doc savage Posted February 19, 2008 Report Share Posted February 19, 2008 And I reckon if you compliment my watch, you can grab any part of me you like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ztech Posted February 19, 2008 Report Share Posted February 19, 2008 ^^^ LOL @ vet comment and will add... you sneak up me and you'll get the Ranger chock hold! I've had some experiences like that but a bit different. I've never owned a rep before (will soon though!), but I've owned two gen PAM's, a 005 and a 220, and once I was a Hollywood club/bar and I was at the bar with a couple of buds. This guy comes over and starts to chat me up. I noticed he also had a PAM on, a common thing in LA, and he starts to talk about my PAM and he asks me about my watch. He then asks me if he can see it and try it on. Don't get me wrong, I'm a friendly guy and all, but I usually don't like to hand over a $5k watch to someone I don't know. I was sort of stuck between a wall and a hard place. Of course, I wanted to prove to him that mine was genuine yet was nervous of a stranger touching it. I was sort of contemplating letting him try it on when the lights dimmed at the bar and the black lights went on. That's when I noticed that his watch had NO LUME! lol. I brought my watch up to his face and said that mine's real because, unlike his, the lume worked. Now please, don't get me wrong here. I'm no an a**hole by any means. It's just that this guy was all pushy, in my face and sort of accusing me of wearing a fake when it was really him that was. It was funny because the guy turned red and ran off into the crowd. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
POTR Posted February 19, 2008 Report Share Posted February 19, 2008 Come over this way Victoria, and I shall, very thoroughly, compliment every watch in your inventory... one at a time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nanuq Posted February 19, 2008 Report Share Posted February 19, 2008 That's when I noticed that his watch had NO LUME! lol. I brought my watch up to his face and said that mine's real because, unlike his, the lume worked. That's often true, but all my watches are old enough the lume has quit working. I guess if it looks old and the lume is dead, then that may be appropriate for that watch. Just a thought...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ztech Posted February 19, 2008 Report Share Posted February 19, 2008 That's often true, but all my watches are old enough the lume has quit working. I guess if it looks old and the lume is dead, then that may be appropriate for that watch. Just a thought...... Really? How old was the watch and was it maintained properly? I've had 30 + year old Omegas (well maintained by Omega in Swiss) that has lume work better than some new watches. If watches are well maintained, properly serviced and seals checked the lume will last decades. Also, some of the older watches have better lume than watches of today since they used the "good" stuff, i.e. radioactive material in their lume. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pugwash Posted February 19, 2008 Report Share Posted February 19, 2008 Also, some of the older watches have better lume than watches of today since they used the "good" stuff, i.e. radioactive material in their lume. Really old watches used Radium. Reasonably old ones used Tritium. Tritium has a half-life of 12 years to Radium 226's 1,602 years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
confused69u Posted February 19, 2008 Report Share Posted February 19, 2008 It seems like he was making eye-sex with your PAM and you unknowingly got taken advantage of Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ztech Posted February 20, 2008 Report Share Posted February 20, 2008 Really old watches used Radium. Reasonably old ones used Tritium. Tritium has a half-life of 12 years to Radium 226's 1,602 years. Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't tritium in viles only? Meaning watches like Ball/etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
llsteve80 Posted February 20, 2008 Report Share Posted February 20, 2008 Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't tritium in viles only? Meaning watches like Ball/etc. Only in the new ones, the old way was to use it in paint, just like the radium. There's a good write up on lume here: http://www.rwg.cc/members/index.php?showtopic=67450 I guess the panic button was pressed since the workers applying the tritium lume used to lick their paintbrushes to make the tip sharper before dipping it in the tritium paint. They were worried that repeating this all day would cause them to ingest too much of it, and well now its gone for good. (except in gas form in dials) I read somewhere that you could practically eat tritium and be ok, since its chemically the same as hydrogen which gets expelled from your body naturally. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Victoria Posted February 20, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 20, 2008 I read somewhere that you could practically eat tritium and be ok, since its chemically the same as hydrogen which gets expelled from your body naturally. Okay, who cut the Tritum? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Victoria Posted February 20, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 20, 2008 Really old watches used Radium. Reasonably old ones used Tritium. Tritium has a half-life of 12 years to Radium 226's 1,602 years. I always wondered about the radium watches. This is an interesting read: "Jewelry Made from Radium Dial Watches (ca. 1985-1988) As a result of an investigation in early 1988 by the Los Angeles County Health Department, various state radiation control programs in the U.S. issued warnings concerning the manufacture and use of jewelry made from old watch parts. These parts often included radioluminescent watch faces and hands. The jewelry, which included, broaches, bracelets, earrings, etc. had become quite popular and because it was easy to produce, the typical manufacturer was a small business operating out of someone’s home or apartment. Production is known to have occurred in California, Oregon, Texas and Pennsylvania. The radiation control programs in Tennessee, Texas and possibly some other states invited the public to bring suspect jewelry to their offices to be monitored for radioactivity. The usual mode of manufacture was to dismantle old watches, clean the parts with some sort of abrasive, polish the pieces, assemble the jewelry, and possibly coat it with an acrylic spray. It seems that there was no awareness on the part of the manufacturers of the potential hazards. Even though some of the jewelry was worn in direct contact with the skin, and a number of premises were found to be contaminated (e.g., up to 50,000 cpm), there were no reports of injuries to individuals who wore or manufactured the jewelry. Nevertheless, one individual, who had been making such jewelry for six years, was found to have “1/30 of a body burden of radium-226.”" http://www.orau.org/ptp/collection/consume...ywatchparts.htm Like to meet the WIS-lady who wore these. Double-watch hoop earrings. Hardcore. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shundi Posted February 20, 2008 Report Share Posted February 20, 2008 Lol, that is an awesome excuse you snuck in your post Haha agreed! Someone is a lawyer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pugwash Posted February 20, 2008 Report Share Posted February 20, 2008 I guess the panic button was pressed since the workers applying the tritium lume used to lick their paintbrushes to make the tip sharper before dipping it in the tritium paint. They were worried that repeating this all day would cause them to ingest too much of it, and well now its gone for good. (except in gas form in dials) No, that was Radium. Tritium got banned because it's an ingredient of an old-school H-Bomb. It counts as a WMD. I read somewhere that you could practically eat tritium and be ok, since its chemically the same as hydrogen which gets expelled from your body naturally. You'd be fine, apart from the radiation poisoning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gavidoc Posted February 21, 2008 Report Share Posted February 21, 2008 My story is a bit different as it doesn't involve a rep but a real Tudor Sub, (7016 Rolex dial, shield logo layout to be exact). Dated back to 1968 and I was in a store when I had a guy come up to me and say nice watch, vintage? I said it was and gave him a closer look as he had a newer Rolex Sub on his wrist. After a closer look, he (in my mind) turned his nose up and claimed it to be a fake as he thought it was a ROlex. I nicely explained to him that it wasn't a fake and was indeed real and made by Rolex but wasn't using a Rolex movment. He still didn't believe me. Yes, normal consumers don't have a clue. Regarding the whole grabbing the wrist, for me, my natural reaction when someone grabs my wrist is to go for the throat. I don't think, I just do it. Happened to me in Shanghai back in October. I was walking around a copy mall there when this little (I'd say 5'4" as he was the same height of my mother) guy came out of a stall and grabbed my wrist to direct me into his store. Ok, first of all, he grabbed my wrist, second, he had longer finger nails then Victoria (which is a common thing among the younger crowd in China for some reason) and that is just a bit strange to me. I'm there with two coworkers and two reps from the factory we were visiting and for some reason I was the one he singled out. Could be since I'm asian, I don't know but I digress. Anyway, so this 5'4" Chinese guy grabs the wrist of a 6'1" Korean and tries to direct him into his stall while asking "Copy watch? Copy bag? Good quality!". Before I even had a chance to think I had my paw around this guy's throat and was pushing him into the wall while one of the local factory reps (a nice lady named Sophia) was screaming at him about grabbing my wrist. At the time I was p1ssed but afterwards we all had a good laugh. I honestly thought that guy was going to p1ss himself when I grabbed him in return. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
POTR Posted February 21, 2008 Report Share Posted February 21, 2008 우스운 이야기Gavi-ni. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guanaco Posted February 26, 2008 Report Share Posted February 26, 2008 I'm very polite when I try to look at someones wristwatch I'm eying, usually I go for the machete and chop off his arm, THEN I take a closer look, much classier! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chaotik Posted May 23, 2008 Report Share Posted May 23, 2008 What would an AD do if they looked at your piece and made the determination that it's a rep? Isn't all they can do is throw you out? Can they confiscate? And besides, if I were an AD, I would see this as not necessarily a bad thing meaning that if the person in front of me is into super reps that cost $500 each and has a large collection of them, he's definitely a big watch enthusiast and I would simply try to convince him that 1 gen is cooler than 10 super reps.... Personally, I don't agree with that statement but I'm not in the business of selling gens either Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cosmosblau Posted May 23, 2008 Report Share Posted May 23, 2008 No AD would say anything. They only run the risk of pissing you off: scaring away a potential customer. Most would assume that you were unaware that you were wearing a fake watch, and they wouldn't want to burst your balloon! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b16a2 Posted May 23, 2008 Report Share Posted May 23, 2008 I think this depends what AD you are in, I have heard some stories turn nasty! Wearig a rep Breitling or Omega into an AD would probably not ring any bells, unless closely inspected, but wearing a Patek or Audemars rep into the relevant AD would be like showing up to a Ferrari dealership in a bodykitted Toyota Mr2, claiming it was real!! It is an illegal hobby, and whilst they may have no powers of confiscation, it is the effects in the wider sense that would have more repercussions for us -such as advertising the fact that communities such as ours exist. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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