Agrippa

Ok, I have completely changed my opinion of this forum. I am now convinced that this is the outer forecourt of the abyss, cleverly disguised as a forum of keen and friendly enthusiasts. Do not be deceives, for it is not so - it is a vortex of wickedness and an instrument if inquity, expressly designed bring forth the basest of animal desires in the human psyche! Let me say to the unwary traveller of the web who by unlucky happenstance falls into this den of sheerest moral decadence: FLEE NOW, FLEE SWIFTLY, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE AND YOUR SOUL IS FOREVER LOST!! Not convinced? Then by all means take my case in point: I posted here for the very first time not so much as 24 hours ago, sincerely, innocently and naively protesting my lack of any deeper interest in watches, and what happens? Not only do I already know the difference between the 2824-2 and 2892 movements; not only do know the meaning of DRSD and SOH; not only can I tell a cannon pinion from a mainspring barrel, oh no it doesn't stop there: I even know what epicycloidal wheels are!! And as if all this was not already abundantly frightening, I now lust and drool obscenely and unseemly over no less than 5 timepieces! With custom made straps in vintage Mauser leather from Red12!! It may be too late for me, but it need not be for you - flee while you can, flee now!! - Agrippa (a lost soul)

Thanks Jeff. Turned out quite well, didn't it?

Cheers Mike, I'll certainly have a look around here for nice straps. I certainly agree that letting a junky strap stay on an otherwise flash watch would be pretty damn silly. $100 more or less isn't the world either, for that sake. How about the metal bracelets then, are they generally ok? And yeah, this is going unbelieveably well for a first post thread!

Nope, but probably as far north - Norway. To be exact it ought to arrive early june. Or so I think; it being that long since I last had this miracle happen to me.

You'll be happy to hear I'm thinking of two then, or maybe....no, I won't say that out loud. Still, obviously some corruption of the mind has occurred already. Really? But they look so nice..... How about the leather straps sold separately by the dealers then, are they any good? I'm just a luck guy I guess, or else I found them on a good day. Or it could simply be my fabulously charming and winning personality. Yeah, that's the one I'll go for I think. Time will show, but no promises. On the other hand, if the watches (oh god, I'm speaking plural already....) turn out crap you should all expect the nasty watch police to come knocking on your doors forthwith! As mentioned above (but so easily lost in the rambling on and on) I'm waiting for a tax rebate, which will take another month or so to arrive. After that I'll do my utmost to get rid of all that nasty, horrible cash as fast as is humanly possible. However, once the watch (singular tense, must use singular tense!) is in hand I will certainly do what I can.

Indeed, and that's the eternal problem. Those who spend a lot of time and effort on something because they have a genuine and enduring passion for it grow bored and annoyed with the rude and unfeeling passers-by who only want a quick hit, a fast answer and then move on, never to be seen again. The thing is though; you can't be passionate about all that many things at once (or maybe one can, but at least I can't) and as far as the remainder is concerned you often just want that quick hit or fast answer to a casual question - and so you end up like me, annoying other people just as I am annoyed in turn by them when they visit where I hang out. However, before you get caught up in something and develop a passion you generally only have a casual interest in any subject and you (or rather, I) won't know for some time if it'll take root and bear fruit (or for that sake take over your life and ruin it completely). Hence any community that wants to remain alive and vibrant really ought to entertain rude noobs and take care not to turn anyone away lest they loose someone who could in time have become a great asset. Not that I have been treated badly by any means, nor do I anticipate becoming a great asset; I'm really just talking out loud to myself again. It won't do any good of course; tomorrow, next week or the week after I'll be back to thinking "&%

Wow, lots more good stuff while I rambled. Thanks guys, very useful and very interesting. The Vacheron looks absolutely lovely Mr. Toadtorrent; that one goes straight on to the shortlist for sure. Otherwise I quite agree with your thoughts - I don't particularly care if it's a perfect copy or not, as long as it looks good, keeps good time and is reliable then it fulfills all my requirements in a watch. I won't ask more than that. One more question if you all don't mind: I've never owned an automatic watch, but I see that you can get automatic winders for them and that such watches ideally should be wound at least partially at all times. How much of an issue is this and what would happen if I left it in a drawer for months on end, never winding it?

@ maxman: no disappointment here, whatsoever. In fact, I went to bed shortly after posting and when I got up just now you folks had all answered. As for your points, a agree entirely....and disagree entirely too. As to the former, I have felt exactly as you write myself, on a number of forums dealing with various things. The number of times I've thought "learn to use the f***ing search button for f***'s sake, you dimwit f***tard", or stuff to that general effect, can be counted only by someone with at least a higher degree in mathematics. In an ideal world (ideal for you that is, here, and for me elsewhere) everyone would of course carry out exhaustive searches before asking questions and otherwise never post superfluously, but this world ain't that world and never will be I suspect. For noobs and people with a casual and passing interest it isn't ideal though and until such become endangered species we're both likely left with imperfection. Personally I subscribe both to the noobish persuation and to having only a casual interest in the subject matter, but to my defence I did carry out a few fruitless searches before posting. Said fruitlessness and a certain message designed to nag us noobs into posting at least once then resulted in the original post. Since I have nothing better to du right now, let me ramble on a bit longer: if no one had answered my first post; at all, ever; then maybe I would have tried again here sometime later, or perhaps I'd have tried somewhere else. Probably not though, given the casual manner of my interest in replicas. The same casualness would have precluded any deeper research as well and given my uncertainty about the quality and reliability of these things I would probably have decided not to go shopping either, thereby (maybe) forever removing any possibility of my being sufficiently impressed by the quality and reliability of a replica to be bitten by the bug and become an enthusiast myself and, in time, someone who might contribute constructively to the community. That's all a bit of a long shot of course, but you get my point I'm sure. Anyway, in case you think I was offended by your very slight rebuke of my noobish abandon of good forum etiquette; I wasn't, in the least. Your language was far kinder than that used by myself on innumerable occasions and you should really view the above more as a "note to self" from me to me. I'm so seldom on the receiving end these days, so it was most useful in fact. @ greg_r: thanks a lot for the information regarding the reliability of the Lemania and 21J movements, which convinced me that I will indeed go and get one just as soon as my tax rebate (yes, apparently miracles do still happen) arrives. I had a look at the "Top 10 replicas" (or something) thread and I might just see if I can find one there that I like the look of as well. As far as being spotted wearing a replica, that's really of no concern at all. I've never seen a Breguet in real life, whether genuine or fake, so the chance of being denounced in public is really, really slim I think. Nor do I intend to try to pass it off as a real one - I just want a really nice watch to wear now and again. Like you say nothing beats the genuine article, but unless I should decide to turn to a life of crime I fear the likelyhood of owning a watch in that kind of price bracket is next to nonexistant. @ everyone: Thanks for the info and the welcome folks, much appreciated! And please try to pardon my longwindedness and instead take pity on me, for I have a full week off work and nothing much to do with my time except chilling, listening to music and rambling on the internet. Woe is me. - Agrippa

Evening all! My experience with replicas is extremely close to zero, although not quite there seeing as I own an exceedingly awful Omega Seamaster. I got it out of idle curiosity a few years back, on the internet, paid very little for it and got exactly what I paid for. Oh well. Anyway, although I'm by no means a watch afficionado I'd quite like to get hold of a nice watch for festive use (once every three years or so in other words), but I really have no clue what I'm getting into here. Hence the following noobish questions. 1. How good is a good replica? Does good simply mean that the beer-slugging dimwit down the road can't tell it from the real thing, or that it takes professional watchmaker to spot the fake one? 2. How the hell do I know if I'm getting a good one or not without entering deep-study mode for the next few years? It seems some of you folks know enough to start making your own, but quite frankly I don't particularly want to go to such lengths. 3. How long do these things last and remain good timekeepers? A few days? A few weeks? A few months? Years? 4. What do you do when they decide to stop working? I assume you don't toddle off to the nearest watchmaker and ask him/her to have a look at it? 5. Kindly feast your eyes on the specimens below and if possible tell me if they're worth having: Breguet no.1109 @ Perfect Clones Breguet no. 884 @ Perfect Clones Breguet no. 884 @ Pam111 Breguet no. 1109 @ Pam111 I could afford to shell out a bit more, but those are my two favourite watches (apart from some Breguets not seemingly available as replicas) and hence the ones I would prefer to get. Any opinions and insights you might will be most welcome! Oh yes, nearly forgot - great forum folks; extremely informative, if slightly daunting for a neophyte like myself. - Agrippa