Toadtorrent Posted April 5, 2008 Report Share Posted April 5, 2008 * UPDATED (2008-Apr-6) - to include water resistance pressure testing results You would think that so much has been said about the 2006 IWC Cousteau Divers chrono that there probably isn't much more left for discussion, but when my brand new CD arrived from Silix, holding this piece really does make you realize how good a rep watch can be. A list of the current major 2006 Cousteau Diver postings are as follows: - Seadweller's guide to IWC reps - Seadweller's review - Yelloman's review - Takashi's CD and Slevin Comparison - Aapxp's Cute Pictorial Most of the reviews I have read were made in various times in 2007 or very early 2008. Given that many have said they would never buy a rep in the first 6 months of introduction to allow for quality control problems to be rectified, I figured I would try and explore what improvements could be made. So, on that note, welcome to my review of my Silix 2006 IWC Cousteau Divers chronograph. IWC HISTORY The International Watch Company has an interesting presence in both the genuine and replica watch worlds. Likely in the top 5 brands collected by the replica community alongside flashier brands like Rolex, Breitling, and Tag Heur, IWC watches, while available in technically brilliant masterpieces like their Grande Complication for the most part have an understated feel which matches nicely with how IWC considers themselves 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
italiano17771 Posted April 5, 2008 Report Share Posted April 5, 2008 very nice review. still one of my favorites....although it has not got as much wrist time lately. thanks for the time and effort. i enjoyed it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cornerstone Posted April 5, 2008 Report Share Posted April 5, 2008 Awesome review - thank you! I'm still tempted by this one - maybe one day.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toadtorrent Posted April 5, 2008 Author Report Share Posted April 5, 2008 Awesome review - thank you! I'm still tempted by this one - maybe one day.... Thanks. You should get one...afterall...it's cheaper than the current Swiss SFSO...and not much more than Swiss Datejust. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spookycord Posted April 5, 2008 Report Share Posted April 5, 2008 Thanks. You should get one...afterall...it's cheaper than the current Swiss SFSO...and not much more than Swiss Datejust. Excellent review! Did you forget to add relume to your list of modability? A great look at a great watch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TwoTone Posted April 5, 2008 Report Share Posted April 5, 2008 @TR Excellent Review... Thanks for taking the time and effort... Your contribution to the community is greatly appreciated... Double T Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cucumber_Jones Posted April 5, 2008 Report Share Posted April 5, 2008 AWESOME review! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toadtorrent Posted April 5, 2008 Author Report Share Posted April 5, 2008 Excellent review! Did you forget to add relume to your list of modability? A great look at a great watch. Thanks...and whoops...yeah...lume is definitely on the list...thanks for the reminder! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrgod Posted April 5, 2008 Report Share Posted April 5, 2008 Very well written review! I remember the long and winding road that led up to the Costeau.. Like you, I try to wait some months to buy the watches, as QC is improved and the price usually drops. ( I just bought the Blackbird). Interesting to see that the replica has the date window slightly to the right... It also looks like your watch has ETA-datefont? Wear it with pride. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toadtorrent Posted April 5, 2008 Author Report Share Posted April 5, 2008 Very well written review! ... Interesting to see that the replica has the date window slightly to the right... It also looks like your watch has ETA-datefont? Thanks for the feedback. I was thinking that the datefont looked improved over the first releases of the watch, but as I had not had a chance to compare it through all the days, I wasn't quite sure. I'm going to try and get it pressure tested today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alant Posted April 16, 2008 Report Share Posted April 16, 2008 Hi Toadtorrent you must be the lucky one! Just got reply from Jay saying that the rotor has the sticker letterings... And yours look very nice too, wonder if I will be as lucky as you or not... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
takashi Posted April 16, 2008 Report Share Posted April 16, 2008 I have been waiting to see this detailed review. Excellent job Glad that you like the watch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toadtorrent Posted April 17, 2008 Author Report Share Posted April 17, 2008 I have been waiting to see this detailed review. Excellent job Glad that you like the watch. I saw the GTG pics with you wearing yours, and that sold me on it...after your review of course. Thanks for the feedback!! I screwed up mounting the caseback gasket and thus, needed a replacement. Offshore, true gent that he is is mailing me out something that will hopefully work. RWG has such amazing supporting folks, it blows my mind. @Alant - I was expecting the sticky letters, and cracked open the case with toothpicks in hand waiting to scrape them off to be surprised to find there were none. Maybe they all fell off and are sitting in the movement mushing everything together. Hah hah. Nothing The Zigmeister can't fix. The watch arrived way out of regulation...5 mins/day fast...but with a little work, I have it down to 10s +/- per day...I'll work on getting it better after the movement has run a bit longer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alant Posted April 17, 2008 Report Share Posted April 17, 2008 Hi Toadtorrent thanks for sharing. Oh I got a new email today telling me that the letterings are not on the rotor. Haha you are safe! Wow just curious about your watch arriving out of regulation 5 mins/day fast....wonder if it will happen to mine? And hope you could share on how you managed to regulate it? Cheers! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toadtorrent Posted April 18, 2008 Author Report Share Posted April 18, 2008 Hi Toadtorrent thanks for sharing. Oh I got a new email today telling me that the letterings are not on the rotor. Haha you are safe! Wow just curious about your watch arriving out of regulation 5 mins/day fast....wonder if it will happen to mine? And hope you could share on how you managed to regulate it? Cheers! That's good to hear about the lack of lettering. I've read that you can replace the rotor with an ETA one...don't know anybody who actually has tried it...you could ask Takashi...he's the mod master of the Cousteau's. I wouldn't worry too much about the timing being off...it's an easy and fun starting point to working on your rep. With my gens, I expect them to work properly...so don't really get to have "fun" with them. With reps, I get to tinker, research, buy tools, etc...making it far more fun to own a rep than a gen. As to how to regulate the watch...I rely on the help of the expert's here on this board. Hah hah. It takes time to find what you need...but when you do, it's usually better than what I can put together: Gioarmani's Guide to Regulating Timing and Beat I've read elsewhere that it's hard to get the timing adjusted to under 10s without a timing machine...but it's possible...just keep the movement running for 30 days to allow it to "break in" before going that close. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alant Posted April 18, 2008 Report Share Posted April 18, 2008 Hi Toadtorrent thanks for the info! Wow its amazing the way you go about regulating your watch. So are you planning to send your watch to The Zigmeister for re-lume work? Oh yes I read Takashi's review, if I remember correctly he changed the movement to ETA one too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seadweller4000 Posted April 19, 2008 Report Share Posted April 19, 2008 Now this deserves a big hand! I really enjoyed this review, very detailed and professional. Great close-ups as well! Thank you so much for your time spent! Keep up this good work. PS: Linked to the guide. Of course. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toadtorrent Posted April 20, 2008 Author Report Share Posted April 20, 2008 Now this deserves a big hand! I really enjoyed this review, very detailed and professional. Great close-ups as well! Thank you so much for your time spent! Keep up this good work. PS: Linked to the guide. Of course. Thanks!! A comment like this from the IWC Master is greatly appreciated!! Thank you for having a guide to be linked to! @Alant - I'm planning on getting Zig to do the re-lume and servicing...likely in the 9month time frame. I'm going to skip the ETA swap...and hope when ETA stops supplying the 7750 to the rest of the universe, there will be another movement that can be subbed in, in the 5 years AFTER The Zigmeister does the servicing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ta8088 Posted April 20, 2008 Report Share Posted April 20, 2008 Thanks for the FANTASTIC review! One of the best I've seen on this watch. This has been on my radar along with a 3717 for a while and after reading this great review and seeing all the 3717 eyecandy lately I think I'm going to be ordering both. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
takashi Posted April 20, 2008 Report Share Posted April 20, 2008 Get both 3717 and this CD2006, you won't regret. It came to a point that I sold my 3717, lived without it for a couple of weeks and bought another piece. The idea of movement service is good. Hope this watch will last you for years to come. To me, putting an ETA7750 on this watch is a worthy move. I wear this watch mainly as daily beaters. +5 mins a day shows something is not right with this movement (which should be fixed after movement overhaul). No, it's not normal for unserviced out of box Asian 7750 hi beat to run 5 mins fast a day. Usually I got in the range of +10 to +20 secs a day for out of box Asian 7750 hi beat rate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slai Posted April 20, 2008 Report Share Posted April 20, 2008 Cool! My pics made it to a review. Here are a couple more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alant Posted April 20, 2008 Report Share Posted April 20, 2008 Looks like the 'watch' has been spoken...the fate is sealed...I'm moving closer & closer to satisfy my desire for this watch! Takashi thanks for the insights on the movement too. And slai, your pictures also makes me want the watch ever more...wow ice...cool... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lanikai Posted April 20, 2008 Report Share Posted April 20, 2008 thanks toad t .. read it twice.. alway's something new to discover.. I think after this review .. I'm going to buy another one.. thank you for your time and energy.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toadtorrent Posted April 20, 2008 Author Report Share Posted April 20, 2008 thanks toad t .. read it twice.. alway's something new to discover.. I think after this review .. I'm going to buy another one.. thank you for your time and energy.. Back at you!! My 3717-05 should be coming in mid-week...I'll write something up for that one too. I've been accumulating a bunch of gen shots for that. You definitely need to get another one...the blue of the strap matches your ink so well...how can you say no?? Cool! My pics made it to a review. Here are a couple more. Stop posting these pictures please...you're making me want to hurt the bank account sooner than planned... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slai Posted April 20, 2008 Report Share Posted April 20, 2008 I switched watches just to take these pics for the thread. What a great watch to wear on a sunny morning drive. The rep AR got scratched up so it's got a nice dose of k2222 now. For those who haven't seen one in person, pics can't convey the effect of double-AR and a reflective dial. Light just seems to dance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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