gazob

Again my memory is telling me it was the dial, but I cant find anything even close, maybe the bezel was turned around and I just saw it as the dial being offset......

thats almost it, but Im almost sure the dial was offset such that 12 was at 1:30 to 2

Saw a fake watch in Malaysia that has got me curious. From memory the face looked like a non chrono version of this aquatimer on watcheden http://www.watcheden.biz/iwc-aquatimer-chronno-automatic-titanium-case-with-black-dial-i-10966-p-1.html I think the 0-15 highlight on the bezel was yellow, the face was charcoal or matt black. except it had 2 crowns at about 2 and 4 (in comparison to a normal watch), the crown at 2 rotated the bezel which was under the crystal and I assume the second wound the watch and set the time. The whole dial was ofset such that 12 was at about 1:30-2:00. Anybody know if this is a fantasy or whether such a watch exists in the gen world, and if so anyone stocking a fake? I probably should have bought it when I saw it, but the crown at 2 felt like it was going to fall off in my fingers. GaZ

Got back from 2 weeks in Thailand and Malaysia earlier this week. Was a fun couple of weeks spent mostly in Phuket, with a 3 day stopover in Kuala Lumpur on the way back. A few months back I realised my wife would be going to lots of markets buying clothes / handbags / and stuff. This didnt interest me greatly so I figured I would buy a couple of fake watches. I Joined Repgeek, RWI and here and started reading and have been reading pretty consistently ever since. So from all reports the watches I would get in Phuket would be cheapy fakes, and I would have to haggle hard to get a reasonable price. Forearmed with knowledge of what I could get online, and how much I would likely pay I set myself the goal of spending around $50 per watch, and buying watches i liked the look and feel of more so then trying to get 100% accurate replica's. In total My son (12) and I got 10 watches and we did stick to roughly $50 per watch, I wont put individual pricing in but in Thailand expect to pay 1000-2000bht (divide by 30 for rough $AU $US price) per watch, and in malaysia we were either more hardened to the haggling process or they were a bit cheaper. The best places in Phuket we found for watches were, #1 Phuket-Town Night market, fri/sat/sun, evening market. Selection was not great, probably 10-20 sellers spread around a thousand stalls. Each seller probably had something like 500+ watches half decent reps, and a similar number of throwaway fakes. If you have photos on your phone of what you are looking for you can quickly skip from stall to stall as their selection outside the standards is a bit slim but surprising. Bought at the Night market Corum Bubble diver shark Auto and Quartz Tag cal 17, 1300 bht ea, took a few walk aways in the haggling to get this price, but he changed the strap on the corum to the better rubber deployment clasp. Corum Bubble Diver Shark face TAG #2 Patong Bangla Road and the beach road south of Bangla road. Many shops along here, the best stuff is in the back rooms, they are generally cooler then the shop fronts anyway, sometimes the backrooms would be well away from the actual shops. The sellers are knowledgable, and willing to take the time to show you every one of the 500-1000 watches they have in stock. Quality is a bit variable, generally higher than the night market. Bought here - Franck Muller Crazy Hours black face coloured numerals auto mvmt, this was a hard one to find, after 20 shops we found the first one, but it was the large size and just too big for my sons wrist, next shop had the medium size and I bought a Uboat flightdeck for myself to assist with bartering, not a good uboat, no lume, chrono pushers on a non chrono face, but the auto movement seems to work well. Paid 1600 bht ea for these. No pic of the FM as at the time i took the photos my sons watches were still in his suitcase Bad Uboat A couple of days later went back for more, and got 2 45mm Omega 007 watches, the son got the Casino Royale in black face, black bezel, I got the Quantum Of Solace black face orange bezel, both SS on SS bracelets. Once again 1600 seemed to be as good as we could go. Omega PO QOS Kept looking but nothing really stood out, was looking for a nicer dress watch for myself, and my son really liked the Bubble diver that I got early on. Malaysia Kuala Lumpur China Town Night Market, every 5 stalls is a watch stall, some with better selection then others, but lots of competition. Wasnt really sure how much to pay here and after looking at a number of stalls spotted another medium sized FM crazy hours, this time on leather, that would be perfect for my sister in law who also shares a love of watches. Was looking for an IWC FA Jones SS on leather which this seller didnt have but had a photo on my phone of a montblanc timewalker and he pulled out the exact watch. Wasnt real sure on pricing and started haggling to high but got both for 300 ringit ($AU 100). MB Timewalker FM CH Was still looking for another bubble diver for the son, had seen a few but he didnt like the faces and most were on leather. We ended up finding the Corum Bubble diver heaven with maybe 30 different versions, and judging by the dustiness of some of the cases felt confident we could do a good deal, he finally picked the roulette table face and the knight one and we haggled down to 100 ringit ea, both on rubber deployment but not the better clask that I had got on my shark watch, but at $au 33 ea seemed a bargain. On a sad side note the crown on the roulette broke from the stem, I fixed it with some glue, but no longer works as a roulette spinner, but time set and winding works. All in all a great trip. Thailand is a great place to visit, the Thai people are very friendly and your dollar sure goes a long way when going out on tourist day trips, sitting down to eat, and shopping for fakes designer clothes and accesories. If anyhting the pricing at the KL night market was better but the sell was a bit harder and the people not as nice. This is quite a long post, hope I havent lost too many people. The wife was no slouch in the shopping dept, here are a few of her bags and purses GaZ

Well after this post (nbr 5) I can post some pics, I promise there will be none of me in a mankini. Just to add something with this post, of all the watches above, my favorite is the Sharkfaced Corum Bubble. I understand why some may nott like them, but there is just something about this watch which says, "I dont take anything very seriously", and thats exactly why there are no rolex's on my list. GaZ

Been back a few days now. Did buy some watches, between my son and I we ended up with 10. Many Stores, and Market stalls visited, was ushered into many back rooms with intricate hidden doors and locking mechanisms. I wrote up a fuller post on rwi, including photos of my share of the watches and a few of my wifes handbags, if anyone is interested I can repost here. It is worth noting that I dont think I got too many watches that compare with even the cheaper reps sold by the trusted dealers. That being said I didnt pay much more than $50 AU for any watch either, and quite a few at less than that. In order of purchase the watches bought were Corum Bubble Diver Sharkface SS/RU Auto Tag Cal 17 SS/SS Quartz FM Crazy Hours Medium size SS/SS UBoat Flightdeck 50 SS/LT Non Chrono Auto really poor quality has the chrono case with pushers Omega PO Casino Royale SS/SS Auto Omega PO Quantum of Solace SS/SS Auto Montblanc Timewalker SSCE/SSCE Auto, nice details but instead of chrono has 24hr Day Month on subdials FM Crazy Hours SS/LT Auto this is for the sister in law, but has the correct caseback whereas the first one was a casablanca caseback Corum Bubble Dive Casino, the crown on this broke and I have reglued it but the roulette spinner no longer functions, although the time change and winding still functions Corum Bubble Dive Knight I think as the trip progressed we got better at negotiating price and the last 2 watches purchased were only $33AU ea, the market stall at Kuala Lumpur China Town Night market probably had the greatest selection and the seller for these 2 watches had a great selection of Bubble Dive watches which my son had taken a liking to after I got my Sharkface one on the first day. I am still a couple of posts shy of being able to add a photo so ask a question or 2 and as I answer the postcount will rise On a last note, this was a great trip, I think I spent almost as much time looking at watches as my wife did shopping for Handbags, shoes, etc. She was happy as my son and I who normally would not see any joy in shopping were often the ones My wife and daughter were waiting on. GaZ

Thanks for the advice, but really its just a bit of a fun thing to do at the markets while waiting for the wife and daughter to finish looking at their stuff. I dont seriously expect to get great reps, I am sort of hopeful that by looking carefully, feeling the items in my own hands, and haggling strongly I can come away with at the very least a story or two of being taken into the back room in a number of establishments and shown their "best" stuff. At the end of it all I may walk away with only a couple of poor fakes and some great stories, and wont have been standing outside the 300 stalls my wife is currently looking through tapping my toes making her miserable as well. With low expextations I can only be pleasently surprised with what Im shown. If the reps are no good I may just have to get one of those awesome seiko monster divers which evrryone says is the best watch ever. If I get home and have nothing much I will surely be hitting up the dealers on these boards for some decent reps, but at least I now know what I can get online, and therefore wont be paying $50 for a bad submariner rep. GaZ

Been lurking a while reading alot on various aspects of watches. I will be heading to Thailand for a couple of weeks in a little under a month and had initially planned to buy a few fake watches. My wife and daughter are going to be spending mucho time in the markets looking for clothes, handbags, shoes, etc, and I thought setting myself the task of picking up a few watches might make the whole experience more pleasureable for all. So I joined here and RG and started reading and have been constantly looking for the last month or so. I dont expect to get the exact watches the dealers have here at the sort of dollars I am going to be spending (or trying to) but at least I know a little of what to look for, and I know a few of the watches I am most interested in getting. Hopefully can get some of the following, Ive never even really worn an overlarge watch, the last 2 years has been a Tissot PRS200 that is starting to get very battle worn, but this wears quite small on my wrist so think I can pull of a big watch for fun. Rolex Hunter PVD with the green crystal Omego PO Uboat flightdeck 50mm PVD black face orange markings Hublot BB (Ice or AB) Plainish black or silver PAM, leaning towards a 183 Cartier Ballon bleu white face Choppard something large and autosport themed Im sure Ive seen lots of other watches that may make the list, and Im sure some of what Ill see over there wont be worth even my cheap dollars, so will be playing it a bit by ear, but hopefully a fun way to spend some time waiting for the wife and daughter to check every store for an elusive item. With the watches I am more interested in getting half decent timepieces than getting 100% reps, in alot of cases I think I will be happy with quartz movements, but I suppose it all depends on how they look and feel. Im a little worried carrying this many fakes back through customs, are there any tips or tricks? GaZ