Irontomkidd Posted July 7, 2008 Report Share Posted July 7, 2008 Let me start off by saying hello to all of my fellow forum members as this is my first post. My journey that lead me to this sight began with a quest for the perfect (or as close as I could get to it) copy of a Breitling Navitimer. I am a member of an organization that at first glance appears to be a Rolex convention; I currently have a Chase-Durer and feel quite inadequate when I go to meetings thus the Navitimer. After reading tons of posts in the Breitling and Rolex sections as well as visits to some well respected dealers on this sight, I am now interested in 2 Rolexes 3 Omegas and a 2 Breitlings. My first purchase will now be a Rolex GMT Master II, which brings me to the point of this post. I came across the GMT Master II Review posted by By-Tor and am very interested in the GMT Retro, but while visiting Trusty-Time I noticed they have a GMT Swiss Eta 2836 CHS which is about $70 more than the retro. As we all know more money always means better product lol. My question for you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shundi Posted July 7, 2008 Report Share Posted July 7, 2008 Hey Irontomkidd... I can't help you with the GMT but welcome to the forum and I'll bump this so one of our resident experts (I see CBR is reading this) can reply. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest carlsbadrolex Posted July 7, 2008 Report Share Posted July 7, 2008 Well, since Ive been called out... There is no way that I could para-phrase the pages and pages of discussion on this topic. And I dont feel obligated to initiate you by telling you to use the search button. SO, I will tell you that there are no less than 5 threads discussing the pro's and con's of each of the movements you ask about. The 2836-2 incorrect hand stack is a relatively stable and well known movement. The 2836-2 correct hand stack is a modified movement that mimics the actual Rolex movement rather well. ALTHOUGH some will tell you that this modification makes the movement unreliable and not worth the extra cash. Please do yourself a favor and do some research... I will now give you my opinion based on my personal experience. I have had both movements, and have been extremely lucky with the correct hand stack version of the 2836-2. Both of mine run within COSC specs. and the GMT functions as it should. I will personally, not purchase any incorrect hand stack watches in the future. Thank you for joining us and we hope to see you around! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irontomkidd Posted July 7, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 7, 2008 Well, since Ive been called out... There is no way that I could para-phrase the pages and pages of discussion on this topic. And I dont feel obligated to initiate you by telling you to use the search button. SO, I will tell you that there are no less than 5 threads discussing the pro's and con's of each of the movements you ask about. The 2836-2 incorrect hand stack is a relatively stable and well known movement. The 2836-2 correct hand stack is a modified movement that mimics the actual Rolex movement rather well. ALTHOUGH some will tell you that this modification makes the movement unreliable and not worth the extra cash. Please do yourself a favor and do some research... I will now give you my opinion based on my personal experience. I have had both movements, and have been extremely lucky with the correct hand stack version of the 2836-2. Both of mine run within COSC specs. and the GMT functions as it should. I will personally, not purchase any incorrect hand stack watches in the future. Thank you for joining us and we hope to see you around! Thanks Shundi, and Carlsbadrolex. Carlsbadrolex that answered my question perfectly; I guess my question should have been Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geo1nah2a Posted July 7, 2008 Report Share Posted July 7, 2008 Welcome on board. IMO The case of the GMTiic is better than the GMTii in the 'out of the factory' state. If You are not going to do any modding then, I would suggest You go the iic way. The GMTii with a jubilee bracelet is a future classic, but I would go for the iic first. BTW be prepared to be probed by the rest of the rolex owners since this is a watch that most of them will want to try on-see etc.. And this brings me to my last suggestion, if You have been wearing only the CDurer for a long time, it would be advisable not to start presenting a different 5000kusd per week. People might either call you out on wearing rep's (best case scenario), think You have serious spending issues (normal case scenario), or suspect You are doing some shady business (worst case scenario). I know it feels like You were given the candy shop keys, but try not to go on a spending spree Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alligoat Posted July 7, 2008 Report Share Posted July 7, 2008 When you say Retro, are you referring to the Vintage GMT, like the early 1675? In that case the correct hand stack actually is GMT hand on the bottom, hour, minute and seconds on top. So the 2836-2 works just fine. Also, the IHS (incorrect hand stack) GMTII's are generally problem free, just not accurate when compared to the gen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irontomkidd Posted July 7, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 7, 2008 Welcome on board. IMO The case of the GMTiic is better than the GMTii in the 'out of the factory' state. If You are not going to do any modding then, I would suggest You go the iic way. The GMTii with a jubilee bracelet is a future classic, but I would go for the iic first. BTW be prepared to be probed by the rest of the rolex owners since this is a watch that most of them will want to try on-see etc.. And this brings me to my last suggestion, if You have been wearing only the CDurer for a long time, it would be advisable not to start presenting a different 5000kusd per week. People might either call you out on wearing rep's (best case scenario), think You have serious spending issues (normal case scenario), or suspect You are doing some shady business (worst case scenario). I know it feels like You were given the candy shop keys, but try not to go on a spending spree lol... Well the good thing is that I am new to the area and have only been going for about 3 months so they won Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irontomkidd Posted July 7, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 7, 2008 When you say Retro, are you referring to the Vintage GMT, like the early 1675? In that case the correct hand stack actually is GMT hand on the bottom, hour, minute and seconds on top. So the 2836-2 works just fine. Also, the IHS (incorrect hand stack) GMTII's are generally problem free, just not accurate when compared to the gen. Hey Alligoat, I am talking about the Retro Edition from trusty time http://www.trustytime88.com/index.php?main...68ada36c4737756 According to several sources it is one of the most accurate looking out of the box GMT II out there. I got a Gen just like it in the late 90 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Star69 Posted July 7, 2008 Report Share Posted July 7, 2008 when is comes to the GMT Retro its the only time i disagree with By-Tor : the replica is very very very bad - nearly everything on the watch is wrong. (i had one) the GMT C or Noob are 1000 times better - even the old china GMT is better. cheers, Frank Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freddy333 Posted July 7, 2008 Report Share Posted July 7, 2008 The the 16710 By-Tor reviewed is probably the most accurate GMTII I have seen. But I have to agree with Frank that the best out-of-the-box GMTII is the GMTIIC & by a wide margin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alligoat Posted July 7, 2008 Report Share Posted July 7, 2008 OK, ITK, for the clarification. I guess Andrew is calling it Retro because it has lugholes. And yes it has IHS, but it doesn't look all that bad to me, but Frank and Freddy are more familiar w/ GMT's- Subs are more of my specialty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freddy333 Posted July 7, 2008 Report Share Posted July 7, 2008 Alligoat reminded me of something -- Right after By-Tor posted that review, I was pretty convinced that I had to get some type of Rolex GMT. So I set about comparing our collectors' current GMT offerings with gens. I did find a couple of 1675 reps (vintage being where my heart is) that looked pretty copasetic. But had By-Tor not panned them (for the most part in favor of the modded GMTII he reviewed) & the C not arrived (in such a big way) when it did, I would probably be working on a 1675 project watch today instead of wearing my 116710 on the way out to dinner But at some point I will probably do a vintage GMT Pepsi franken on a jubilee. By-Tor has done his work well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irontomkidd Posted July 8, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 8, 2008 (edited) Well I think the GMT IIc is starting to grow on me (add another future purchase to the Rolex side.) I will be getting one with the Swiss ETA when I can find one. As for now I just ordered the Retro Edition about 30 min ago and cant wait. The only problem is I will be in Chicago all next week when it will probably arrive, which will be hell. Maybe I can get my wife to send me pictures of it lol. Thanks for all of the good information in this post and on this site. I will post pix when I get it. Edited July 8, 2008 by irontomkidd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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