great GTG. and that's said with me having ample opportunities meeting both HK and SG guys in their respective cities. This one was for the record books and gets better and better every year. to an even better one next year.

Big congrats Tonny on your appointment, which i am given to understand will be elevated to sole Moderator in 2016.

May u bring the genteelness a public forum requires, and may there be genuine engagement to draw new enthusiasts into a real collectors forum and circle.

The forum is overdue for a change - it is long overdue to rid itself of the draconian, jealous and paranoid stewardship that most identify the forum with.

May the forum grow into a genuine and real collectors forum, engaging the incredibly large number of collectors residing elsewhere in other social media, or who are simply not engaged enough to cease being a lurker of this forum, and not just the circle of 40-50 collectors who are tolerant of that stewardship.

on the fish crown - I had to have a special arrangement done, and sacrifice water-proofing as a result. I was helped that the regional center was also in Hong Kong so very clear instructions could be given to them by the boutique staff.

Kevin - here's Roman's post when he acquired his 3227 Ken Noguchi

www.iwc.com/forum/en/discussion/31263/

My wife has taken to calling my ref 5002 slow beat Big Pilot 'bumble-bee', and since it has gone through my own watchmaker, and then to IWC for fixing the crown-thread problem (preventing it from locking properly).

I finally got a msg yesterday from Ronie that it could be picked up. so in a huff and a puff I dashed off after work to get it...

and as the watch world whirls and whirls, look who I bumped into without pre-arrangement.

As some of you know, Roman has been in HK and Singapore for brief periods, and I was slated to meet him later today, but as watch-fate would have it, he swung by the nearest boutique to his hotel in the half hour he had to spare, and found me sitting there talking to Eric :)

so here is my 5002 and his Ken Negochu having a small GTG.

and as fate would have it, Ricky also swung by for a few quick minutes to pick up his Ali XS strap (we forgot to take a pic, lol).

so on this lazy Saturday, I took some time out for some much needed big pilot photography, having missed a black-dial pilot for a really long time, not helped by the many beautiful pics of the DFB, Japan edition BP, and the Markus Buhler and SC's blue Big Pilot Los Angeles edition on facebook...

...and very much into the classic side of things for quite a few months...

finally uniting both my Big Pilots (yes SC and Tracy - I need more BPs !)

and gratefully, to Ronie of Prince's Building boutique, for the retention of the fish crown :)

congrats, and nicely done. Love the yacht club chrono. I recently completed a I-II-III trio, and my YC1 is momentarily on my wrist right now -- and I am quite certain I want the various versions of the YC1 too...

nicely done gents - great pics Kevin :)

really makes me want another holiday in switzerland again !

so the news is finally out for the post-SIHH but pre-September novelties :)

great stuff Pauline. thanks for sharing.

one correction - the Portofino 8 days blue dial is not a Laureus edition I believe. corrections welcome.

nicely done. allow me to join with my family here... especially for Skule too :) if I have it my way, this is missing a Pisa, a ref 325 cal 982, and perhaps a forthcoming edition ;-) ?

nice shots as always, and like Alan I prefer individual numbers on the side.

the 5001-14 started it all for me in early 2011, purchased as a 'it is about time I find out what is so special about an IWC', as documented here:

www.iwc.com/forum/en/discussion/26881/?page=7

and since then, well... this passion has grown and grown and grown with GTGs, SIHHs, and of course the IWC staff in Scaffhausen, Hong Kong and Singapore...but most importantly because of the friendships forged through engagement in this great forum.

lifted from that earlier post last year...

Thanks for the efforts Clemens. Great stuff!

Love the blue. Enjoy it and thanks for sharing. It won't be your last IWC, I am pretty sure ( especially if you hang around here :))

interesting to see. thanks for sharing.

another DFB on the forum - love it. congrats and enjoy !

this watch has an original IWC calibre 83 movement I believe. I'm not sure if the case, dial, hands and crown are original though. The experts in this forum may comment further.

if you have tried the original IWC XS straps and deployant to no avail, then I think the only solutions are:

• to customize make straps of your preferred lengths, or
• switch to a pin buckle - but that will also mean a change of straps, and also purchasing a pin buckle from IWC.

nice gift Clemens - congrats.

I think they are watch cushions. That watch brand beginning with an R supplies cushions of this design.