We Now Have Our Chance....

[Chicken Manny]

I think I would purchase a well done version of any of these. I voted for the Brequet because it really jumped out at me but they all look good. It would be great to get access to something off the beaten path.

Cheers!

[Guest TTK]

@RT.....I'm bowing out of this now.....too many ditherers and too many paddling their own agenda.....with IMO...ludicrous brands....and models....over complicated or mirror images of watches that already exist in one form or another.....I understood the brief to be.!

1. A new watch....not a re-hash of another Rolex....or Omega.

2. Easy to make.....simple case design.

3. Ability to utilise popular range of ETA / Unitas movements....NO CHRONOGRAPHS.

IMO....the SH met all those criteria....the power reserve module should have been easy to replicate,,,,,,,as for the case thickness....it's not much different from a 187...(18mm)....or a Breitling Super Avenger...(17mm).....and everybody used to shout about how the Fiddy was too big....same as the Railmaster XXL......now everybody's wearing them.....!

So the poll disrupters and shilly shallyers are those limp wristed ever so slightly effete Ebel and Zenith voters......they screwed it uo.

On a serious note.......I don't think you'll get this off the ground.....there are too many with their own opinions and won't necessarily buy whatever you decide upon...I know i wouldn't buy about 2/3rds of the proposals......it seems to me that you shouldn't give the masses a choice.....when you do they run about like headless chickens......just like feed.....you just bring it to them...then they gobble it up.

So for me...I'm outta here.....I'll probably end up buying the genuine....they're not that expensive.

Edited December 5, 2006 by TTK

[Shabber]

Dreadnought PRS gets my vote as well. But...

Why not take the same stance as the maker of the Dread did. Create the "perfect" dive watch by taking the opinions of many and yours as well. Size, finish, capabilities, simple, lot's of lume, etc. Make a limited number of them and then number them. You will sell out and create a sense of history for yourself. I think that would be a real accomplishment.

- Shabber

[sam_tgg]

I think TTK had some reason, but not all. I would buy 2/3 of these watches. First, but I really like most of them. Second, beacuse it is a good oportunity to start a good comunication direct with the people that make the watches more or less for us (most of the people would never buy a rep watch for 200 €).

But TTk makes a good point: too many people thinking, it is normally a problem.

[docblackrock]

Said it at the start of this thread and I'm disappointed to have been proved right

The has now been replaced with a

Call me a pessimist but having read through 6 pages...

There is an obvious inherent flaw in this plan.....this is a rare chance to select an uncommon bespoke choice, however, the 'poll' means by definition the common majority will out and therefore the least 'individual' choice (i.e. lowest common denominator) will win.

No clear consensus = limited appeal = relatively low sales = reduced ROI for dealer/make = unlikely to get off drawing board = IMO

For Silix to do this, it must be a model that will be a guaranteed blockbuster in sales terms, otherwise why bother? A labour of love? Much as I like J&A, I doubt they are so altruistic and who could blame them. As I said in my earlier post, choosing a bespoke watch using such a large focus group is by nature going to be nigh on impossible to achieve. Even now there are cliques forming, the Seahawk fans, the die-hard vintage Rollies, the vintage Omega 300s, the Freaks etc but when all said and done, we all have our own particular tastes and desires, horses for courses as the French say .

Hate to bring it up again even in jest, but the last time something similar (the aforementioned Railmaster 'Limited Edition' ) was tried even using an existing case and a largely agreed-upon and popular choice, it ended up an unmitigated disaster, the flaws the timescale, the nitpicking and finally the recriminations. Sorry but rather than this idea get me excited, my thoughts can best be summed up thus...

[johnboy777]

Why don't the yfinally build a GOOD 16600 rep?

...exactly, everyone keeps clamoring for an exact 1:1 Rolex Sub that takes gen parts -- build it and they will come. Even those of us that already have Subs in some form or fashion, will have to buy one. Hell, you'd be able to charge extra too.

[dadog13]

.......or we could find a nice ladies watch...to rep it...so our GF....wifes...mistresses...could be happy!

[shultz]

,,,,,,,as for the case thickness....it's not much different from a 187...(18mm)....or a Breitling Super Avenger...(17mm).....and everybody used to shout about how the Fiddy was too big....same as the Railmaster XXL......now everybody's wearing them.....!

I fully agree! Besides: Today I went to my local AD and tried the GP Seahawk on. You won't believe it but this watch fits my wrist better as my 187, my Fiddy, my 249 or my Avenger although the height of the GP is about 20mm. You must see that Seahawk in reality and 3D! That case shows an amazing design and is really charming your wrist! My AD showed me the version with polished bezel makers on brown letaher strap with white stitches. Case is about 45mm. A serious alternative watch for PAM lovers!

[JosePR]

i want a GP or a nice modern Zenith

[Richard Tracy]

@RT.....I'm bowing out of this now.....too many ditherers and too many paddling their own agenda.....with IMO...ludicrous brands....and models....over complicated or mirror images of watches that already exist in one form or another.....I understood the brief to be.!

1. A new watch....not a re-hash of another Rolex....or Omega.

2. Easy to make.....simple case design.

3. Ability to utilise popular range of ETA / Unitas movements....NO CHRONOGRAPHS.

IMO....the SH met all those criteria....the power reserve module should have been easy to replicate,,,,,,,as for the case thickness....it's not much different from a 187...(18mm)....or a Breitling Super Avenger...(17mm).....and everybody used to shout about how the Fiddy was too big....same as the Railmaster XXL......now everybody's wearing them.....!

So the poll disrupters and shilly shallyers are those limp wristed ever so slightly effete Ebel and Zenith voters......they screwed it uo.

On a serious note.......I don't think you'll get this off the ground.....there are too many with their own opinions and won't necessarily buy whatever you decide upon...I know i wouldn't buy about 2/3rds of the proposals......it seems to me that you shouldn't give the masses a choice.....when you do they run about like headless chickens......just like feed.....you just bring it to them...then they gobble it up.

So for me...I'm outta here.....I'll probably end up buying the genuine....they're not that expensive.

Sorry to hear that Neil,.... and you did meet every criteria but one, this first batch has to be an

all occasion watch.

With regards to the end result,...

You may be right in the end, however at this point I still have a lot of faith in the think tank,

and eyes we have here...

I think most realize that this time around,..it's not about what they want personally,

but what will sell,..

Knowing that if we do it step by step, most of us will get what we want, in time..

Good thing you have the money to buy the gen...Knew you did,...

I saw your gen collection.. and it's amazing to say the least !

[jsph]

i'm coming in a bit late here, but maybe good timing considering richard tracy's most recent/reminder post.

my suggestions can easily be done either with a 2824 or even better, with a 2892. they are absolutely all-occasion watches, at the same time dressy and sporty, and absolute inarguable classics. people have been clamouring for good reps of these forever, and they are very much loved in the gen. worlds -- with the vintage one's price literally doubling in the last 1-2 years. the watches:

1. the rolex submariner 5513. i'm not going to attach pictures here -- do a google image search for rolex 5513 and you'll see what i mean. i'm talking about the original style, lume (non-metal) markers, white-print, non-military dial. (best option, the "200m=660ft" version.) if someone could get this dial and this case right (and have it 1:1 for us to take care of the rest, if necessary, with gen parts), it would be a monumental achievement. (btw, for case difference and older-is-awesomer demonstration, see the comparison between the 5513 and the modern no-date 14060 -- again, via google.) no gmt hassles, no four lines of text, no crazy case designs or impossible metals. just THE classic submariner, and, guess what, we could finally get it as a rep (NO, THERE ARE NO GOOD ALTERNATIVES CURRENTLY!)

- this is a watch that's _nothing_ like the modern subs, for those of you slagging the overexposed modern submariner. it is NOT flashy, it's not on every street corner, it doesn't scream "you bought a black steel submariner, and so did i". this watch has got class, and tough, and subtle, and the-father-of-it-all written all-over it (except, it's got nothing written all over it, baby).

2. the modern omega seamaster 300m, 2254.50 black on black. this is very much in line with the request for the vintage seamaster 300m, but the fact is, if you want to get one of those for a project, one that takes gen. parts -- you can get the real darn thing off ebay for $500-900; why start with a rep. as your base watch, if the gen could be had for about that range and then built up; or the real deal, in nice condition, ~1k-1.5k; by comparison, a good rolex 5513 is now in the $4k range.)

- there was an earlier comment about the "closed factory" seamasters, and that was spot on. imagine now that we are given the opportunity to re-create those, possibly with a 2892 movement -- what that means is, they could finally get the case size/thickness right (again) which is really a defining thing for this watch.

- further! imagine that in one go, you could create a rep that could trivially be turned into about five different HIGHLY popular watches, with a tidal-wave movie franchise having just done millions of dollars of advertising for you. if you get the 2254.50 right, you change the dial, hands, and bezel insert and -- bam -- you've got the blue bond seamaster. microscopic change again, you've got the new blue bond coaxial. change the second hand and dial and you've got the "007". another change, it's the electric blue seamaster w/ silver bezel. and on it goes. another slight change, and now you've got the very desirable omega gmt in black or white, depending just on the dial, hands, and bezel you put in. again -- create a good, 1:1, eta 2892 omega seamaster and IT IS A FRIGGIN' LICENCE TO PRINT MONEY! yes -- the first time somebody puts on a rep. omega that's got a 2892, you can bet they're going to holler on the lists, tell everyone about it. did you see how the almost-perfect blue bond chrono ROCKED the rep world over the last few weeks? make it and they will come... and they will buy.

they went nuts and created generations of ever-more-perfected planet oceans, and people couldn't buy enough of those, generation after generation -- it's time to go back to the workhorse of the line, the classic 2254.50 which, as i say, is also a very smooth shout out to the vintage seamaster 300m.

so that's my story. google image search these two watches and you'll see. these are watches that go with any occasion, from black suits and sports cars to orange swim trunks. they will sell like friggin' WILD-FIRE. they would be easy to make. they would be easy to modify to create whole lines of watches (eg, the best gilt 5513, the 5512, comex versions; all the modern omega variants), and yes, this is a personal agenda, but it also happens to be an agenda that i would say hundreds of people -- even not arcane-watch-nerds -- would get behind; even the most popular of the wildest-and-amazingest suggestions i've seen on this list would not get more than a few dozen sales.

fill the need, and make a lot of money, is what i say. that's my christmas wish....

thanks r.t., and jay.

peace haut,

jsph