Life, Death, Gens, and Reps

[LHOOQ-PM]

Hi everyone.  I know it's been some years since my last posting, but I  wanted to check in to let everyone know that LHOOQ is still alive, healthy, and still in possession of all of his beloved project watches.  Maybe I'm being an egomaniac, or maybe I know that this is a pretty tight-knit community of good, helpful people.  I was spurred to write this post due to certain recent events.

 

Recently someone recognized the dial on one of my few Panerais, bolstering my belief that the rep crowd is so much keener-eyed than your average WIS.  He pointed out that he was almost certain that my dial was one of a small run produced by one legendary German Paneristi.  It was nice to chat about this after we'd established our rep bona fides to each other, but then I learned that the German in question, Rolli,  had died five years ago.  And I felt terrible.  Rolf wasn't a close friend, but we had exchanged many messages in the past and I always appreciated his rigorous, crabby pursuit of the perfect finish, the perfect lume mix.  Who else have we lost, and who else will we lose, and never find out about?

 

Two unfinished items pulled me back in:  1) To fix a jmb-cased 1016 project that has never quite worked right ever since I took it to my watchsmith in the Philippines for assembly,  and 2) To finish a Daytona project that really  started 12 years ago.  (80% of the parts were just sitting in a drawer.)  I couldn't have done either of these without good old alligoat, who took those parts to the right people, and even tossed in a few from his own collection.  (BIG parts, at that!)  And that's why I have this lovely black-dialed 6239 sitting in the pile.  

 

I can't promise a full-on return to the rep world, or that I'll be especially  active on the forums again, but I will do my best to respond to PMs.  Especially now that my access to the original LHOOQ account is borked, making my stuffed inbox irrelevant!

 

Quick thank-yous and hellos to the following:
alligoat: I owe him at least a couple of steak dinners by now!
jmb: He smoked me a brisket!  Unfortunately my current job doesn't take me to Texas as often as my last one.
Chiman12:  Met him once all too briefly in Calgary so many years ago.  The MBW 5512 that  prepared for me still gets a lot of praise, and unsolicited offers.  
Akira:  Spent an afternoon with him in Arnhem last summer.  I would have gone to see him in Germany, but that was a bridge too far.  (No, really, we were in Arnhem.)
Donerix: I'd love to catch up with this strapping man of mystery again!
ubiquitous: My original inspiration for all this extravagant foolishness.  And a top guy.

 

There are so many others.  Please don't be upset if I forgot to mention you here.  

[freddy333]

4 hours ago, LHOOQ-PM said:

Who else have we lost, and who else will we lose, and never find out about?

Welcome back. Sadly, we lost Bob (Nanuq) recently.

There may be others, but I only recently returned myself, so I am not really up on the social aspects of RWG.

[LHOOQ-PM]

Thanks, Freddy.  I just read the "To whom it may concern" post from 2022.  Never met Nanuq in person, but he was always such a cheery personality on this forum.  I'll miss seeing that polar bear.

[mir36]

Welcome back M! Was that Panerai your 082? I guess I won’t send you that yearly PM asking you to sell that dial to me. Great to have you back. 

Edited April 17 by mir36

[LHOOQ-PM]

12 hours ago, mir36 said:

Welcome back M! Was that Panerai your 082? I guess I won’t send you that yearly PM asking you to sell that dial to me. Great to have you back. 

Yes, that's the one, J.  The outlook for selling that one is not so good.

 

Great to see you here! This place is not the hive of activity that it once was.

[horologist]

Welcome back,!  The beauty of this forum goes beyond the interest of replicas, but more so to the  uniqueness of  the members that are part of it You have mentioned a few, but there are more that I refrain from doing in case I miss someone!   Over the years (now close to decades) ihave communicated with different members here  from all walks of life where they have all donated a priceless contribution to making this unique  and esoteric interest what it is! You wont find anything like it!   It hasn’t just been about timepieces either! 

I think the noun “replica” does not do true justice to the true value behind what we collect ,build  or are just purely interested without even  owning one!  These “replicas” can range from mass produced economy pieces no different from what you find in a legit watch store, to hand made finished ( aka modded) elaborate works of art!  There is an education and skill wealth here that no university nor college can teach !  I doubt whether the best watchmaking schools in the world would elaborate on encouraging to go outside the square as most of the highly skilled artisans do here! Schools in general  just parrot the usual dogma and stick to the script without improvising! 

As for who is still with us has always pondered my mind too, especially with every internet communication  , unless a family member would inform us like Nanuq’s son did!  These replicas like genuine branded timepieces measure  life’s most important currency:  “TIME” !, 

You  can buy more gold, more land , more palaces, more diamonds, more oil wells and perhaps even more love!   BUT you cannot buy more time!  No 100 year old king can buy any young pauper’s years from him to live longer!  What measures this precious asset?  A timepiece whether genuine or a replica, so  we treasure both! 
 

Thanks for keeping in touch and updating us with the latest!  

 

[LHOOQ-PM]

On 4/18/2024 at 6:04 AM, horologist said:

I think the noun “replica” does not do true justice to the true value behind what we collect ,build  or are just purely interested without even  owning one!  These “replicas” can range from mass produced economy pieces no different from what you find in a legit watch store, to hand made finished ( aka modded) elaborate works of art!  There is an education and skill wealth here that no university nor college can teach !  I doubt whether the best watchmaking schools in the world would elaborate on encouraging to go outside the square as most of the highly skilled artisans do here! Schools in general  just parrot the usual dogma and stick to the script without improvising! 

 

Thanks, horologist!  I  understand what you mean about the term "replica", but most people  who have spent even a bit of time on the forums will know everything that it entails.  Yes, there is that shady thrill of the forger's art, but pretty much everyone I've met is good and honourable.  I've long given up on trying to do anything but the most basic tasks on the watch (seeing a 7750 slip out of my hands and fly through the air will do that), but I still get a big kick out of working out how and where to get parts for a project watch, and finding the right people who can help.

 

Consequently, I have far more sentimental attachment to these reps (or "frankens" or "projects") than I do with my genuine pieces--with one or two exceptions, due to family ties.  Which is my roundabout way of saying that none of the pictured watches are for sale!  But thanks for asking, and I'll be glad to answer any questions regarding your own projects.

[Ronin]

Yeah, still here too, but damn I miss the glory days of the late 2000's early 10's.  Rep's have moved to Modern nearly 1:1 needing little to no mods (VSF/Clean/etc.). 

 

I still have a box of MBW, DW/Spinmaster Daytona parts I need to build out...

 

As I have gotten OLDER, I own Gen's, Rep's, Homage's, Franken Projects. And when it comes to the reps/projects/frankens --- I no longer care about chasing every Correct Detail .  I am too old to care about Called Out over crown guard shape, or some random detail.   If the overall aesthetic is there, the build quality, I wear it and don't look back.  Can it pass the- sitting in a dark bar, or @ the Sushi bar = good enough. 😄 

 

My wife has a saying "Women dress for other women" [men generally don't care, as an attractive woman is attractive regardless the cloths]

 

I think the Rep/WIS crowd are similar "Rep wears sweat every detail, for other Rep wearers"  LOL.  Keep the frankens coming!

[LHOOQ-PM]

2 hours ago, Ronin said:

As I have gotten OLDER, I own Gen's, Rep's, Homage's, Franken Projects. And when it comes to the reps/projects/frankens --- I no longer care about chasing every Correct Detail .  I am too old to care about Called Out over crown guard shape, or some random detail.   If the overall aesthetic is there, the build quality, I wear it and don't look back.  Can it pass the- sitting in a dark bar, or @ the Sushi bar = good enough. 😄 

 

My wife has a saying "Women dress for other women" [men generally don't care, as an attractive woman is attractive regardless the cloths]

 

I think the Rep/WIS crowd are similar "Rep wears sweat every detail, for other Rep wearers"  LOL.  Keep the frankens coming!

This is a very healthy attitude to have, but I cannot tell a lie: I love sweating the small details!  It's not so much the thrill of fooling a crowd of "experts", or the fear of being called out by that one actual expert (so annoying).  The main object of the deception is me!  I want to glance down on my wrist and convince myself for even a second or two:  "So that's what that feels like."

 

I think this black 6239 will be it for me, though.  It's become so much harder and more expensive to pull off what we were doing in the glory days!  But it's nice to keep tabs, and to reconnect with familiar names.

Edited April 27 by LHOOQ-PM

[Sogeha]

It is always good to hear from long time members who haven’t been around for a while. I’m truly happy to learn you are still around and enjoying your watches

[miquel]

Hey M! Ironically, I was just reminiscing about when we all met in Calgary with Chiman 12+ years ago!

 

Glad to see your still around with your amazing and outstanding collection!

[LHOOQ-PM]

21 hours ago, miquel said:

Hey M! Ironically, I was just reminiscing about when we all met in Calgary with Chiman 12+ years ago!

 

Glad to see your still around with your amazing and outstanding collection!

Can you believe that I've been back to Calgary only once since then?  Visited a client last November (very cold!) and still remember going over your MBWs. I hope you’re both still well. That 5512 is such a one-of-a-kind masterpiece!

[miquel]

...and I've moved out of Calgary...now I've only got a JF 16610 and a ZF BBPro

 

Vintages are gone (I miss them all!), but still hang out part time lurking the forums.

 

That was a great visit way back when...

[tomhorn]

Welcome back!

[LHOOQ-PM]

tomhorn:  Thanks!  Glad to see familiar old faces—and your avatar might be the oldest!    
 

miquel: Hard to go wrong with either of those, but sad to hear that the Great White got away from you. I was in Bangkok last year, and Nah Piek is long gone, unfortunately. 

[automatico]

Good to see you back again!

 

Many of the hardcores are still here but things have slooowed down a lot since you left.  Things sorta stand still sometimes.

I'm still here but don't work on watches much anymore because...well, the fun has gone out of it.   High Price$ and No Parts have ruined it for me.  Besides that, I have property to take care of (always have) and age is catching up with me, so I've slowed down too. 

 

I still try to wear mechanical watches now and then but cleaning out fence rows, mowing, hauling wood, working on houses etc. is not good for them so they are put away most of the time.  I carry a plastic quartz watch in my pocket to tell time when working...don't want to work past quittin' time.   Ha!

[LHOOQ-PM]

1 hour ago, automatico said:

Many of the hardcores are still here but things have slooowed down a lot since you left.  Things sorta stand still sometimes.

I'm still here but don't work on watches much anymore because...well, the fun has gone out of it.   High Price$ and No Parts have ruined it for me.  Besides that, I have property to take care of (always have) and age is catching up with me, so I've slowed down too. 

Hey R!  You know I've still got the Bulova 11BLACD that I bought after our discussions from way back when?  Never did end up using it for any projects, but it's a fine movement.  Unfortunately inside a gold watch, so it doesn't get that much wear...

 

It's been nice taking a peek into this world again, but really not keen on starting any new builds.  That time has passed, the characters have changed, and the prices got much, much higher.  That being said, I have a younger co-worker who loves watches, and recently discovered the joys of buying parts from Raffles Time and putting them together.  I've been giving him a lot of helpful hints, without revealing the full extent of my past obsessions!  Felt nice to see that enthusiasm spark up in someone else, though, so let's not count out the next generation just yet!

 

Really glad to see you still on these forums and that your posts are still pinned.  There's so much precious knowledge on these fleeting websites.  

[miquel]

Quote

miquel: Hard to go wrong with either of those, but sad to hear that the Great White got away from you. I was in Bangkok last year, and Nah Piek is long gone, unfortunately. 

I figured Nah Piek was closed - I watched a MBK Center walk-through on Youtube and didn't see them.