RobbieG

Yes, I did it with the PO, The Steelfish, the Aquatimer (sparked from the Ti GST), and a Datejust as well (which I haven't shot just yet)

...not that I don't think that article was oversimplified propaganda filled with half truths either. It's just that I think many here would agree that there is something in a watch which goes way beyond the cosmetic detail of a fine replica watch. There is that wonderful feeling of pride of owning something truly special and steeped in history and crafted with love and care which a rep just can't provide. Not that reps don't have their place too, but they will never fill that need for me. The intangibles to me are the most tangible of all...

Boy, #10 sure rings true with me and has for some time. I just can't get that feeling. I used to be able to get it some, but not for quite some time now...

Are you refering to the new 40MM Day-Date II? If so, I'm not sure if that has been done or is just in the works. I'm sure since Rolex is still the most important brand to rep factroies that they are doing a rep of the watch. A good place to start might be to email Josh and ask him. He tends to have his finger on the pulse on everything going on, and most importantly he will more than likely be the fastest to repond to your email. When you get your answer you can then decide who to order it from, as all dealers will be able to source it if available. Happy hunting.

Yes, the morning is much whiter and that is why I like it so much. To me watches look best "cold". Anyway, I just realized I posted these in response to someone who posted GMT natural light photos and while these are in respose to that they are not GMT so I guess I kind of hikacked here, sorry. But anyway, natural light rules!

I love that I hate it...

I love natural light as well. All of my pictorials are done without a light tent, never with flash, and only with diffused natural light from the early morning hours. Here are a few examples:

A little blingy steel to brighten a rainy day...

Fighting? Nah, how about a POSITIVE story instead: To me the most important news I have heard is that Bytor's rep CHS Pepsi GMT broke and although that is bad news the good news is that he finally broke down and did what he deserves more than anyone on the planet - he got a gen 16710!!! ...and now with the cease in production of the gen piece as well, not only is he sporting a cool watch, but sporting a very, very collectable one at that which he managed to score for a great price as well. Let's all be happy for BT, the indisputed international mascot of the 16710...

You and I had similar habits, although my change in rep habits had nothing to do with rep prices. I just want them to have less QC issues than they do and they don't so I will buy gens instead as long as I have the means. There are SO many stories like that here of people I know buying reps at a pace that would net them as much as 4 to 6 gens a year! It would be interesting though to see the impact on prices and QC if a large pool of forum members refused to buy save for certain price points and QC levels. Very interesting to watch for sure...

Like I said, if the prices don't come down you will know for sure that they haven't...

Fantastic video. Thanks for the link...

What about the blank rotor and the weird shock device Rob? I'm sure you have seen those before, but I can't say as I have. I guess if it is genuine it must be an ebauche rotor as the complete movement ones are usually stamped, no?

Nice trio. Isn't it fun to have a different color dial for whatever mood may strike you and yet have them all in the same family. Sports watches are just so fun. So similar yet incredibly different at the same time. I guess one might say you have got your wings Lani. I think I'm going to have to grab a Skyland myself now, but I think I'll opt for the black dial myself to compliment my blue dialed Fish similar to yours...

Yeah, I gotta agree with TT here...the value of the dollar has little to nothing to do with price elasticity or lack thereof in the rep market. In may affect different buyers around the world who are converting other currencies in an individual transaction, but the action of this market is supply and demand driven. It simply isn't large enough to be impacted by global currency concerns. In other words nobody is short reps, long Francs or whatever trying to exploit some currency arbitrage play. LOL. Currency would only come into play if say factories were using the value of the dollar as a hedge against soem global supply that they needed to tap or something, which obviously isn't happening.

Yeah. They are getting better and better at the visible cosmetics though, huh? They used to be a lot more crude than what we see here - and not so long ago.

Wow! Really cool photo shoot. Gotta love interesting diffused natural light. Nice job.

To my eye it is the opposite. The nickel movement looks to have Incabloc and the brass movement appears to have a lower cost alternative of some sort. I beleive there is also another alternative to Incabloc that ETA uses called Etachoc or something...

Look what I found on the bay. A 2824 which claims to be Swiss but yet has a naked rotor... http://cgi.ebay.com/ETA-2824-2-Mens-new-Or...1QQcmdZViewItem ...and this one which appears more typical and for much more money... http://cgi.ebay.com/ETA-Automatic-Movement...Q2em118Q2el1247

No doubt that everything is going up. I'm buying a lot of gens lately and paying more for them than ever. Some brands and specific pieces have gone up by more than 20% in a year. The real Cartel is in Switzerland. Makes China look like Costco in a going out of business sale...

Oh make no mistake, I'm not defining greed any differently than you are, and I'm not playing devil's advocate. I'm saying that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction in any market and this sort of thing is very close for me as I study markets for a living. All I'm saying is that what is worth doing is worth doing for money and $50 profit per watch vs a $200 profit per watch at the dealer level will not affect price elasticity. The current price of reps in this "forum" segment of the market has established itself as pure as evidenced by buying and selling. If the market did not perceive the final prices as fair, they would fall and they haven't. Where, how, and who makes the profits in the chain and to what degree is of no consequence and the only thing that effects market actions in any market is the ending price which is a perception of value. A $400 rep sells for that price because market participants think it is worth that. They may kick and scream and complain about the price, but yet they still pay it so the rest is noise. When they cease kicking and stop buying only then will the perceived value be real and prices be affected. So no, we don't really disagree at all my friend, and I think it is great if you choose to expliot a new sales strategy to offer watches at a lower price, although I'm not sure if you decided to do it or not. Just know that the market is pretty much static and finite and that all that will really happen is the same amount of sales at less profits. But if you are able to effectively pull all the volume away from the other dealers before they follow suit with lower prices due to lack of sales if even for a short time you will proabably make up for the decreased margins with a lot of volume in the short run if you can pull it off. In any event, I guess I'm rooting for you. Change is always good - or volatility as we like to call it in my business...

With all due respect DT4M, and please don't take this the wrong way, but what consititutes greed? The amount someone marks up a product? I mean, I don't know what you do for a living but I'm sure your company makes a healthy profit for what it does and it is up to the market to decide if any prices in any industry are fair. It is after all what the free market (a phrase I think many take for granted) is all about. Look, furniture is known to sell at a 400% markup and fountain soda for 200% or more, and electronics for less than 10% in some cases, and appliances at 20%. How can any one man pass judgement on something to determine whether a markup on an item is fair or unfair? Moreover, apparently the market itself doesn't think so if its participants continue to buy at whatever price the item is set at. Again, all due respect, an I appreciate that you are just looking out for the members here, but IMO it isn't up to any of us to decide arbitrarily what a fair markup for any item is. We don't do it at te grocery store or anywhere else so what makes these items any different? This market has determined that the prices charged are fair. We all know this simply becuase the watches continue to sell from all dealers at similar prices and the appetite for the products is not shrinking. If you choose to sell watches for instance and make less profits and as a result the rest of the dealers follow then of course the market will have corrected itself accordingly. But whether that is right or wrong isn't really for anyone to say. One could look at it both ways, one of which would be that while good for the member's wallets it could even be limiting overall to the industry, causing future waning interest from the factories maybe because the risk vs. reward for doing a new watch is less attractive thus making them question the depth and commitment to future offerings. I say all this really just to the point being that messing with prices in either direction is never without consequence and there is no absolute morality in lower prices, any more than there is in trying to squash higher ones. I have no problem with the greed badge and call me Gordon Gekko, but making less money on purpose is just bad business. LOL...

Value is always a relative term and price exhaustion is also something very real and predictable and something we profit from regularly. My take has always been that when the crowd continues to speak of price as being remarkable that is the time to bet the other way, but only if the evidence is pure. Case in point, I shorted the F*%k out of crude at $141 and everyone said I was crazy, but as they all see now the price exhaustion was very real. Plus there were no fundamental or technical reasons for oil to be that high. Reps are no different from any other market and the will respond to price pressures from its market participants. There quite frankly is nothing to support shrinking prices, like say this thread or something. The fact is as long as prices get tested and market participants buy at those prices they will continue to rise. Simple economics guys. That is demand outstrips supply. The makers can't release new models fast enough and the appetite here is ravenous. Want lower rep prices? Organize a forum wide boycott of the next hot watch with every dealer. The factory won't make the concession as they have their own wholesale customers, but the dealers will if there are no sales. I got the best possible price on my CL shorts (oil) because there was no adverse buy pressure. I shorted on evidence that buyers were no longer pouring in at those prices. Simple. So I knew the price must fall and fall soon. Their greed flowed directly into my pockets as greedy buyers saw the momentum shift too late. Their panic selling further fueled price crashing in the opposite direction which is exactly what I wanted it to do. The point being the same stuff could easily be done here. I can't manipulate oil, but you all can manipulate these boards more than you think. I mean you are only talking about getting 1000 or so people together and if you did that you could make a huge dent trust me. 1000 members holding out for one price here is the equivalent of me controling the entire oil market with $100M in equity or so. I guy can dream can't he...hehe... In sum, I have no doubt that if you all got together you could gain a lot of control in this niche market here if you wanted to. If things don't sell, prices shrink until they do as the one constant in any market is that prices MUST move. And as they shrink, further panic from competing dealers trying to get any sales they can will cause more shrinkage in the same way the longs panicked and fueled my shorts in oil. These concepts work the same in any market whether for oil, indices, houses, cars, & watches too. PS: I don't think boycotting will really be realistic per se nor do I intend to participate as I for one happen to appreciate these watches of late and feel that they are fairly priced for what they are which I have also always maintained. I'm just trying to illustrate that based on the behavior of these markets and the control firmly planted on the seller's side, there is no reason to think anything but that the prices will continue to rise unless a MAJOR demand eventy happens (which I doubt will ever happen)

+1000

What bruddah, you like fight rubbah too? Heh? Why?