Silix Prime Sub - 1 year later

[Dead Bird Dog 2]

Back in October of 2007 I purchased THIS watch from Silix at his Silix-Prime website. Shipping was within 10 days and the watch arrived without incident. (some of you may remember my earlier review so I'll just hit the high points).

 

The only initial problem I had was that the bezel ring came loose and the pearl fell out. Silix generously shipped me a free replacement and the judicious use of some epoxy made sure that would not re-occur. The only issue I've had with the watch is thaty the pressure bar rivet in the clasp decided to take a permanent leave of absence back in June. I haven't gotten around to trying to order a new rivet/bar or find a jeweler to fix it but it is something I need to do. The band does show a number of scratches that I really need to try and polish or buff out.

 

This watch gets worn almost every day in all sorts of conditons. It's honestly led rather a rough life as I've never gone out of my way to protect it. From a durability standpoint it has more than proved itself. It has been exposed ot rain, cold and shock and never had an issue. Up until last week the watch has lost about 5 seconds or so a day which was more than acceptable. This seems to have changed though after I forgot to remove it when I had an MRI done on my right knee. The next couple of days showed the watch was losing more than 20 minutyes a day but this seems to have corrected itself. If anything it may actually be keping MORE accurate time now than it was. I don't recommend trying this "fix" however.

 

The crystal remains perfect despite several hard knocks. All in all I have nothing but good things to say about Silix and his product. I have more than gotten my money out of this deal and with a little poslish and a new pressure bar the watch should be good as new.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 24, 2008 by Dead Bird Dog

[greg_r 85]

Looks like the watch has done real well.

[AllergyDoc 40]

I like to see a replica that really gets used!

[Dead Bird Dog 2]

It's certainly gotten used all right. I've done the same kind of stuff with that watch on that I would have with a G-Shock watch. Seriously...I've made zero effort to protect it and it's come through like a champ. One of the reasons I really like having a rep is that I can really WEAR the watch without having to worry about damaging a very expensive piece of jewelry. The watch has endured just about every test I could think of with the exception of full immersion. (Unless you call the 4 hour Harley ride from Key West to Miami in the rain immersion). I'll see about polishing the bracelet up this week and also try and fix the pressure bar rivet. For what it's worth the case itself shows no wear whatsoever. I'm not sure how true Rolex 904L steel would do as far as bracelet wear but I suspect the real one would look very similiar after the same workout.

 

Great rep. If the gold ones would wear like the SS watches I'd have me some of those as well.

Edited December 26, 2008 by Dead Bird Dog

[AllergyDoc 40]

What's even more amazing is the pearl didn't fall out. It's usually one of the first things to go.

[Dead Bird Dog 2]

On the first bezel it was the first thing to fall out. When Silix sent me the replacement I glued that sucker down to where there was no way it was coming out again.

[trailboss99 997]

Like Iv'e been saying. The A21J is one tough little bugger of a MVT that would take treatment I'm not shure the gen would last thru. It's proberly near time for another report on my torture test NM but i'll wait untill after new years.

 

 

Col.

[trailboss99 997]

DBD: reasemble the pin to the clasp and tap the end that has worn with a small hammer or punch. That will re spread the end of the pin.

 

 

Col.

[Dead Bird Dog 2]

DBD: reasemble the pin to the clasp and tap the end that has worn with a small hammer or punch. That will re spread the end of the pin.

 

 

Col.

 

 

I'll give that a go and see what happens. The pin is below the threshold of the clasp though and I'm not sure there's enough to hold it open against the back plate.

[Dead Bird Dog 2]

Reviving this a bit with a 2 year plus update:

 

The watch has been running fast by about six minutes or so per day so I found a watch repair place here that had no issues with working on rep watches. I figured that after two years it was time for a servicing and took it in. Not only was the watch serviced and is now keeping near-perfect time the watch repairman dropped this bomb on me:

 

He says the movement is a genuine ETA and not a Chinese copy. While I obviously did not see the disassembly or servicing I have to figure the guy knows what he is talking about. Kind of made my day to hear that.

 

Also...the scratches in the bracelet you can see in the above pictures are long gone. I can't remember if I posted this before but a careful use of 1000 grit wet/dry sandpaper brushed with the grain took every last bit of them out. The watch looks almost exactly the same as it did when I first received it. For 2+ years I think I'm way ahead of the game. If I do this again I want a WM9 with the lume.

[AllergyDoc 40]

That's good news, BD. It's refreshing to see someone really get good use out of a replica. Most of the rest of us get distracted when the next flashy thing and off we go.

[Dead Bird Dog 2]

It absolutely has gotten good use...I'd say I've worn it at least 500 days out of the last two years. Some of those days were absolutely not conducive to wearing a decent watch either.

[cybee 0]

That watch has been a real work horse for you and to find out it is an Eta movement must have been a real surprise.