redwatch Posted September 29, 2010 Report Share Posted September 29, 2010 I joined this forum April 2009 because I was in search of a very specific replica. I so very badly wanted to find an IWC Regulateur. I found so many scam sites selling this particular watch and thankfully that endless searching brought me here. It's been about a year and a half since I joined and I have finally brought a Regulateur home. This is a well known timepiece around this forum as this is the one that Trombone had modified by none other than our resident modder, Francisco. You can find discussions about the movement here and the modifications Francisco did here The Regulateur is a very distinctive looking watch. Upon first glance, one might consider this to be just another Portuguese Chrono. Further inspection reveals that it is, in fact, an entirely unique and unusual watch face. The measured units of time, seconds, minutes and hours, are spatially separated from each other. The hour display has it's own sub-dial at the 12 o'clock position, the seconds display has it's own sub-dial at the 6 o'clock position. Only the large minute hand occupies the center of the dial, radiating outwards towards the outer perimeter of the watch face. The Regulateur comes from a very old tradition of horology. The quintessence of the horological precision instrument, which in the 18th and 19th centuries, had it's place in observatories, laboratories or watch manufacturers. This form of time display, which differs from that of all other watches, served a highly practical purpose in the early days of precision chronometry. The clocks of that time – mostly intricate grandfather clocks or wall clocks – were built with this dial architecture for observatories. Marine chronometers also occasionally had such an arrangement of the hands. The intention was to prevent the “slow” hour hand from concealing the important seconds hand in particular. For it had a crucial role to play in the observatories, on board ships for navigation, but also in the watch manufactories, where new watches were “timed” or “regulated” with reference to such timepieces. The name says it all. And so, without further ado, I present my grail time piece: The IWC Portuguese Regulateur And finally, a wrist shot: So what's next? Well, since this is my grail piece, it will require some very, very special upgrades. The movement modification is superb, but unfortunately the movement plates have the decorations from a very rare Wempe Limited Edition Regulateur. I would like to re-decorate the back plates to look more like the gen: Additionally, the crown is completely wrong for this model. The gen has IWC stamped on the crown and it is about twice as thick. So, a new crown will need to be sourced eventually. I would also like to see if there is anyway to modify the display back to include the screws. And the last mod - change the hands to make this the Platinum model. I do like the blue hands, but the platinum model with the silver hands is much classier in my opinion UPDATE: Now serviced and blue hands stripped to be silver like the gen above: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Francisco Posted September 29, 2010 Report Share Posted September 29, 2010 Excellent review... to be honest.. I miss that watch.. I think I am going to modify one for me... About improving more the movement... very difficult... perhaps we could erase the engraving on the balance... but not a big improvement. The most important point is that now looks quite gen, previous movement was really ugly... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chiman12 Posted September 29, 2010 Report Share Posted September 29, 2010 Great review Red...this IWC is really starting to grow on me...maybe time to add one to the stable... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redwatch Posted September 29, 2010 Author Report Share Posted September 29, 2010 Excellent review... to be honest.. I miss that watch.. I think I am going to modify one for me... About improving more the movement... very difficult... perhaps we could erase the engraving on the balance... but not a big improvement. The most important point is that now looks quite gen, previous movement was really ugly... Thanks Francisco! How difficult do you think it would be to change out the hands for the silver ones, but maintain the end cap that you installed? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Francisco Posted September 29, 2010 Report Share Posted September 29, 2010 Thanks Francisco! How difficult do you think it would be to change out the hands for the silver ones, but maintain the end cap that you installed? very easy... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redwatch Posted September 29, 2010 Author Report Share Posted September 29, 2010 Good to know. That will definitely be on my list of future upgrades then! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Utheman Posted September 29, 2010 Report Share Posted September 29, 2010 Great review and pics Red. And thanks also for the horological lesson on Regulators. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kuli Posted September 29, 2010 Report Share Posted September 29, 2010 I just ordered the same watch from Trevor and I insisted he get the version with blue hour marker. I am yet to receive the watch but here are the pics he sent to me. He said the movement is still very off though. Uploaded with ImageShack.us Uploaded with ImageShack.us Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redwatch Posted September 29, 2010 Author Report Share Posted September 29, 2010 That one is more accurate to be honest. If you want the blue hands, then you need to have blue hour markers to go with it. Movement is going to be way off, but it can be modified as mine was. It involves a transplant of bridge parts from the FA Jones rep. See the links in the top post for more info Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subbiesrock Posted September 29, 2010 Report Share Posted September 29, 2010 Brilliant lesson Red, I've had my eye on the Portu series for a while, and this is indeed a unique piece. Is the movement a decorated 6498-style movement? The very long adjustment lever looks distinctive. To get the effect as in the gen would require custom machining of the bridges - not an easy feat but doable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kuli Posted September 29, 2010 Report Share Posted September 29, 2010 That one is more accurate to be honest. If you want the blue hands, then you need to have blue hour markers to go with it. Movement is going to be way off, but it can be modified as mine was. It involves a transplant of bridge parts from the FA Jones rep. See the links in the top post for more info Hmmm where can I get the transplant done in CONUS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redwatch Posted September 29, 2010 Author Report Share Posted September 29, 2010 Brilliant lesson Red, I've had my eye on the Portu series for a while, and this is indeed a unique piece. Is the movement a decorated 6498-style movement? The very long adjustment lever looks distinctive. To get the effect as in the gen would require custom machining of the bridges - not an easy feat but doable. Yes it is. Basically just an A6498 with a transfer gear to move the hour hand to the 12 o'clock position. As for the machining, I'm not to concerned about that as much as I am about the possibility of having to re-engrave the bridges after they are machined down to remove the current decoration. It looks as the the engraving is deeper, so I may be able to mill the bridges down just enough without losing the current engravings. Hard to say at the moment. I will probably pick up an F.A. Jones just for the movement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redwatch Posted September 29, 2010 Author Report Share Posted September 29, 2010 Hmmm where can I get the transplant done in CONUS That my friend is the question of the day Not really sure to be honest, but I know there are many savvy modders around these parts Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subbiesrock Posted September 30, 2010 Report Share Posted September 30, 2010 Yes it is. Basically just an A6498 with a transfer gear to move the hour hand to the 12 o'clock position. As for the machining, I'm not to concerned about that as much as I am about the possibility of having to re-engrave the bridges after they are machined down to remove the current decoration. It looks as the the engraving is deeper, so I may be able to mill the bridges down just enough without losing the current engravings. Hard to say at the moment. I will probably pick up an F.A. Jones just for the movement. The bridges aren't particularly thick to begin with, and the guilloche pattern seems to be milled in rather deeply... hmm... then the original has Cotes de Geneve engraving on top, you have your work cut out for you, but what a great project! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redwatch Posted September 30, 2010 Author Report Share Posted September 30, 2010 From Francisco's modification post it looks as though the genuine in his picture has completely smooth bridges. No pattern, just engravings. That might prove to be a little easier. Either way, this is a beautiful watch. I can't stop wearing it. The HIrsch strap is surprisingly comfortable and well made. I was thinking of upgrading the strap to an HK Tan, but I may hold off on that. We'll see how I feel about that after I get my new strap from him for my other watch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeSentier Posted October 1, 2010 Report Share Posted October 1, 2010 Question: would a F.A.Jones case/caseback solve the screw issue on the back? Hmmmm....guess the Jones Case has the serial# engraved on the side.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeSentier Posted October 1, 2010 Report Share Posted October 1, 2010 And also the lugs are not correct... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redwatch Posted October 1, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 1, 2010 I like your thinking, but you are correct. Too many other issues with the F A Jones case to make it usable unfortunately Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kuli Posted October 21, 2010 Report Share Posted October 21, 2010 Just got mine and I must say this is a beautiful dress watch. The best $100 I've spent Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redwatch Posted October 21, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 21, 2010 Just got mine and I must say this is a beautiful dress watch. The best $100 I've spent Congrats!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toadtorrent Posted October 21, 2010 Report Share Posted October 21, 2010 Just got mine and I must say this is a beautiful dress watch. The best $100 I've spent Ya gotta love the budget dress watches!!! Greatest value around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redwatch Posted March 23, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 23, 2012 UPDATE: Just got this one back from Ziggy after a complete service and over haul. He polished the hour hand transfer gears and serviced the movement. Now it's got a 60 hour power reserve!!! Also had Zig strip the original blue hands so they are silver like the gen Platinum one 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gran Posted March 23, 2012 Report Share Posted March 23, 2012 I do like it at lot (even with the blue hands) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dluddy Posted March 23, 2012 Report Share Posted March 23, 2012 Love it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asf Posted March 23, 2012 Report Share Posted March 23, 2012 I love the face on photo of the watch! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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