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semperfi55

State of the Collection: Pre and Post RWG Eras

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Glaude
12 minutes ago, semperfi55 said:

there's a tool for everything!

tenor.gif

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semperfi55
4 minutes ago, Glaude said:

tenor.gif

when-you-use-a-baguette-as-a-dildo-woosh

Uh don't ever google baguette dildo on google images, damn that was nasty. gonna browse the wrist check threads as a palette cleanser....damn....

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Luxuracer
12 minutes ago, semperfi55 said:

Uh don't ever google baguette dildo on google images, damn that was nasty.

Clear your browsing history immediately .... Take a dose of Azithromycin and go to bed. 

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semperfi55
9 minutes ago, Luxuracer said:

Clear your browsing history immediately .... 

Incognito my friend..... 

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semperfi55

#6 End of October 2018

Yes it's more like the end of December now but there must be some semblance of order, even on this chaotic forum.

After a much-despised hiatus, which ended up longer than I intended, I'm finally back. 

Although my forum presence has been less than consistent these last few months, my watch collecting has been ticking over just fine. Or not fine.

 

The Diamond in the Rough

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This cheap and cheerful watch was purchased on a sale in China. A manual wind watch for GBP10? Yes please!

The Diamond brand tackiness aside, the movement winds well but the lollipop second hand stutters slightly. Still a nice piece to wear to places where a Rolex (gen or rep) shouldn't go.

 

The Chinese Chronograph

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Not much introduction needed for this Chinese Air Force 1963 Chronograph Reissue. The watch is powered by a Seagull ST19 movement and its praises have been sung by many Youtube watch channels. I didn't feel like paying for the inflated prices on Long Island Watches or various European re-sellers, so I bought the watch off Taobao (Chinese eBay/Amazon) for GBP110. Great bargain! The watch came with spare leather straps too.

 

The Modded Moser

TzCm3.jpg

The 6-month journey for this watch. Rep collecting is a game of patience? Well this was something else. The dynamic blue on this dial is the main attraction, the small date window is not. The gen has a much larger date window. After receiving this watch, some modifications had to be made. Boy, what a difficult experience it was. The casing was unconventional, dial feet hooks are a pain. No doubt a review will be out for this soon, or not so soon.

 

The Curvy Sabrina

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How does one collect classy vintage timepieces oozing with history? I know of a few qualities one must have. You have to be vain, you must be an attention-seeker. Most importantly, you also have to be cheap. That is how I came across this Cuervo y Sobrinos Triple Date watch from the 1950s. Swiss made watch for a Cuban brand. It has no connection to the new Cuervo y Sobrinos Swiss brand which features many dressy, unique, expensive watches.

For more about this watch and the old brand's story, have a look here:

 

First Blood

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Or rather first tourbillon. Same thing as the wallet is still bleeding from this. It's a Lange rep. It's a tourbillon. It's dressy af. 'nuff said.

 

First Blood Part II

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Because one is never enough. :facepalm: A regulator tourbillon scratches both the regulator and tourbillon itch. 

 

Glengarry Glenn Rolex

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The film inspired me to get this RKF Daydate. I'm not a fan of all gold watches, but this seemed like a good bit of fun. And you do feel rich and powerful when wearing this watch...

And so that is the October haul. More updates to follow!

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Glaude

I'm pretty sure you got separated at birth with @cvp3 ... that the only way to explain your gear acquisition syndrome ! :D 

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cvp3
35 minutes ago, Glaude said:

I'm pretty sure you got separated at birth with @cvp3 ... that the only way to explain your gear acquisition syndrome ! :D 

I only have cheap stuff. LOL Most expensive ever was $649. 

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semperfi55

#7 End of November 2018

Too busy in November to write up the SOTC October, but not too busy to buy moar watches!

 

Le Haute Horlogerie

Tzwwg.jpg

A fascinating Bovet rep on the Gate. The gen is a remarkable watch with many things going on. This rep is a simple quartz. But it makes a valiant attempt at replicating the haute horlogerie feel of the gen.

 

The Parmesan Chronometre

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A gate watch with surprisingly good dial finishing! The wonders you can find on the gate...

 

The Parmesan Tourbillon

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This tourbillon is my new favourite watch! The detail, the finishing, the working power reserve indicator. This purchase was influenced by none other than the tourbillon master @Hyjynx

 

GMT at the Gates

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A great Gate GMT watch, good value for money! Cheers to @cvp3 for the recommendation, It has the rehaut engravings and LEC, GMT hand is slaved though.

 

The Reservation at Dorsia

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Another RKF production. I wanted a dial with bone colouring and Silian Rail lettering. Couldn't get it. But I think this one is not too shabby with its subtle off-white colouring. The tasteful thickness of the misaligned DWO. It even has a watermark!

 

The Goldtona

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@RussP has a terrible profile pic. Just awful. I blame him.

 

The Cow Horns

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This was a bit of a grail rep watch for me. I camped by the M2M sections for months and none for sale. Then one day, 2 listings pop up. Happily snapped up the listing but the whole affair was marred by a scammer. Ultimately got a partial refund with the help of @yllekp. All's well that ends well, especially since I got this ST19 chronograph!

 

???

TzHz0.jpg

????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

Stay tuned for more about this one.

 

 

That's it for November, more to follow.

 

 

 

 

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yllekp
2 minutes ago, semperfi55 said:

 

The Reservation at Dorsia

TzSnG.jpg

Another RKF production. I wanted a dial with bone colouring and Silian Rail lettering. Couldn't get it. But I think this one is not too shabby with its subtle off-white colouring. The tasteful thickness of the misaligned DWO. It even has a watermark!

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am loving this one. I see a franken version in RWI atm. 

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Glaude
1 hour ago, semperfi55 said:

Another RKF production. I wanted a dial with bone colouring and Silian Rail lettering. Couldn't get it. But I think this one is not too shabby with its subtle off-white colouring. The tasteful thickness of the misaligned DWO. It even has a watermark!

Pure gold ! :rofl: 

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Hyjynx

I am thoroughly impressed by your carefully curated collection and entertained by the excellent narratives, comeback and bantering in the thread,@semperfi55. This is certainly one of the best collections I’ve seen in all of Repdom. Given our occasional PM interaction, you’d think I would have been curious enough and found this thread before now. Please do not think of it as hubris or a slight. It’s the discovery of nuggets like this that still make this forum a pleasure to visit. Thanks for the mention. The tourbillon selection are excellent choices. I would like to warn you about the addictive nature of that superb movement, but I think I came too late! Yeah, that’s what she saaaaiiiiiid!

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RussP

I accept responsibility for your Daytona affliction.

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semperfi55
On 30/12/2018 at 23:08, yllekp said:

I see a franken version in RWI atm.

Well I can't beat a BabaNJ build

On 30/12/2018 at 21:50, Glaude said:

I'm pretty sure you got separated at birth with @cvp3

We had to be separated, for humane reasons. If both were in the same country, the customs office will be perpetually busy.

21 hours ago, Hyjynx said:

This is certainly one of the best collections I’ve seen in all of Repdom

Thank you for the kind words! Coming from you as well!

21 hours ago, Hyjynx said:

The tourbillon selection are excellent choices.

Lol a lot of it is based off your collection! Just don't have the fiscal discipline to save up for that Memorigin :wallbash:

18 hours ago, RussP said:

I accept responsibility for your Daytona affliction

Very refreshing to see someone confess to their crimes.

On 30/12/2018 at 22:26, cvp3 said:

Most expensive ever was $649. 

LOL Any rebates or cashbacks on that purchase? :giggle:

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semperfi55

#8 End of December 2018

This was the month of the cheapskate Nautili, all from da Gate. Great way to collect and follow the Nautilus narrative.

 

The Yellow Submarine

TW0Qo.jpg

The first of a series.... Gate cheapie with many tells, this is one step down from the U1 version.

 

Patek Philippe Nautiquartz

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A gate 5980 with quartz movement. There is a mechanical verion on the gate but has NO pushers. Imagine that.

 

Mods Galore

TWetL.jpg

Can you spot the mods on this gate 5726? Both the planned and unplanned ones. Such a mess.

 

That's it for 2018. Pre-RWG, I had a sizeable collection for someone casually interested in watches. After joining up here in March, well, the aftermath speaks for itself.

 

End of Update #8

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semperfi55

#9 End of January 2019

 

And yet another hiatus... If this continues I will have to do unwieldy quarterly updates instead of the usual monthlies.

 

Jaegate-LeCoultre

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Took me long enough to finally buy the gate JLC as recommended by @Glaude.  A classy dress watch with working power reserve and date complication for under USD100.

 

The Regtona

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Of course I had to get myself the famous frozen seconds 21j Regtona. After buying the ref. 6234 and 6263, it made sense to buy something more modern but without a chronograph movement be cause let's face it: why would need that many chronos? :Whistle:

It's a shame there aren't more frozen second Regtonas available, the build quality is great value for money. I would buy more if there were more dial combinations available!

That is, until this gem came out. A game changer.

 

The Other Reverso

VKgYgF.jpg

I had been eyeing the Basculante for quite some time but always had the one Day Date/Nautilus/Royal Oak /Tourbillon lined up in front. Finally pulled the trigger and boy was I glad to buy this. A dainty little rectangular watch---perfect for the classic vintage look. But the main attraction here is the reverso style case flip--on a different axis. Interestingly ( or not), the same people who designed the JLC Reverso were also involved in the Cartier Basculante :Thinking:

 

The Exhibitionist

VKgd1r.jpg

Unfortunately for the Breguet fanboys out there, there aren't many good Breguet reps. The brilliant Classique 5177 reps in their various dial iterations come to mind, followed by the Breguet tourbillons of varying quality. There are so few classy Breguet reps, it has driven me to like this sort of open design. I was never a fan of the skeleton dial watches, but the 7057 was designed for the movement to be shown on the front (rather than back. And the rep has succeeded in replicating that vibe, alongside one functioning power reserve per side :notworthy:

 

A Perpetual Mess

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Some may recall my Nautili craze in the previous update (December). This is just the tail end of that craze. I have bought all the variants in the Nautilus Collection (apart form the Travel Time and Ref 5712) from the gate. Modified the day/night wheel so that it has a moonphase disc in the style of the actual Nautilus.

 

A Perpetual Mess: 2 Messy 2 Complicated

VKgOso.jpg

After modding this Aliexpress watch, I believe I have the best compromise replica Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar in terms of price and complications. Working date, day and month functions. Day/night redressed as moonphase. Week indicator is actually a slave hand fixed to the hour hand. Still better than the JF version which has the "week indicator" hand functioning as a regular second hand at the top of the hand stack :Shocked:

 

The Curious Oak

VKg3VL.jpg

I bought this curious little (humongous) thing from @Drfunsocks. It has a working power reserve, date, 2nd timezone and daynight indicator. And before any skeptics slam the "Fantasy" button, this is a rep of a discontinued gen model. Sadly, this is probably the best effort to rep the watch, it is much larger than the gen.

At this point, I am only short of a Tourbillon, a skeleton dial and a frosted gold to complete the full Royal Oak ensemble...

 

Group Shot!

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Special Mention

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Is it a gate speedy? Or the quartz ones? Or the St19 variants?

VKiMJU.jpg

Got the OF Speedmaster with hesalite crystal, the TD even gave me a box and papers too :D The subdial spacing is unbeatable on this version! It came with a lot of extra goodies. Nato strap and velcro strap in case I wanted to wear it over my space suit. Most considerate! 10/10 would buy again.

 

Sadly I only got to play with the watch for a week as it was a 60th Birthday present for my dad... The watch fascination started with him giving me his 1990s Datejust on my graduation, so probably apt to buy him a classic in return, 6 months into my first job. Needless to say he is wearing it everyday, despite his many watches :D 

VKiRFD.jpg

OF even provided a loupe in the design of the Speedmaster bezel! Adorable!

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Glaude

You truly are, a mad man ! Awesome new additions ! You should show the back of the basculante ;) 

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Dr Fun Socks

Nice collection man, really liked that breguet when they came out i just havent got round to buying one. I heard the factory discontinued it due to reliability issues, have you had any? If you ever fancy selling it let me know! Also the speedy loupe is super pimp!

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semperfi55
On 13/03/2019 at 21:56, Glaude said:

You should show the back of the basculante ;)

That will be featured on my ever-growing list of reviews yet to be done....

13 hours ago, Drfunsocks said:

I heard the factory discontinued it due to reliability issues, have you had any?

Is that recent news? No problems so far but I only got the 7057 in January. I have been wearing it a lot, to the detriment of  many recent acquisitions :dance:

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semperfi55

#10 End of February 2019

February was a tough time due to Chinese Ne w Year, but like all self-respecting collectors, I had ways to circumvent the dreaded dealer drought.

 

The Tacky Timex

VKg5Ie.jpg

I mean, what is going on with this watch? This chunky fucker has an open heart designed for a faux-tourbillon aesthetic. The exact characteristics you won't see in my watchbox.  It is, however, a gift from my dad. He thinks I must be a fan of open heart watches after seeing my Breguet 7057 and Parmigiani Tonda Tourbillon :rofl: Bless his cotton socks! 

He dug this watch out of the safe and gave it to me. The caseback rubber gasket was out of place which caused the crystal to mist. A quick replacement and all was clear again. 

 

A Hearty Seagull

VKgBOT.jpg

Another gift from dad, again thinking I'm a fan of open hearts :lol:

I guess it's interesting to see the open heart at 8 o'clock rather than the usual 6.

 

The Suave Shanghai

VKiZsA.jpg

Another gift from the old man. A new Shanghai watch that has a vintage watch feel. The dial reminds me of a Railmaster. The domed acrylic crystal and rattly bracelet add to its charm!

The Chinese characters say "China Shanghai, 17 Jewels"

 

VKiEZQ.jpg

I had been a fan of the Presage collection ever since @Glaude mentioned them. This is a "limited edition" watch of 7000 units.  I'm glad this picture captures the dial texture beautifully. It is suppose to represent snow. Snagged a very good deal at a shop in Malaysia :D 

 

Who the Fuck is Henry?

VKiWif.jpg

I bought this watch on a sale. Love the aesthetix as it reminded me of a Vacheron Constantin Historiques piece. It houses a quartz movement but it is not a problem due to the lack of a second hand and allows a thin case for cheap.

 

Seriously Though, Who is This Henry?

VKibIX.jpg

I loved the watch so much I bought it twice. But smaller and with Milanese bracelet.  It is marketed as a lady watch and is a lady watch but heck I love how tiny it is!

 

Gate(way Drug)

VKiyXp.jpg

Seriously, can the Gate get any better? This fantasy Ardoise dial Portugieser 7 Days Reserve has been on my list for ages since @Glaude bragged about his piece. I received this watch and the watch below from my gate seller as compensation following a factory cockup for a different watch. Decent service from that non-TD.

 

Jumping to Conclusions

VKiJxs.jpg

This watch was also part of compensation for a watch that never materialised. This is the ladies size which fits better for me. Franck Muller has always been a problem due to their large Curvex cases which overhang considerably on my wrist. The hour hands actually jumps on the hour :lol:

 

VKiUZh.jpg

Not a bad haul considering TDs were out of commission!

 

Up next: The Overcompensation Post-Dealer Drought :facepalm:

 

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Glaude

Bless your old man, now give him my address for his new Omega ... ;) 

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RussP

Those Henrys have my attention.

Would you mind confirming the dimensions, including how thick they might be?

Thanks.

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brang1

Who the fuck IS HENRY????

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brang1

Found him, this is Henry

henry_conway_404_668230c.jpg

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brang1

either Henry or @Glaude, not sure... or both. Has anyone ever seen Henry or Glaude together? i think not

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Glaude
16 minutes ago, brang1 said:

either Henry or @Glaude, not sure... or both. Has anyone ever seen Henry or Glaude together? i think not

:baghead:

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