From my email In Box, an interesting Omega case...

I received the following email yesterday: Hi Chuck: I am a very fan of all your information about OMEGAS, for me your site is like a Bible, and is for that reason that I am sending to you this pics of an OMEGA case that is fot me unknown, please help me to find out the model, if it is an speedmaster or a seamaster,and what movement should be inside this case, Thanks a lot, your friend from Mexico Hector Hector, Pleased to meet you. Thank you for your kind words... I have never seen a case like this from Omega in the past... In looking at the inside caseback under high magnification through the crystal, it provides a clue to what the case may be. Since the Caseback says 145.014 and we know that the 145.014 is the Mark II Professional case, I surmise that this case is a Mark II Pro case which has been "Re-sculpted" to give it the external appearance of a moonwatch. The effort is not entirely dissimilar to the Re-sculpted cases that Gilliam in Germany crafts out of 176.012 cases: I suspect someone has done similar work on the case you've come across... I hope this is helpful to you... Chuck =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Hi, Chuck, thank you very much for the information, this case was actually offered as a mark II case but since it was offered as a spare part and being so different to the regular mark II cases I thought that may be the case , the crystal and the case back were separate parts put together, and may be the case belong to some vintage seamaster, but looking different pics of some seamasters I did not found this profile of ccase, so thanks a lot for the information and is for me a pleasure that you post this storyon your site, thanks again, and Best Regards Hector =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= A very interesting item and would make for a very interesting watch. I've often said that while the Mark II looks much more modern and seemingly is more rugged due to it's armor like case when compared to the moonwatch, this case's appearance doesn't often look good on a strap. This case style nearly cries out to be on a bracelet. With this case we see a method to have a "cross-bred" version of a Mark II that might look a little more handsome on a leather strap. Enjoy! -- Chuck

Sad news to report, the loss of an innovator...

Sad news to report on the loss of an innovator... I received a query in my email early this morning asking about dealers for Ventura watches. I immediately went to Ventura's watch site and found it was no longer active. So I sent an email to recent Ventura V-Matic Loga purchaser David Alstott to see if he had heard of anything. [David's Stainless Steel Ventura V-Matic Loga proudly on his wrist, photo used without permission, but I'm sure he won't mind...] Sadly what he reported back to me, while not a complete surprise was saddening and very disappointing to me: Dear Friends, today, on the 12th of November, the receiver of the bankrupt Ventura Design on Time conducted an auction to sell the entire assets including the brand and the stock. While I tried hard to get back the control, I stood no chance against the highest bidder, the US corporation Swiss Watch International SWI, who as of now is the new owner. I am sure that this is good news to those seeking a bargain. For me as the founder of Ventura, this is the moment to say goodbye to you; thank you for your loyal support over all these many years. You will understand that I will now first take some distance from the events of today. There are yet many ideas, innovations and designs that are ready to stun the watch community and I have been encouraged to create a new and even bolder corporation; let me think about this for a while. I will publish on this site a new URL with a different name soon, on which I will keep you posted regarding my plans. For now, I remain truly yours, Pierre Nobs Founder of Ventura Note: Both the above passage and the passage below seem to be at the very least a couple of weeks to several months old. Perhaps this is not "news" in the freshest sense, but it was certainly news to me and something I had not seen in my travels. David also sent me this link to a thread on PuristPro which I will excerpt here: Concerns about mechanical driven capacitor watches. Seiko, Citizen, Ventura. Jan 19, 2008,16:43 PM By: bernard cheong  [NOTE: This appears to be a quoted article, but no source is quoted -- Chuck] Ventura, the only company that made high quality Swiss type digitals went bust last year, it was sad...here is a short report of note. High-quality digital clocks bring Volketswiler Ventura into the bankruptcy Ventura Watch was known for Design-oriented watches and focused since two years fully on high-quality digital watches. Now Ventura deposited the balance. Since 1990 stood the Volketswil Ventura Design on time for wrist-watches, with which the time indicator was reduced to the substantial. Shortly after the company was founded, the digital clock "Watch" of the designer Flemming Bo Hansen became with 50'000 copies a huge success: A rectangular flat steel housing that encloses a digital display of only four large numbers. It made it quickly into the permanent collection of the museum of modern art in New York. Later Ventura made sensation with mechanical clocks, sketched by the Zurich architect and designer Hannes Wettstein. Two years ago Ventura founder Pierre A. Nobs wanted to secure their unmistakableness with a courageous decision of the brand. Instead of continuing to compete in hard contest price segment from 1000 to 5000 CHF for mechanical clocks against countless competitors, Nobs decided to go for a niche: Ventura should become the brand for technically innovative, Swiss-made digital watches with high Design quality. Success took time But Nobs needed funds. In 2005 A group of investors took over of the firm founder the majority, the share capital by 500'000 to 900'000 CHF was supplemented. But success with the new positioning at the market took time: Was the turnover in 2004 still 5.5 million CHF, it sagged 2006 to approximately 2 million, and in the current year was "the course of business" even worse, as Pierre A. Nobs in a report writes the media. On Thursday Ventura announced bankruptcy. Nobs explained, the promised investments weren't made, and accuses the new owner to have pulled the plug too fast: The shareholders which were active in the private Equity and Hedge fund business would have "obviously their own conception concerning the long-termness". Reto Suter, director of Horizon21 private Equity in Pffaefikon SZ and board of directors president of Ventura denies this: "we did not see the perspectives ultra-short-term and also not medium-term". But expenditure and yield could not have been brought to the equilibrium. By the bankruptcy of Ventura eight persons are concerned in Volketswil and four in the German branch in Nuremburg (babelfish: peppering castle). Pierre A. Nobs raises steep reproaches: In the surrounding field of the bankruptcy "board of directors president and shareholders have served themselves still extensively with valuable clocks from the stock", while the coworkers had to wait for their wages. Ventura executive board president Reto Suter did not want to express himself to these reproaches. Industry foreigner at power Company founder Pierre Nobs looked for financial sources in the consequence and found it in the surrounding field of Hedge fund managers, who showed up enthusiastically by the idea and assured an appropriate funds support. On five years the laid out Business plan for the restructuring planned that in the first two years still on red numbers had to be counted, the "BREAK Even" was intended for the third year. In accordance with Pierre Nobs his Ventura was actually fully in the context of this plan, despite compared with the previous years reduced turnover. The investors had however obviously different conceptions of "long-term commitment", displaced Nobs of all positions without further ado and used a new "Interim CEO". Shortly after, "the plug was pulled", although, according to Nobs, there were appropriate open accounts payable in a framework, which would not have required the drastic measure of the balance depositing yet. The pipeline would be full… Nobs gives himself optimistically and does not want give up his life's work - he is intensive on the lookuot for new partners with whose assistance he can secure himself the bankrupt's estate, in order to make a new beginning. "I will however certainly mess araound any more with ` Financiers ', but only with persons, who have a a genuine, respectable background in the clock industry, and whose horizon goes futher than the next quarter result. Our pipeline is full - many novelties would be ready, several components are already produced ?und could be supplied by the suppliers within short period. Also drafts exist of Paolo Fancelli for a long expected successor of the legendary "Watch" - a simple digital clock in a price segment of 600-700CHF, progressed very far, for which trade and final customers actually wait already longer. This potential best seller was also a component of our five year plan for the Turnaround of Ventura. I hope naturally much that this clock can be nevertheless still realized soon." Service and repairs: unclearly The question is not yet clarified, how it will go on with service and repairs for existing Ventura clocks - according to Nobs statements, he is currently working on a solution. Spare parts would be present in principle, are however for the time being still blocked in the bankrupt's estate. Until one knows details will depend thus also on how rapidly the bankruptcy proceedings are completed. We will inform you naturally here, as soon as we know more. The fellow who contacted me initially replyed to me [after I forwarded David's response] that Princton Watches, an authorized dealer of Ventura, currently has closeout deals on it's remaining stock of Ventura's. People who are interested can visit their site, although considering the fact that most of the mechanical Ventura's had a "snapback" caseback which was pressed on with a force of at least a ton, service is up in the air for these watches currenty. I've long said that of all the watch firms in operation that Ventura and Ventura along had a product line that I at least liked every model it produced. Some models I was much more enthusiastic about than others, but until they started "Icing" some models and producing some gold cased white dialed watches, they stayed true to their coredesign roots and produced elegant Bauhaus styled watches. While other firms routinely issued Valjoux 7750 based chronographs with 25 Jewels, Ventura's models sported 38 Jewels. All of their mechanicals were elegantly finished and on display via a sapphire back and all had a minimum W/R of 100m dispite the snap on displayback. Their watches were typically available in both Stainless Steel and Titanium, and their Titanium models were nitrogen hardened to the extent that their hardness were only rivaled in hardness by IWC's Titanium process. If they made a mistake it was trying to compete in the savagely contested $1000-$6000 price range where the bulk of Swiss watch manufacturers compete. It's tough for a small firm of recent vintage to compete with the Omega's, TAG-Heuer's, Breitling's and similar brands with long established reputations and consumer awareness. I had hoped that a firm operating from a fresh sheet with refined and focused product line could survive the competition. Ventura's ceasing production of mechanical watches several years ago to re-focus it's energies on the high end quartz powered niche. Unfortunately, it would seem that this effort to remain solvent wasn't successful and this move could be seen by history as the beginning of the end. I for one am very saddened by Ventura's demise. I own a pair of V-Matics, the V-Matic Master [pictured immediately above] and a V-Matic Loga both in Titanium both on bracelet. I only hope that other firms will look to create models which capture some of the style and elegant beauty of these fine fine timepieces. I am a big fan of Bauhaus design, these watches, which epitomize Bauhaus so well will likely age very gracefully, their modernistic lines and styling cues seeming just as fresh 50 and 100 years from now as they did the day they rolled off the production line. -- Chuck

4th possibility for David Scotts Moonwalking Waltham...

One of the things that has been of interest to watch collects, particularly those who also share an interest in Space exploration is the question of which Waltham Chronograph Astronaut David Scott wore on the Moon during EVA-3 of the Apollo 15 mission. In the past, I've purchased a pair of Waltham chronographs, which seem to fit the general description of a watch which "I used my backup Waltham watch (which was) of a similar type [to the Omega Speedmaster Professional Chronograph]": and D. Lee Brandt purchased and sent me pictures of another possible candidate for Mr. Scott's Chronograph: Olaf Oldigs from Germany contacted me with news that he had purchased another Waltham chronograph which he felt might be another Candidate but asked me to refrain from posting pictures until he had the time to have the watch serviced and detailed. Over the weekend he send me the following photographs [click through for enlargements]: Personally, I think this is the most handsome candidate I've seen so far. Looks a little more rugged than my "Carrera"Styled example [second from the top] above, but not as bulky as the top most example of mine. Thanks to Olaf for his interest and permission to post his pictures. Anyone else have an interesting candidate to nominate? I'd love to see them! -- Chuck

Ocean7 to bring Ploplof Homage to market in February...

Ocean7 to bring Ploplof Homageto market in February... Did you miss out on getting a PloPlof for your collection because of the Omegamania price bump? Dispair that you'll never be able to afford such a watch? Well there may be an alternative... I just had a long phone conversation with David Greenspan [who many old time TimeZone Omega Forum regulars will remember ] and he pointed out to me the Ocean7 watch company's website: In addition to a number of very interesting current offerings, it appears they will be producing a Homage to the Omega Ploplof in February: This is a good news/bad news situation... It's good news to those who'd genuinely be interested in owning a PloProf Homage watch, it's bad news to collectors as it's likely that the unscrupulous may well use this watch as the basis for a reasonably convincing fake. Details as well as an interesting line of other watches on the Ocean7 Watches website. -- Chuck

LeJour: The Precise World of Chronographs Manual...

I recently purchased a LeJour:The Precise World of Chronographs Manual off of eBay. I just finished scanning the manual and posted it within an HTML framework for everyone's viewing convenience. Enjoy! -- Chuck

Watch Blog Section added to my Links page...

A request for a link exchange from Jason of Swiss Watch Boutique has prompted me to add a section on my Links page for Watch Blogs that I know of: Watch Blogs Chuck Maddox Blog Dream Watches Blog Fratellowatches Blog OmegaBlogger Swiss Watch Boutique Swiss Watch News Facts Figures Statistics Velociphile's Journey Watch Report.Com Blog Watch Report.Net Blog Wrist Watch Review If you know of a watch blog that I don't have a link for post a comment or email me and I'll add it [unless it's a fake or replica site or a mere sales site. Must include interesting content]. NOTE: I will not publish any comment referring folks to "Replica" or "Fake" watch sites selling knock-off's of trademarked watches. I have no problem with OK-ing comments to legitimate watch blogs, watch manufacturer sites, sites which offer "Homage" watches [Homage is a watch [typically a discontinued model] done in the style of another brand but branded as a Homage/Tribute piece made by the company producing/selling the watch]. But I will not publish comments where people post URL's to Rolex Replica . org or anything similar. Save your and my time or waste your time, it only takes me 5 seconds to reject comments. Thanks! -- Chuck

A emailer asks “Where's a good source for NATO straps?”

An emailer asks: “Chuck, Where's a good place to buy NATO Straps?” It occured to me that while I had some ideas for sources, I don't know that anyone has compiled a list of said sources. So I decided to share my response and post it in the blog with the idea that It would be a pointable place were we could list such staps, and if anyone reading this blog entry had their own suggestions, they are encouraged to post a comment with links. Sound reasonable? Ok, here were my suggestions: The fellow I usually use is Ron Sabo/International Watchman: http://www.internationalwatchman.com/home.html <---  Look under Watch Bands then Military Here are some of Ron's more interesting Militaries: The only rub against Ron (who's prices can't be beat) is that he has a $45-50 minimum order.  So so if you're a little short on your order, buy a $15 assortment of: Spring bars... Sooner or later you know you'll shoot one across the room, might as well be prepared! Another source that has been highle recommended to me is West Coast Time/Howard Marx. Who in addition to NATO's also offers British Regimental Color, Rhino and Zulu straps: Lastly, but not least, there is always Military Watch Resource or MWR, who offer a wide variety of straps as well... Well, those were my suggestions, do you have any to share? If so, please post a comment! Thanks! -- Chuck

Two significant adds to c.1983 Heuer card page...

Good Morning [Afternoon, Evening...] This morning I received four scans from Greg Wade of c.1983 Heuer data cards to add to the page I have already posted on-line. Each card is notable and significant... The first card provides us with the first printed information on the exceedingly uncommon and rarely seen Gold 510.508 Lemania 5100 chronograph: Not many Lemania 5100's were ever put in a gold case! The second card provides us with perhaps the best explanation of the rationale behind Regatta watches: It all seems much clearer and easier to understand now! Thanks are due to Greg for his contribution to the knowledgebase existent on the Internet. Cheers! -- Chuck

Watch Timer highly recommended by Shane Ede...

A watch timer highly recommended by one of my watchmakers... I got a phone call out of the blue from one of my watchmakers today [Shane Ede from Toronto], and he had me navigate to this web page and was telling me that this unit (costing less than $900 USD) is better than the: Witschi Watch Expert II (which runs around $2,775 USD) and may even have more features than the Chronoscope M1 (runs around $10,000), and the Vibragraph Watchmatic II (also $2,775). He has the Witschi and bought Mumford unit when his Vibragraph died and he'd rather depend upon the Mumford unit than any other he hass seen. There are lots of reasons, much of it far too technical for this blog. This unit has many many more features not the least of which is how little it impacts your wallet compared to the competition. "And furthermore, Mr. Bryan Mumford will work as closely as required with any customer, his customer service is second to none!" <-- Direct from Shane. Sounds real good to me. Shane asked me to pass it along for those who sometimes tinker with their own collections. Cheers! -- Chuck [Added 5 May 2008] Just got off the phone with Shane and he informs me that this unit WILL time the latest model Co-Axial movement with the unusual 25,200 BPH rate and it will measure the Co-Axial amplitude as well... He had a latest model Co-Ax in recently and the timer worked like a charm. -- C

Breitling Navitimer Instructions posted:

Bill Sohne purchased a vintage Breitling AOPA Navitimer 806 recently, and fortunately for all of us, it came with an instruction manual for how to use the slide rule. Bill was kind enough to scan in the manual and email them to me for presentation and the utility of "Whiz Wheel" fans everywhere: [click on graphic above to open instruction page in new window.] Thanks Bill for making this possible for the Internet watch collecting community! -- Chuck

Omega Chronograph Dimensions page updated...

Section added to "Omega Chronograph Dimensions" Tables/page... At the behest of Steve Waddington, moderator at Chronocentric's ZOWIE Omega Discussion Forum and all around good guy, I've added a new section on my “Dimensions of Selected Omega Chronographs...” page... Steve mentioned to me that he often used that page as a quick look-up when people were asking about a 145.xxx or a 176.xxx and it'd be really handy to add a reference to the 176.001 card and discussion we had in C/ZOWIE last week. A "scrunched" version of this table looks something like this: Known/Documented Omega Prototypes [NOTE: These were...] Ref.#: Circa Year: Calibre: Description: Notes: 145.0022 c.1968-1973 c.861 Alaska Project/211 Mercury Hands @ Eric So, Lot 211 176.001 1974 c.1040 c.1040 Prototype Thread, Archive, Data Card 176.0017 1974 c.1045 c.1045 Prototype Unreleased model 11 103 c.1978-1986? ¿l.5012? "FIFA Referee" eBay Archive: 1 2 2a 3 Lot 276 Note: Alaska project is assumed to have the same dimensions as a 145.022 save for ... . I'll be contacting the fellow who purchased a FIFA Referee Chronograph last month and asking him for dimensions of his 11 103 FIFA and updating this table as other prototypes become documented. Cheers and Enjoy! -- Chuck

Considering a Speedy Day-Date? Read this 1st...

Considering a Speedmaster Day-Date model, Read this before you commit! Levy03 in the TZ Omega Forum pointed out that there have been a trio of reports of Speedmaster Day-Date (Also known as Day-Date Month) models which have reportedly had the problem within warranty of failing to change the day of the week. In the first instance a purchaser of a 3523.30 had two examples fail from the same Authorized Dealer and was waiting on his third. In the second instance a purchaser had to return his example (pictured above) to his dealer when the day wheel reportedly wasn't working properly. It's hard to impossible to say if this is a fluke, a bad batch or a something more. However, it seems advisable to check any Day-Date-Month 7751 based chronograph for proper Day and Month changeover before you purchase it. Here's what to do: Advance the time on the watch to approximately 6:00 pm Set the date to 31, the day and the month can be at any day or month. Then advance the time past 12pm and see if the day and month advance. If both the day and month switch over smoothly between about 10pm and 2-3am then the watch is probably ok. If it doesn't... I would pick out another. Thanks Levy for pointing this out. -- Chuck

Hard to pick a title for this entry...

I am really at a loss for a title for this entry... When so many good titles come easily to mind... Crow must be a delicacy in Australia... We've known he was an idiot, now he proves he's been lying... As Queen sang "Anyway the wind blows... [GONG]"... Has the lying stopped or not? It takes 6 failures to make Georges a wise man? [Tongue in cheek G, tongue in cheek!] When the shocking is not a surprise, at all... Somehow I'm not expecting an apology anytime soon... Aren't you glad all c.33xx owners are so forthcoming, eventually... Yet I get roasted when I share all what I've seen... And the Band played "Nearer, My God, To Thee" All of which would be such perfectly suited titles it's hard to pick one! Why? Y'all remember Thomas? (Sebastian Melmouth, etc.)? He posted again on WUS: [my comments will be interspersed and indented...] 1 Hour Ago Thomas Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Posts: 13 My NEW watch-Warning, prepare to be shocked!!! George Zaslavsky is a wise man and the wisdom he has continued to share with us is the fact that a movement MUST FIRST BE RIGOROUSLY TESTED TO ENSURE RELIAILITY. His concerns that Omega is suspect in this area is absolutely correct. Observation: Georges is far from the only person who is concerned about Omega and it's use of F. Piguet movements. I can confirm to you all that there is next to nothing quality control at Omega and the most MINIMUM testing is done on their watches. I am supposed to be shocked about this? Now this might be o.k. on generally simple and reliable movements like the 2500, BUT, on the much more complex movements like 3303, 3313 and 3612 this policy has proven absolutely disastrous. I guess it takes a long time from the echo to come back from OZ. The fact is that I have concealed that my rattrapantes This has to make all the people looking at c.33xx's and asking for owner's experiences feel real secure... (note the plural!! but more on that later) Ditto previous comment. have all suffered either complete failure on my wrist or have had massive faults and countless minor faults eg warping on the dial, rotation of the seconds hand jumpy, jittery and wobbly). This is really interesting coming from someone who was waxing grandiose last week: “One little fetish of mine concerns the alignment of the hands. They should be PERFECT, and they certainly are here. The 12hr totalizer hand and the central chrono hands (plural!) form a straight line.” My broadarrow would not reset properly This is supposed to shock me? and most my wife's first diamond deville had chipped and missing diamonds from the bezel (yes you read that right). Kinda makes you wonder why he bought it in the first place. You would never see this happen to a Rolex watch. Paging Matthew J! Since I saw myself as a champion of the new Omega, ... a brown-noser, extraordinare! I've been too ashamed and in a state of denial to hitherto disclose these all too painful facts. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me six times, what an maroon am I? The simple fact regarding my rattrapantes is this; since march of this year I've owned THREE rattrapantes and TWO FAILED ON MY WRIST AND THE THIRD ONE WOULD NOT WORK WHEN THE DATE FUNCTION WAS ENGAGED. Is this the point I'm supposed to be shocked about? This also explains why I carried on so much in my recent posts ¿He only carried on in his recent posts? because that was my third new watch and I was fully convinced all was finally o.k. ... Some one who really profoundly believes ‘Past performance does not mean future gains’ ... How wrong I was!!!! Wasn't the first time, by a long shot. Won't be the last time, either. the third one lasted three weeks. Makes me really eager to hand over my credit card, oh boy! It really requires a seperate post to describe the superhuman effort I made to obtain THREE new rattrapantes and then to get full in store credit to swap the rattrapante for some other brand. Especially when you know so much more than the people who you know more than about these things who are telling you this. It's really an unbelievable story. Only unbelieveable to those who are blind or aren't paying attention. For now, I would urge you all to stay away from the utterly crap and unreliable Piguet made movements. Run as far as you can from them and I would not touch one with a barge pole. Gee, like this is news. Omega is producing substandard watches at too fast a rate to meet demand and only worries about any problems at the warranty level. But all of those engineers... all that marketing... all those watch executives... who know what they are doing better than any of us! There is the most minimum testing done. Somehow, I don't think this is the part that's supposed to shock either. Anyway, I finally have seen the light Somehow I doubt that. Ironically, last week it was... "I think I now understand Martin Luther King's great speech, 'I've been to the mountain and I've seen the promised land'. " The truth be told is that Bienne is not on a mountain top it's in a valley and what's going on stinks to high-heaven. and have now given away my garbage broadarrow (yes you read that right) [shrug] Yawn... and have managed to get a refund for my utterly forgettable rattrapante. Ironically, last week it was... “I never want to wear anything else.” George Zaslavsky is completely correct when he says that the Rolex Daytona is the best chronograph on the market with the incredible bona fide in house 4130 movement that is fantastically well made, beyond anything Omega can ever manage. I don't doubt that the current Rolex Daytona's along with the previous El-Primero and Valjoux 72 base movements are excellent chronographs. I do however maintain that I am unconvinced of any practical advantage in-house movements impart other than lack of independent service or parts availability. I'm also unconvinced that the Daytona is the best chronograph in the market. I don't believe it is the best all around chronograph on the market. Omega will always be a second rate watch in comparison to any Rolex At the very least debateable and I certainly do not agree. and I should know better than most of you. Laughable! However, if knowledge/experience is directly related to amount of stupidity exhibited he may have a case. I'm just happy that I got out of this in time with my money refunded in full. I hope all the people who've read the comments about c.33xx's and taken the plunge anyway will be so lucky. I now own a brilliant watch, that is with good reason the most coveted watch in the world and one of the 10 best watches ever made. Enough of this and onto my new watch. [pictures of two-tone dark dial Rolex Daytona] Let me now present to you a genuine superlative in house watch, the Rolex Daytona Cosmograph. If you are all a little green with envy that will make me feel all the better!! Gee, I wonder what motivates him? My new watch is the very definition of beauty, craftmanship and reliability. Most of these qualities are not to be found in omega watches and certainly was no to be found in my 3 faulty rattrapantes. You mean the Rattrapantes that last week: “Its graceful lines, curves and accents really give it an air of class.” and “Of course, both hands enjoy the benefit of column wheel mechanisms. In other words, there is no slippage in the engagment of the mechanism and the pusher action is clean, crisp and firm. It really is a delight to use!!! This is the true haute horology of the chronograph complication. I thank Omega for this gorgeous creation,” or the Rattrapantes that two weeks ago: “Firstly, its a stunning watch in every way, with incredibly good looks. There are no weak points about this watch whatsoever.”, ... “this is, I think, the most innovative, refreshing and novel looking watch on mother earth. There is nothing like it. This watch is a complete success with respect to design because Omega didn't shackle itself with tradition, but also, it didn't try to re-invent the wheel either. The dial is just beautiful and perfect. I'm happy to say that the craftsmanship is equal to the challenge.” ... “Omega's design is a text book example of the art of watch design. If that wasn't enough, Omega then went ahead and designed what is the most clever and charming seconds subdial ever!! It truly is inspired. I never get tired of admiring it.” There is no pretend in house movement like the ones omega farmed out, One Week ago: “Omega rattrapante-Nothing else matters.” Two Weeks ago: “Getting to the heart of the matter, the greatest aspect of this beauty is its magneficent double column wheel movement. It is the stuff of horological dreams because it is complicated, beautiful and very rare. Only the very special chronographs have this.” Very special chrongraphs that break, a lot. with such disasterous results, to piguet. B--b-but I thought: “Life with this watch is a pleasure. I take pride in it and when needed, I flash it in front of an obnoxious rolex wearer and cut them down to size. People stare at it alot and I'm always asked how expensive is it. When I tell them, lots say why didn't I get rolex instead. I always reply that I wanted some more special!” This is all genuine and bona fide in house and consequently the quality speaks for itself. Oh ye baby this is the real deal. This week anyway. Rolex has put more careful and detailed work in the hour markers and the clasp pictured below than you'll find in any omega watch. So the clasp was really bad on the Rattrapante too, eh? I should know since..... my rattrapantes had distorted and warped dials, This guy really has no sense of direction does he? jumpy and jittery movement of the seconds hand, Folks, this is the same fellow who last week said: “Of course, both hands enjoy the benefit of column wheel mechanisms. In other words, there is no slippage in the engagment of the mechanism and the pusher action is clean, crisp and firm. It really is a delight to use!!! This is the true haute horology of the chronograph complication. I thank Omega for this gorgeous creation,” I'm not making this $#¡+ up! in fact omega coundn't even place the leather strap correctly on the watch. Oh, but that's so hard! The movements are complete garbage aswell and I now take back whatever I said against the valjoux 7750 movement. Here is a reminder of what the same person said two weeks ago about the 7750: “As the recent WatchTime article showed, most rattrapantes have a modified 7750 movement, which is truly an ugly, indeed disgusting movement, not worth mentioning on the same day as the 3612. ” At least it works!!! That seems to be unimportant to certain people. Here's a quote from your final paragraph two weeks ago: “Life with this watch is a pleasure. I take pride in it and when needed, I flash it in front of an obnoxious rolex wearer and cut them down to size.” Two weeks ago you were flashing your Rattrapante at obnoxious Rolex wearer's... Now you are the obnoxious Rolex wearer! I honestly don't know who's the biggest loser, the Rolex forum(s) or you! I'm sure it may seem cruel to pick on the obviously challenged. And personally, I'd warn everyone to take anything_ said by this person with an appropriately sized grain of salt: [Disclaimer: recommended doseage with this person may exceed safe consumption limits] Perhaps this latest post is a lie to try to provoke a flurry of other posts, this individual claims to have bought a Rattrapante and when queried about the veracity of that claim provided pictures and hasn't been shy about posting new pictures from time to time. Either this person has been intentionally misleading and lying to people about this watch and this movement family for many many months, OR maybe this post is the knowingly lie. Who knows, or at this point really cares? Either way, he's lying and intentionally misleading people. It would not be fair to lump in this sort of behaviour with those of other c.33xx owners who have either a) been forthcoming about problems they have suffered, or b) those who have earnestly and honestly have not suffered a failure with one (or more) with these chronographs. Even when a number of owners emphasize the good points of their experience (usually the accuracy of the timekeeping on their examples) and ignore or downplay the problems with this movement. I've said it before and I'll say it again. Do what you want to do, listen to whomever you wish to. But is my opinion buying one of these watches is akin to buying the sister ship of the Titanic and running it at flank speed in the North Atlantic during Iceburg season. It is simply not a sensible risk, certainly not a MSRP or likely dealer discounted prices. I seriously thought about posting a poll about what to title this entry over at the TimeZone Omega forum. But that would probably be too provocative and over the top and I don't want to create grief for Damon... It really REALLY p¡$$es me off that the problems are going on with these F.Piguet movements, people are intentionally lying and misleading innocent people about these problems and I really think someone needs to pull Omega/Swatch/Hayek's head's out of their neither-regions about the whole situation. It's truely shameful to drag such a venerable, respected and elder firm like Omega down into the sewer with this sort of foolishness, but it doesn't seem to faze the powers that be. [sigh] -- Chuck

Eberhardt & Co. also goofs on their bezel's like Tissot!

One of the things that's always pleasant about having a blog is hearing from people all over the world. A couple of days ago, I heard from Armando Camacho out of Guadalajara, Mexico in response to my recent blog post on the Tissot NASCAR Chronograph: Chuck: Have you noticed that Eberhard's Tazio Nuvolari chronograph has suffered the same malady for years (an absurd tachymeter scale with its numbers translated into MPH)? Indeed I hadn'tand Eberhardt & Co.'s website has to be the singularly most difficult website I have ever tried to access. So when I replied to Armando, I also CCed Pascal Stratsma as Pascal has a couple of Eberhardt chronographs. Their replies were a near dead heat with pictures of two separate Eberhardt models which have the same screwy needless tachymetre conversion as the Tissot I had posted earlier. Here's Armando's provided photo first: and this is the clearer of the two... The nice thing about this goof, is that at least one has the correct Tachy bezel underneath the crystal on the dial. However the exact same thing is happening on this model that Pascal submitted to me: What can I say... stupidity isn't limited to Tissot it'd seem! Thanks to both Armando and Pascal for their contributions to this entry. I couldn't have done it without you! -- Chuck

Follow-up: New information on NASCAR Tissot...

I received this email from Larry Loesch Wednesday...: From:  Larry Loesch Subject: Tachymeter bezel problems Date: October 18, 2006 2:04:08 PM CDT   A recent issue of the Horological Times featured that bezel in a "What do you suppose this is" article. The followup article confirmed that they used 1000 Meters as the base to calculate the speed in MPH.   If you are interested I'll get you the issue dates of the article in question.   - Larry Loesch Naturally, I said "Please send along anything you can dig up" in reply to Larry and he was especially effecient in sending along the following: From:  Larry Loesch Subject: Tachymeter bezel problems Date: October 18, 2006 10:47:29 PM CDT   The first mention of the watch was in the Aug 06 issue of the Horological Times on page 32.  They called it the Mystery Bezel Contest. :)  In the Sep 06 issue they gave the solution on page 20.  I think they were trying to protect the company's identity as they blurred the dial in the picture and don't call them by name.  I compared the picture in the article to the one on your site and it's the same watch.  That, or it's another watch with the exact same case where the blurs match perfectly!  Here's the relevant portion: ------ This bezel converts the vehicle speed from metric to English units and assumes the vehicle is traveling at a constant speed over a 1-kilometer distance.  The bezel readout gives the vehicle's speed in miles per hour.  The member or members who solved this mystery will be mentioned in next month's column.  The above correct answer was verified by two sources.  An e-mail was sent to our member Jerry Sussman asking his thoughts on the mystery bezel and a phone call was placed to a manager at the watch company.  Within a day or so, Jerry, an MIT professor of engineering and computer science, answered the e-mail.  He explained that this bezel converted vehicle speed from metric to English units as explained above.  Within a few days, the manager called and verified Jerry's explanation.  He also explained that the bezel was produced in Switzerland by designers who confused English and metric units when they designed this particular bezel.  The bezel went into production without anyone noticing the design error until an observant salesperson in a retail shop brought it to the  manufacturer's attention.  Future issues of this model will be equipped with the traditional tachymeter bezel.  Will this watch with it's unusual bezel become a collector's item in the future similar to a coin or stamp issued with an accidental flaw?  Time will tell. ------ Typos in the above are most likely due to my typing skills.   What's funny to me is that it took more work than a normal bezel to produce it!  I find it very surprising that somewhere along the line someone didn't say "Hey, guys... isn't this a lot harder than it should be?"  Oh well...   You may quote my emails as needed.   - LL So, Larry's email's answer a few things. I wasn't the first person to spot the problem. Although I did spot it independently as I had never heard of the "Horological Times" publication prior to Larry's email. Indeed, I was aware of the model back in August but I hadn't noticed the issue with the bezel back then. As indicated in the passage that Larry so graciously transcribed for us the bezel went into production. Thus this bezel was not the product of Photoshop or retouching as some people have suggested. This model (with the bezel) was shipped to dealers and was on display to customers before an observant sales person at a retail shop brought the issue to the manufacturer's attention. It's not clear if all examples that were on dealer's shelves were recalled and substituted with a newer model with a correct Tachymeter bezel which corrects the rather apparent issue with the erronious bezel. Not that this should be a surprise considering Omega's intransigence with regard to the known and acknowledged flaws with the F. Piguet c.33xx based Chronographs. Any examples with the flawed bezel will almost certainly be collectors items much along the lines of the "Speamaster" Speedmaster non-chronograph chronometers produced by Omega by mistake. However, just like Edsels, while they are collector's items, it doesn't necessarily mean that they will be a great value or lucritive in the collectors market. Like Larry I find it exceedingly interesting that the engineers of this bezel took so much time and effort to make this bezel more work than was necessary. I can't understand why someone (especially an engineer) wouldn't think a) "Why are we trying to re-invent the wheel here?" or b) "Haven't we done this or something similar in the past? Let's just copy that!".   And why would anyone think that a tachymeter that reads out in KM/h be attractive/needed by NASCAR fans?!?!?   What doesn't surprise me is that something so glaring made it past a Swatch Group firm's Quality Control/Marketing/etc. departments into production, distribution and yes probably even into customer's hands. Why doesn't this surprise me? Because I've seen several previous examples of similar ineptitude from Swatch Group, this is not an isolated instance.   As it is, Tissot's official website continues to display a picture of the watch in question with the flawed bezel, as well as a video on their website with the same bezel (as Rrryan pointed out on TZOF), two months after it was published in Horological Times. Were it not for an alert Salesperson (how many of them are there out there these days! Geez!) this model would likely still be on display at dealers.   I suppose if there is any thing to feel moderately good about it is that between Jeff Stein (Owner of OnTheDash.com), Eptaz00 (Moderator of the Omega forum over at WUS) and myself, we were able to figure out what the mistake was without consulting a Professor of engineering and Computer Science at MIT. True Jeff is a lawyer, and I have a degree (Associate's though certainly not a professor level degree) in Computer Programming, not sure what Eric's (Eptaz) education is. But I mean if we can figure out what happened in about 10 minutes of conversation shouldn't the folks who's job it is to make these things be able to do the same?   But then again, this is "The New Swatch Group". Sigh... If you're a fan of any of the Swatch Group brands, put on your seatbelt tight and get ready for a bumpy ride.   -- Chuck

Further proof: Bizzare stuff going on at Swatch Group...

For quite some time, I've been watching events with the Swatch Group in Switzerland with an increasing sense of bewilderment. Swatch Group is a huge conglomerate and, of course, is not an easy entity to get a grasp of. But still there have been a great deal of moves by the firm and it's subsidiaries that are questionable. Some of the moves which I see as dubious at best are certainly debatable, and believe me... folks have debated them with me. But a number of them are just bizarre and the fact that they are bizarre is really beyond debate... Here's a case in point... Jorge Merino Posts: N E W M o d e l - Omega Seamaster Railmaster Chronograph [May 06, 2004 - 11:12 AM] You see what's wrong with this picture? Need a hint? Apparently, they don't teach people to count by 5's accurately in Switzerland... This picture was posted by Jorge Merino who get's the press releases from many many Swiss watch firms. So this photograph came from an Omega press release. [Many thanks to Steve Waddington, moderator of the Zowie/Chronocentric Omega discussion forum for helping me relocate this post]... The other night, I was mentioning the curious case of the Tissot NASCAR chronograph while chatting on IM with Eric [Eptaz, moderator of the Omega forum over at WUS]. I had mentioned the curious inclusion of "Valjoux" on the display caseback on this watch previously, after Swatch Group takes great pains to encourage firms which use the 7750 to call the movement by it's newly bestowed "ETA 7750" name. When I noticed another major goof in this watch. Here's the picture: I took a look at the "Tachymeter MPH" bezel and said... What the F**K! Between Eric, Jeff Stein and myself, the only possible explanation that we could postulate is that perhaps someone decided to convert Kilometers into miles because 37 Miles per hour is roughly 60 KPH, and 50 MPH is roughly 80 KPH, etc.. All a Tachymetre bezel is a scale that divides the 3600 (the number of minutes (60) times the number of seconds (60) = 3,600) by the number of seconds to generate a "Units per Hour" indication. The number would be the same if measuring Kilometre's, miles, or furlongs. Why anyone would do a conversion when one is not necessary is confounding. The absurdity of this is simply mindboggling! I mean all a person has to do is look at a picture of any watch with a Bezel (that isn't laughably incorrect <-- Warning, link not for the weak of stomach!) and copy it. I mean, how difficult is that? But in this instance, like the Omega Railmaster, not only has the mistake been made, but professional watch photography been booked, taken and distributed to the press and the public, and in this instance, is pictured and remains on Tissot.ch's website: [Pictured on the left] at this very moment! Now, Tissot does have a different model pictured in the subwindow on the right, but why continue to have that fouled-up model as the main picture? Eric pointed out a post in a blog of this Tissot and a Quartz model... Guess what? The Quartz model has a mucked up bezel too! How can these watches (or even pictures of watches) with such mistakes make it to the public eye? This watch had to be designed, approved, "gone to metal", been professionally photographed, given to Marketing/Webmasters/etc. Where's the scrutiny? I'm reminded of the 1992 song by "Fresh Bush and the Invisible Man" called "Hard Times"... “Politics is higher taxes, Politics is fewer jobs, Federal regulations... Surely, Congress doin' drugs!” I don't know what the explanation is, but there is some seriously bizarre stuff going on at Swatch Group. This is nothing new, just further proof. -- Chuck P.S. Thanks again to Steve, Jeff and Eric for their input on this one.

News (to me anyway) about Ed White's Speedmaster...

Back on the 5th of September I received the following email message from Blake Bartosh... It was information new to me and I've received permission from Blake to post and host the information on my site... From: "Blake Bartosh" Date: September 05, 2006 8:47:02 AM CDT To: Chuck Maddox Subject: Ed White's Speedmaster information My father [Roger Bartosh] is in the habit of subscribing to all kinds of interesting things, and one of them was Superior Galleries' Space Memorabilia Auction catalogs.  [click on the pictures to open a full size scan in a new window] Of particular interest is the Spring 1999 catalog which lists as one of the auctions Ed White's Speedmaster.  The description identifies the NASA numbers engraved on the watch side and reverse.  Evidently the watch realized a value of $34,500 at auction.  I am saddened by the tragic event that took Ed White's life, and at the same time I am intrigued that the Hesalite crystal survived the intense heat and flames inside the Apollo 1 capsule. See the attached scans of the catalog cover, the page depicting the watch with description, and the final price realized for the watch (auction item 398).  Sorry about the quality of the auction page scan, the catalog is about an inch thick and hard to lay down on the scanner bed. Were you aware of this auction occurring? Best regards, Blake Indeed I was not aware of this auction and am a bit surprised that this watch was put up for auction. I'm not going to guess the White's rationale for selling the watch, but rather I'd suspect that either the GAO, NASA or the Smithsonian would likely have something of a claim on this watch as US property, unless it was a watch purchased by the late Mr. White. Of course if anyone has further information, I'd love to hear it. Thanks to both Roger and Blake for their efforts in sharing this information with us in the greater Omega Community. It is greatly appreciated! -- Chuck P.S. I'll post any follow-up email's I get relating to this story as comments in my blog.

2nd multiple Omega Chrono failure report in 3 days.

Stumeister Posts: Broad Arrow movement problems [Sep 10, 2006 - 10:59 AM] Just wanted to check with any of you experts out there what would be considered normal for problems with a auto chronograph. Sadly I bought a Broad Arrow in 2004 and it looks like I will be packing it up once more (the 5th time now) to send to Bienne with a problem associated with the minute chronograph hand not turning over. The watch does keep great time, but the chronograph cannot be guaranteed to work 20/20 when engaged (fails 3 to 4 times out of 20, usually in a row before if gets back on track). I have read a few lines of discussion on this forum regarding this movement line-> is there any current news from Omega that they may change this movement due to its unreliability? Or am I the lucky one that may have bought quite an expensive lemon? I replied to Stumeister's post over in TZOF. Some Thoughts... This will make the second report of multiple failures in chronographs in the past three days. The first report was made in reply to my post in this blog about Time Flies c.3303 issue by Nick Henson on Thursday, September 07, 2006 12:20:00 PM. I haven't heard back from Nick about my follow up post to Nick in the blog, so I do not know if his Seamaster Pro Chronograph sports a Valjoux 7750 or a c.33xx. I am not going to assume it's one model or another. I'm not going to count Nick's example either way until I hear from him. Unfortunately, he didn't leave me an email address to contact him directly (Blogger recorded "anonymous-comment@blogger.com" as Nick's address), I will have to hope that Nick either posts another comment or contacts me directly to clearify things. Stumeister's example was bought in 2004, fairly likely to have been produced after the remedial parts introduced in 2002 that certain people claim have elimidated or at least caused the ,,significant decline,, of problem reports. Even discounting Nick Henson's report, the c.33xx failure's sadly continue to be reported with regularity. -- Chuck

From NASA: Velcro Strap Blueprints...

It's always nice to get email's like these: I noticed your pdf drawing for the homemade velcro Moonwatch band in the Wikipedia article, not sure if you would be interested but I have somewhere in my files at work copies of the actual "blue prints" and specs for the real deal, I work down the street from the Johnson Space Center in Clear Lake Texas and had a buddy that works over there talk to one of the guys in procurement and he sent me the drawings, its a neat little bit of history. let me know if you are interested and I can email the scans to you sometime Monday. Thanks, Bob Lacy Fellow Speedy Pro owner. Bob remembered that he had the ability to pull down the graphics from home and he sent them to me last night... [click on the images above to pull up the full resolution [2.5m] scans ] Thanks to Bob for making these blueprints for NASA Velcro Straps available for those of us who wish to "roll our own"... Chuck

A note from Time Flies on his Omega c.3303 failing...

I received this email from Greg Bxxxxxxxx (Time Flies) tonight...: [note: because this is such a long email I have bolded the key parts]_________________ From: Greg Bxxxxxxxx (Time Flies) [I've omitted Greg's email, contact me if you wish to get in touch with him Subject: A note from Time Flies on his Omega c.3303 Date: July 29, 2006 4:48:17 PM CDT To: cmaddox3@sbcglobal.net Chuck, Long time, no talk. Well, here is another experience for your Blog or whatever. You are free to quote me anywhere -- on forums or wherever you find it useful. I don't participate in watch forums very much since I retired almost two years ago. I spend my time flying, fly fishing and working with the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. I have also been doing quite a bit of bush flying. I took a chance -- against your advice -- but the dollars didn't mean that much to me. I don't mean it the way it sounds. Every penny is worth a penny. But, in the great scheme of things, purchasing an Omega Olympic edition Seamaster Chronograph with the c.3303 was sort of a 'cheap chance' when I look at what I spend owning and maintaining two aircraft! I bought the watch in February of 2005. I wore it flying quite a bit and as an 'every day' watch on and off since I purchased it. I used the chronograph feature a lot, as does any pilot, even when not using it for flying. I time a lot of things. I have not had a single problem with the chronograph. Despite using it quite a bit, it has always reset properly and I noticed no other aberrations in its function. Three days ago, I noticed the watch seemed to lack power reserve and also felt the watch head wobbling on my wrist -- a more noticeable wobble than the old Valjoux 7750 characteristic wobble. So, I took the watch off my wrist and shook it a bit and you could feel and hear the rotor 'free spinning' with no ratcheting (winding) sound during or at the end of the rotor rotation. The number of rotor rotations was amazing ( maybe 20 or 30 or even more) with just a little shake of the watch head. Then I tested the power reserve and there is none with the watch starting from a dead stop (power reserve at zero after running down after winding). The rotor is not winding the watch and something has disengaged in that gear train. At least, it has a two year warranty. But, even if it is fixed, I will likely just put the watch in a drawer. I don't have time to fight Omega, which is a shame. But, I have other more interesting things to do and enough watches to wear. As a side note --- I own a bunch of watches as you know, or assume. And, I have owned a substantial number over the years. The three most reliable mechanical watches I have owned, in terms of accuracy and being totally free of problems despite heavy use and being knocked around are my Speedmaster Professional, a Breitling Navitimer I bought about five years ago after Breitling made some pretty dramatic changes in manufacture (buying Kelek) and quality control, and the ultimate tough watch, for me at least, a Tutima NATO with the wonderful Lemania 5100 (one heck of great watch for what I use watches quite a bit -- bush whacking, flying and fly fishing). So, I wish I had listened to you. But, I was willing and could afford to take a chance. I lost the game. But, I think Omega is genuinely 'lost'. It is a damn shame since I have owned Omegas since I966. I would not buy another currently marketed Omega. So, Omega lost me. It is a story of losing. Hope all is well, and again, you may post for me or quote anything I have said, not that my take on the situation or my experience matters to you or anyone else. If you do quote me, I would appreciate a quick note telling me where you have quoted me just for grins. I might check it out, and who knows, I might register again for a watch forum. Thanks for your help and conversation over the years. I send my best regards, Greg Bxxxxxxxx [I've omitted Greg's email, contact me if you wish to get in touch with him] (aka "Time Flies", "K2UM", "Pilot-4ES", "Old Phantom II Driver" and whatever other monikers I have used P.S. BTW, that list of three watches that have proven to be tough customers for me is relative to owning (I honestly lost count) maybe a hundred watches and that includes, AP, JLC, IWC, Omega, Breitling, VC, Rolex (had trouble with every one of these I've owned -- but that is only four), Blancpain, Panerai, Ventura, Glycine, Tutima, Sinn, and the list goes on and on. Heck, I can't even recall all of the manufacturers right now! You can just about name any "fairly big name" in watch marques and I've owned at least a couple their models along the way. By the way, I had no problems with my Panerai watches. I have not owned a Patek (no interest) or some of the unique, what I will call 'designer' marques.. The vast, vast majority were new purchases -- probably 90 of the 100 or so I had. I had trouble with every one of my JLCs despite them being part of their "Masters Series"; every Blancpain was a bust, the IWCs all ran very slow or were temperamental as hell if they used JLC ebauches; and every Rolex I've had developed winding or rotor problems and their service sucked to be honest. I just wanted to put my comments in some perspective. Personally, I think the whole Swiss watch industry has a pervasive problems with quality control and their watches are vastly overpriced. In fact, I own four great quartz watches and I always, always have a quartz watch with me when I really need to depend on timing, even if I am wearing a mechanical, you can bet a quartz is in my flight bag -- either a Microtech H3, a Breitling Emergency or a Breitling B-1 or my 16 year old Breitling quartz Navitmer (later rebadged as the Aerospace). _________________ Some brief observations [factual statements, not opinions]... Anyone who has been on TZ from a few years back will remember Time Flies. He was one of the heavy posters when I first started visiting Time Zone. Saying Greg knows a bit about watches is a bit like saying Story Musgrave knows a bit about working in space. I am not entirely sure the Omega Olympic edition Seamaster Chronograph were equipped with a c.3303, I was under the impression that these watches were fit with the newer c.3301 movements, but there were so many Olympic commemoratives released that it's quite possible that Greg has it right. This will be the third problem reported with c.33xx's since 21 June (5 1/2 weeks - 38 days): a Connie Double Eagle c.3313, a BA c.3303 and this Olympic Commemorative, at least that I am aware of... It would seem that I'm not the only person who feels that the Swiss Watch industry has a significant problem in the area of Quality Control. And some personal opinions: With 3 failures in the past 5 1/2 weeks, with a variety of models (Speedmaster Broad Arrow, Double Eagle Constellation, Seamaster Olympic Commemorative), new models (Connie)m repeat repair (BA) and 18 month old purchase, I would think that even the most strident c.33xx fans would take pause at these continuing reports of problems with this movement. These reports do not seem to be going away. I'm starting to think my earlier description of "problems happening in spurts and gaps" is more accurate than my more recent "it seems the failure reports are fewer and farther apart" assessment. [this might be as much a fact as my opinion:] These failures ARE COSTING OMEGA CUSTOMERS! Omega's reputation as a producer of quality product, built up over a century and a half of hard word, is being greviously and possibly irreparably harmed by the shortsighted ignoring/downplaying of documented, continuing and numerious problems these Fredric Piguet based movements are suffering. Sacrificing one's reputation for short term sales is a poor business practice. I don't know what else to say that I haven't said before, likely dozens of times. Far lesser companies than Omega would have done what was right about these problems long ago. The steps which Omega has taken thus far have not been effective in eliminating the issues existant with these movements. Expecting different or improved results by staying pat isn't a logical or reasonable expectation. -- Chuck P.S. If you'd like to get in touch with Greg (Time Flies) email me and I'll work to make it happen.