rodia77's interaction with R Nienaber

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Oct 7, 2019, 08:17 PM
rodia77

3 Attachment(s)

rodia77's interaction with R Nienaber

This thread is for the discussion that started in my 'secret project' thread: https://www.intlwatchleague.com/show...l=1#post475273 -- hopefully, those posts will get moved to here.

Quote:

Originally Posted by me

Hi,

I'm looking for a specific kind of watch and haven't yet found one that would tick all the boxes, and someone advised me to contact you and inquire.

I'm looking for a 3-hander, ~38mm in diameter (can be a bit smaller if all-dial, or a bit larger if with a wider bezel), with a deck/marine/trench watch vibe: bold Roman numerals with ideally red XII, train track for minutes, central or small seconds, preferrably spades or Breguet type hands (but that's not an iron requirement), the movement needs to hack and hand-wind (so something in the likes of ETA 28*, or Miyota 90*). I'd like it to have more of military/utility DNA than dress.

Do you do any models in this spirit or would you be able to make one and how much would it cost me?

Thank you,
R

Quote:

Originally Posted by him

Thank you for your intress. That will be possible. Do you mean a dial like the attached watch? Only the dial.
Regards
Rainer

Attachment:
Attachment 90086

Quote:

Originally Posted by me

Hi Rainer,

Thank you for your prompt reply.
Yes, something in that vein, albeit I wouldn't mind if the numerals were more substantial, so that it looks less gentle/dress and more utility. I see that it's very similar to the Archimede that I looked at:

Attachment 90082

But the Archimede is 42mm in size, which is too large.

On one of the forums I described the watch I'm after as follows:

Outline:
- Roman numerals > anything else
- auto or hand-wound
- size 37-40mm, great if wears like proper 38mm
- miltary/tool DNA (descendants of deck/trench watches?), with only moderate 'dress' factor
- fancy hands welcome (Breguet, spade etc)
- reissues good, vintage bad
- Longines, kiss my caseback with your 3ATM

Also, just to be clear, while I'm looking for a watch of certain style, I'm not looking for one that would simply copycat existing designs in part or whole.

Thanks!
R

Quote:

Originally Posted by him

I can offer you a watch in the case like attached. Ø 37 mm, Handwinding movement UNITAS 6325 with small second, dial and hands like your sample with red VII. Hands steel blued. Two saphirglases and leatherstrap for 1.600 €.

Please let me know.

Regards

Rainer

Attachment:
Attachment 90088

Quote:

Originally Posted by me

Hi Rainer,

Is this case made entirely by you or is it a third party component?

Thank you,
R

Quote:

Originally Posted by him

No, I can by this case in a special shop.

Quote:

Originally Posted by me

Hi Rainer,

Thank you for the information.

Could you kindly explain the following?

1. Why weren't you straightforward about Walter watches, a brand that I understand you co-created?
2. How come this watch with generic case that you're offering to me is priced higher than the ones with your beatifully finished cases still available for sale at/through Uhrendirect.de?

Thank you,
R

Quote:

Originally Posted by him

The WALTHER watches cost about the same. And I made 20 of those. Single pieces are a bit more expensive.

Quote:

Originally Posted by me

I'll pass then, thank you for your time Rainer.
R
Oct 7, 2019, 10:08 PM
skywatch

He seemed very generous with his time, and reasonable. HIs price is not crazy for a one-off watch.
Oct 8, 2019, 07:01 AM
Seriously

I'm not sure Mr Nienaber would take kindly to his email conversation going public without his permission or acknowledgement ? :thumbsdown:

I can't see the point in this thread to be honest. :shrug:
Oct 8, 2019, 09:22 AM
rodia77

Quote:

Originally Posted by skywatch

He seemed very generous with his time, and reasonable. HIs price is not crazy for a one-off watch.

"Hey, can you write a song for me? Something with a melody?"
"Sure, do you mean something like la la la, la la la?"
"Yeah."
"Okay, I can write it for you." Takes a few lines written for other songs years ago, adds a pop chorus you can hear from speakers here and there. "Here, there you go, your special song."
"Thank you maestro!"
;-)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Seriously

I'm not sure Mr Nienaber would take kindly to his email conversation going public without his permission or acknowledgement ? :thumbsdown:

I can't see the point in this thread to be honest. :shrug:

I care about his permission as much as he does about transparency in dealings with customers. :D
Oct 8, 2019, 09:33 AM
Matt

Quote:

Originally Posted by Seriously

I'm not sure Mr Nienaber would take kindly to his email conversation going public without his permission or acknowledgement ? :thumbsdown:

I can't see the point in this thread to be honest. :shrug:

I could be wrong, but as I read it, the implication was that Rodia was being offered a bespoke case rather than a generic and presumably Chinese case which I’d assume cost about thirty quid. Fortunately, Rodia has a good eye, has done his research and is less than impressed at the offer. As such, by publicising what could seen as shady profiteering, I’d say he’s doing the community a favour as less savvy folk might end up paying what I’d consider far too much for a similar watch. There are far too many folk trying to market sows’ ears as silk purses and, if this is another example of this, then Rodia is doing everyone a favour by sharing his experience.

As for sharing texts, I’m not a mod, but this looks like an attempt at a commercial transaction between a company representative and a buyer, rather than two individuals...

Milage May vary, but it looks this way to me and any discussion to arrive at a consensus can only be a good thing.
Oct 8, 2019, 09:54 AM
rodia77

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matt

I could be wrong, but as I read it, the implication was that Rodia was being offered a bespoke case rather than a generic and presumably Chinese case which I’d assume cost about thirty quid. Fortunately, Rodia has a good eye, has done his research and is less than impressed at the offer.

Not exactly. While I never mentioned Chinese, I went as far in my assumptions as 'likely worth less than €100', but Alan found out it was a €210 Ickler: https://www.intlwatchleague.com/show...l=1#post475350

Edit: And I was never offered a bespoke case. I was offered a generic case straight away, but I found out earlier that he'd made bespoke cases for similar watches. Just to make clear that RN didn't try to offer me one thing and sell another instead.

I posted this whole email exchange to disperse 'lost in translation' and 'miscommunication' guesses that appeared after my initial report of the interaction.