Martyd3 Posted February 4, 2011 Report Share Posted February 4, 2011 Do you think this will pi$$ off the Mk II crowd? https://www.taernan.com/index.php/oceanographer/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronin Posted February 4, 2011 Report Share Posted February 4, 2011 meh, nah.... (I am still patiently waiting on my Kingston from Bill...) The crown on that thing is hideous, and the logo is way too big... Not for me... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martyd3 Posted February 4, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 4, 2011 Awwwwwww, it ain't that bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
panerai153 Posted February 4, 2011 Report Share Posted February 4, 2011 meh, nah.... (I am still patiently waiting on my Kingston from Bill...) The crown on that thing is hideous, and the logo is way too big... Not for me... Ronin, I am also waiting patiently for my kingston. unfortunately, I'm in the general ordering group, so mine is a ways off,I'm afraid. I go over to the MkII Forum almost daily, just to read all the posts by the crazies over there!! Absolutely incredible how the forum has disintigrated over the past few months. Everyone was civil and courteous, until it got to the actual shipping, and then the loonies came out in force. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronin Posted February 4, 2011 Report Share Posted February 4, 2011 Ronin, I am also waiting patiently for my kingston. unfortunately, I'm in the general ordering group, so mine is a ways off,I'm afraid. I go over to the MkII Forum almost daily, just to read all the posts by the crazies over there!! Absolutely incredible how the forum has disintigrated over the past few months. Everyone was civil and courteous, until it got to the actual shipping, and then the loonies came out in force. I agree about the forum there and pretty much stay away. I too am general order. Have you figured out his crazy order/support system? It drives me crazy, there are days I feel like my order is lost between the couch cushions... Sigh.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StormTooper4 Posted February 4, 2011 Report Share Posted February 4, 2011 Blimey it aint cheap is it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FxrAndy Posted February 4, 2011 Report Share Posted February 4, 2011 I hate pre orders espeialy off a computer image Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tgchrono2 Posted February 4, 2011 Report Share Posted February 4, 2011 Nice watch but not an specs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcotter Posted February 4, 2011 Report Share Posted February 4, 2011 I know that image is computer generated & yes there are certain aspects that need attention...Yet it does look cool & I curious about its origin. As for the Kingston it appears to be very special as do Bills other creations...My 2cts is that its tall money for an ETA powered hommage! Regards, mcotter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martyd3 Posted February 4, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 4, 2011 It's a roll of the dice, but it could be a nice one. Like I said, the chances of owning a Kingston are little to none. The guys that are on the general ordering list have their doubts. I wrote the builder of this watch with some questions. Let's see if he responds Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris5264 Posted February 4, 2011 Report Share Posted February 4, 2011 I am a huge fan of mkii watches....The quality is there but I think they are testing the waters in terms of price,,I'm not sure I would pay anything over 500 for a homage (however, I did pay around 900 for mkii gmt homage). anyway,,,next on my homage list is the raven....gilt dial...just wish it didn't have a crown guard but that can be fixed. The vintage raven is less than 500 (usd). http://www.ravenwatches.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alligoat Posted February 4, 2011 Report Share Posted February 4, 2011 I like that Vintage Raven, Chris! Nice find. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronin Posted February 4, 2011 Report Share Posted February 4, 2011 This is a good thread, especially to discuss The Kingston AND Clones. If you bad mouth or ask general mkii question on WUS your post will be deleted or get you on the BAN watch list. Anyone else on the list for a Kingston? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martyd3 Posted February 4, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 4, 2011 BAN list??? Would they really do that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
panerai153 Posted February 5, 2011 Report Share Posted February 5, 2011 BAN list??? Would they really do that? I wouldn't say they wil ban you in a heart beat, but they will in a few beats!! . most all of the forums are pretty closely moderated, and they will delete posts and lock threads if what you post is controversial enough. What a lot of folks don't realize is, sites like WUS are private. WUS is owned by Earnie Romers. All of the watch companies up in the first section on the site pay for their forums. So it's actually a private forum bought and paid for by the watch companies. These are the ones that are the most closely moderated. When you get down to the open forums like the Dive watch forum, Rolex forum, Omega forum, etc. quite a bit more liberty is given to posters opinions. The MKII forum has gotten a little crazy lately, primarily because of the Kingston, which is a homage to the 6538/5510 "James Bond" Rolexes. It is a very limited edition of 300 watches, which were sold in three groups,, the first "plank" orders receive the watch along with and almost complete second watch in parts, dial, hands case, bracelet. I'm not positive, but i believe it doesn't come with a movement and caseback. The second group had the option of buying the "parts kit" for a reduced price. the third group only gets a watch. The problem revolves around Bill Yao the owner of MKII who is a perfectionist watchmaker.The watches (parts and assembled have crossed the pond 3 times!! The parts are sent to Bill in Pennsylvania from wherever, he inspects every part and then repacks the parts and sends them to his assembler in Switzerland. the watches are assembled , repacked and then sent back to Bill in the USA. Even though the first 100 watches (parts) have gone to Switzerland,were assembled and returned to the USA in mid December, Bill essentially takes every watch apart and does all the fine tuning. This is great from the standpoint of the buyer receiving a watch that has been very, very carefully assembled and regulated, but it plays holy hell with shipping. As of today it seems like only 16-17 watches of the original 100 have been shipped out since mid December. Also because the watches are available with two different lumes, gilt or silver dials/hands,Date or Non-date dials, red or white triangle bezel insert and either regular (Adjusted to two positions) and custom (adjusted to 6 positions) You can see what a nightmare that is. no one including Bill himself can tell anyone about when a particular watch will be shipped. Lack of communication creates concern, and when you get, that and then throw in a fair number of buyers who got in on the first "plank" order, but had never dealt with Bill or any other custom watchmaker, it soon evolves into a toxic mix. Most of the folks who had low numbers and were in the first 100 watches delivered, assumed that they would have their watches by Christmas.When that didn't happen, the tone of several posters became very hostile. Also because the first 100 were all non-date dialed watches, a buyer could be say # 5 in the order list but ordered a date dial, which won't be delivered until the second batch of 100 watches are assembled and delivered. So poor # 5 could actually be pushed back to around #105 or further as his watch won't be delivered until the first 100 non-dates are all done. Sound confusing, well it really is. And there are quite a few unhappy folks out there, and several of them are keeping the pot stirred on the forum. Ronin and I are "General Order" which is the third "Tranche", watches 201-300. We were supposed to get our order ticket to choose the configuration of our watches and pay the balance owed, back in November or December. Realistically, I would expect that it will be late spring or summer before we complete our orders and probably fall or winter before we get a watch. Sort of sounds like WM9 doesn't it!!! Difference here is Bill Yao is a very upstanding, reputable guy, and we all know where he lives! Comparing the MKII to the Raven and the Taernan are like comparing apples oranges, or probably more like comparing oranges to tangerines, similar but very different. Everyone who has owned a MKIi will attest to the quality of the watch. And considering that until recently the watches were selling new for 500-700 USD they were a real bargain. The newer ones are more expensive, some are up in the area of 1200-1400 USD. It wil be interesting to see how they sell at the higher price points, as the competition moves up a notch as well, and he is now competing against watches of much higher quality than the 500 USD watches in the past. Here are a few photos of the Kingston Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronin Posted February 5, 2011 Report Share Posted February 5, 2011 Well written P153. You actually put my mind at ease in some ways. As you said the lack of communications and poor MKII web presence is maddening. Between the WM9 SeaDweller and this, it really has tested my patience as well. I just hope when it is our turn, we really get to pick our look. I have fears of ending up with whatever Bill has left and rushes to close the project. As far as his web presence. You have the main web site for browsing products. Then he has his blog with updates. Next, there is the official forum on WUS. Finally, he has some 3rd party "Support Desk" system for trouble tickets and inquiry's. Everything seems to have separate logins. I thought the "Support Desk" site would have status, or even a record of our order, but alas nothing. All I have is my credit card transaction and the print out of the order receipt. Sigh.... Has anyone begun reselling these yet? I dare say if the right combination (No Date, Silver Triangle) came up, I would consider buying 2nd hand...Finally, if it all goes south, I might just have to build a 6538 with the help of Phong et. al. In the meantime, my 653.09 homage I built will have to do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
panerai153 Posted February 5, 2011 Report Share Posted February 5, 2011 Ronin, Incredibly several have been flipped already!! i know of two that have their watches in hand, one was bought on ther WUS sales corner, another was a plank owner that sold his "Position" and the watch was delivered to him and then on to his buyer. Several more are sold in the same way, watch will go to the original buyer and then forwarded to the second buyer. Lot of speculation on the forum that upwards to 20% will be flipped quite quickly. As you know most WIS are forever looking for "That greener grass on the other side of the fence". I cannot tell you how many watches I have salivated over, scrimped ,saved , sold and traded for, only to get it in hand and realize it just doesn't resonate with me. I would watch the WUS sales forum as a couple have shown up there. Big problem now is the plank owners are getting around 1200-1500 USD for the watch plus parts kit. i'm sure that won't hold up, especially when more hit the market. All that have been sold have been no dates, and most folks got both bezels one red, one silver, so either would be available on a "Plank" watch. I feel pretty comfortable about the ordering process, and parts selection. Bill made it very clear in one of his earlier posts that all 300 would have the same choices of dial, hands, date-no date, bezels, etc. I feel like it is and inordinately long process, but he is such a perfectionist, it makes the whole thing take much longer. I believe that what everyone thought was the first 100 watches would be visually inspected, possibly run for a couple of days and then, cleaned up, repacked and shipped to the owners. Alas, Bill is taking every one apart and doing little internal "tweeks" that are very time consuming. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronin Posted February 5, 2011 Report Share Posted February 5, 2011 Cool. Honestly, you are making me feel much better. And this THREAD on RWG has been more informative the trying to page thru WUS these days. Once again RWG IS the place for the best info. To the OP, it would be nice to have alternatives like you posted or the Raven or Tarnan... The Raven looks like it is using the same "Chinese w/Swiss made" dial that I got from Noah Fuller for my 6526 homage. Raven then Pad printed the dive rating and logo on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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