it arrives. Could any of you tell me what size strap I would need and where I could get a gen or as close to get alligator strap? I also am looking for gen crown and tube. Any other recommendations would be great also. Thanks in advance !

Here is one you really don't see very often… And it's one of my favorites in my collection. This is the Big Pilot Tourneau special edition in Rosegold (superlumed, power-reserve mod & AR'd crystal) And it's paired with a genuine gator strap with rose gold rivets Does anybody else have one around here?

Hi guys, attached is a photo of the dial of a rep 3799. It is a QC Picture, and I'm worried that the dial is not "aligned" or "straight". Take a note of the positions of the "11", the triangle, the "1", "5" and "7" as well as the rectangular markers at 3 o'clock and 9 o'clock positions. They don't seem to be quite aligned to the actual watch case itself and seem to be slightly left... These are pictures, not from any scam site, but have been sent to me after my order to check the quality of the watch. Ordered from tswatchltd already before, never had an issue like this (or any issue at all, actually). Would appreciate some quick opinions, so i can get back to Mark. PS. By no means do i want to criticize Mark or tswatchltd. I have only made great experiences with them. Its just that the dial of this watch just seems off-set PPS. The pictures are small, but I hope they are enough to be analysed. They were sent to me in no higher resolution than posted below. Thanks!

A question for the experts: What is the difference between Chrono V1, V2, and the Doppel aside from the different movements? They range in price from the low 3's to the 8's on Trusty's and I'm curious which version is considered the most accurate and most reliable of the available movements. Appreciate the advice!

I am new to the site and am looking for a IWC Ref 3878 Spitfire watch with the correct spitfire engraving on the back and was wondering if the experts had any suggestions on where to buy and the quality of this replica. Any information would be greatly appreciated.

Hi all, I just got the package with the IW3799 in the mail today- excited, of course, as all of you have already experienced Upon opening and inspecting, all "cosmetic" aspects were more (better) than expected. However, the chronograph seems to have a problem. It starts/stops wonderfully, however, when trying to reset- it won't budge (that is, the chronograph seconds hand). Only after trying multiple times, of course not forcefully, but with different amounts of pressure, does the second hand indeed reset. It also sometimes jumps backwards a few "seconds" on the dial when resetting, as if it were stuck and/or the pusher does not quite contact to the appropriate parts. I am not one of the experts in respect to rep. (asian) movements, and so, I really need the help of those of you out there that are. Has anyone seen this "phenomenon"? Is it simply a case of poor movement oiling, or is this a real hardware problem? The chrono is resetted at the moment, will it prove fatal if I use it again? On another note, if this is something that can be only solved with a completely new movement, is there a possibility that I use the A7750 Valjoux movement on a rep. PAM Chrono and simply switch movements? (seeing as there is no "hours" chromo sundial on the Pam- I hope I assume correctly that the function is just not displayed on the dial). Thanks a lot for your help!

Hey Guys, I'm new to the hobby and just made my first online purchase from Andrew at Trusty. I got the more expensive IWC 3799 that is supposed to be 1:1 and all parts interchangeable with the real deal. I'm looking forward to receiving it, and have already been chomping at the bit to buy genuine straps. Any of you had one or know of some of the other mods I could do with this? Where could I find authentic parts also? Thanks !!

Hi all, As many of you might have already encountered, I'm torn between the 3789 and the 3799 (If I got the numbering correct, thats between the simple and double chronographs of the TG Series). My Ideas on this are as following: 1. Of course, the 3799 speaks for itself- just looks amazing, the biggest asset is, although its biggest giveaway- the faux 10oclock pusher. (Does anybody know whether these are spring loaded on the 7750 Valjoux movements?)- since it is faux, it might after all work as a proper pusher! 2. The 3789 is less of a giveaway, since the chronograph will work on the 7750. (not as beautiful, but still a TG). What worries me, is that all I can find are the versions of this watch in which the seconds are situated at the 9'oclock position, whereas the (newest?) version of the TG Chrono have eliminated the chronograph-hours sundial completely and replaced it with the seconds subdial. Is the version with the complete set of dials (seconds, chromo-minutes/hours) at the 9, 12 and 6 o'clock positions respectively, an older IWC version or has it never existed- and is only like that to compensate the fact that the valjoux 7750 displays its seconds at the 9oclock position? I hope you can follow my line of thoughts- any help or advice, or even a push in one direction would be of great appreciation! Best Regards

Finding nice genuine alligator straps for our Big Pilots at a reasonable price is a problem most of us encounter I believe.... No rep, or used gen strap can give me satisfaction, and I won't pay 400+ euros for a strap I'll have to change a year or two later.... I found a maker in China who is offering to make gen american alligator straps for apx 100 euros per strap, with all markings, if a minimum order of 50 straps is placed at once. I for one would buy two : a black and a brown, but I'm short of 48 straps here. I have purchased one first strap from them to see if the quality is good enough, and I must say I was very pleased when I got it. I posted pics below of my 5002 to share with you. I tried to catch all angles to clearly show all the details of the strap, the quality of the rubber finishing and the stitching. The marking could be improved, but overall this strap is a knock out for me ! By the way, they also can make rep panerai straps in gen alligator..... I will do the same post on the Panerai area later to see the response. Thanks for reading me !!!!!

Hello everyone, While I was surfing the RWG forum I saw a lot of beautifull watches. Unfortunately I couldnt find anything about the Big Pilot Top Gun 5019. I can find the watch on the sites from the TD's, but does anyone have some hands on experience? I really wonder how good the rep is. Thanks!

first of all, sorry for the bad quality picture... just have my iPhone at hand... finally i have my IWC collection ready... but just as last few deliveries arrived, i got hold of some genuine parts that makes me want to start a franken project... IWC 5002 Transitional IWC Mark XVII Pilot IWC Portuguese Chronograph Gold, Panda & v2 Grey IWC Inginieur Vintage Laureus v2 IWC Portuguese Pure Classic IWC Vintage Minute Repeater what do you guys think? what must go first?

Gentlemen, I am relatively new to this forum, joined a few months back. Since then I've managed to pick up a sub and Tag Carriera from Trusty Time. I am now looking to pick up a Mark xv with the cut off hour hand. I have searched this forum far and wide as well as Trusty's website and other TD's but havent managed to find a really accurate looking version of the Mark xv (the pieces I've seen appear to have the hour hand a tad too long and the seconds hand as silver as opposed to white from the IWC website) Does anyone have any recommendations? Thank you in advance for your help. Reeves

Hello everyone. This is going to be a long initial post but please bear with me. If you don't feel like reading it all, skip to the end where I'll have a 'tl;dr' summary. I found this thread about the Portofino moon-phase but there were no follow-ups and it was over a year old. So I start a new one here, hoping people will respond with what they know. Which describes the kind of replica I bought. At first I bought a $400 genuine Movado, then got frustrated since reading the EXACT time is impossible without the minute marks. As this is a gift to myself to celebrate my exiting the Army after 5 years, I wanted something nice but functional. I found an IWC rep at a local dealer (I'm stationed in South Korea currently) and not knowing the brand at all, was fascinated with the clear glass back and 7-day double spring box movement. I honestly couldn't care less that it's a replica, the movement combined with the sun/moon dial were interesting enough to warrant purchase. So I paid about 180 for it, fully expecting it to be some sort of fakery at some level (still oblivious to the nature of IWC watches, lol). Got home, did some research, stunned that the actual gen watch costs so much. honestly, too much in my opinion. Even if I was rich, I still wouldn't pay MSRP that high for a watch. Anyway, I noticed several discrepancies on the watch like 'eighten (18) jewels' on the back, differences in the number layout and the most noticible difference being the sun/moon dial, with a crescent moon as opposed to a full moon. But hoestly I liked the sun/moon dial so much as-is, I would never be willing to swap it for the legit version. This watch was promptly removed from it's leather straps and mounted to a camouflage strap with flip-cover to conceal it. Again, I'm military so this is what we do with watches we want to wear while outdoors. I know some collectors will cringe and likely curse me for that. My plans are to eventually open this piece up and tinker with it. Any information concerning it's drive mechanism would be greatly appreciated, as I am 100% unfamiliar with what model is even inside. All I know is it's a 2-spring system with a label declaring 7 days of power. Are there other similar systems, maybe ETA models, I should look at to upgrade to for better performance? As the back is fully crystal and visible, I would enjoy adding something with extensive visible moving parts. Since I'm exiting with my GI Bill for college, I'm investigating watchmaking classes as well. this is something I've been intrigued by for some time. Though I don't own any genuine high end pieces, I do own several nice ones and a low-end 'davidoff' clone (with the 'davidoff' misspelled to 'davidof', again, bought in korea) which will also be going through some mods eventually. Does anyhone here know if there's a genuine market for watchmakers in the US, or would my GI Bill be better spent elsewhere? Also can anyone recommend a resource online where I can find accurate information on beginner's watchmaking? Like swapping parts, basic maintenance, etc. For 'tl;dr' purposes: Bought a rep Portofino Moon Phase and am looking at customizations and watchmaking classes. Any observations welcome, especially starting watchmaking classes and beginner's guides to entry-level horology.

I have been lurking RWG for quite some time but today I finally made an account. I believe that I have come to a decision for my first rep purchase being the IWC Portofino Automatic SS Black. I will probably purchase this from Andrew but before I do was wondering if anybody here as bought one of these before and can vouch for them? Looks pretty spot on to me other than not quite as dark and the 12 is slightly off. This isn't the case in other pictures though? pics of rep vs real:

Where can I find a solid Big Pilot or Portuguese chrono rep? Anyone selling one?