DuDro Posted August 5, 2008 Report Share Posted August 5, 2008 Well after about 8-months, I finally have my Graham ChronoFighter...Diver that is... Some may remember the scammer / em-effer from Sweden that ran off with a bunch of money from numerous members earlier this year. I was unfortunately part of his scam and lost over $400 for the Graham ChronoFighter Oversize that I had ordered. Oh well...you live and learn and everyday I pray that he gets herpes, genital warts, and shingles. Well after a few months, the CF Diver came out and I fell in love with it! I had to have one, but I kept getting distracted by other projects. Then fortuitously, PT posted an amazing deal last month for a CF Diver for $180!!! The caveat being that it failed his QC because the buttons were not working and the watch was not running, even though it could be wound. Well, I felt brave and decided to tackle this as my next project and I'm glad that I did! Upon receiving the watch, I wore the darn thing for a couple of days DESPITE the fact it wasn't running. It was that cool of a watch that I couldn't resist! Then I broke out the tools and started the operation...First thing I noticed was that the "chrono hammer lever" was jammed under the "automatic device bridge". I used a small screwdriver and gently nudged it out and the movement started running! (Reference image...Not the actual CF Diver movement) Ok...One problem down and one more to go...Now I needed to figure out how to get the "Start/Stop" chrono button working. It appeared that the center stem lever arm was not reaching far enough to activate the chrono. I decided to bend the tip of the lever arm a bit so that it reaches further "into" the movement. After a few CAREFUL attempts, I achieved enough of a bend in the tip of the lever arm which fixed the problem! (Reference image of the lever arm and movement retaining ring...Borrowed from Rex over at RG) Now that the buttons were working and the watch running, all I had left was to grease the gaskets and o-ring, and put it all back together. And here are the quick and dirty results... I'm still trying to figure out the right strap pairing on this, but I currently like the brown buffalo. For those that haven't figured out how to remove the strap, note that the strap is not held on by a spring bar. The strap bar resembles the pin and sleeve found in the Omega bracelets. The bar itself measure almost 30mm. It slides into a metal tube and is held in place by an indention and tension in the middle of the tube. I'm exploring a spring bar option for this watch. An extremely over-sized, old Rolex-style spring bar would do the trick. Does anyone have calipers that could measure the thickness of the strap bar? I found one online seller that has 30mm spring bars, but I need to know the correct thickness. I definitely happy now and can't wait to get my hands on the PVD version! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lanikai Posted August 5, 2008 Report Share Posted August 5, 2008 Looks Awesome on your wrist man !!!!!!!! Live Strong and Wear It Well L Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ztech Posted August 5, 2008 Report Share Posted August 5, 2008 That's some serious hardware. Makes me "almost" wish I'd held out for the diver version. Enjoy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest farquar Posted August 5, 2008 Report Share Posted August 5, 2008 It looks really great on your wrist..Congrats! Actually I got the other one PT listed as a clearance item yesterday, a little more than you paid but he says only trouble is slightly off resetting chrono second hand..Hope it will look half as good as on me as it does on you. (BTW the strap looks awesome) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ztech Posted August 5, 2008 Report Share Posted August 5, 2008 Ok, I gotta ask now. Who's PT??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest farquar Posted August 5, 2008 Report Share Posted August 5, 2008 Ok, I gotta ask now. Who's PT??? Precious Time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ztech Posted August 5, 2008 Report Share Posted August 5, 2008 Would anyone be kind enough to post a link to PT's site? Thanks in advance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DuDro Posted August 5, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 5, 2008 Would anyone be kind enough to post a link to PT's site? Thanks in advance. Not sure if he has a dedicated site, but here are his sub-forums on the rep-sites: 1) On RWG - http://www.rwg.cc/members/index.php?showforum=91 2) On The DarkSide - http://www.replica-watch.info/phpBB3/viewforum.php?f=30 3) On RepGeek - http://repgeek.com/forumdisplay.php?f=60 It took about about 5-days from the time I paid for it to be delivered to me in the US. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DuDro Posted August 5, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 5, 2008 Looks Awesome on your wrist man !!!!!!!! Live Strong and Wear It Well L Thanks Lani! I tried on the gen in Rome and I was sold...The rep is near perfect when compared to the gen! This maybe the first watch that I will buy a custom strap for...I want to use the stock buckle so I'll be shopping for a custom 24mm x 20mm strap. I'll post some photos once it all comes together... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest farquar Posted August 5, 2008 Report Share Posted August 5, 2008 ptswiss.com...Crazy site He is UK based I believe..A dealer here and also over at RG. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ztech Posted August 5, 2008 Report Share Posted August 5, 2008 Thanks for the info guys! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Precious Time aka PT Posted August 5, 2008 Report Share Posted August 5, 2008 A Round of applause to you... My Friend. Good Job! also have a dewitt going for clearance Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DuDro Posted August 5, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 5, 2008 A Round of applause to you... My Friend. Good Job! also have a dewitt going for clearance Oh Really?!? Please send me the link... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dizzy Posted August 6, 2008 Report Share Posted August 6, 2008 wow that looks good on that leather strap!!!!!!!!!! I cant wait to order a CF diver.. next month hopefully Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raijor Posted August 6, 2008 Report Share Posted August 6, 2008 Good for you Sir .. after what you went through you deserve a win ... this time it's Christians 1 Lions nothing. Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
italiano17771 Posted August 6, 2008 Report Share Posted August 6, 2008 great job dudro! looks great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Samurai Posted August 6, 2008 Report Share Posted August 6, 2008 Amazing mate....looks super. The PVD is also of exceptional quality. I have been toying with the idea of changing the strap on both my divers (SS & PVD) but haven't figured it out as yet. Your explanation, though detailed, just flew over my head. Any chance of backing this up with some pics of a quick video? Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DuDro Posted August 6, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 6, 2008 Amazing mate....looks super. The PVD is also of exceptional quality. I have been toying with the idea of changing the strap on both my divers (SS & PVD) but haven't figured it out as yet. Your explanation, though detailed, just flew over my head. Any chance of backing this up with some pics of a quick video? Cheers I'll try to post some photos tomorrow... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Samurai Posted August 6, 2008 Report Share Posted August 6, 2008 I'll try to post some photos tomorrow... Thanks mate. Much appreciated! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Samurai Posted August 7, 2008 Report Share Posted August 7, 2008 @DuDro....can you pls share what is the size of the strap that fits Graham. Did you change the Graham buckle as well? Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Samurai Posted August 9, 2008 Report Share Posted August 9, 2008 Bump .....what's the size for the strap that fits the diver? Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
budjosh Posted August 14, 2008 Report Share Posted August 14, 2008 Bump .....what's the size for the strap that fits the diver? Cheers 24, you can use panerai 24 strap Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wombat247 Posted August 28, 2008 Report Share Posted August 28, 2008 Nice article. Unfortunately, I now find myself wanting a Graham. It looks super-good on your wrist. If you don't mind my asking, what is your wrist size? I'm at 7.5" and if you're anywhere close, I'll be getting one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve123456789 Posted September 14, 2008 Report Share Posted September 14, 2008 I had to return one due to the fact the watch was not holding more than 5 minutes reserve power when set down on a table after being fully wound. Beautiful watch and got great comments on it for the 5 minutes I wore it. I have a 7 3/4 inch wrist and it fit fine ( I also like it a bit loose) . I don't recommend the rubber strap if you have over a 8 inch wrist. The other problems was the emblem on the back falling off in less than 2 minutes. I applied epoxy and it is good as new . I also fixed the loose lever that rattled like cheap hollow endlinks. The fix is a gentle squeeze with needle nose pliers that have a rubber pad between them to prevent scratches etc. I might try out this seller sine he not only handpicks the watches but he tests them a bit prior to shipping. The Dealer who I got mine from Hont Watch said he does not Drop ship but I still got a lemon. It took a lot of arm twisting to get my $ back and I really don't watn to send a watch back to China several times to get a watch that works. I saw that several Dealers sell a different version Chrofighting (not as pretty) in a quartz version for far less and it might be a good alterantive to the full blown model for reliability but it has a Minera crystal lense. Same for the Oris Coste watch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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