fijikid Posted October 22, 2009 Report Share Posted October 22, 2009 God damn it! WTF? I paid $250 for this automatic titanium Breitling chronograph and it's not....PERFECT! I thought it was Trusty Guy? OK, before the root structure of this great forum lines up to place their rep prada boots in my [censored], I am of course jesting. No the watch is not perfect, nothing is. But, it's pretty sweet looking toy for what I paid. Got this from Andrew and it is the first rep I've purchased from Trusty. I got a pam from DSN a while back that was gorgeous, but ordering from DSN felt a little different from this experience - he felt more like a collector and this felt more like BUSINESS. All my other reps cam from the trading boards and I've been lucky to get great stuff from several members. I sold everything last year in a gen grail pursuit. You know how it goes, nothing beats a NEW watch, whether rep or gen. Comms: very prompt emails from "andrew" and tracking info for EMS that worked just fine. My cc company called to make sure it wasn't a fraudulent charge - no big deal and comforting to know they do this all the time. The Tracking was effective. Mail: EMS delivery to the states works quite well. Took 10 days from order to delivery. Not bad at all. Packaging: I got two watches (I'll talk about the U1 when I get to it). They were in bags and more bags and in bubble wrap and then in a styrofoam coffin and then in a box which was well secured with super-strength chinese packing tape (where can I get sum?). Watch: Breitling Titanium Chrono Avenger (I think that's what it's called). I wanted a big auto chrono that didn't weigh a ton and I've got a soft spot for the Pro I bracelet so this was the watch to get. Andrew had it for $258 (IIRC). Seemed like a good deal. Advertised as having a A7750b movement, AR, full titanium everything with screwed bracelet. Observations: Immediately, I was like, WTF is this piece of [censored]. The second hand, constant and counter aren't the smoothest in the world, but I've never seen an A7750 run so I'd nothing to compare it to. I tested the chrono and of course it didn't run or reset properly. I am in the PO at this point, mind you, and I'm thinking - see, dude, reps will never replace the real thing! You just wasted your money!. I set the time, wound the watch, threw it in my bag and split. When I got home I'd sort of decided to re-visit the watch fresh in the comfort of my house. You know, it's quite a cool watch. The titanium looks great. The pushers are bad-ass. The cross-hatching on the crown is deep and clean. The dial's a knockout. AND OH YEAH, DUMBASS, IT WAS ONLY TWO FITTY US PAPERS. I then became thrilled with the watch - it's super cool. Timing & Chrono: The watch is keeping good time. Setting it was easy if a bit loose in feel. The date clicked over nicely if it's a bit low in the window. The chrono: I remember someone saying you gotta run it in a bit. So I did that and now it's working and re-setting...wait a second, is that hour hand creep? OK, so it works. I suppose you should have the A7750 serviced if you really want it to work precisely. Works good enough for me now. Crown: The threads on the crown are a bit un-refined. I'm not surprised by this and the crown works just fine and screws down tightly. I've had gen watches with shitty crown threads, so whatever. You should always be gentle with crown threads - most people [censored] up their threads because they're meatheads! Bezel: The pearl is clownish compared to photos of a good on. Whatever, I'm kind of a Carebear about it being gen-like. I bought it as a beater watch and will treat it as such - I didn't get it to fool my local Breitling dealership, or fool my friends. The ratcheting action is a little on the sloppy side, but it works just fine. Crystal: There appears to be AR on the underside. I don't get the AR hoopla. I collect mostly vintage gen divers and I've never had a problem reading my dial. The purple hue looks cheap to me in general, but some just love it. This watch also has a curved crystal that distorts at a sharp angle. Enh. Also looks cheap, but I know expensive watches have this curvature distortion as well, so it's just my preference, or whenever I see those morons with the giant zirconia encrusted rapper watches on the subway, the crystal has that distortion, so I associate... Bracelet: Damn. What can I say, it's titanium with screwed links that are machined quite nicely. No problems adjusting the size. The clasp is a little hinky - it works, just not like the gen (I have a gen Pro I steel bracelet to compare it to). I bent the sides of the safety clasp in just a touch on both sides and it grips the clasp a little better. I've no fear that it's gonna pop open. The laser engraving looks shallow and crap. Overall: Awesome bang for buck. I'm sure this watch has been reviewed before, but I've not seen a recent review - unfortunately I am a just a tadpole in the great swamp of rep knowledge, so my review is really just a cursory examination of a watch, not of this model. Hope it helps someone. I'm pretty sure this particular watch has some old school, closed factory, super edition that is impossible to get anymore, so add that to the mix when considering this piece. I am a happy camper on day one. Ask me how I feel tomorrow when the hour counter hand pops off!!! Some crappy pics: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chronoluvvv Posted October 22, 2009 Report Share Posted October 22, 2009 nice review swap the DW when you get a chance, live happily ever after - i did Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lanikai Posted October 22, 2009 Report Share Posted October 22, 2009 Congrats FK !!.. one that I always wanted.. but then again there aren't many that I don't I ahve a Lellos DW some place that could come in handy if you want the correct dw font Live Strong and Wear it Well ! AC LaniCongrats FK !!.. one that I always wanted.. but then again there aren't many that I don't I ahve a Lello DW some place that could come in handy if you want the correct dw font Live Strong and Wear it Well ! AC Lani Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bike Mike Posted October 22, 2009 Report Share Posted October 22, 2009 Congrats FK !!.. one that I always wanted.. but then again there aren't many that I don't Lani, Mine is for sale on the board, comes with UTC. Runs good. My pearl looks the same! I was PO'd about this as well! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toadtorrent Posted October 22, 2009 Report Share Posted October 22, 2009 Looks good. That is a great watch...and the Ti? SCHWEEET!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lanikai Posted October 23, 2009 Report Share Posted October 23, 2009 Lani, Mine is for sale on the board, comes with UTC. Runs good. My pearl looks the same! I was PO'd about this as well! the deal breaker for me wasn't the pearl.. the closed 4 @the 9 is what deterd me.. that closed 4...arrghhhhh AC Lani Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bike Mike Posted October 23, 2009 Report Share Posted October 23, 2009 the deal breaker for me wasn't the pearl.. the closed 4 @the 9 is what deterd me.. that closed 4...arrghhhhh AC Lani Yeah, I don't know how they screwed that one up. Seems pretty simple one to get right to me. Same with the "B" next to the 12 rider tabe and not on the side of the bezel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chronoluvvv Posted October 24, 2009 Report Share Posted October 24, 2009 the deal breaker for me wasn't the pearl.. the closed 4 @the 9 is what deterd me.. that closed 4...arrghhhhh AC Lani x 10 the closed 45 bothers me more than the DW but i don't know if i'll find a replacement bezel or just the rider tab as easily as i found a DW replacement for mine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andreww Posted October 24, 2009 Report Share Posted October 24, 2009 (edited) I've got the same watch and love it. Its become my most often worn watch despite its flaws. I built a custom pearl for it that looks much closer to the gen. I've also done a lot of work to the bezel, as the casting is not very good on these, and nothing on it is very flat or sharp. The face of my bezel is nice and crisp, and the rider tabs are nice and sharp. I also brushed the pushers as per the gen. I also purchased a gen divers strap that I wear it with most of the time. Next on the list is Chief's AR, and then a datewheel if I can find one! Congrats on your new watch! Edited October 24, 2009 by andreww Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hackR Posted October 29, 2009 Report Share Posted October 29, 2009 i have both versions...ok, ok -- yeah i'm a bit of breitling dork... my v1 "old school, closed factory, super edition that is impossible to get anymore" is enroute to me from The Z - freshened up with some chrono service and chief's double AR...can't wait... my v1: now check this out...while my v1 was lounging up North, I sent my v2 (same version as in this post) up North, too...why you ask?...well b/c i decided that if he could swap the dial and hands from the v2 onto the v1, this would be the best of both worlds...(reference andreww's "Chrono Avenger Primer & Review" for the why)...what Z found out was that he couldn't do it...i'm thinkin it's because one has the a7750b1 movement and the other is different...so it was a no go...i don't know all the gory details, but Z emailed me that after spending an hour working it, nothing would go - so we abandoned the attempt...interesting...hell - if he can't make it happen, you know something's different... my v2 CA came with a 24 hour utc bracelet - an older stock v2 that was quite a few years old...the utc bracelet is now on my v1 Seawolf ti...so what's to become of my v2 CA (same as the one in this post) -- it'll go up for sale soon... andreww has done a great job modding his pearl...love to find out how?!... R Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chronoluvvv Posted October 29, 2009 Report Share Posted October 29, 2009 andreww has done a great job modding his pearl...love to find out how?!... me too AndrewW pray do tell ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andreww Posted October 29, 2009 Report Share Posted October 29, 2009 me too AndrewW pray do tell ! Its not rocket science really. The hard part is finding a piece of steel to use (you cannot tell the difference between brushed steel and ti on such a small piece, and ti is harder to find and much harder to work with). When looking for something to use, I decided on sacrificing on of my jewelers screwdrivers, simply because the steel is good, and the hole (where the blade goes) is centered. When I chose the screwdriver, I focused on the size of the lume dot more than the outside diameter. Its easier to take material off the outside than the inside. So I cut off the end of the screwdriver where the blade meets the shaft (about an inch), and cut off the blade. This piece was mounted in my dremel and turned down to the proper diameter. When it fits snugly in to the hole in the bezel, its time to shape the top. Again, I used the dremel and a file and fine sandpaper. Once thats done, I used a cutting disk to saw of the end 1mm or so. Then I sanded the back down to the proper height. At this point its pretty easy to knock out the center piece (remainder of the blade) to give you a perfectly shaped donut. Epoxy the piece in to the bezel, lume (or white paint if you aren't fussy) then add some clear lacquer to finish. Took me a couple of attempts to perfect it, but with a bit of patience it isn't that hard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hackR Posted October 29, 2009 Report Share Posted October 29, 2009 Its not rocket science really........Took me a couple of attempts to perfect it, but with a bit of patience it isn't that hard. "we're not worthy, not worthy"... thanks, A!... R- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bike Mike Posted October 29, 2009 Report Share Posted October 29, 2009 Its not rocket science really. The hard part is finding a piece of steel to use (you cannot tell the difference between brushed steel and ti on such a small piece, and ti is harder to find and much harder to work with). When looking for something to use, I decided on sacrificing on of my jewelers screwdrivers, simply because the steel is good, and the hole (where the blade goes) is centered. When I chose the screwdriver, I focused on the size of the lume dot more than the outside diameter. Its easier to take material off the outside than the inside. So I cut off the end of the screwdriver where the blade meets the shaft (about an inch), and cut off the blade. This piece was mounted in my dremel and turned down to the proper diameter. When it fits snugly in to the hole in the bezel, its time to shape the top. Again, I used the dremel and a file and fine sandpaper. Once thats done, I used a cutting disk to saw of the end 1mm or so. Then I sanded the back down to the proper height. At this point its pretty easy to knock out the center piece (remainder of the blade) to give you a perfectly shaped donut. Epoxy the piece in to the bezel, lume (or white paint if you aren't fussy) then add some clear lacquer to finish. Took me a couple of attempts to perfect it, but with a bit of patience it isn't that hard. Was thinking the same thing, however was pondering where I could obtain the right Ti stock. I have a few drivers around I can sacrifice! Thanks A! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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