Of course I remember it because of the amount of time I have spent on this article, but it's doesn't necessary follow that anyone other than myself and Matthias would remember it. Also note that it is impossible from the angle of these two scans to really determine anything definative about the crown, signed or not... At least I certainly can, and I doubt anyone else will be able to convince me one way or another based on those scans. But they were what Matthias and I had.

Ok, and Bradley says "I emailed the moderator (Jeff) of this site pictures of one of my Dato 45s, but he did not post them. His perogotive.", I wouldn't know, but I will take you at your word Brad, it's probably still on Jeff's list of things to do. I did a search on Dato 45 and found your post of the 27th of last month. However, I couldn't find where "Jeff has done such an awesome job of illustrating this same watch". Unfortunately, we apparenly have not really done a bang-up job illustrating the Carrera Dato 45, at least I can't find anything on OTD or within the forum that shows a picture of the crown of a Dato 45 Carrera, or we haven't made it very easy to find, as I couldn't find it... Again, correct me if I'm wrong because I'd like to know where this information is located on OTD.

You know, this site as become a with (later corrected to Witch, see below) hunt. I have tried to post here with reasonable subjects regarding the Heuer watches we all love. Now I am being questioned about the authenticity of my watch by one of this sites main posters...

I'm sorry you seem to feel that it has. I don't see it that way at all.

A poster had a reasonable, legitimate query about a watch offered for sale, admitted his complete ignorance on the model, and posted when he found the model did exist (within 45 minutes I may add) and still has/had the question on the crown.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but learning about watches is one of the missions of this site and forum. If a person can't ask a question(s) about a watch he is uncertain about, how is he or she to learn? Especially if there is no detailed information on the topic at hand on the site...

...I hope that it is not posts like this that determine the authenticity of our watches, but the voice of members who actually know what they are talking about, unlike this "regular poster" who does not know his Heuers.

I tend to doubt any forum or any single individual within a forum determines the absolute authenticity of any watch discussed within. I certainly don't think I or Jeff or any other regular poster can claim that in most instances (with the exception of easily discernable fakes) without a great deal of research, like Jeff did on the over sized Heuers, and I did with the "Heuer Flygraf"'s last year. Perhaps if Hans Schrag could do so because of his extended and intimate relationship with Heuer as the founder of Pro-Time, but I doubt anyone else could make such a determination off the cuff.

If making a query about a watch offered for sale is tantamount to making the site "a witch hunt", then perhaps we should ban the discussion of watches currently being offered for sale within the forum until after the transaction is finalized.

If posting a query about a watch that one is unfamiliar about is not acceptable, then is there any reason to have a forum at all except for Scan Day's, announcements, and to share insights one has learned on their own, and not allow queries at all?

I hope not...

I honestly believe that JH made a simple query about something he was not familiar about. I don't believe he made any assertion that the watch being offered was a fake or not genuine, only that he was uncertain about the crown. Which he may still be uncertain about.

Could he possibly have worded his query better? Yes, possibly...

Could he have possibly done more research before posting? Perhaps...

Could he have found the answer on his own? Well, I couldn't find the answer on OTD or my article (no good picture of the crown of a Carrera Dato 45)... So I am not convinced he could.

"since JH is well respected here"

I also don't think that any "regular poster" is necessarily granted any ,,high regard,, merely on the basis of the frequency or regularity of his or her posting. In fact, I don't know if anyone is really treated any different than anyone else. At least I personally try to treat everyone equally. Well... I try to take care of Jeff because none of us would be participating here if it weren't for Jeff.

Honestly, I believe that JH was not doing anything that I or anyone else might possibly have done when viewing a model that was unfamilar to them. I don't feel any harm was intended or done in this instance. Of course, I do sympathize with Bradley's position and might have similar feelings were I the seller of an item being asked about.

We are all here to learn... Or at least we should be...

I personally wouldn't get upset if someone was trying to learn more about something I was selling. Which is why I never have a problem when people link to my articles within their sale or auction listings (stealing photographs and/or descriptions is another matter but linking is fine)... Because a well informed customer is a better person to deal with in the end.

But that's just me and my opinon...

-- Chuck

P.S. My apologies if there are any goofs, mistakes or omissions... It's still really early on a Saturday morning...