Guest accio Posted May 11, 2012 Report Share Posted May 11, 2012 39mm 316L steel on bracelet Sapphire crystal 200m water resistance 2824 movement Matte dial with date Superluminova indices I know, is a tribute to the explorer, and costs much more than the best replica. but I really like, what do you think? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woof* Posted May 11, 2012 Report Share Posted May 11, 2012 That fella makes really well thought out designs and quality pieces. Yours is beautiful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lhooq Posted May 11, 2012 Report Share Posted May 11, 2012 I'm a fan. Mr. Yao does nice work, and the Vantage is a smart update of the 1016. I'd take one over a 214270 rep. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vlydog Posted May 11, 2012 Report Share Posted May 11, 2012 I'm a fan too! Is this model still being offered? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sgtguk Posted May 11, 2012 Report Share Posted May 11, 2012 That's a real classy piece thanks for sharing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
panerai153 Posted May 11, 2012 Report Share Posted May 11, 2012 I believe the Vantage is sold out. There were a few up for sale from MKII a couple of months ago, and they went pretty fast. They do come up occasionally on the WUS sales forum.i have a couple of MKII's and I will tell you, they are really,really nice watches. For the price point (Just a little higher than unmodified top line reps, and quite a bit less than many of our "Franken's". I'm not a fan of the Vantage, I don't particularly care for the Explorer either, so I can't comment on the watch except to say that it's very high quality like all of Bill Yao's watches. Probably the biggest problem with MKII is the slow delivery times. Probably the watch that has gotten the most buzz of all of the MKII's has been the Kingston, a Bond Submariner homage. The original group of 100 buyers waited around 3 years from deposit to delivery. They are on the third stage orders now (3rd hundred), and it's not expected to finish up until October. So from the first deposit to the final delivery looking at somewhere around 3 1/2 years. Of course no one actually waited that long, but there were some who said that their wait was close to 3 years.Not a problem if you have plenty of patience, but otherwise I would try to pick one up used on the sales forums. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
highoeyazmuhudee Posted May 11, 2012 Report Share Posted May 11, 2012 i wonder if you can buy parts separately Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest accio Posted May 11, 2012 Report Share Posted May 11, 2012 i wonder if you can buy parts separately ???????? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest accio Posted May 11, 2012 Report Share Posted May 11, 2012 I believe the Vantage is sold out. I'm taking right now by an Italian guy in italian forum Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woof* Posted May 11, 2012 Report Share Posted May 11, 2012 i wonder if you can buy parts separately There's a watch shop in Detroit called something like "Motor City Watchworks" or similar that sells Yao's line of parts. They also sandblast and refinish cases. You can find out about them on homage forums. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FxrAndy Posted May 11, 2012 Report Share Posted May 11, 2012 That is a nice set of hands, pity they would be too big for subs, nice proportions on the merc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lhooq Posted May 12, 2012 Report Share Posted May 12, 2012 i wonder if you can buy parts separately You used to be able to (I know alligoat still has a 34mm with a Mk II dial), and the parts were reasonably priced. But that section of the website was closed some time ago. Not sure why. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StormTooper4 Posted May 12, 2012 Report Share Posted May 12, 2012 Very tasty. , like the date feature Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest accio Posted May 12, 2012 Report Share Posted May 12, 2012 These are the pics that the seller sent me, I think it is in very good condition Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alligoat Posted May 12, 2012 Report Share Posted May 12, 2012 I certainly agree that the date feature is very nice on the Vantage. Like LHOOQ said, Bill Yao no longer sells parts. The dial and hands that I got from him 3-4 years ago worked out well in the Silix 34mm 6694 case. The lume on the dial and hands is great. Plus the old rep that I used has a gen eta 2836-2 in it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
highoeyazmuhudee Posted May 12, 2012 Report Share Posted May 12, 2012 That is a nice set of hands, pity they would be too big for subs, nice proportions on the merc my thoughts exactly! which is why i was wondering about the parts Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
panerai153 Posted May 13, 2012 Report Share Posted May 13, 2012 Bill Yao quit selling parts and doing custom work a year or so ago. The reason was his watch business had grown to the point that selling parts was more of a headache than it was worth. Although that is what got him started, it was such a small segment of the business, and time consuming he decided to discontinue the parts line. At the present time, he only stocks parts for MKII watches, and I believe that his policy is new parts will only be shipped when the old defective part is returned, sort of like Rolex!!. I had to have the bezel replaced on one of my MKII's and I sent it to IWW for replacement. they had to remove the bezel and send it to MKII. they then sent the replacement. I'm sure the decision to close down the parts department was a real disappoint to lots of folks, especially the Seiko customizers, as MKII parts were very popular for customizing Seikos. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest accio Posted May 18, 2012 Report Share Posted May 18, 2012 ok it's arrived today other pis here http://imgur.com/a/9CMPc#0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lhooq Posted May 18, 2012 Report Share Posted May 18, 2012 Well.. What do YOU think? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronin Posted May 19, 2012 Report Share Posted May 19, 2012 Keeper if you ask me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest accio Posted May 19, 2012 Report Share Posted May 19, 2012 Well.. What do YOU think? then...I was very pleased. the line is simple, very basic, and I find it very elegant. I owned an explorer 1 from Narikaa, a cheap version, I liked a lot but I felt there was something wrong and when my friends told me that was better to change the dial with a matte dial, I could not understand what they meant, Maybe if I had a better version, all modded, would have been different, but the basic version just was not right. Yet the line of explorer1 I liked, so I went looking for something like. I now understand the difference between a normal dial and a "matte dial". Also the explorer1 gave me the feeling of being very light, not this, I feel very strong at the wrist and so also the bracelet. . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ephry73 Posted October 12, 2013 Report Share Posted October 12, 2013 I hate doing this, but this old thread inspired me. I wonder who is making similar dials to this Vantage one. E Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
panerai153 Posted October 12, 2013 Report Share Posted October 12, 2013 No idea, but there have been a lot of guys on the MKII forum that have been begging Bill to reintroduce the Vantage. Don't think it's going to happen however, too much on his plate already. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ephry73 Posted October 12, 2013 Report Share Posted October 12, 2013 This is definitely doable. Of course, an AR'ed underside crystal will just set it off. Dammit, too many projects and too little time E Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lgking Posted October 13, 2013 Report Share Posted October 13, 2013 I here great things about the made in "Great Britain" SMITHS EVEREST PRS-25. http://www.timefactors.com/smiths.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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