athan Posted July 15, 2008 Report Share Posted July 15, 2008 Hi to all, I'm sure that some of you guys remember my late adventures with the police car... http://www.rwg.cc/members/index.php?showtopic=77670&st=0 Now it's time for the review of the watch received. First looks and feeling was (and still is) great! The watch is the one with the Asian dagger swan neck UNITAS 6497 movement at 21600vph. The movement runs great and has a power reserve of 57 hours!!!, although the swan neck lays on the top of the pin and not beside it!!! I ordered the watch with all the mods available from the site, e.g. cannon pin fix, superlume dial and hands, scratch proof sapphire with AR, all for US$278 shipped to my door. I was also promised that a water resistance test will be performed. If you read my previous topic you'll see that the dealer failed to send me the pictures agreed before shipping, and got the delivery address wrong. After a couple of weeks I received the watch in a nice package I unscrewed(!) the package and I real beauty was there laying in my hands. The very next day I had the great luck and honor having the watch inspected by V of the RWG forum himself! THANK YOU V We met in order to fit his truly amazing new crown guard on the watch. We soon realized that this just couldn't happen cause the crown was wrongly installed and was standing out, even when the lever was fully pressed. Filing the lever is out of the question cause it's obvious that the problem occurs due to the wrongly positioned crown. Obviously this should also effect the water resisting capabilities of the watch. So I'm not taking it for swimming this time! Apart from that V made some very useful additional comments. The cannon pin mod is correct. The glass is a sapphire but not with a real AR coating - just a bluish film applied on the glass - nothing to do with the real thing. He also spotted that the superlume is very poorly done and the comparison we made to the lume of his gen made my watch looking silly! The strap that comes with the watch is also very poor, but that I was aware of beforehand. In conclusion the watch is a great time piece with a super looking case and dial (of course with the wrong L Swiss Made L). Now I have to take it for some proper superluming and AR coating, fix the crown and install V's new crown guard I'm very happy having bought this watch although I'm in contact with the dealer for some compensation, since the superlume and AR mods are not properly done. Have a nice day, Athan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StormTooper4 Posted July 15, 2008 Report Share Posted July 15, 2008 Glad that police van delivered the goods in the end and thanks for the review there It's hard to know how much that crown spoils the watch? Would you have noticed it if you hadn't of tried V's crown? I think the CG you have looks pretty good so I would tend to leave it be, and save the V's crown guard for your next PAM. Other wise you maye be able to have the stem cut by say 1mm so that it sits further in the crown, its just need to be screwed abit more in to the crown which then might allow it to sit better. As for the swan neck, Thats not the best of looks but you may be able to just gently push it off and sit along side as it should but that might cause a small issue with the timing of the watch, which a rep friendly watchsmith could fix in a tick Cheers ST4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
athan Posted July 15, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 15, 2008 Glad that police van delivered the goods in the end and thanks for the review there It's hard to know how much that crown spoild the watch? Would you have noticed it if you hadn'y tried V's crown? I think the CG you have looks pretty good so I would tend to leave it be, and save the V's crown guard for your next PAM. Other wise you maye be able to have the stem cut by say 1mm so that it sits further in the crown, its just need to be screwed abit more in to the crown which then might allow it to sit better. As for the swan neck, Thats not the best of looks but you may be able to just gently push it off and sit along side as it should but that might cause a small issue with the timing of the watch, which a rep friendly watchsmith could fix in a tick Cheers ST4 Thanks for your reply Stormtooper4, I guess that if V wasn't there with me I wouldn't have noticed that the crown stands out. Also thanks for your tips. Some work, like cutting the stem seems difficult to do by myself. I'll go for the rep friendly watchmaker option. Athan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjmurphy926 Posted July 15, 2008 Report Share Posted July 15, 2008 Hey Athan, Nice watch!! I bought the cheap Trusty Time version of this watch and have begun modding. My crown was the same as yours, but I was able to correct the issue by removing the crown and stem from the movement, unscrewing the crown from the stem, filing the stem a little (do this slowly and check the fit several times, you don't want to make it too short) and replacing the crown to stem and reinstalling it into the watch. It's really a pretty simple mod. A couple of pix in this post: http://www.rwg.cc/members/index.php?showtopic=76968 In the text on the above link, I said I retained the flat gasket. I have since replaced it with the other, more donut shaped gasket. Mine passed the kitchen sink test. I'm working up the nerve to try it out in the pool. The swan neck should be an easy fix. You should be able to just move it into position. If you figure out a way to clean up the blue paint, please let me know. I have the same issue. I ordered a sapphire crystal from DSN without AR. I'll one of our AR experts do a single side job for me. As soon as I can get an appointment with watchsmith, I'll get the cannon pinion fixed and super lume done. I'm still hoping V will come through with one of those awesome CG's (please...please...please ) Good luck, Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
athan Posted July 16, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 16, 2008 Hey Athan, Nice watch!! I bought the cheap Trusty Time version of this watch and have begun modding. My crown was the same as yours, but I was able to correct the issue by removing the crown and stem from the movement, unscrewing the crown from the stem, filing the stem a little (do this slowly and check the fit several times, you don't want to make it too short) and replacing the crown to stem and reinstalling it into the watch. It's really a pretty simple mod. A couple of pix in this post: http://www.rwg.cc/members/index.php?showtopic=76968 In the text on the above link, I said I retained the flat gasket. I have since replaced it with the other, more donut shaped gasket. Mine passed the kitchen sink test. I'm working up the nerve to try it out in the pool. The swan neck should be an easy fix. You should be able to just move it into position. If you figure out a way to clean up the blue paint, please let me know. I have the same issue. I ordered a sapphire crystal from DSN without AR. I'll one of our AR experts do a single side job for me. As soon as I can get an appointment with watchsmith, I'll get the cannon pinion fixed and super lume done. I'm still hoping V will come through with one of those awesome CG's (please...please...please ) Good luck, Mike Great piece of info, cheers Mike. How do you open the case back? Do you use Ofrei's rubber ball type or do you have the proper PAM case back opener? Athan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gianton Posted July 16, 2008 Report Share Posted July 16, 2008 So Angus has them again in stock. Nice watch m8 congrats! A few mods and will be a winner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scoobs1971 Posted July 16, 2008 Report Share Posted July 16, 2008 Too bad to hear about the QC issues. You can open the caseback with a sticky ball or even with a selfmade ball from gaffer/duck tape. Then it's fairly easy to put the Swanneck at it's proper position (I had the same). You can try with some Rodico to clean the paint. I'm not sure if this will help, though. The AR sounds typically rep. I've found out that most of the single rep AR is not AR at all, but just a colored film with no functionality. You will be really impressed with aftermarket AR. Same for the 'superlume'. These are all things that can be expected with buying reps and are in the grey area of acceptable. However, the fact that the stem is not properly installed would make me wanna send the watch back and ask for a replacement..... And maybe he can send the replacement watch in a firetruck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjmurphy926 Posted July 16, 2008 Report Share Posted July 16, 2008 Great piece of info, cheers Mike. How do you open the case back? Do you use Ofrei's rubber ball type or do you have the proper PAM case back opener? Athan I bought one of the wrenches, but as scoobs said, a wad of duct tape works just fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
athan Posted July 16, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 16, 2008 For your info guys, Angus proposed me a refund of $50 to compensate for the bad superlume and AR. It could be more but it's better than nothing. Throughout this transaction Angus was very prompt and I'll certainly buy from him in the future. Athan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scoobs1971 Posted July 18, 2008 Report Share Posted July 18, 2008 For your info guys, Angus proposed me a refund of $50 to compensate for the bad superlume and AR. It could be more but it's better than nothing. Throughout this transaction Angus was very prompt and I'll certainly buy from him in the future. Athan Angus is always good with after sales, but it would be better to see his QC improve so after sales won't be needed.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_brian_ Posted July 18, 2008 Report Share Posted July 18, 2008 Thanks for the review! I remember that policecar thread... it was really funny at the end Isn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sssurfer Posted July 18, 2008 Report Share Posted July 18, 2008 The fake blue AR gets easily wiped off with acetone and a little elbow grease. Btw, I like that Corto Maltese avatar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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