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IWC Cousteau Diver Chronograph 2008 rep released...


piratedzeus

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I actually like the colours more than the 2007...but I'm not a big fan of the caseback...

Like it. How come they do a decent job with more complex IWC special edition casebacks and the most basic panerai cases turn out to be abortions. Must be the factory.

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Like it. How come they do a decent job with more complex IWC special edition casebacks and the most basic panerai cases turn out to be abortions. Must be the factory.

I'm constantly amazed that the simplest things are messed up on by rep factories...but more complex things get executed. The PAM dials in general are sooooo simple...yet, they screw up the "A" with the low and high versions...crappy pearls on Rollies...yet they can do a complex lume job with new fittings for an internally rotating bezel...or the multi-layer dials of things like the Concord C-1...it's baffling.

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I still like the 2006 version the best myself design and color scheme wise - and I almost bought that gen instead of the regular Ti AT chrono I have, until I made an important discovery. There is more to a watch size than a number expressed in MM's as we all know by now. but that phenomenon is big with these watches in particular.

That said, I think all the specials are a little cartoonish at 44MM. Ordinarily, that isn't a big watch but in this case the "all dial" design with the internal bezel essentially appearing to be a part of the dial makes the watch wear WAY bigger. If you are a guy that loves clock watches then these are the ones to have for sure, but everyone should be aware of that phenomenon. The 42MM "Slevin" and siblings wears more like 44MM and the 44MM special edition watches wear like 46MM. Just to give those that don't own any of these reps or gens yet and are considering a purchase of any of them, here is my 42MM AT on my fairly large 7.5" wrists. Certainly doesn't wear like a typical 42MM watch...

Aquatimerwrist.jpg

ATmini1.jpg

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>>>snip<<<<

That said, I think all the specials are a little cartoonish at 44MM. Ordinarily, that isn't a big watch but in this case the "all dial" design with the internal bezel essentially appearing to be a part of the dial makes the watch wear WAY bigger. If you are a guy that loves clock watches then these are the ones to have for sure, but everyone should be aware of that phenomenon. The 42MM "Slevin" and siblings wears more like 44MM and the 44MM special edition watches wear like 46MM. Just to give those that don't own any of these reps or gens yet and are considering a purchase of any of them, here is my 42MM AT on my fairly large 7.5" wrists. Certainly doesn't wear like a typical 42MM watch...

agree, the expanse of crystal at the front makes the watch look bigger than one that has the external bezel. That said I have the gen split minute which is a 44mm, the same as the CD, but it doesn't have the additional hour chapter ring around the very edge, consequently it appears smaller than the CD :huh:

IMG_7657.jpg

My rep Breitling SOH looks HUGE next to nearly every other watch including my rep Pam 187 which at 47mm is 1mm bigger..think it's something to do with the lack of clutter breaking up the visual continuity of the lines...or something....

Edited by asiparks
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I still think the CD 06 is the nicest of them all! This is nice but nothing special. Since we are on this subject, I was always wondering why they don't rep the original Cousteau Diver (non-chrono) with bracelet. That was really beauttiful and at 42mm, comes with bracelet as well!

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I think they have the colors wrong,, dial and bezel colors are not the same as the genuine..

edit: I also hate the font on the "5's" on the Bezel,, a big difference between the gen and the rep

iwccousteaudiver2008.jpgAqua_Chrono_Cousteau_Divers.jpg

The pic is so over saturated .. guess we'll have to see what it looks like in person .. and if the lighting play's any role in the font

I do like these colours though.. after Ziggy's relume :) ... the 08 may rival the 06 (for me) if the colours come close.. B)

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Yea, you can't compare color over the internet.... But that gen dial is very different regardless. Look at the gentle curves around the subdials that are nowhere to be found on the rep, for instance.

ahhh,.. see what your saying... the pic of the rep looks one dimensional... we'll see I guess..

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Feel like doing two of those mods Toad??

EDIT: $418 dollars for this watch.....Josh has to be dreaming :)

I'm not quite sure how to get the back crystal off. Repaustria said he used a vacuum crystal extractor which I don't have...so I'm still figuring this one out.

$418 is a bit much...must have been the cost of getting the inner bezel aligned properly. ;)

The pic is so over saturated .. guess we'll have to see what it looks like in person .. and if the lighting play's any role in the font

I do like these colours though.. after The Zigmeister's relume :) ... the 08 may rival the 06 (for me) if the colours come close.. B)

Yeah...after a relume it will look great I'm sure. I thought the colours looked reasonably close given "internet picture variances". As to the 1-dimensional look...I thought the same thing about the initial Skyland pictures and the half subdial striping: I couldn't see it in a lot of the pictures...but it showed up great on macro. I'm assuming they will get the subdial recessing done properly as the factories usually haven't overlooked anything THAT obvious...unless it's a spelling error. It may not be as deep, and the curve angle will likely be different, but it should still be curved and recessed.

looks great!! What about the movement?? is it still unreliable??

The movement was never an issue on this one. The issue with the CDs was that they had used stickers to put the "International Watch Company" lettering on the rotor, and the stickers were either crooked or threatened to come off. I don't know of anybody who actually had a buggered movement BECAUSE the letters fell off...it just looked like it would happen any minute. My CD came without lettering...which was fine because of the closed caseback.

The other issue with the CDs was the misaligned ratcheting of the inner rotating bezel...and according to the pic above, it looks like that has been corrected. For a price 30% higher than I paid for my CD...I certainly hope it's fixed!!

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Yeah, I love that watch! With the subtle orange and dark blue? Awesome. I have often though of picking one up if I ever see one on TZ. I wonder if there might even me a NOS one floating around somewhere...

I still think the CD 06 is the nicest of them all! This is nice but nothing special. Since we are on this subject, I was always wondering why they don't rep the original Cousteau Diver (non-chrono) with bracelet. That was really beauttiful and at 42mm, comes with bracelet as well!
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Yeah, I forgot about that one. kind of in between. I knew you had picked one of those up and if I didn't tell you before - good score! Those splits are cool. The big pushers make it look so substantial and of course you can't beat the Ti. IMO, nobody executes Ti like IWC. Some brands just finish it off in such a way so as it feels cheap. Speaking of Breitling, they come to mind when I think of brands that don't execute Ti particularly well. Sorry to any Breit fans...

agree, the expanse of crystal at the front makes the watch look bigger than one that has the external bezel. That said I have the gen split minute which is a 44mm, the same as the CD, but it doesn't have the additional hour chapter ring around the very edge, consequently it appears smaller than the CD :huh:
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Again I do believe that the pictures have been given too much artificial colour and saturation.. the maker loves to do this with his pics .. and studying the image.. it appears that the pic has been grossly saturated taking away all detail (curve of the subs)

and if this is the same maker as the previous CD's then the dial should be just as good as the 06 as far as detail

Can't really tell from the pics if in fact the inner bezel gearing has in fact been corrected... it still could easily be aligned for the pic ..

but then again, all conjecture on my part until the macros are taken and posted .. cause there is little hidding macro shots B)

We shall see as Blue is the hardest colour to get correct on the replication .. and with the Christmas customs traffic.. I'll be lucky if it arrives before Xmas

B)

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