Before I purchased any reps, I have always bought gens, I have 6 gens right now. (Breitling,rolex) and I will say that they are a little nicer finished than the reps. BUT are they 10,000.00+ nicer?? Very hard to say. As far as investment goes, well look at this:
Gen Rolex SS Daytona, msrp, 8500.00, sells for 11,000.00, service is aprox 500.00 every 2 years, put a nick in it and knock off 3000.00, something goes wrong and you are looking at 1200.00+ for repair. Now with such a watch you must insure it, which means you need a separate policy for it as homeowners will only cover 1500.00 max for jewlery,guns,watches ect. So tack on a 500.00 a year premium for that baby.
Rep Rolex Daytona, maybe 300.00 bucks, service,nicks, lose it....who cares, you get another. Sell it?? heck post it up and in 5 min its gone.
And heres another point, what do you think really nice reps will start selling for in they really start cracking down on the rep trade?? I will bet you can double or triple the prices right now. You also have a much larger market to sell to as most anyone can afford to buy a nice rep. Plus I can have 20+ watches if I want for the price on 1 gen.