Seadweller MBW need opinions please

[tanya]

OK afficiaonatos I need a little help. I purchased an MBW Seadweller from a rather friendly fellow supporter. Now I need some expert opinions on mods.

Here are my first impressions of the piece as someone who ownes 4 genuine Rollies including an LV, 2 tone sub, Yachtie, and brand new GMT Master II Ceramic two tone which I just got in a swap and cash deal with my friend for my new GMT II stainless ceramic. I like to think I have a pretty good eye but i am not arrogant to think i am a know it all on the subject.

Here goes:

1. Bezel moves tightly and smoothly exactly like my gen subs.

2. Peal is pretty weak but not overly concerned about it.

3. Sapphire Crystal is too short and sits just barely above the lip of the bezel ( I already ordered a Clark OEM 16660 replacement with gasket hope it fits!!)

This one appears to be a standard sub crystal sans the magnifier

4. Crown guards are great

5. HE valve is the old plunger style, good for an early 80's , 70's model but not a modern one (anyone know if I can mod a new style HE valve inot the case??)

6. Bracelet is garbage, finish is nice but it is light as a feather and this one has incorrect solid middle links??? No comparison with my gen LV at all (may throw

a gen bracelet on it or a Bond Nato have not decided)

7. Where are the Holes ?????? No hole case does not match the older style He valve (will have to mod me some holes )

8. Caseback is excellent

9. Lume on dial is superluminova and glows very brightly but under my loupe it looks a bit sloppily applied, lumpy in some spots but can only see this with my

loupe so something i can live with.

10. Watch head is very heavy.

So please have a look at the pics and let me know your opinions and ideas for mods. I would like have the lugs drilled and have the crystal swapped with Clark for sure. After that a better HE valve, even the lume and lume the pearl. Come on guys I need ideas I have a project to be excited with.

Thanks

10.

[perry563]

Looks like a TW best SD. Very well put together watch but highly inaccurate. Its basically a Sub case without the date mag and with an extra thick back to make the overall demensions correct. Not to make you feel bad but the new super SD blows the TW best away in terms of looking like a gen SD.

[tanya]

No thanks alot I appreciate the input. The owner swore it was an MWB though in retrospect it is extremely suspicous that he never showed a pic of the HE valve nor the height of the crystal. Apparently the mods were done by a regular here named Joe. So what to do. I do like it and am excited to mod the sucker as a long term project. Hope my Clark Sapphire will fit.

Ideas????

[Guest carlsbadrolex]

I would leave it as is, try to return it to the seller and buy an SSD. Much better example of a modern SD. If you wish to keep this, I have a brand new SSD bracelet I can sell you.

[tanya]

Thanks I already contacted the seller Eddieplatt to inform him this is not an MBW. As he was the second owner I assume the original owner and or Joe told him it was an MBW. Hopefully he be an honest guy and will offer to refund my money and I can go after the SSD per your recommendation. Pisser is I already ordered a Clark Crystal.

[tanya]

Looks like the RWG member Eddieplatt changed his name to Seadweller3. Anyway if you are reading this bro do the right thing. No hard feelings if you make it right.

[By-Tor]

Well... whatever is MBW. This rep model was sold by Maria at some point (back in 2005 or so). Maria used to sell most TW Best Rolexes. They were exactly the same watches as from the other dealers, they only had a different seller.

"MBW" always attracts the newbies, and it's very vague term which people use rather loosely.

This is nice but highly inaccurate rep (as someone already stated earlier). "MBW" doesn't automatically mean the rep is good or accurate. Maria has sold many absolute garbage rep models.

I remember this sales thread. It's possible that it has been originally purchased from Maria.

You probably paid too much, but there was nothing wrong with the sale itself.

[tanya]

Thanks Brother By-Tor

I have recieved many helpful ideas on the subject and the seller is attemting to make things right. He is a decent guy (Eddie and or Seadweller3) and he certainly did not mean to misrepresent the piece. Done alot of reading on TW and MBW ect. Funny as an owner of 4 genuines I should have been more careful. I guess I'll have to mod my way through the inaccuracies and I suppose that is part of the fun. So I am going to hang on to it. Now can someone point me in the right direction with respect to some mods??

Already ordered a Clark crystal for it and praying it will fit but will I be able to aquire a correct HE valve and will someone be able to drill holes in the lugs??

Any input from the experts would be most appreciated.

[By-Tor]

If you want an advice, don't bother with the mods. The watch looks fundamentally wrong, and you can't change those problems (too thin case, wrong HE valve, bad crystal, etc).

SSD has those problems fixed, but the crystal/rehaut combo is absolutely laughable. Stay away, it's not a great rep (imho).

[Star69]

not so long ago this was the best modern SD-rep you could get -

and if someone named Joe did the mods - somebody else paid

premium $$ for it

the watch is okay - not very accurate, but should be very reliable.

but as by-tor already stated - don't waste any money modifying the piece.

cheers,

Frank

[davewe]

This discussion hits home pretty well. I purchased several MBW and Watchmaster watches 2 years ago and have enjoyed them very much. This past week I put 2 up for sale. The first, the legendary MBW double red seadweller, flew out the door and had several offers within an hour. The 2nd was the modern seadweller. Imagine my surprise when I got slammed for it because there's now the "super" seadweller that's better (at least supposed to be). I distinctly remember posting pix of my new baby after buying it 1 1/2 years ago and getting emails from more than one guy saying, "hey Dave if you ever want to sell it..." But now it's a POS, so I've withdrawn the sale and will keep it. It runs to COSC standards and is waterproof enough to swim with.

In the 3-4 years I've collected reps I've watch the whole MBW thing go up and down: who is he? (or is Maria a she), where is he, when will he come back (when he's been gone), yes he's back - hurray, to "oh, they're just the same reps as everyone else has." I'm sure that at times MBW and Watchmaster sold pieces that could be gotten by other dealers, but I'm also sure that there were times they were first. We'll never truly know because that's the nature of this business - it's got to be kept secret. I'm also sure that some dealers have a vested interest in making sure everyone believes that "we all get the same reps."

All I know is that that POS MBW/Watchmaster SD is the only Rolex rep I've been confident enough to show to Rolex collectors who shook their heads in awe. I've used the same watchmaker for 10 years; a skilled but dour guy. I bring him all my watches - reps and gens. Never impressed. My MBWs are the only watches that ever made him smile in admiration. I think he likes taking them apart more than if they were genuine Rolexes. I made the mistake of showing him my DW Paul Newman and he practically laughed at me, remarking that it was "held together with glue and chewing gum."

As you can tell, I've grown tired of the whole game . What started out as fun has turned out to be as often as not a "my watch can beat your watch" sort of pissing match. I own one more Watchmaster Rolex. It's a vintage Bond Sub that I got directly from Watchmaster, ex-Watchmaster, Kenzo - or whomever he is. It's a killer and I love showing it off. It's different that other Bond reps I've seen. But I no longer post pix of it on the rep boards cause i think that the moment I do some a-hole will go "that's the same watch that King sells for $99 and his bezel is better."

Neil used to say, "hey remember, they're only reps." Too many of us have gotten away from that and as BB King sang "the thrill is gone."

[freddy333]

As you can tell, I've grown tired of the whole game . What started out as fun has turned out to be as often as not a "my watch can beat your watch" sort of pissing match. I own one more Watchmaster Rolex. It's a vintage Bond Sub that I got directly from Watchmaster, ex-Watchmaster, Kenzo - or whomever he is. It's a killer and I love showing it off. It's different that other Bond reps I've seen. But I no longer post pix of it on the rep boards cause i think that the moment I do some a-hole will go "that's the same watch that King sells for $99 and his bezel is better."

After reading your other post on this subject, I cannot help recalling reading many (many) similar complaints from buyers (not builders) of PCs, especially in the early years where a PC was nearly obsolete by the time it hit the sales shelves. Virtually all of the modern PC's improvements & technical gains happened because 1 modder was trying to outdo another modder's work, which ultimately resulted in the modern PC we all use today. And I see many parallels with rep watches, where many of the mods that are 1st seen in frankens eventually make their way to production watches. If you compare the best modded reps of 5 years ago to today's cream-of-the-crop commercially-made reps, I think you will see what I am talking about.

To paraphrase Mao -- The taste of change is sweet for those who eat the mature fruit, but sour for those who get stuck with the seeds.

[davewe]

After reading your other post on this subject, I cannot help recalling reading many (many) similar complaints from buyers (not builders) of PCs, especially in the early years where a PC was nearly obsolete by the time it hit the sales shelves. Virtually all of the modern PC's improvements & technical gains happened because 1 modder was trying to outdo another modder's work, which ultimately resulted in the modern PC we all use today. And I see many parallels with rep watches, where many of the mods that are 1st seen in frankens eventually make their way to production watches. If you compare the best modded reps of 5 years ago to today's cream-of-the-crop commercially-made reps, I think you will see what I am talking about.

To paraphrase Mao -- The taste of change is sweet for those who eat the mature fruit, but sour for those who get stuck with the seeds.

I don't believe that the PC analogy is a good one, and I work for that giant company that makes those pesky processors that run your PCs. Maybe a better analogy would be the 20 year battle between PCs and Macs. I'm a Mac lover, but often their alleged superiority was overhyped. And PC manufacturers and my software friends in Redmond used their dominant position to maintain the belief that only a PC was a business-worthy product. It's about marketing, baby. Sometimes the MBWs have been overhyped and sometimes they've been damn nice watches.

A guy I recently met is a Panerai collector and interested in the rep world. I told him about a few of my panny reps (mostly sold now) including my Davidsen 201a. He remarked quite logically that no matter how accurate the 201a looks it would never fool a Paneristi. Why? Because it's a freaking 201a! The same goes for my DW Paul Newman Daytona. No matter how well modded it will never pass that I'm wearing a 100k watch. My stock options aren't that great!

Bottom line for me is that if the watch is solidly made, runs well, is accurate and looks good, then I'm happy. The few reps I've kept meet those criteria. While I respect the skills of the modders, their interests are different than mine.

[Pugwash]

He remarked quite logically that no matter how accurate the 201a looks it would never fool a Paneristi. Why? Because it's a freaking 201a!

Never a truer word.