RickHiC

Yes, I think that was the building. All the little shops are a riot. Each little stand has a bunch of rolexes, diamonds, etc., a little safe, and a guy on the phone too busy to talk to you. At the shop in question, it looked like the guy was moving in/moving out or something. The watches were carefully wrapped, but definitely in tupperware. Obviously I don't know all the facts, and that's what made for a good story. I would guess the whole truth is much more mundane.

I would say take your wife. She can shop at the Cartier store across the street. Some of the dealers could be "shady" I guess, but they all had "authorized dealer" signs and such. Not a whisper of reps, and all prices quoted were believably close to retail. Lots of pre-owned stuff for sale as well. I'm not sure about paperwork, but you could at least research the serials. I was in one particular building which was very wholesale-ish and no-frills, but all around that are traditional high-end dealers with regular showrooms. I knew I was in the right place when I get into the elevator of this run-down building and see a guy with an IWC and two with Pams step in. To my untrained eye, they could have been reps, but I think now I know what "real" crocodile leather looks like. My jaw dropped. That guy with the rubbermaid bin, he shows me a bunch of $5-10k models, then he pulls up his sleeve and reveals a beautiful yg Pam with carbon fiber dial (140 I think). About the glasses, can I post direct links here? I'll try an anonymizer. They usually have "fake" (and funnily translated) logos and emblems, but all the major styles are copied. The quality is better than you'd expect, and the prescriptions have been as good as from my local optician. AR coatings, progressive bifocals, etc.; you can get it all from folks in china for, I don't know, the price of a couple of trips to starbucks. Between my wife and I, we have about 30 pairs. (ouch) Average price: about $26 USD (that's with plain lenses, and neither of us wear bifocals). I think maybe 3 have broken, and 2-3 looked good in pictures but terrible on our faces. You have to do your homework, measure your current frames, and do a lot of imagining about how they will look on your face, etc. because you're going to have a very hard time returning them. (Heh, kind of like rep watches I guess) Here's one I do a lot of business with. Terribly disorganized, but there are plenty of gems if you're willing to dig. Goggles4U Here's another one with a little better organization. Glasses have been similar in quality. ZenniOptical Oh yeah, did I mention that Hublot shop had three Richard Mille models on display?!? I wished they would let me take photos. Never seen that in the US before, but maybe I don't get around much.

Hi guys. First post here. I'm just getting into reps after I almost dumped $500 USD on a scam site and found rwg in the nick of time. It's been like living in a dream world ever since. (Rep watches are going to be an obsession problem for me. I'm a guy with roughly 17 pairs of prescription glasses. Did you folks know those are repped as well? I learned of that before watches.) Anyway, I knew I was going to be in Chicago over the holidays, so I planned ahead, researched the brands I wanted to sample, and brought a good camera. It's not New York, but the jeweler's district of Chicago might have the highest density of ADs per square foot anywhere. I made it through 8 floors of a single building with each one packed with tiny dealers before my wife reigned me in. A typical experience: I have to knock on the door in this tiny hole in the wall shop as they buzz you in. Once inside, I see absolutely no inventory. I ask, got any Panerais? Sure, he says. I kid you not, the guy puts down his sandwich and pulls out a rubbermaid bin from the back packed full of loose watches. At least a dozen pams inside. On the street, I'm shooting through shop windows as most places won't allow photography inside (though they were kind and let me, a regular looking guy, try on beautiful pieces). In one tiny window of a tiny tiny shop I counted 3 pams, 3-4 pateks, and at least 3 AP ROOs complete with gold and bling. Here was another highlight. This dealer had the ultra-limited HBB all black in stock (only 25 pieces made), and she even let me try it on. I couldn't take a pic, but I think this is it on the sign visible from outside: I'm not sure if that's the one Josh and others have. In person everything is much darker. The hands are literally black on black with just some faint shine. Stunning. I'm trying to get my wife excited about this while she's infatuated with a F. P. Journe tourbillon (also pretty incredible, and they keep it wound so you can watch). Anyway, good times, and when I get home, this is in the mail from Josh: It's not a flawless rep, but I'm sure excited.