Stephane Posted October 23, 2007 Report Share Posted October 23, 2007 Dear All, You might have seen the picture above before It's RepAustria's GMT Master II and you can check his thread here (RWG Supporters only). I'm the very proud recipient of this watch now! Yes…it's here! In my very own home. How does this happened? I discovered RWG by accident in January 2007 and since then shared some good and bad moments with members here. I may say that some of them became very close "virtual" friends. I hope to meet them in real life someday. One of them is RepAustria. For some unknown reason we gave each other our personal details pretty fast and got in touch regularly. Does "chemistry" match in english? It does in french..."Alchimie". I'm very disappointed that he works on his own watches only But I'm gratefull that I can ask any question to him and he always come back to me patiently and in a very useful way. He gives me all responses that would take me several evenings to find by myself. RepAustria: thank you so much for your time, friendship and all these great moments. I saw his threads and wondered how I could put my hands on such beauties. I guess he saw one of mine, and the watch grew on him. That is how it all started. The trade There are several watches of RepAustria I'm found of. The GMT Master II looked really amazing and I really wanted it. There is one of my watch that I try to sell since months. The Baume et Mercier 8685. RepAustria started to say he liked that Baume et Mercier. Well, the rest is easy isn't it? That's it! RepAustria's GMT Master II This watch is two years old. It's a TW best that he got from WatchMaster (coming from River) The crystal assembly is like a TW best, the caseback numbers and writing are a TW Best, so, it's a TW best. Other sign is that this watch accept a genuine dial without any other mod. The movement is an Eta 2836-2 and has the correct hand stack. Many things have been said about that, but, apparently this watch still runs perfectly after 2 years. It was serviced by a professional watchmaker some time ago. Around eight months ago in fact. The watchmaker said he wouldn’t give warranty on parts, but on labour, yes. He said that the movement should work very well, he didn’t see any problems. He also said "it is fascinating to build a nice working GMT movement from simple parts". Oh, sorry guys, no movement pictures today as this watch is truly waterproof I will not open it and ruin the service. Genuine dial? Yes, some of you will notice it: the dial is a genuine dial. Under the loupe I see it very slightly doomed on the edges. It's really astonishing. It is a genuine Luminova dial, modern version, around 2004-2005 probably. T dials are the tritium dials, you can see the writing “T <25” @6. But this one is “Swiss Made” @6 meaning it contains Luminova as it should be. That’s why the lume is perfect. The hour markers are "much" higher in depth than any rep I saw. Please take some time to check the pics, it's so obvious under a loupe. The bezel is a normal TW best bezel, but was modified. One spring was removed from the clicking mechanism and the other one differently bent. Looks great and works great, I can confirm. The CG’s on the TW Best GMT Master II were very bad. RepAustria modified them: they look very nice, pretty genuine, isn't it? The crown is NOT genuine. It's a replacement crown as the TW best one wasn't good at all. Insert colour! Oh, and did you see that crispy print on the insert? Yes, this is genuine too. I have to say here that I saw lots of different inserts. - a regular Chinese one the Josh's Retro GMT came with - Ali's aftermarket one - this genuine one. The colour is usualy known as red/black. Well, now that I wear that watch and genuine insert, I can tell you: It's not red at all. In certain angles, it looks so dark that I can't even see where the black part ends. The "Red" is a deep dark Burgundy colour like a young wine. Not a 20 years old Burgundy that should look brownish. The crystal is TW best. The laser edged crown is very subtle (sorry, no pic). Very good crystal indeed. The cyclop is 2x as the genuine, not 2.5x. Please note the date is perfectly centered in real life. It's the angle of the picture that shows it off center. Look at the lume shot to make your self an opinion. The datewheel overlay is a print copy from a gen. The modern datewheel are the same direction rotating as the ETA – so a printed copy overlay does work. On vintage this doesn’t work as they rotate in the opposite direction. Finaly, the bracelet. it's a TW bracelet, standard today, back then it was superb as it already had the correct numbering. It has been refinished by RepAustria. Serials The watch is a 2004 one and carries a F serial number. The bracelet is engraved with this reference: 78790A (Sorry no pics, it rains again) Luminova This shot has been taken in full auto mode and not Photoshoped. It's obvious the hands are not genuine (allthough very good, even the best I saw in fact). But it is even more obvious it is not Bulsh$*tNova too This one glows even in the day time when going to pick up a Bordeaux in the cellar! See, I told you, the date is perfectly centered Yesterday, I went to bed with this watch, took it off, and gently fell asleep watching it in the dark of my peacefull bedroom. I didn't check, but I would bet it still glowed in the morning Watch Conclusion This is a totaly different watch. As close to a genuine as possible. Ok, maybe a gen bracelet and crown will be offered to the baby for Xmas, but it's not necessary at all. Of course, RepAustria pushed the limit very far: Old TW best, 2004 correct engravings, great TW crystal and bracelet, very good crown, perfect crown guards, splendid moddified bezel, genuine Luminova dial, genuine Burgundy/Black insert. On top of this, serviced only 8 months ago by a "real" watchmaker, not a clown That said, let me please give you my one and only advice as a GMT Master II Noob: get yourself a genuine black/red insert, now. Sorry a Burgundy/Black insert, now This will make any modern GMT rep look totaly different and I bet it's not that expensive. Trade Conclusion Am I happy with my trade? The straight answer is: YES Can I reverse the trade? Yes. RepAustria is a gentleman, even more, a very good human. He is ready to take this watch back and send mine whenever I want. But, unless he is disapointed with the Baume et Mercier of course, I will keep this GMT for a long time I think. Thanks for looking and reading this very long and enthusisat thread. Cheers Stephane Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stilty Posted October 23, 2007 Report Share Posted October 23, 2007 nice timepiece and write up. wear it well! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bklm1234 Posted October 23, 2007 Report Share Posted October 23, 2007 lucky man. I am waiting for a gen tube for my correct hand stack. Once I have the gen crown+tube installed, we can do a "clash of the correct hand stack GMT IIs". Mine's also running great, within +5 secs a day, no more slipping hour hand problem. So relieved. -bk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephane Posted October 23, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 23, 2007 Hi B. Thanks for your reply. As you see, I educate myself... I suppose you have that gen insert, do you? If not, give it a try. Unbelievable... Cheers and thanks for reading. I feel honoured. Stephane Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephane Posted October 23, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 23, 2007 Well, what can I say... At least I have a great GMT now. Good night. Stephane. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silvio Posted October 24, 2007 Report Share Posted October 24, 2007 All dramas aside, I think this is a great watch and Oliver had done a hell of a job. It needs a gen bracelet to make it looks complete. Congrats on your nice GMT, Stephane. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cucumber_Jones Posted October 24, 2007 Report Share Posted October 24, 2007 Oh yeah, Stephane. You first post was AWESOME. I know well and good how long it takes to make posts like yours! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dizzy Posted October 24, 2007 Report Share Posted October 24, 2007 I think this watch is fantastic and one of the best GMT's i have seen!! Who cares where its from. If its good then its good and this one is very well done. you just have to look at the case serial number to find out if its from the noob factory or not.. F520117 is from the "Noob factory" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Star69 Posted October 24, 2007 Report Share Posted October 24, 2007 thanks for your effort and the super duper pictures ! the watch is perfect ! i would not care about the crown - looks fine to me. looks like your reached the end of your GMT-odyssey this watch is hard to make better - next step is only a gen. Frank Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RWG Technical Posted October 24, 2007 Report Share Posted October 24, 2007 And, also, to all supposed masters here...try to improve your work because so far I didn't get a better job or advice from you than from Flav. (Pug, feel free to call me ...) Please give us examples so that the members of RWG will not get scammed by the supposed "masters" of RWG... Making statements without backing them up, is pure BS, go ahead and give us the examples please. RG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pugwash Posted October 24, 2007 Report Share Posted October 24, 2007 Please give us examples so that the members of RWG will not get scammed by the supposed "masters" of RWG... Making statements without backing them up, is pure BS, go ahead and give us the examples please. RG He's referring to the date-wheel change I did on his 3717. The crown no longer works for setting the day/date. Maybe you have an idea what can cause this as I don't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RWG Technical Posted October 24, 2007 Report Share Posted October 24, 2007 He's referring to the date-wheel change I did on his 3717. The crown no longer works for setting the day/date. Maybe you have an idea what can cause this as I don't. Well with only that to go on, I'll offer the following: The crowns on the 3717 are poorly made, weak stem spring, as such they tend to not engage the stem very well. Time setting seems to not be a big problem, because your pulling on the crown, winding and changing the day/date, can be a problem if the crown is loose. So this could be the cause. Second problem is the date/day changeover gear on the Asian 7750, it is problematic. It's a design problem, and I have had many issues with them when servicing the watch. Sometimes pulling from the winding to the datechange position on the crown engages it, other times you have to pull the crown to the time setting position, then back to the date one to get it to work. These are REPS after all, and can, and do, experience problems...it's normal... Stephane may have been referring to you, but he used the term "masters" which as far as I am concerned, includes me. So I will wait for the response by he who makes the statement. RG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pugwash Posted October 24, 2007 Report Share Posted October 24, 2007 Stephane may have been referring to you, but he used the term "masters" which as far as I am concerned, includes me. Masters shouldn't include me as I don't have the skills to do all the movement stuff, and on top of that, I don't offer my modding services openly (or indeed at all as of now). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tribal Posted October 24, 2007 Report Share Posted October 24, 2007 Hi Steph, i think that was a good Deal I know this watch and it's awesome... Oliver did a fantastic job on it... You know this TW Best a very rare and this one is a real beauty.... Congrats to your nice GMT and to Olli for the work also... He is a nice guy and a damm good modder... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Victoria Posted October 24, 2007 Report Share Posted October 24, 2007 This wasn't the place to publish mines. Stephane, as long as this doesn't make you post less, no worries. I'm sure you will take appropriate action privately, and that's fine. If this is the case, feel better soon. If not, feel better anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elprimerozen Posted October 24, 2007 Report Share Posted October 24, 2007 The next 'big' question on RWG will be : 'who has the best GMT?' Btw Stephane realy realy nice time piece you got there!! @EPZ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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