Search the Community

Ok, so I bought a SOSF last year m2m, which came on a rubber strap. I recently purchased a beautiful Pro 2 bracelet for it. I go to install it, and the 147A end link pins don't line up with the lug holes on the case. I did a good bit of research on this problem, and from the limited info I could find, I learned that the SOSF comes with 134A end links when a Pro 2 is fitted. Here's the strange part: I was carousing through sales threads "next door", and found this pic. It shows a 147A used on a Superocean! (top pic) https://www.dropbox.com/s/akoq9ds0sb6imvp/2016-04-07%2006.11.16.png?dl=0?raw=1 I can't find 134A end links by themselves anywhere. And, I don't want to buy another Pro 2 WITH 134A's on it, only to find they won't fit either. FTR, I don't which factory my watch came from. I only know it has a dg2813 in it, which I replaced with same soon after purchase. Also it has the usual "wrong blue" dial, and does not say "swiss made" like some do under the 6. Here's a pic of my watch if it helps: (bottom pic) https://www.dropbox.com/s/0vzxs279k8o2dti/2016-04-07%2017.27.05.jpg?dl=0?raw=1 Can anyone please enlighten me as to what may be the solution to my problem? Much thanks guys. Cheers!

As reps go, the Breitling Superocean Steelfish is very nice. The gen is a classic, and so is the rep. I bought an H factory v2 "Asian ETA 2836-2" (more on this later) from Toro. Ordering was easy, and shipping was fast. I unboxed it six days after confirming QC pics. As many of us have found, the H-factory gets a lot of little details right. And even the ones that are a little off--like the dial--are still high quality. Rep left, gen dial right. Sure the color is too bright, the markers and numerals are a little too big, and it doesn't reflect light quite as nicely. Still, it's a good attempt. For all those reasons, though, a gen dial is a great upgrade. It makes a nice rep a whole lot nicer. Breitling parts are very hard to find. Although expensive, genuine Rolex dials are pretty easy to come by. In contrast, finding a genuine Breitling--let alone Steelfish--dial for a reasonable price is nearly impossible. I pulled the trigger on a blue dial, to see what all the fuss is about. It's worth it. I figured it would be an easy swap... Toro sold me what he called on his website an "Asian 2836-2". I wanted to drop in a Swiss movement, add the gen dial, and port the rep hands over. No such luck. I was very surprised to learn that my 2826-2 clone is not a clone at all. It is instead a new high-beat version of the DG2813. It is also a piece of crap. The "ETA 2836-2" that Toro and other dealers (according to him) are selling in at least some of their watches is a clone of the 2836-2 in the same sense that a Yugo is a clone of a BMW. They are both cars, and these are both movements. And one of them is, well, $#@£. On receiving the watch, I tried to operate the crown. I found that the stem was tight and didn't easily allow me to switch between positions. A keyless fix is pretty straightforward. But I couldn't find anything obviously out if place. It was just made badly and didn't work right. Beyond that, I didn't have any replacement parts--this being a new movement. I imagine that many of our watchmakers are running into the same problem. When I brought the problems up with Toro a few weeks ago, he kindly offered a full refund. That's commendable. He also agreed to change the movement description on his website. Unfortunately, as of today, the high-beat 2813 movement is still called a "2836-2 clone" in his ad (see http://www.torobravos2014.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=656). Read more about the problems of the new movement here: http://www.replica-watch.info/vb/showthread.php?t=170876 In the past, I and others here have advised noobs to get the ETA clone version because it's cheaper, works well, and is nearly as reliable as the Swiss counterpart. But if dealers are calling this junk movement a "2836-2 clone", that advice no longer applies. I would say: get the basic 21j or the Swiss. Stay far away from this one. I would hope that out trusted dealers revise their product descriptions. We all know what an actual clone ETA is. Back to the franken-making: the hands didn't transfer easily. The hour hand size on the junk "clone" was too large. Weighing my options, I picked up some genuine hands rather than take the chance that my modded rep hands would come loose and scratch the dial. I had a similar problem with the datewheel. A 2813 datewheel is completely different than a 2836-2. And Breitling fonts for the latter are hard to find. But I got lucky and saw a 2879 datewheel on the bay with the right font. Because that movement uses the same datewheel as the 2836-2, it worked out. In any case, here is the finished product. I'm very happy with it: