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Where to get phong case?


Erict719

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Phong's cases are generally great quality, but only make sense when you are planning to build an uberfranken (gen everything) and it's uneconomical to buy a gen case. Prices are negotiable, just stick to the case parts you really need (i.e no bezel, pushers, crystals etc. you'll buy these gen anyway), usually you'll only need the midcase with caseback.

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I heard all available daytona now have thick bezel, and that is the easiest to get tell. will a phong case fix the problem? Is the case really 1:1 including the bezel engraving and stuff are accruate? for sub case, is it better then wm9 or Sean case?

It is better to go to gen bezel for your Daytona. Phong bezel is not very accurate. The only needs you have from Phong is the case & case-back (and maybe pushers, they are not so bad)

For a sub case, it's pretty impossible to get a WM9 v1/v2/v3 case.

You can choose between Sean or TC (also called WM9 v4) case ! There is some threads talking about the differences seen between the 2.

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"...you ll be hard pressed to find any case under $1500 FYI"

I would never pay that much. For that price, I could buy a genuine rolex 1603.

"its all mark up. thats why theyre so expensive."

True...and because a few will always pay the price. How much you pay has nothing to do with what you get.

The guy who said "You get what you pay for" never bought a replica watch.

If someone started making 95% accurate vintage 5513/1680 etc cases for $299 the prices would drop like a rock. DW was close...but still too far off.

If an enterprising individual started with the closest to genuine $200 watches available (1680, 5513 etc) and modified the cases to accept genuine movements and dials, they could make a LOT of spending money.

How about a Josh (asian 21j) 5513 and 1680 with proper CG and a deeper caseback for $199? That alone would probably knock out a lot of the demand for high $$ cases. :boxing:

But nooooooooo! That makes far too much sense.

I give up. :surrender:

For now...

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automatico - This is 1 of those rare cases where I have to disagree, slightly, with you. Phong's cases, while his prices bear little connection with reality, are constructed to gen specs, which means gen parts, including the movement, will drop in without modification. They also tend to weigh a bit more than the average rep or aftermarket case & are machined to a better fit & finish. Certainly, this is not something that most people will notice (or appreciate), but, if everything else is gen, it gives the watch that Rolex-like tactile feel & indescribable x-factor that only a gen has & this can make all the difference when you hand your watch to someone with experience. It also comes through when photographed well. Just look at Ubi's pre-Comex if you need further evidence.

I considered using a gen 5513 case for my pre-Comex Sub, but, in the end, I could not bring myself to modify a gen Sub case, which would have cost about twice (or more) what Phong's case cost anyway.

Bottom line - Phong's pricing is beyond ridiculous for anything other than an all-gen (except for the case) watch, in which case, it may make sense

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I had MBW in mind when I wrote my comments. For the money, MBW is the best buy, especially since you can fit many gen parts to them & end up with a credible franken.

My Double Red 1665 & phase I 5514 both used MBW mid-cases, which looked good & worked well (with some modifications to get gen movements to fit), but neither have quite the fit, finish or heft of Phong's case.

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problems with the current MBKs severe lack of quality control and dealing with the "watch nazi" (nah piek) who sells them.

in manufacturing most batches will have a 3-7% defective rate, his is more like 30% , but dont try and tell him that "NO WATCH FOR YOU!!!"

and im not talking small defects either, things he has no shame about selling with a straight face.

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I'm with Freddy on this one. I do a lot of Panerai casework so I have an eye for geometry differences as well as tactile and "tooling" feels of a watch case. Plainly speaking, J&W cases use better quality steel. In addition looking at the lug profile, the arc of Phong lug is a 1:1 match for Rolex with a pointier lug due to a longer gentler top curve; whereas the MBW has a more abrupt curve that starts closer to the lug hole. Lastly, the inside corners of lugs, lug and underside satination, lug chamfers on J&W are all executed to a much higher standard. To me it's not even a contest, while MBW is a nice budget case it's not even in the same ballpark for a serious build.

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  • 1 year later...
  • 1 year later...

Funnily enough, I messaged him yesterday received the following message:

 

'This is an automatically generated Delivery Status Notification.

Unable to deliver message to the following recipients, due to being unable to connect successfully to the destination mail server.

info@jewelryandwatch.com'

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