Moonwatch - My first replica has arrived!

[spontaneous]

Can hardly control my excitement sheesh i feel like a kid a Christmas. My Moonwatch arrived today after taking less than 2 weeks from selection to arrival and i couldnt be happier with my rep. Mary from WATCHINTERNATIONAL is a legend and has been a great help at all stages. She sourced the watch and i had photos of my watch within 2 days. After approving & payment i had my watch 7 days later. Im still very green but from what I have read and seen from the many reviews and discussions the watch is as good a version of the "seagul lemania" 40th Anniversary Moonwatch ive seen.

1st item on the agenda is to get a gen caseback, are these difficult to source? I will take some pics when its daylight and post them up. Even though ive been relatively quiet since joining Id like to thank all the active members on RWG for the abundance of information ive found and poured through the past couple weeks.

Cheer Sponts

[Greystash]

Good on-ya spontaneous,

Look forward to the pics.

[MasterOfPuppets]

Congrats Sponts!

Looking forward to seeing the pics

[modelizer]

Congrats and enjoy the late Christmas spirit spontaneous! Wear it well!

[Demsey]

1st item on the agenda is to get a gen caseback, are these difficult to source?

No, but they aren't cheap, but they are a 'must'. 118usd

Enjoy!

[highoeyazmuhudee]

will that fit a rep hand wind?

[spontaneous]

Heres my pics

[prdubis]

The main flaw for me is the subdial at 6...

[Demsey]

will that fit a rep hand wind?

People have done it hiho, and there it had been a 'perfect' fit, 'dluddy' made the move to his Eddie Lee Moon Watch, but I wouldn't go so far as to give it a blanket 'yes'. 'dluddy' 's watch was from an '04 run. There are too many 'ifs' and anomalies in 'replica' runs.

I suppose a 'cheaper' route would be to source the quartz replica Moon for under $100 (aside being 'quartz' it's a better 'replica' visually, true working tri-compax chrono) that comes stock with a purdy accurate solid caseback. If it fits the hand wind version, then swap the see thru and get rid of the quartz, or keep it. 2X watches. If you source the gen case back and it's a 'no fit'? Out 118.

Maybe someone with more inside knowledge will contribute here.

Like hundreds of others, I'm STILL waiting for the modified 7750 that will fit these Moon dials (and other Speedy's) to break. When it does? I'll be at the head of the line, then ordering the gen case back, gamble be damned.

@ PrDubis

Yeah. I think you could order this watch from a dealer who does not drop ship and have the 6 subdial frozen @ 12, perhaps for a small fee. It's ironic. Those Seagull bi-compax movements don't support a subdial @ 6 from the factory, but the rep factories add the module. Stop it. Already. I think the dealers would move more pieces if the 6 subdials were 'dummy' out of the box? Same goes for the rep 6263's with the same engines.

[spontaneous]

Thanks for the information Demsey.

Good point regarding the quartz version, sounds like the safer route I think ill have to grab one up.

Does anyone know the list of available modifications you can do to a moonie? from my reading I see the options as;

1. Replacing the braclet with the " Professional " engraved. I have noticed other versions of the moon watch with this bracelet but not the classic?

2. Caseback replacement

3. Crystal replacement

4. 6 clock dial freeze

Any other?

[highoeyazmuhudee]

The rehaut is also the incorrect color and needs a satin black air brushing

[Flashman]

Awesome looking watch. It is a true classic of design. I love my gen.

[Demsey]

I love my gen.

Wristie?

Not my watch, but for reference I have these I gleaned from the 'net for comparison.

I'm on a carpet bomb campaign to get the replica factories on this and other Speedmasters. I know it's useless, they only move on their own good time? I've spoken to a few dealers and they say 'soon', but I think they are as much in the dark as we are. The membership(s) of all the sites speak endlessly of what they would like to see repped, you know, the 'demand' side of the equation? They have all the resources I just don't understand a lot about all this business..............

[Toadtorrent]

Any other?

I'm not so bothered by the incorrect subdial spacing. On the moonie I think it's actually harder to spot as there is the mid-sized moonie which has the same subdial appearance (though in a smaller case) than the full-sized one with the narrow spacing.

I know true Speedie afficianados would poo-poo my inaccurate (questionably) preference for the display back, because the movement is so beautiful to look at. Given that there were variations with the display back in the gen form, and that the movements between the Seagull ST1902 and the older Omega cal. 321 are similar because of the chronograph bridge (of course the current ones have a different looking movement and the sapphire crystal like yours likely has...but I'm sure you get what I'm saying) I'm not bothered by these issues.

BTW...the 40th Anniversary one has the eagle moon landing silver medallion on 9-o-clock.

As to how to freeze the 6-o-clock subdial, check out the guide in my signature.

Awesome!! Love the piece and congrats for getting it, and contributing back to the forum by making this post.

[spontaneous]

Thanks for the feedback guys.

@Demsey - for the life of me I cant understand why the factories would not make a move to make a more acurate Speedmaster. Id imagine they would struggle to keep up with demand, id buy one straightaway an im sure many others would.

@Toadtorrent eek about the 40th thing, for some reason I misread somewhere I always thought this 40th. Id have to agree with you aswell, the clear caseback does look awesome, has there ever been a version of the gen moonie that came with a clear caseback? you would have to be an Omega / replica fanatic to spot the differences even though they are very clearly different.

Onto rep number 2 purchase. I am tied between a PAM005 or PAM195 & Grand Carrera Calibre 36

What is the main difference between Swiss and Asian Unitas 6497?

Edited January 20, 2010 by spontaneous

[Demsey]

has there ever been a version of the gen moonie that came with a clear caseback?

Hey 'spont,

The 'Moon Watch' is nothing more than the standard Speedmaster with two mods. One; the sapphire glass face crystal is replaced with a Hesalite (ostensibly plexi-glass) one. If shattered, the Hesalite will crack, but not splinter. Kind of like the safety glass in a car. Shards of glass floating around a space ship? Not too cool. The second, a solid caseback was fitted to accomodate an anti-magnetic (soft iron) shield to protect the movement. There are a lot of electronic systems with magnetic field in close proximity to the astronauts. When the Apollo missions were going on, going to the Moon was 'deep space'. There was little to no sure evidence of what the environment would be, or the true geological make up of the Moon.

So yes, there is a gen 'Speedy' with a see thru case back with First Watch Worn On The Moon engraving, but it could not be considered a true 'Moon Watch'.

Funnily enough, here is an article from a TZ member in Hawaii, who did a tutorial on how to change a true Moon Watch into the see thru version

It's a good effort on the watchsmith's part, but to me, it would like going to all the trouble to convert a Cobra into a GT. The Omega 321 calibre movement sure is purdy tho' and worth showing off!