crystalcranium Posted September 20, 2006 Report Share Posted September 20, 2006 I got my IWC GST Chrono in stainless with a white dial yesterday from Paul. Cost me $199. Although it took him a week to source one, once he sent it via DHL, it got to the east coast USA in less than 2 days. He also included a Mont Blanc pen to offset my $27 WU fees. The pen writes beautifully. The ink cartridge inside it reads Mont Blanc and looks original. I know nothing about replica pens so if anyone can tell me if this is a genuine ink in a replica pen body, I'd love to know. I gave it to my wife who writes alot and she said "OOOOhhhhh" when she used it,...a pretty good sign. As for the watch, I went with stainless because titanium isn't appealing to me. I like heft in a watch. This is a smaller chronograph at 40mm in diameter but it is thick at about 14mm. It weighs in at about 155 grams so not massive but substantial. I like the fact that it is not a hockey puck on a bracelet. The Bentley GT and Tag Link Chrono that were my last two purchases are both very large watches. This one I could wear with a business suit and not look like I was ready to go pearl diving. The gold tone hands and markers are very elegant. The crown is substantial and actually looks a little oversized for a watch of these dimmensions perhaps in service of making it easier to use. I am assuming the genuine has a crown of similar size. The satin stainless bracelet with polished middle links tapers beautifully from the widest point at the watch case to a very understated engraved clasp. It works on the same principal as the Omega bracelet clasp but it only has one button to release the clasp lock on the bracelet pin. This concerns me. It doesnt take much movement of this easily pressed button to release the watch and there is no substantial "click" when the clasp engages. The fit and finish on the inside workings of the clasp leave a little to be desired as they are roughly machined. The bracelet looks like it is held together by thick pins that have polished heads to match the polished sides of the bracelet. Most of them are set to an equal depth but about 1/4 of them are pushed in further than the majority. None of them are proud of the bracelet though. I took off the caseback and was very surprised that the gasket and the threads of the case were greased. It operated very smoothly. I was even more surprised at the level of detail inside the case back. It was engraved with "IWC" "Swiss Made" and had a serial number. It also had a very small but very detailed IWC trademark engraving . The asian 28,000 bph 7750 copy works well out of the box with it's typical quirks, The day alignment angle problem for Tue and Wed is evident as is the mechanical issue of the minute counter rolling over to the next minute when the chrono second hand reaches 58 seconds. I have this issue with all of my new 7750 watches and it looks like you can identify the movement from this characteristic without opening the case back. I made sure I wound the watch fully before attempting to re-set the chronos and they all work perfectly. As with most of the watches coming from our Asian dealers, it runs about +15 sec/day out of the box and once I get a couple of months on it, I'll adjust it. As By-Tor says, writing a review while the "glow of delivery" is still burning is not a great idea so I expect my impressions to change with time. I'm happy with the watch today but time will tell! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Watchmeister Posted September 20, 2006 Report Share Posted September 20, 2006 Nice review. Much of what you say holds true for the ti version as well. The clasp does not feel substantial with only one point of contact but it is similar to the gen in that regard and so far has held very well inspite of feeling insubstantial. On the movement, I have not noticed the day date alignment but will take a look. Each model has its own tradeoffs. I was tempted by the SS version but gold markers and hands always scare me as the gold is very rarely the same color or texture as the gen. But on the ti IMHO the case and bracelet does need some light refinishing. Staring at a gen ti shortly after wearing mine I noticed that the gen is darker (but ti does lighten and darken) and has a smoother finish. Hopefully a few minutes with a ti refinishing cloth will take care of that though. Wear it well. These reps are truly dead ringers for the gen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crystalcranium Posted September 20, 2006 Author Report Share Posted September 20, 2006 Nice review. Much of what you say holds true for the ti version as well. The clasp does not feel substantial with only one point of contact but it is similar to the gen in that regard and so far has held very well inspite of feeling insubstantial. On the movement, I have not noticed the day date alignment but will take a look. Each model has its own tradeoffs. I was tempted by the SS version but gold markers and hands always scare me as the gold is very rarely the same color or texture as the gen. But on the ti IMHO the case and bracelet does need some light refinishing. Staring at a gen ti shortly after wearing mine I noticed that the gen is darker (but ti does lighten and darken) and has a smoother finish. Hopefully a few minutes with a ti refinishing cloth will take care of that though. Wear it well. These reps are truly dead ringers for the gen. I thought the titanium version just looked granier/rougher in the pics I looked at. I figured this was just a characteristic of the metal but your post gives me pause. A few more thoughts. The dial has decently lumed marker dots but the hands, dispite looking like there is luminous material, do not glow at all. Also, the bracelet is not for the "large of wrist" Although I am not a small guy, I usually have to remove at least a link from most of my bracelet watches. This one is snug with no option for expansion. I imagine a good salty meal and I'll be bursting out of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rek001 Posted September 20, 2006 Report Share Posted September 20, 2006 Great review, well done! Sounds like you got a very nice watch from Paul. "Pearl diving" - I like that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubiquitous Posted September 20, 2006 Report Share Posted September 20, 2006 To darken Ti- You can simply submerge the watch is a small bowl/Tupperare/mug/Big Gulp cup of water and Oxiclean. Oxygen tends to darken up Ti, so if you're after that look, that is one way to achieve it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jkerouac Posted September 20, 2006 Report Share Posted September 20, 2006 CC, I have the same watch and love it. Be sure to check that the pushers are securely on their posts. One of mine was loose and fell off several times before I secure them properly. Others have reported the same problem and even lost pushers. Apparently they are not easy to replace, so it is much better to take preventive measures rather than play the odds. In any case, I look forward to hearing your followup review comments. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pugwash Posted September 20, 2006 Report Share Posted September 20, 2006 To darken Ti- You can simply submerge the watch is a small bowl/Tupperare/mug/Big Gulp cup of water and Oxiclean. Oxygen tends to darken up Ti, so if you're after that look, that is one way to achieve it I like the look Ti gets when it's left to go wild. I'm hoping I don't need to clean mine any time soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crystalcranium Posted September 20, 2006 Author Report Share Posted September 20, 2006 CC, I have the same watch and love it. Be sure to check that the pushers are securely on their posts. One of mine was loose and fell off several times before I secure them properly. Others have reported the same problem and even lost pushers. Apparently they are not easy to replace, so it is much better to take preventive measures rather than play the odds. In any case, I look forward to hearing your followup review comments. Thank you so much for the heads up. How does one do this? Are they a friction fit on the post or do they screw on? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jkerouac Posted September 20, 2006 Report Share Posted September 20, 2006 Thank you so much for the heads up. How does one do this? Are they a friction fit on the post or do they screw on? They screw on. If they are loose, a tiny bit of locktite might be in order. The first few times I just tried to tighten it by hand without any assist -- the pusher button just worked its way loose again until I finally did the job properly. There are threads on the board that indicate others were not so lucky.... and the dealers were not able to assist them with parts, at least at that time (a few months ago). Cheers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crystalcranium Posted September 20, 2006 Author Report Share Posted September 20, 2006 Here are some quick and dirty shots Inside of the buckle, a little poorly satinized. A little fine steel wool should clean it up Inside the caseback. The logo at the very top is quite detailed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeff g Posted September 20, 2006 Report Share Posted September 20, 2006 A very nice review. The personal touch. I have a few comments about the GST. Recently I have purchased the GST and the TAG Link Chrono. Your comments about the look and feel of the two watches was pretty much opposite of mine. I felt as though the GST sat up on my wrist 'like a hockey puck'. (A small one) A 40 mm x 14 mm case seemed to be out of proportion to me. The 7750 being the reason for the thickness of this rather small case. In comparison the TAG at 42 mm with a 14mm thick case seems to be much better balanced, and wears very well on the wrist, IMO. More similar to the feel of a SS Sub or Omega SMP. Although the look of the GST is more of a 'dress' look, I felt it was to thick to wear for daily use, while the TAG SS is more of an everyday beater kind of piece. Additionally, I feel like the dial of the TAG is easily as nice as the beautiful dial on the GST. My bet for rep of the year would include these two watches. But my vote goes for the TAG. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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