I finally got my watch and got it all put together. I had purchased it from Hont and it ONLY took a week to get from him to me in Southern California after it was actually shipped (about 2 weeks when taking into consideration communication, his QC pics, sending money, etc...).
It arrived just as promised and looks great. When I was ordering the watch, I really wanted something with a clean chrono face but a polished bracelet. Initially I was looking at a Brietling Navitimer or Chronomat B05. I ended up shying away from those because it seems like everyone has them and I wanted something different and something that not as many people know about (brand).
I ordered it thinking it would be really easy to just buy a polished stainless bracelet on it. Well wouldn't you know it, it is about the only watch out there that uses a 23mm lug size (except for some russian watch where the parts aren't even available). So I did all the research that I could and came up with buying the replica Navitimer bracelet in the 24mm size and shaving it down to 23mm. This proved to be much more difficult than I thought. Shaving the end pieces was EASY, the only problem is that the first link still fits slightly inside the lugs and was still too wide. That means I had to grind those down and then file, sand and polish those links as well, which were pretty thick. All in all the job took me about 1 1/2 hours and looks pretty good. Without knowing what to look for, someone couldn't tell it was custom fitted while it is on my wrist (other than the watch doesn't come with a metal strap of any kind).
Some might think it is stupid to put another brands/style bracelet on a Chopard and others might think it is stupid to put a stainless bracelet on a watch that is ONLY offered with a rubber band. Hopefully I don't get too much flack
Some quick iphone pics below
It arrived just as promised and looks great. When I was ordering the watch, I really wanted something with a clean chrono face but a polished bracelet. Initially I was looking at a Brietling Navitimer or Chronomat B05. I ended up shying away from those because it seems like everyone has them and I wanted something different and something that not as many people know about (brand).
I ordered it thinking it would be really easy to just buy a polished stainless bracelet on it. Well wouldn't you know it, it is about the only watch out there that uses a 23mm lug size (except for some russian watch where the parts aren't even available). So I did all the research that I could and came up with buying the replica Navitimer bracelet in the 24mm size and shaving it down to 23mm. This proved to be much more difficult than I thought. Shaving the end pieces was EASY, the only problem is that the first link still fits slightly inside the lugs and was still too wide. That means I had to grind those down and then file, sand and polish those links as well, which were pretty thick. All in all the job took me about 1 1/2 hours and looks pretty good. Without knowing what to look for, someone couldn't tell it was custom fitted while it is on my wrist (other than the watch doesn't come with a metal strap of any kind).
Some might think it is stupid to put another brands/style bracelet on a Chopard and others might think it is stupid to put a stainless bracelet on a watch that is ONLY offered with a rubber band. Hopefully I don't get too much flack
Some quick iphone pics below
