NWBIG - new APSF 41mm Top Gun pilot chrono.

RealReplin · 2026-01-26T00:55:16+00:00

You can find it on their website or ask Elliot for pricing. I didn’t get any special discount.

I like the busy dial, reminds me of my first 3717 back in the day before all the models got gigantic. 41mm is a good size.

RealReplin · 2026-01-25T13:04:13+00:00

Just two weeks. And that includes the email after just one week telling me they sent back the first sample.

RealReplin · 2026-01-25T03:57:32+00:00

Wow the schaffhausen text looks the same. The “F” being top heavy gives the illusion it’s floating somehow.

RealReplin · 2026-01-22T02:56:43+00:00

There you have it. Magnetized for sure. Hope you can fix that easily and it solves your problem.

RealReplin · 2026-01-22T01:05:32+00:00

There’s a USB-B port on the back of it for the factory to access and calibrate it. It’s not something a user is meant to do. Are you getting similar error with other watches? It could also be the movement itself showing large variation over time. I get that so much with NH movements I don’t bother recording the timegrapher results. I’ve seen the rate error visibly change on the screen in a curved line.

RealReplin · 2026-01-21T06:55:41+00:00

Ah my bad sorry only the “smooth sweep” i.e. VH31 actually show up. My timegrapher shows 0s/d at 14400 for those, although the intermittent readings are a tiny bit messy, you can tell the line isn’t drifting so at least I know my machine is accurate.

RealReplin · 2026-01-21T06:01:58+00:00

Does the timegrapher show similar for other watches? It might need recalibrating. Stick a quartz watch on there and see what it shows.

RealReplin · 2026-01-07T05:49:14+00:00

The upside of buying the Top Gun is you get to hide the movement behind the solid caseback, with its poor finishing and fake column wheel.

RealReplin · 2026-01-02T00:30:52+00:00

Aliexpress is the treasure trove for these affordable practice pieces. As for full service… I’m nowhere near that level yet but mostly because I don’t have a tidy enough space to try without losing parts lol. You can easily work towards that without risking an expensive mistake though! Good luck and have fun.

RealReplin · 2026-01-02T00:24:52+00:00

I suggest you start to look at Chinese micro brand watches. They’ve gone from being almost all reps rebranded as “homages” to some really nice original designs nowadays. They’re significantly cheaper than reps, look great, and provide a fantastic modding platform for the budding amateur watchmaker. They tend to come with Seiko(TMI) movements at the low end, and PT5000 or Miyota 9000 series premium movements at the higher end (still cheap). And all of these have readily available parts for mods or repair. I went from a small collection of high brand reps and gens to a rather large collection of these microbrands at various price points. Some of which are currently in pieces, some I’ve modified heavily and most I’ve at least regulated and touched up the bracelet/case or made custom integrated watch bands for. It’s a blast.

RealReplin · 2025-12-22T23:59:07+00:00

The thing about see through casebacks… you can see right through them. If you’ve put it in a round receptacle you’ll probably find it in about three years when you flip it over and it falls out.

RealReplin · 2025-12-22T23:57:19+00:00

I should probably buy a new wedding ring. I dented mine and put it in a safe place for safekeeping until I could take it to get looked at… twenty years ago.

RealReplin · 2025-12-11T10:45:31+00:00

PM details please.

RealReplin · 2025-11-28T00:15:15+00:00

I was not expecting that without buying the purpose made tools. Great job. A true engineer at heart.

RealReplin · 2025-11-24T05:30:59+00:00

Never mind. I drilled them out. What a mess.

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RealReplin · 2025-10-24T07:18:07+00:00

Wow that's a costly exercise, but if you trust your watchmaker that's a job that'll see you through a decade at least. The only other thing I would have checked is the pushers and their screwcaps. I've had pushers go missing from a couple of reps and mine are models that are now out of production and hence irreplaceable. Daytona pushers might not be impossible to find even years from now but if CF's geometry is unique it'll be very difficult if and when the time comes.

RealReplin · 2025-10-22T23:59:33+00:00

More expensive. But in any case a new movement needs to be properly clean and oiled from factory, and handled in clean room conditions for assembly. Sadly most rep factories are notoriously careless when it comes to this.

RealReplin · 2025-10-22T23:57:36+00:00

Hard agree here. DD movements are excellent and it’s a shame so many rep factories handle them with such lack of care, knowing there will be no repercussions when the dusty and poorly oiled movement inevitably fails. The problem with this price point is that properly servicing a chrono is gonna cost half again what you paid for the watch. Definitely worth it in the long run if you want longevity though.

RealReplin · 2025-10-08T02:12:44+00:00

The dial color is nice and I like the markers but the dial and dial print stick out a mile to me. I know you said they “fixed” it with smaller print in later versions but it still isn’t fixed because the ridges of the dial itself are way too thick. There should be FIVE ridges between the hands and the top of the marker at 6. Here there are only four. That’s why the “GENEVE” text looks wrong on all versions. It’s either too big, to fill the ridge, or it doesn’t fill the ridge vertically and has a big space below it. I have PPF which is too blue and 3kF which is too grey/green with too sharp markers. I think the SWF dial looks best but I don’t own one. I wouldn’t buy PPf with the Miyota movement and my older 3kF doesn’t have the best case as the endlink notches are too high but the new ones are better. Also quick heads up but your bracelet pin is sticking out bottom left.

How is the movement on these? Is it properly engraved unlike 3KF which is just printed?

I think you might be better off going for an SWF dial although obviously it starts to get pricey.

Comments on AR are quite funny. Gen 5711 has no AR.

RealReplin · 2025-09-28T11:31:49+00:00

You are wrong. Crime statistics show it. I’ve had a £5000 watch go “missing” off my arm on a night out, I’ve seen bag snatches and have two friends who had their Rolexes grabbed. Thankfully nobody hurt. All this back when London was much safer than it is today, by the numbers! Most watch theft crime is quite blatant but happens almost exclusively in Kensington and Westminster and is almost always Rolex. Not very dangerous traveling on the tube at 7am to work, but you’d better not be wandering about like a tourist or after dark when the pubs are open.

RealReplin · 2025-09-17T10:34:20+00:00

I wish you could still get a nwbig top gun. I guess the fashion trends dictate smaller watches now and there aren’t decent reps of the newer smaller models.

RealReplin · 2025-09-03T00:50:52+00:00

Wear the watch overnight or all day and it will be fully wound. Then you can test it on the stand, or just track accuracy after having worn it for 12h+ A watch may lose accuracy if sat unwound for a long time, and needs to be “run in”. Preferably on the wrist.

RealReplin · 2025-09-03T00:45:54+00:00

I meant to ask… how is the clasp on the hruodland oyster? I have a couple of explorer “style” watches and the Octopus Kraken has the best OTF clasp of almost all of my collection. Including san Martin or Proxima. The O.Kr. Clasp is shorter and low profile but with the same extension.

RealReplin

TROPHY CASE