I finally got my first rep last week...a 39mm Railmaster from Ruby. First let me say that based on this single purchase, I would happily buy from Ruby again. Initially I had ordered an Aqua Terra with a blue dial and the "2892" movement, but after I ordered and paid for it, I was told that the factories were out of the movements and that I could either wait, order another watch, or request a refund. I chose to wait.
After two weeks and three updates, once more Ruby told me that she didn't know when the movement would be available and that I could either order another watch or get a refund. I decided to go for a 39mm Railmaster instead (I was torn between the Railmaster and the Aqua Terra from the start.) I sent Ruby some pictures of both Andrew's and Josh's Railmaster with the brown alligator band and the 2824 and 2836 movement. Two days later I got an email from Ruby saying that she got the watch and would send me some pictures. It was $10 more than the Aqua Terra, but she said that was because the factory wanted a lot for the band.
When I got the pictures I was very happy except that the 2836 movement was gold, not silver like in the pictures I sent to Ruby. Her pictures clearly showed the ETA casting number as well as the ETA logo. She said that was what the factory had, but that she would see if she could get the 2836 swapped out in favor of the nickel colored 2824 on the bracelet version. The next day I got an email back saying that they couldn't swap out the movement, but that she thought I would be very happy with the watch. I decided to go for it, as the movement looked to be genuine 2836. Ruby said that she would also send me a MB pen for being patient over the last 3 weeks.
I requested that she send the watch and pen and send me an EMS tracking number. On Friday the 13th I got an email with the EMS tracking number...I looked it up on their site and nothing was there. By the 15th the tracking number was showing up on USPS and by Wednesday the 18th it showed that the package had cleared US Customs. I was going away on a trip and wouldn't be back until the next Monday so I'd have to wait. When I got back on Monday night I found a pink USPS slip waiting for me. My wife picked up the package the next morning and when I got home that night I was excited to open my package.
I found a box about 10 inches by 5 inches covered in Chinese characters. When I opened it up I took out a huge wad of bubble-wrap that was wrapped tight by brown packing tape. I began to gently cut the tape and the first thing I uncoverd was the pen. As I'm not familiar with MB pens, I really liked it, but couldn't really tell how close it was to the gen....it did write fine though and it seemed like a quality piece.
After a couple more minutes, I was able to uncover the watch. It was in a sealed plastic baggie that contained the watch, the warrenty card, the instructions and two hangtags. The first thing that struck me was the AR coating...in the light the crystal has a very noticeable blue tinge, The watch itself looked great...the dial seemed to have very crisp printing and a beautiful matte black color. The crystal tapped with a familiar feel...I do believe that it is a saphire crystal (it feels like my Marcello C Nettuno 3, not the plastic of my vintage 1961 Seamaster) With a simple shake the second hand began to smoothly go around the dial. I unscrewed the crown, set the time, and rescrewed down the crown to set the time. At this point the only thing that I did notice is that the movement seemed to have a whirl (rotor shake?) when I shook it. When I tapped the crystal, I could also hear/feel that whirl. I do not notice the whirl when the watch is on my wrist. The display back has the correct writing too...through it you can see the gold 2836 movement.
Moving my attention to the band it was a bit lighter in color than I had expected (it looked like Ruby's picture, more of a light brown than the dark brown of the gen. But the feel of the bracelet is not like any of the other "fake" crock bands I have felt...it is softer, almost feeling like it has talc powder on it (it doesn't...it is just really soft) The brown band compliments the matte black face of the watch and the metallic arrow hands very nicely. The bands delployment band is beautiful...it has the two push buttons on either side of the mechanism....the Omega symbol is present, and there is the word "Omega" engraved on the underside of the clasp.
PRO:
The watch is beautiful...very classic and it looks great with my suit. So far it is keeping a respectably +15 seconds per day. I expect it to settle down in a couple of weeks, but if not, hopefully a simple regulation will get it down to less than 5 seconds per day deviation.
From the front, things seem to be very close to the gen Railmaster. The AR is very strong as well with a nice blue tinge...I don't remember if the original has this, but it works with the watch.
The band is beautiful...not my favorite shade of brown (Ruby said that is all that they made), but it just seems like a very solid and high quality band. I don't know enough about leather to say so, but it is easily the softest leather I've ever felt. I'll be taking a trip into my AD (without the watch) to check out the feel of the gen crock band. Who knows, maybe I got lucky here.
The watch has a nice heft and feels like it is quality.
Cons:
The lume is adequate, but not great by any sense of the word. I didn't expect all that much, but from some of the other reviews, I was expecting something that would last more than about 10 minutes. OK, I haven't timed it, but it just doesn't seem too strong.
The band is the wrong color, but still beautiful
My biggest disappointment with this watch is the look of the movement. (not the movement itself...that seems nice)..it is a total giveaway, even to someone who doesn't know anything about watches. I knew about this before I ordered the watch, so it isn't something that would have changed my mind. Ideally it would have had the nickel 2824 movement with a decorated rotor...but as it is keeping decent time, I'm happy. I also don't know what the whole rotor noise is, but as long as its keeping good time I'm not going to worry about it.
Here are some pictures (I hope that they aren't too big)
After two weeks and three updates, once more Ruby told me that she didn't know when the movement would be available and that I could either order another watch or get a refund. I decided to go for a 39mm Railmaster instead (I was torn between the Railmaster and the Aqua Terra from the start.) I sent Ruby some pictures of both Andrew's and Josh's Railmaster with the brown alligator band and the 2824 and 2836 movement. Two days later I got an email from Ruby saying that she got the watch and would send me some pictures. It was $10 more than the Aqua Terra, but she said that was because the factory wanted a lot for the band.
When I got the pictures I was very happy except that the 2836 movement was gold, not silver like in the pictures I sent to Ruby. Her pictures clearly showed the ETA casting number as well as the ETA logo. She said that was what the factory had, but that she would see if she could get the 2836 swapped out in favor of the nickel colored 2824 on the bracelet version. The next day I got an email back saying that they couldn't swap out the movement, but that she thought I would be very happy with the watch. I decided to go for it, as the movement looked to be genuine 2836. Ruby said that she would also send me a MB pen for being patient over the last 3 weeks.
I requested that she send the watch and pen and send me an EMS tracking number. On Friday the 13th I got an email with the EMS tracking number...I looked it up on their site and nothing was there. By the 15th the tracking number was showing up on USPS and by Wednesday the 18th it showed that the package had cleared US Customs. I was going away on a trip and wouldn't be back until the next Monday so I'd have to wait. When I got back on Monday night I found a pink USPS slip waiting for me. My wife picked up the package the next morning and when I got home that night I was excited to open my package.
I found a box about 10 inches by 5 inches covered in Chinese characters. When I opened it up I took out a huge wad of bubble-wrap that was wrapped tight by brown packing tape. I began to gently cut the tape and the first thing I uncoverd was the pen. As I'm not familiar with MB pens, I really liked it, but couldn't really tell how close it was to the gen....it did write fine though and it seemed like a quality piece.
After a couple more minutes, I was able to uncover the watch. It was in a sealed plastic baggie that contained the watch, the warrenty card, the instructions and two hangtags. The first thing that struck me was the AR coating...in the light the crystal has a very noticeable blue tinge, The watch itself looked great...the dial seemed to have very crisp printing and a beautiful matte black color. The crystal tapped with a familiar feel...I do believe that it is a saphire crystal (it feels like my Marcello C Nettuno 3, not the plastic of my vintage 1961 Seamaster) With a simple shake the second hand began to smoothly go around the dial. I unscrewed the crown, set the time, and rescrewed down the crown to set the time. At this point the only thing that I did notice is that the movement seemed to have a whirl (rotor shake?) when I shook it. When I tapped the crystal, I could also hear/feel that whirl. I do not notice the whirl when the watch is on my wrist. The display back has the correct writing too...through it you can see the gold 2836 movement.
Moving my attention to the band it was a bit lighter in color than I had expected (it looked like Ruby's picture, more of a light brown than the dark brown of the gen. But the feel of the bracelet is not like any of the other "fake" crock bands I have felt...it is softer, almost feeling like it has talc powder on it (it doesn't...it is just really soft) The brown band compliments the matte black face of the watch and the metallic arrow hands very nicely. The bands delployment band is beautiful...it has the two push buttons on either side of the mechanism....the Omega symbol is present, and there is the word "Omega" engraved on the underside of the clasp.
PRO:
The watch is beautiful...very classic and it looks great with my suit. So far it is keeping a respectably +15 seconds per day. I expect it to settle down in a couple of weeks, but if not, hopefully a simple regulation will get it down to less than 5 seconds per day deviation.
From the front, things seem to be very close to the gen Railmaster. The AR is very strong as well with a nice blue tinge...I don't remember if the original has this, but it works with the watch.
The band is beautiful...not my favorite shade of brown (Ruby said that is all that they made), but it just seems like a very solid and high quality band. I don't know enough about leather to say so, but it is easily the softest leather I've ever felt. I'll be taking a trip into my AD (without the watch) to check out the feel of the gen crock band. Who knows, maybe I got lucky here.
The watch has a nice heft and feels like it is quality.
Cons:
The lume is adequate, but not great by any sense of the word. I didn't expect all that much, but from some of the other reviews, I was expecting something that would last more than about 10 minutes. OK, I haven't timed it, but it just doesn't seem too strong.
The band is the wrong color, but still beautiful
My biggest disappointment with this watch is the look of the movement. (not the movement itself...that seems nice)..it is a total giveaway, even to someone who doesn't know anything about watches. I knew about this before I ordered the watch, so it isn't something that would have changed my mind. Ideally it would have had the nickel 2824 movement with a decorated rotor...but as it is keeping decent time, I'm happy. I also don't know what the whole rotor noise is, but as long as its keeping good time I'm not going to worry about it.
Here are some pictures (I hope that they aren't too big)
