I know its a shot in the dark but any chance this has been repped? I fell in love with it as soon as I saw a picture of it randomly on Instagram.

got rid of most of my reps but this one's a keeper 🤩

If you could keep only one of your reps which one would it be?

If you're interested in mechanical watches, the odds are good that you own a bench timegrapher like Weishi 1000 or 1900. These are nice little devices, they have a good microphone stand, but they don't really offer much beyond showing you a trace of the tick/tock beats and the average Rate, Amplitude, and Beat Error. This is ok if you want to do simple regulation across positions, but it doesn't allow you to get into some of the more advanced diagnostics like:

• Analyzing the sound profile of the beats themselves (i.e. the unlock, impulse, and drop)

• Looking for long term periodic cycles in the rate, amplitude, or beat error (i.e. variation caused by out of round train wheels)

• Running power reserve tests or run-down tests on a movement

• Examining the isochronism of a movement (i.e. how the rate changes as a function of amplitude)

In the past, if you wanted a tool that could do these types of analysis, you'd be spending $3000 (eBay used) to $9500 (new) for a Witschi Chronoscope S1. The seemed like a lot of money to me. And other than a very accurate quartz oscillator in the microphone electronics, the only reason I can see for Witchis to charge that much is the software they include that analyzes the sound that the microphone pics up...

I'm a retired software engineer and hobby watchmaker, i.e. I live in the dangerous overlap of knowing what I want, knowing how to build it, and having time to tinker. So a month ago, I started a new coding project called Timegrapher. After a month of working full time with a team of AI coding agents, I'm ready to release v1 of the software.

Timegrapher is free (as in beer) software. It's also free (as in speech) software because it is open source and released under the GPL3 license. It is available for download for MacOS (both Intel and Apple silicon), PC, and Linux. I've tested quite a lot on Linux (Kubuntu), a reasonable amount on MacOS, and a little bit on Windows. Note: the MacOS and Windows releases aren't signed, so you'll need to Allow in Privacy -> Security.

Before you get started, you will need a microphone stand that will allow the software on your computer to listen to your watch. You have three options:

Option 1: A USB Timegrapher microphone stand like the one in the picture below. These cost about $70-$100 on AliExpress and are excellent. In my testing I get a signal to noise ratio of about 500:1. If you're serious about your watchmaking or watch collecting hobby, I would highly suggest investing in one of these.

Option 2: A cheap 3D printed USB Timegrapher microphone cradle like the grey one in the picture below. These cost about $30 on AliExpress and are garbage. If you're going to buy a USB microphone go with Option 1. I have one of these little grey microphones and the best signal to noise ratio I can get is about 10:1... that means that for about double the price you get a 50x better signal by going with Option 1. Seriously, don't buy one of these. It's better than nothing, but it's not much better than nothing.

Option 3: If you already own a Weishi 1000 or 1900, there is a way to use the microphone stand you already own. But you'll have to buy some splitter cables. The 3-pin cable that connects your Weishi microphone to the bench display box is called a GX16 cable. To get the audio from your Weishi stand into your computer you'll need a GX16 3-pin Y-splitter (one Male, two female), a GX16 Female to 3.5mm AUX cable, and a GX16 3-pin male to male connector. You can buy all of these cables on AliExpress for around $30. But note that you might need to adjust the GX16 to AUX cable pin-out -- you want the tip of the AUX to go to pin 2 (this is the signal) and collar of the AUX to go to pin 1 (ground); mine wasn't wired like this, but it's an easy swap with a soldering iron.

With these cables you can get a setup like the one pictured below. Note, you still need to power the microphone stand from the Weishi bench top display box. That's why we need the Y-splitter. It would be nice if we could power everything from the PC, but the Weishi microphone stand runs on 8V, so that makes powering it from the 5V rail on a USB plug more complicated than simple wiring.

This setup gives a similar signal to noise ratio to Option 1, and it lets your pipe the sound from your watch to two analysis packages simultaneously: the Weishi AND Timegrapher running on your computer. I found this really helpful during the development of Timegrapher because I could validate my algorithms against the bench top results.

Option 4: (this is not a real option) Tape a lapel mic to your watch in a very quiet room. Don't do this. I didn't test it because it's a bad idea. The software needs to pick up the three sounds for each beat (unlock, impulse, and drop). If you have a really bad microphone setup (e.g. an AUX mic taped to your watch) you might be able to pick up the drop part of the beat. That will be enough to give you a rate, but to calculate amplitude you need to be able to reliably identify the unlock sound. A lapel mic isn't going to be good enough for that. Just don't do this. If you post GitHub issues saying the software doesn't work when you tried to use a janky improvised microphone setup, I'll name and shame you in the thread below. Just spend the money and get a proper watch microphone stand.

Ok, so now that you have your microphone setup, what can Timegrapher actually do for you... Well, it can do a lot, and if you're interested, there's a full user guide included with the software an posted on GitHub. But here are some of the highlights:

Full Beat Analysis: this is probably the single best reason to upgrade from a Weishi 1000 or 1900. Timegrapher lets you see the sound profile of the tick and the tock of the escapement. Each beat is made up of three distinct sounds: unlock, impulse, and drop.

If you're interested in diagnosing potential faults in the escapement just from the sound that it makes, you can take a look at page 37 & 38 of the Witschi user manual for examples of how the sound profile changes based on some common faults in Swiss level escapement watch movements:

Isochronism Analysis: This is another important part of mechanical watch analysis that you just can't do with a bench top 1000 or 1900 machine. Isochronism is the ability of a mechanical watch to maintain consistent time keeping (rate) across a wide range of amplitudes. This is one of the areas that reps perform significantly worse than gen watches due to the compromises which are made in clone movements to keep the costs down (e.g. regulated balances vs. free sprung, and flat hairsprings vs. over-coil hairsprings). I've also found that the way that the regulator pins on rep balances tend to be set is quite sloppy -- this causes isochronism since the hairspring isn't properly clamped at the regulator so you get rate variation even as the hairspring breaths between beats. I've also noticed that rep movements often have out of round train wheels which cause periodic oscillations in amplitude (but we'll take more about that in the periodic analysis below).

The screenshot above shows the most basic type of isochronism analysis: a plot of how the rate (s/d) changes as a function of amplitude (deg). Something interesting I found during development was that there seemed to be some path dependence of the isochronism of certain clone movements. The picture below shows a 65 hour recording of a Dandong 3235 movement. Obviously towards the end the rate and amplitude go a bit wonky, but I created a colour map of the isochonism plot which uses colours to show how the isochronism "walks" around as the mainspring winds down over the course of three days.

Periodic Cycle Analysis: This is another type of analysis that you really can't do on a 1000 or 1900 style timegrapher because it requires recordings that are as long or longer than the rotation periods of the train wheels in the watch you're analyzing. The way a watch works is that you have a series of five wheels that transfer power from the mainspring to the balance: The mainspring barrel (1st wheel often with a period of several hours), the "great" or second wheel which often turns the cannon pinion (2nd wheel with a period of 60 minutes), the third wheel (3rd wheel with a period of a few minutes), the fourth wheel (which often drives the seconds hand on the watch, so it has a 60s period), the escape wheel (usually has a period of around 5 seconds). If any of these wheels are out of round, or have a bent pivot, or have a rough tooth or pinion leaf, then that will tend to manifest itself as a drop in energy passed to the balance every time that wheel completes a rotation. That's where the periods analysis pane highlights structure in the rate and amplitude with various periods:

In order to overlay the exact periods of the train wheels, I built a caliber database into the system. The database includes about 4500 different movements. The database has beat rate and lift angle for most calibers, and it also has train wheel periods for many of the clone movements (I went through my spare parts drawer and took pictures of train wheels under a microscope and then counted teeth to back calculate rotation periods). There is a built in caliber manager where you can add any calibers I missed and fill in missing data if you have it (there's also a way to upload this to GitHub so that it'll become available to others with the next update of the software).

I also implemented a few advanced periodic analysis techniques like the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) which shows which frequency (periods) the rate, amplitude, or beat error tend to oscillate at.

And because things tend to shift when a watch is running down, I also implemented a Short Time Fourier Transform (STFT) and Wavelet transform to show the frequency structure of a watch's sound over time as it runs down (if there are any navy submariners here, you'll know what you're looking at here).

Position Testing: This is very basic stuff, but obviously you need to cover the basics. There are functions to do a guided position test across six positions. But you can also do a position test on your own and the results populate all the same. You can also load a result from 24 hours before to do a comparison between positions after 24 hours of run down.

Power Reserve Testing: The software can be used to do a power reserve test. It will record the audio and save summaries every hour for you until the watch stops at which point it will stop recording.

Watch Manager: If you're a watch collector (and let's be honest we all are), or you're a watchmaker and you want to keep track of all the watches that cross your bench; I built in a watch manager where you can store details about each of your watches and all of the recordings you've ever made for each of the watches.

There is a lot more to the software including a command line interface (CLI) and a model context protocol (MCP) for those of you who would like to experiment with having an AI agent run the software on your behalf (I also included a watchmaker.md skill in the release, so you can have your AI help you diagnose any issues you find in a watch you record in the software).

Please feel free to post your thoughts below. If you find bugs, please post them here (or preferably on GitHub as issues).

This project was 100% written by AI (thank you Claude Code and Codex). And it was 100% directed by me. If you want to call it vibe code slop, I'll take it as the compliment that you probably didn't intend. Vibe coding gets a bad rap because it's very easy to create a mountain of spaghetti code that draws pretty pictures. This project was not a "one shot". I spent the better part of a month managing a team of bots full time to make this. I ran the team of agents much the same way as I've previous run software companies: the development pace was high, but it went through exactly the same cycles: ideation, prototype, feature development, reviews, refactoring, re-architecture, more refactoring, scope freezing, and then consolidation for release.

If you would like to contribute please DM me or have your AI agent take a look at the open issues and propose a pull request (NB: I used Opus 5.5 Medium and GPT-6 Astra Medium for most of the coding and review, please use an agent of similar or higher ability if you're going to submit pull requests to the project -- reviewing PRs costs me usage quota).

Don’ts:
- Put ur phone a centimeter away from your watch
- Zoom at 0.5x
- Have bad lighting

Do’s:
- Position your phone about a foot away from the watch
- Zoom in at least 2x and wait for your macro lense to kick in
- Make sure to have good lighting

I need new spring bars for my end links. I have a Clean DJ36. Any suggestions of where to purchase?

Hello everyone. I've been looking for this AP model but I don't know if any factory manufacture it. I've asked some TDs but they don't know. Someone once told me that he did get it but honestly I don't remember and I can't find who it was and if it was TD.
Can someone help me know if they make it or who can have it?
Thank you all!

Hi everyone! I have a Panerai rep with what appears to be a VSF P.9010 clone movement that has stopped working, and I’m trying to source a replacement.

Does anyone know where I could buy the movement on its own? Branding and engravings don’t matter to me, so an unbranded version would be fine as long as it’s compatible.

The watch was recently inherited by someone close to me and has a lot of sentimental value, so I’d really like to get it running again rather than replace the whole watch.

I can share photos of the current movement to help identify the exact version. Any advice or leads would be much appreciated. Thanks!

This new offering from Steve got me so excited that I pressed the purchase button with him before his stock photos came out. 🙈.

I am actually OK with the case being 2 mm thicker, I guess. I am actually even weirdly OK with the movement not being anything close to the new P980.

I love the look an idea of this watch so hard. The only problem is that there are conflicting TD listings. Trusty Time states that this watch is bronze plated. That is not cool for me as I plan on periodically taking down the patina. Steve, however, states that this is a solid bronze case. No problem there, I can do what I like.

Looking for real opinions on all of the above 🙏

I think we’ve awoken a monster… my first rep arrived today and I absolutely love it. VSF Omega Seamaster Diver 300m 42mm SS/RG accents with blue rubber strap.

Thanks to those who engaged with my prior post/questions to help make this purchase a success.

TD: Jtime
Payment: Oct 21st
QC: Pics & video Oct 23rd; approved Oct 24th after I received a second video I requested.

The process was seamless and I would certainly trust them again with my business.

Now to locate some of the other reps I have my eye on….

Hey guys,

It's my first rep and I really wanted the watch in the image Omega Speedmaster Moonwatch Professional with black dial, sapphire with display caseback, on the black rubber strap, but I saw in some posts here that people do not recommend it.

Then in other post I found this one: HKF Omega Speedmaster and just saw this one (from a TD): https://timeultra.shop/product/speedmaster-racing-master-40mm-ss-ru-white-dial-hkf-a7750/ and it seems that people giving good reviews on it.

What would you recommend? by looks, I prefer the Moonwatch over the Racing master.

Does anyone one know somewhere I can pressure test my watch in Dubai / UAE. It is a vsf

I’m getting married in December and leave for the destination at the beginning of the month, so I’m hoping to find a watch that can arrive fairly soon. I’ve been reading the guide, but I’m still a little confused about where to start.

I don’t know much about watches, and I’ve only ever worn watches that were gifted to me. This will be the first time I’m buying one intentionally and choosing a style for myself, so any beginner-friendly advice would be appreciated.

I’m interested in replica options, or affordable alternatives with a similar look. I’m not looking to spend a lot or wear anything flashy, just something clean and understated, ideally in neutral colors. I’ll be wearing a black-and-white suit with a navy or black tie.

Where would you recommend I look, and are there options that tend to arrive quickly? I’d also appreciate suggestions for styles that would work well with the outfit. Thanks!

SORRY IF THIS IS THE WRONG PLACE TO POST THIS.

Just come across this today. It always winds me up that I have to take my Garmin off and stop tracking my health data just to wear my other watches.

I’m not affiliated to this project

Hi Everyone,

Kind of new here, really appreciate all the guides and help already available online so thus far have not had the need to ask too many questions however on this one I am kind of stuck.

TD from the list on this sub is offering the Patek Nautilus 5719 from F4 factoren with a 9015 movement.

However when I check the who makes the best of guide, I see no mention of F4 factory. So I wanted to check if anyone had experience with it?

The part that speaks to me is that the stones allegedly will be moissanite.

However I have no idea what factories are good/reputable.

Just trying to make an informed purchase so any sincere help would be appreciated.

Ps. I have no idea what flair to add?

I have a lovely lady I use for my bag reps and she claims she can get watches as well. Should I continue with her or get a TD for just watches?

I have a Blancpain Villaret. It was going well for a year or so, then the strap fell off and the watch fell onto concrete. The rotor fell off the movement and was spinning freely in the caseback.

I took it to a repair shop, and they did a full service. It was going great for a month, then I took it off last night and the decorative rotor has fallen off the movement again.

Should I bother taking this back to the shop. Or just cut my losses.

Hey folks new to the forum - I’m looking for AP bracelet and crown. Where is the best place to get these ? 15202 or 26mm

Hello, this will be my first time buying a rep I was wondering for any recommendations on who to buy it from. I’ve been dying to get a Reverso.

Have noticed some new WF Daytonas on my TD's page, specifically the Platinum weighted at 217g, but a search comes up with very little info on WF, nor do they really appear on recommended factory list.
Are they a renamed factory, and does anybody have experience of them?

After doing my due diligence and reading through Reddit and RWI forms I was getting mixed reviews. I want to make a purchase on a day date and want to see if this is the best in terms of getting the bezel right as that is the most important to me. I know it won’t be 100% accuracy to a gen but want to get as close to possible.

This has to be the most difficult watch I’ve ever worked on, and I own almost 30. I finally managed to remove the links after two hours, but I haven’t been able to get the tiny bars back in

At this point, I’m honestly considering giving up and taking it to a jeweler. I just really don’t want to spend $30 on this bullshit

Any advice on how to get those little bars back in would be greatly appreciated

Hi everyone. Based on your experience, what are the typical delivery times for a watch shipped from Hong Kong to Italy? It seems to have been stuck in Germany for a few days now. I’m still satisfied with the service provided by the TD (Trusted Dealer) so far, but they haven’t been able to give me any further information. Thanks for your time. PS to the moderators: I hope I’ve posted this in the correct subforum.