monkeypie

I disagree with many posters here.

It is pretty much impossible to spot a good rep based on the watch itself unless you either physically hold the thing in your hand and check it out or its a "ROLLOX".

You are trying to spot differences or flaws that are less than 1cm in size on an object that is around 4 to 5 cm in diameter attached to a moving object. To put things in perspective, the text on the dial of a Rolex GMT is less than 1mm x 1mm. The shape of a CG is impossible to tell unless you have another one right next to it for reference. Add to that there are so many varieties of the same model, you'd have to be a hardcore enthusiast that knows virtually all the flaws of all the models of all the brands of watches to consistently spot a rep based on the watch itself.

As stated above, the main thing that gives away a rep is the wearer, and even then, it is hard enough. I see Panerais, VCs, Rolexes, Omegas and IWCs on a daily basis, be it on the street or on the subway. I still see Omegas that I am unsure of which model it is. I saw an IWC Portuguese but due to the variations, be it modern, vintage, LE, that made it difficult to tell what the tells were, let alone if the dial text was a shade too light or 0.002 mm too thick.

@ RoninQ: True, I do agree that the sweep can be a good "tell", but you'd pretty much need the person to stop moving his/her arm to really be able to tell that the seconds hand on a watch is moving 5 times per second as opposed to 8.

And you'd need particularly good vision such as yours.

I do agree that quality has improved vastly, as with the knowledge as such. Do people spend more of their time seeing what brand or model a watch is, as opposed to whether it is a gen or a rep? I guess it'd have to depend on where you live and who is wearing a watch. A 16 year old kid wearing a Rolex Daytona and driving his Civic with 60 ft spoiler would deserve a different watch check than a guy at Canary wharf with his Panerai.

Many Pateks, many tourbillons. Most people wouldn't bat an eye at an AP or VC or Daytona anymore.

I've read heaps of topics on the GMT II, I've used the search button, and I browsed the other forums.

Now I am even more confused than ever.

I know from By-tor's review that the Asian movement is "less than spectacular", but I've also read other owners saying its doing great. Then there are topics saying that more likely than not, a rep purporting to have swiss ETA probably has an Asian ETA.

So now the question is ...what .

Is there any consensus as to whether the Asian ETA for the Ceramic GMT II is worth getting or not? It's like a massive circle.

On the same note, why do many high end watches have chronographs? I don't think anyone is going to bust out their VC Overseas or Patek Chronographs to use as a stopwatch. "Oh jolly jeepers, how long is Jeeves going to take with our tea? Honey, time him with your Patek Phillipe before we fire him."

If only FM did Pro Hunters as opposed to PVD'd "vanilla" versions.

I think I'd be bankrupt by the end of this month.

I ordered a cheap AP Wempe from them right on the 20th January, so I have yet to receive it. Due to the lack of quality reps in HK (ironically contrary to its reputation) they are the first online dealer I used.

That said though, they reply very promptly and very courteously, even to minor or trivial questions. Over at RWI they were ranked 2nd most recommended.

Considering a prohunter from them next.

Coincidentally, I was looking at the same watch today here in Hong Kong. I thought the dial was really off, so I gave it back and got the hell out of there before he beat the crap out of me.

Still thinking of a pro-hunter with nylon strap though.

I was considering a VC. I saw a gen VC Overseas Chrono which looked quite amazing in person, but wasn't so sure about the reps with chrono.

Was considering getting a 3717 ages ago, but got an AP instead. Probably getting a 3717 next.

Thanks for all your input folks. Better to wear an understated Porto Chrono than to bling out and wear a Daytona, ROO, Big Bang, and SOSF AT THE SAME TIME.

Interestingly enough, this is what I see everyday.

On the way to work:

Ads, in chronological order:-

Jaeger-LaCoultre (Duometer ad, side of building, around 7-8 stories in height.)

Tudor (same)

Piaget (massive billboard, 2-3x the width of a typical American billboard.)

Zenith (billboard)

IWC (advertising the Portuguese with Tourbillon, billboard sized)

Georg Jensen (bus stop sized)

Franck Muller (AD, selling only FMs)

Omega (with Mr.Bond with the Bond watch, massive building sized. I am talking about a 20 floor building, entire front face covered with the ad).

On the way back home:

Glashutte (billboard)

Audemars Piguet (billboard, showing a beautiful gold RO chronograph. Now a Porsche advert)

And add to that 8/10 magazines have a watch advertisement on their back cover. These range from Cartier to Breguet, to Audemars Piguet to Patek Phillppe. Front pages of newspapers usually have a medium size ad at the bottom corner of the page for watch ads again. These range from Longines to Ball or Rolex to Pateks.

And on TV, they have these time check programs, which basically is a 10 second ad telling you what time it is. These are usually brought by A.Lange and Sohne. Other times they are "brought to you by the Oriental Watch Company", that also shows the time on a popular watch model. It ranges from Ulysse Nardin (my favorite) to Chopards. The weather report (which runs after the news ends, as a short 5 minute stand alone program) is brought to you by Ebel.

So yeah, I live in a very, very consumerist and materialistic city. You'd have to have the rarest of the rare.

RWG: Sir. May I be of some help?

Monkeypie: RWG, I have a problem...

RWG: Yes?

Monkeypie: I've been into Reps for three months now. I have money, I have taste. But, you know, this is the one (pointing to the Rolex Daytona). Yes, yes yes... I saw six of these on some 40 year old housewives and 19 year old girls on the subway and supermarket this morning, which tells me only one thing. There's too many self-Indulgent wieners in this city with too much bloody money! Now, if I was wearing (INSERT WATCH HERE)...

RWG: You would not be a self-indulgent wiener, sir... You'd be a connoisseur.

Monkeypie: Precisely. Champagne would fall from the heavens. Doors would open. Velvet ropes would part.

I almost bought one as well, but decided to get a Wempe instead.

How is the watch working out though?? Kinda curious to see what I missed out on.

Hi,

I am new here. This is a wonderful site. I learned here a lot. After reading here I decided to start collecting watches. I want to buy couple of gen and a lot of reps.

What would be a general rule regarding the price of gen watch one should buy. For example the engagement ring should be 2-3 monthly salary. Are there any rules like this for watches? I would appreciate any suggestions.

I would like to get very good dress watch first, but for the price I can affort. It is like buying car. Most of us dream about ideal car, but often we have to get what we can afford. I understand cars. So can you give me an idea what kind of gen watch should get guy driving Honda civic vs guy driving Lamborghini? And anything in between.

Thank you.

That rule about an engagement ring should being worth 2-3 times your monthly salary was invented by the marketing folks at deBeers. Consider the fact that naturally occurring diamonds are rather common and the price is artificially set to high levels due to cartel pricing. So on a wider scale, you might want to give that some thought.

Regarding your question though, it is like what a rich person (e.g. rap star) would wear compared to a wealthy person (the key investors of the recoding company).

That said, a guy driving a Lamborghini would wear something equally ridiculously ostentatious and impractical. He is pretty insecure, and wants the world to know he has money. He was probably poor and came across such money in a short period of time. Money has little meaning or value. He'd probably wear an AP ROO Shaq edition with the diamonds on the bezel, or 3-4 watches at once like Maradona or the nouveaux-riche in Moscow or Shanghai.

The guy driving a civic would wear something practical and good value for money. He might be just an average joe, or he could be the boss of his own company with a net worth of 6-7 digits. He knows he is wealthy but knows there is no need to flaunt it. He has worked hard and knows the value of money. He probably sees no point in such ostentation. He'd probably wear a timex, or maybe a seiko. If he is meeting clients he'd probably slap on a Brietling or low key Patek.

Reminds me of the parking lots I see here sometimes. The employees drive their Aston Martins and Ferraris. The upper echelons drive their Camry or Mercedes.

Been considering a rose gold watch for a while now, but reading about how gold plated reps have a penchant for fading, I've become a bit cautious.

How are rose gold constituted? Are they basically SS watches with a micron or two layers of gold?

And as the topic suggests, how do they hold up to fading compared to a gold watch?

I would assume since a lower k gold watch has a lower ratio of gold, it would fade more slowly. I'm kinda curious as to what exactly a rose gold watch is composed of in terms of "rose gold".

But...but...but... I always roll up my sleeves while in casual wear. When it's 30-40 c here in the summer, I usually end up rolling up my sleeves...

And when I eat I usually roll up my sleeves too, mainly since to avoid getting food all over my sleeves.

Although you do have a point about people thinking I am just showing off.

Perhaps I should just stick to my RQLEX DAY TONER instead...

Well - it's not exactly stock Gen...since it is a Pro Hunter...so something like a modified Gen. Anyways, your watches (Gen and Rep) look great! I may just decide to get one with the "units per hour" at 1 o'clock version (non Pro Hunter).

If you look at the photos (not the red text ProHunter), the "Unit per hour" is located at the 3 o'clock position when "60" is aligned with 12 o'clock. Anyone have any information on this one?

Thanks, Godzilla for the comparo!

I recall that the Pro-Hunter Daytonas have a rotating bezel.

It could be just the angles, but the first flaw I see is that the 200M is in a slightly odd position due to the magnifier.

Also the raised number markers for the subdials are the wrong colour, especially for the Black ones, unless I am looking at the newest/different version of the watch.

Here are the new US prices for Rolex.

SS Daytona: $9925

AD's here in Hong Kong are selling the Daytonas for around 30,000 USD (around 230,000 HKD), give or take 1-2k for the various models. The SS 116250 models are consistently more expensive than the two tones or newer WG Arabic numeral ones.

One could buy a good used E-Class Mercedes or 5-series BMW with sub-2k mileage with that amount (used cars have low resale value here, as with other major Asian cities).

The other prices are very consistent with the list though, almost to a direct currency exchange value.