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Hi, we all love our watches! And maybe we even like the smaller "good/nice" things in life!? So then show us them. I have more shoes then my wife. Here some if mine and more... some bought and some just pics! Dutchy Not mine, these are her gen summer HERMES one! Nicely matching the Ken Birkin.

Well as soon as I thought I was happy with my collection, I happen to stumble upon a birth year, Rolex 16800 Submariner from 1981 over on VRM. Every time I've tried to find one in the past, they were in really bad shape. But this one is really nice. No yellowing on the Patina, just a very slight beige. Hands aren't original, they were replaced with Rolex Luminova Hands, but that doesn't bother me. So after a quick fire sale, I picked this up this morning. Since the original seller, which I'm sure you'll recognize by the photos, takes such good pictures, there's no need for me to retake them. Bracelet is in bad need of refurbishment, so I am planning on sending it off to M. Young in Hong Kong for some de-stretching

For the sake of a 1" x 5" piece of bubble wrap, a 1/2" by 4" piece of old cardboard and 3 bits of sellotape, the bracelet I received today has nice scratches on the clasp and a deep ding to boot. The seller is a member on another forum (RG), but it's only common sense! Take a minute and bloody pack whatever it is properly!! God! Morons! <rant over>

Forgot the last picture! Comex logo is printed as per gen: black ink over white No other aftermarket comex dial is printed this way

Reworked with Aviary app.

steph_dexter, I gotta say, this is a great attempt! I wouldn't keep it glossy though, the OEM finish is almost a matte or sand/bead blasted texture. The clip is also finished in the same texture. Here are some pics I pulled from the web for you. Front Back Detail of engraving

Get yourself a couple of NATO's, they get pretty rank, pretty fast when you wear them in the summer heat. Where I live the temp is in the 90's every day for months, and the humidity is always 70-80 %, except after a rain then it's 90+ and 100% humidity. You are soaked with sweat all day if outside. Nice thing about the NATO, you can take it off easily, wash it by hand with soap and water, or throw it in the wash! Washes that " 16 year old boy's tennis shoes" smell right out.

There are a lot of folks here on this forum who are gen owners. In fact I have at the moment 14 gens and 6 reps. there have been times when the numbers were reversed, and a few years ago, I sold all of my reps except 2 and only had gens.I got back into reps about 5-6 years ago, and for the most part have only modded/franken ones. Quite frankly, I have never worried about other people and what they thought about my watches either gen or rep. As Krusty said, at some point in your life you realize that no one cares, no one really knows, and unless you are working with a bunch of Rolex addicts, the average person can't tell a Rolex from a Timex. When you have that epiphany in your life where you quit worrying about what others think, or what others percieve, it is a truly refreshing feeling. I don't worry about fakes of anything. At my age and my profession, I can carry off just about any watch, except for something like Nadal's Richard Mille!!!! My feelings are the folks who really look down on reps are probably for the most part, pretty vain shallow folks who are lacking in self confidence, and use their cars, clothes, watches, etc. as pretty lame attempts to be something they aren't. I know around here, back in the early 80's the Rolex Day Dates were very popular. We had a lot of people in the Oil and gas business, and wearing a Gold "President" was a symbol to everyone that "you had arrived". unfortunately, the price of oil and gas fell through hte floor, lots of the independents went under, and before long the pawn shops were full of Gold Day Dates!! I bet most of the guys who hocked their watches, realized after a while that the Seiko or Bulova did just as good a job of keeping time, and that not a soul noticed that they were Rolexless!! One of the things that has gotten me a little more interested in Gens is some of the small makers like MKII and Ocean7 are producing some pretty neat watches at a very good price point. Another thing, the gens are easier to get worked on. Any competent watchmaker can take an ETA movement down and parts are readily available. Most of them are very water resistant right out the box, so you don't have to do anything to them except wear them.

Firstly, I would like to say that there is no such thing as a fake watch that runs. If the watch has a movement that works and it tells the time then it is not a 'fake watch' it is a real, actual watch. That's just to the fools who look down on our wonderful hobby. Now, I'd like to address the issue of honesty amongst the gen communiuty. For starters, as far as I can tell the VRF marketplace is infested with franken builders. Great, good luck to them but please don't start looking down your nose at the rep world! They are as guilty of replication as we are. I bet your average VRF franken builder wearing his perfectly formed (from various gen parts) Sub regards his watch as a genuine Rolex product, well I've got news for you - it's not. Only a watch that came out of the Rolex factory and has only ever been worked on by Rolex is a gen. If you have assembled a watch from various parts from various sources then you have made a frankenstein, which is only one step away from a rep. And, whilst we are on the subject what does a gen owner do if his watch breaks and the part required to make it work again is no longer available, at all, anywhere? Then he finds a company or individual who is manufacturing that part in the same material and to the same exacting standards as the original company did. Does he put the watch in his sock drawer and never wear it? No, of course not. He is perfectly within his rights to buy the (rep) part and enjoy his watch again, regardless of what others think. It's still a lovely watch, now it's a lovely watch that works. Good. I own reps and gens. I prefer reps. I like the research and gathering of parts. I like the fact that financially, building reps opens up the availability of the pieces I really like to suit my budget. I like the fact that I can buy parts piece by piece thus spreading the cost rather than having to blow thousands in one hit. I like the fact that a decent rep is like sticking two finger up the the gen companies because I strongly suspect that their 'swiss made' pieces are far from 100% Swiss. “It is not generally known that quite a few Swiss companies have watches assembled in China for export to North America, Asia and even Europe, where the brand name is more important that the “Swiss made” label. Such watches may consist of a Chinese case and a Chinese crystal, a Taiwan-made dial and metal bracelet and Japanese hands. If the movement is to be considered Swiss, 51% of its value must be Swiss and at least the last wheel must be added in Switzerland. Swiss watch brands without the “Swiss made” label are usually equipped with a Japanese movement. The “Swiss parts” label means that the movement is assembled in Asia using kits consisting at least partially of Swiss made components.” The Swiss law is quite complicated when it comes to what is swiss made and what is not - some say this is by design but it seems that if 50% of the value (note - value, not quantity) of the parts are made in switzerland and the movement is encased in Switzerland then you can legally call it a swiss made watch. So, if Rolex had parts for their movements made in China but 50% of the value of the total parts (ie a few expensive bits) were made in Switzerland and the movement was encased in Switzerland then you have got yourself a genuine Swiss Rolex. I'm sorry but that's not good enough for me. I'd rather be honest about a watch and say to whoever it may concern that I am a hobbyist who amasses parts and has his favourite watches built by skilled people and yes, they are real watches and yes they are waterproof and yes they keep excellent time and yes they will withstand the same amount of wear and abuse as one that came out of Rolex's swiss/chinese factories and yes they can cost thousands to make etc etc. Rant over...

Yay, this topic is back, cool! You have to be annoyed that the guy with the $300 Panerai REP gets exactly the same satisfaction from that watch that you get from your $8000 Submariner! So they bag on reps, their low quality and blatant flaws while they see reps everyday and have no idea that they are looking at anything less than a gen. Ever see a rep/gen comparison video on Youtube, half of them have some guy holding a $30 street corner sub with a 21600 movement and a broken bezel up against a gen, they would crap themselves in the presence of a UPO straight out of the box, no mods! or a PAM005, hell even the questionable accuracy of the 116610 reps would blow them away. I don't feel better when I wear a gen over a rep and I don't feel better wearing a rep of a $10000 gen than I do when wearing an actual gen. I get the same satisfaction from all of my watches because I just like wearing nice watches and wearing reps allows me to wear many different watches, in many different styles without completely breaking the bank. That said, Goddammmmm I need me that new Ceramic Planet Ocean! Oh and a Flyback Panerai Luminor, yeah yeah, that's the ticket! And I want a Calibre 17RS Grand Carrera, but that's all I need, as long as I get those I'm set. Those and maybe a new DateJust..... I think you get the picture. Yay, this topic is back, cool! You have to be annoyed that the guy with the $300 Panerai REP gets exactly the same satisfaction from that watch that you get from your $8000 Submariner! So they bag on reps, their low quality and blatant flaws while they see reps everyday and have no idea that they are looking at anything less than a gen. Ever see a rep/gen comparison video on Youtube, half of them have some guy holding a $30 street corner sub with a 21600 movement and a broken bezel up against a gen, they would crap themselves in the presence of a UPO straight out of the box, no mods! or a PAM005, hell even the questionable accuracy of the 116610 reps would blow them away. I don't feel better when I wear a gen over a rep and I don't feel better wearing a rep of a $10000 gen than I do when wearing an actual gen. I get the same satisfaction from all of my watches because I just like wearing nice watches and wearing reps allows me to wear many different watches, in many different styles without completely breaking the bank. That said, Goddammmmm I need me that new Ceramic Planet Ocean! Oh and a Flyback Panerai Luminor, yeah yeah, that's the ticket! And I want a Calibre 17RS Grand Carrera, but that's all I need, as long as I get those I'm set. Those and maybe a new DateJust..... I think you get the picture.

I understand and hear your arguments everyday.... Enjoy the malware...