Inside a asian 1655 Steve McQueen Explorer II

[predfan2001]

I personally like the 1655, I know alot of people don't. I "kind of" wanted one but didn't want to drop big bucks for a watch that I probably wouldn't wear often, mainly just wanted one as a novelty. I chose to get an asian movement 1655 from Andrew at Trusty. All and all it was a pretty good "cheaper" rep. The dial was great as was the bezel. The riveted band is pretty cool. The second hand is suprisingly smooth. The screw down crown operates perfectly, no binding. The down side is that the rehaut is shallow and the cyclops has very poor magnification.

I mainly bought this watch to keep and practice mods on, but it all but quit working within a couple of days after receiving it. I went ahead and uncased the movement and found that the balance wheel and rotor assy. were loose in the case. I guess they were never attached because there were no loose screws in the case. I robbed a couple screws and reattached the assembly and it worked again (I should have stopped there). Then I thought I would pull the movement and vintage the hands a little, they were too white. I gently pressed the stem release and then it was gone. I guess it pressed into the movement somewhere?? Never had that happen before. Now it's just good for parts I guess.

The biggest surprise was that the watch had an ETA replica movement (I have an Omega GMT with asian movement that looks nothing like this movement). I'm sure this watch would have performed well if the screws hadn't been left out. As I said, the movement was pretty smooth.

This is just "that watch" that I can't win with.