Useless trivia...

[automatico]

Trivia from here (RWG) and there.  No guarantees for accuracy.

 

Vickers scale of hardness:
24K Red Gold 160
Aluminum 167
Magnesium 175
18K Gold 216
Silver 251
Copper 369
Stainless Steel 400
Lanthanum 491
Hublonium AG5 500
Platinum 549
Iron 608
Tantalum 873
Zirconium 903
Titanium 970
Magic gold 1100
Tungsten 3430
Ceramic 6200 (used by Hublot; Zirconium Oxide)

 

The Sub-Date used 316 steel up to and including the 16800. The 168000, introduced ca. 1988 was the first Sub-Date to use 904L.
The change to 904L occurred in the other models but it started in the late 80s with the Sub-Date.

 

24-700 crown is a no-dots twinlock crown. You'll need a tube with threads going all the way to the end of the tube for this (24-7000-0).
24-702 crown is a triplock 3 dots crown; the crown has threads extending all the way to the opening and the tube is without the O-ring gasket on the exterior, but the threads only go to about 3/4 of the tube with a [censored] at the end (24-7020-0).
24-703 crown is a triplock 3 dots crown. This crown requires the tube with the exterior O-ring gasket; the crown threads stop mid way inside the crown to accomodate the tube's exterior gasket (24-7030-0).
There is also a 24-703 monobloc/24-704. Same as the above 24-703, except of 1 piece design (the crowns prior were a wrap design) and these are easily identified by the size of the coronet on the top of the crown (short and squat while the 2pc. is a long coronet).

 

Requirements for minimum thicknesses for watch cases in the various materials. All require not less than 10 karat fineness:

Gold filled - thickness throughout of not less than three one-thousandths of an inch. This equates to not less than 76 micron in thickness, (approximately the thickness of a sheet of photocopy paper).
Rolled gold plate - thickness throughout of not less than one and one-half one thousandths of an inch. This equates to not less than 38 micron in thickness.
Gold electroplate - 20 micron is considered heavy for modern electroplating, and much plating is 5 micron or less.

 

German Silver (nickel silver), is an alloy of 60 percent copper, 20 percent nickel, and 20 percent zinc

 

V72 hand sizes
Hour 1.60
min 1.09
center chrono 0.25
sub-second 0.23
sub-minutes 0.25
sub-hours 0.28

V7734/6
Hour 1.45
min 0.95
center chrono 0.30
sub-second 0.20
sub-minutes 0.30
sub-hours 0.21

 

V72, V727 and more advanced V7750 series have all the same dimension specs. If I remember well its something like 13 lines and around 6,5mm thickness
All these movements fits in all kind of cases. When DW or Yuki talk about Daytona cases made only to match with V72, its not wrong but a wrong description.
Rolex drilled 2 more holes at different location in the V72 movement plate to fix it into the case. R.C.Spielmann company who made cosmograph cases for Rolex machined cases according these new fixation features. But a V7750 can be fitted into a Rolex specs case.

The difference between the full chrono functions and the faux subdial at 6:
The subdial spacing is slightly different between V72 series and V7750 series. In these reps powered by Seagull, the Seagull movement has the same 9 and 3 subdial spacing like the V72/727 but no hours counter function. It result the faux subdial with a faux hand at 6.
The full chrono functions reps using a 7750 have a slightly different subdial spacing -around half a millimeter. Gen dials or aftermarket dials with exact Rolex specs don't fit. Dials made for Daytona reps powered with the 7750 are specific.

 

"Watch money. Money is the barometer of a society's virtue. When you see that trading is done, not by consent, but by compulsion--when you see that in order to produce, you need to obtain permission from men who produce nothing--when you see that money is flowing to those who deal, not in goods, but in favors--when you see that men get richer by graft and by pull than by work, and your laws don't protect you against them, but protect them against you--when you see corruption being rewarded and honesty becoming a self-sacrifice--you may know that your society is doomed."
--Francisco d'Anconia in Atlas Shrugged

 

Newer = Better: 

116610LV Oyster Perpetual Submariner Date (why not just OPSD?)

40mm, stainless steel, pressure proof to 1000 feet (from the boat dock...horizontally)

Special time-lapse Cerachrom bezel (gotta have it!...because it's 'special').

31 jewel chronometer movement ($7000 better than an Eta!)

Synthetic sapphire crystal (same as found in most replicas!).

Special Glidelock clasp and Oyster bracelet 97200 (Glidelock! can't beat it!...except for the old style sheet metal models).

All for only $9050.00!! (plus tax).

 

BS or not?

(mostly from RWG) A genuine watch IS overpriced at list price if none or very few will sell at list price while the exact same watch will sell in quantity for 20%, 30% or 40% less than list price.

Example...try to sell an Invicta at list price. They will fly at 70% or 80% off though.

A watch is not overpriced if the entire production or most of it will sell at list price.  Some buyers will pay list price for a watch and others will not buy without a discount, that's just the way it is.

Some buyers believe list price is Ok because it makes the item seem to be more valuable (to them) while others will not pay list price because the watch is not worth as much as list price (to them).

I remember reading on one of the genuine watch forums a few years ago about a guy who had his mind set to buy an Omega SMP and had found one at an AD for $1700 or so.  He was going to buy it the next day.

That evening he and his wife went to Costco and while the wife was shopping for groceries, the guy went to look at watches and found a new in box omega SMP for $1350.

Which one did he buy?

The one for $1700 because he said "The lower price at Cosco tarnished his image of the SMP" because to him it was a $1700 watch.  I laughed out loud because the minute he sized the bracelet and put the watch on...he then owned a $1000 watch no matter how much he paid.

As for me, I would not pay over 20 to 30 cents on the list price dollar for most new in box (rolex) watches unless I could sell it for a profit.  That's about all they are worth to me if I had to own one.

I knew an AD and could get just about any new rolex for cost (except Daytonas) as long as I promised not to immediately flip it.  In 20 years, the only one I bought at cost was a sapphire GMT II.  I never wore it but sold it about 12 years later and bought a 1675.

So...

The question was...remove all branding and lay a replica and genuine watch down beside each other.
This means all production, advertising, delivery and after sales cost are irrelevant.

The cheaper unmarked replica watch would probably out sell the higher price unmarked genuine watch by a large margin until the reputation of the replica was ruined by poor QC, WR, reliability, no service, warranty etc.

 

APB:  Anyone have a Yuki 1680 case number 2835577?  Stilty bought it new and later traded it to me (without mvt or dial) and I traded it to another member, no telling where it is now.  Still have the 16xx DJ the movement came out of...serial number 2835577.

 

T or F?  The original Noob watches were assembled in Thailand.  Now the new ones are strictly from China.  Top of the line 'Noob' Submariner = F520117 serial number and out of production since around 2007.  Same watch as some 'TWB', 'Beginmariner', WBK etc.

 

True:  Before Ducatis, I rode 2 cycle Allstates...Mo Ped, 125, and 175. 

Like this:

http://www.bikesrestored.com/4522/allstate-puch-175-1958/allstate175-1958-5/

 

[kernow]

I like that

[Nanuq]

Misrepresentation of Topic!     All of this trivia is entirely useful. 

 

 

[horologist]

I vote this post to be put in the sticky section where all the forum rules are!!!!!