kramerica2

It's probably gen, I gave the seller an offer that was only 100$ less than what he asked for and he said thanks, but no thanks. If it was a rep, he wouldn't have turned it down. It's still more than a reasonable price for that piece.

Are you sure about that? The owner seems like an honest man, and the asking price is reasonable for a gen. Do you see the difference between this watch and the watch over @chrono24? http://www.chrono24.com/en/rolex/gmt-master-2tone-black-nipple-dial-16753--id2203106.htm?manufacturerIds=221&picnum=0&referenceNumber=16753%24221&tab=pics&urlSubpath=%2Frolex%2Fref-16753.htm Thanks a lot..

Sells as a gen, supposed to be from the 80s:

Wow, great gesture. PM sent, have a great christmas...

Problem is, they claim no responsibility about shipping to me as well. Meaning if the watch is caught by customs either on the way to China or on its way back, its my problem and I'm going to lose the watch and my money. Honest mistake or not, that is one dealer I'm never going to use again. The seller is Angus from PT.

Let's assume that you buy a rep from a TD. You get the QC pics and you approve them, and then wait for your watch. When it arrives you find out that not only it's not the watch you approved, it has a major flaw that other reps doesn't have. Someone at the factory wasn't at his best and did something totally wrong. It makes a super rep that you payed quite a bit for into a warch that screams fake everytime you look at it. What would you expect a good TD do at that situation? Who should pay for his mistake?

Showing off my PO, and my new-old VIP badge (Time to give something back..):

Ok, got the watch - it is beautiful. However - The watch I got isn't the one shown in the QC pics. If you look closely, the one in the QC pics has a mark on the 12 sub-dial, between 30-45 sec. Mine is clean. The problem is that mine has a slightly crooked date window. Didn't expect PT to ship a different watch with a very visible problem, I'm very disappointed with them.

I'm 99.9% sure that it's a rep. Things that look strange: 1. Like you mentioned - the date font and the green dots. 2. I think that those dots should be flatter. They stick out too much. 3. the bezel engravings seem a bit too deep comparing to photos of the gen. Take a look at that: http://forums.watchuseek.com/f67/breitling-superocean-steelfish-x-plus-a17390-468978.html

It could be a sensitive issue, so if somebody knows, I'd be happy if you could PM me. I'm waiting for 3 days and haven't received an answer from PT yet, and it's a bit urgent. It's my first time from PT, I'm used mostly to Andrew, and his methods never fail. Thanks...

There is a reason why many of the rep lovers also buy gens. I know that I only buy a gen that I can enjoy it's "non-replicable" attributes: It could be the amazing quality of the 8500 PO case, bezel, dial and much more important - the movement that I enjoy both it's amazing specs and it's stunning beauty, and it could be the history and class of the speedmaster, that a rep won't do (at least for me). With reps I enjoy different things: Value, the amazing copying capabilities, their looks, etc.... It would mostly be reps of watches that I can't (or not willing to) afford their gens or reps of watches that I don't think their gens have special value beside their looks (like the SOSF - beautiful, but overpriced considering it's nothing more than an ETA movement). So, I try to enjoy reps as much as possible, but every now and then, comes a gen that I'm willing to buy and going to enjoy...

Let me tell you something. Without a strap and the crown fix, it would pass for much more than 99.9999% of the people out there. With those fixes you can add another 9 to that number and still be on the safe side. It's easy to forget how few people can spot a rep with macro pictures online, and only a fraction of those would be able to spot a good rep at real life situations. At least with some brands, with pictures I can spot most reps in a heartbeat. In real life, it's much harder unless I grab the poor guy's wrist and look closely.

Horrible rep... But It's something I guess. BTW, the gen blue dial is only available on the tiny mid-size AT.... Too bad.

my po 8500, on the way to work:

Yes, Ebel used to have some nice watches.. unfortunately, the brand today is pretty much dead. I looked at their current collection at their website. To say it's boring would be a compliment... Too bad! (It doesn't take any of the beauty of the 1911 of-course)

Anyone has an interesting customs story? I had customs issues only with one dealer that for some reason his parcels never made it through. With six other dealers, and about 20 other watches I had zero problems. HIs first try was stopped by customs and returned to him immediately saying that I refused the package (have no idea why). He took my word for it and shipped it again. This time I got a letter from customs saying that I have to come and release the package myself from customs. I figured that in the worse case I can always say that I have no idea why he sent me a watch and that I bought something different. I went to the customs offices, and the clerk starts to open the package in front of me. He says something like: "I have no idea why this package was marked as suspected, I hope for your sake it's not a gun...". So, he opens the package and finds the watch, I give him the best "I'm innocent" look I can fake, and without saying anything he starts checking the piece with a loupe writing down some comments about the watch (it was a PAM 288K). He then tells me something like: "Go home and wait for our call" Turns out, they didn't even care about rep or gen. They wanted the money. So I got a payment request for the equivalent of 1200$... Obviously I didn't pay for it, the dealer got his watch back and I got a full refund. Amazing service, but I never ordered from him again, and never had any problems since (well, at the moment I have a couple incoming, so hopefully I'll be able to say it again).

Great deal for an amazing watch. Ordered the discovery panda (finally).

Thank you all, I gave them the OK. The watch is from PT, didn't pay any extra for the rounded pushers. Now, sadly, I have to play the waiting game....

No watchsmith has ever identified my reps without seeing the movement. My Swiss ETA SOSF was regarded as a gen, even after seeing the movement.

Your chance to see the new version, spot the difference (if any) and most important, help me judge those QC pics! Thanks a lot..

Ever since you were young, you loved watches. Hard to say exactly why, but they've always meant something special for you. You still remember that watch your grandfather gave you on your 10th birthday, a simple Casio digital watch, that was so cool, It even had a stopwatch. As you grow older, you're cycling simple, cool watches - some G-Shocks, Swatch and even an analog Citizen. You're 21, cellphones are almost everywhere, you don't wear a wristwatch anymore. Who needs them? You still give the occasional glance at luxury watches' ads, and know that you want them. You also think that you'll never be stupid enough to spend that kind of money for them. Time goes by, you still pause for a second on the occasional ad you see, or as you pass by those luxurious stores, but you still know that you're never going to buy one. You're 27, going on a trip abroad with some friends. Walking in the streets you pass by an Omega boutique, and then your friend says something that's going to change a big part of your life, he says: "Let's go in for a second...". You're hooked. You know it's just a matter of time, but how can you afford it? You get back home, and you start thinking - Maybe there are good reps that you can somehow get. As usual. Google is your friend. You find some info, but it's seems fishy. Articles about the difference between AA and AAA, with links for purchase. You're trying to find a forum about rep watches, but what kind of people would deal with reps online? And then you find RWG.... Fast Forward 4 years - You're looking for your third gen, you're buying and selling reps, you're browsing RWG (and even those other forums) daily, looking for yet another "100% 1:1 AAA+ MADE FROM GENUINE" watch, and waiting for them to finally get that pearl right for crying out loud!!! This is just something I thought about today, how it all began.. felt like sharing, hope it made you think about you're beginning. PS - Not a native English "speaker", so please forgive any mistakes. PS 2 - That friend never bought a watch....

Or a different watch that has neither....

Still suffers from the incorrect hand stack flaw... A deal breaker for some.

I thought about holding my purchases for something like a AP, Lange or PP. However, when I think about it in a different way - selling all my watches for just one - I could never do that. It's the same thing.... And yes, something must be very wrong with Zenith's marketing. They make amazing pieces, usually for a decent (as much as you can be decent in luxury watches) price. And almost nobody outside WIS circles has even heard about them.