The difference between you and countless others before you, is that you have the gall and heart to stand out and apologize for something you feel is wrong, rather than keep bulldozing your way through senselessly. I for one appreciate that greatly. Respect to you sir.
The watches built by many members in RWG are impressive to say the least, and would stand up to the scrutiny of 99.9% of the world population. Having said that, there ARE such things as 20 quid chinese replicas of course. They are just not the primary type of watches we discuss here. We do not condemn that kind of watches and their collectors here either, but the discussions mostly focus on better built replicas.
Fundamentally, a fake watch is a watch that is not a real working watch. A replica watch is one that emulates a certain genuine brand make and model, and a good replica watch actually attains at least 90%-95% similarity to the genuine one. Like your good self, I started my collection with genuine watches, and slowly I dwell into the world of replica watches over the past few years and discovered one of the smartest financial decisions in my life. Just a quick fact sheet for you and I think I speak for many here:
a. We understand very well the differences between a genuine high end brand watch and its replica counterpart. We do not attempt to pass off the watches as real. We wear the watches for our own leisure and not to impress anyone else..
b. There are many grades of replica. A replica will always be a replica and would never be equal to the genuine McCoy. But there are replica watches that are good enough for owners of genuine watches.
c. My favorite part of RWG: Watch building, modding, and the sharing of all information pertaining to this. You would be amazed at how much more could be learnt here compared with the genuine watch forums, which focus on models, prices, comparisons between models and information of a comparatively superficial level.
Here, you would find guys who are very intimately familiar with watch parts, the intricate modding process of a watch movement, and the different ways you could tinkle with a watch to improve it in countless ways. For us, the joy is in the journey.
d. We are most definitely NOT the jealous, unemployed scums you mentioned earlier. I personally know of: 2 doctors, 1 lawyer, 1 fighter pilot, 2 commercial pilots, 4 successful businessmen, 1 hedge fund manager, 2 bankers, 1 professor-lecturer at a prestigious University in Europe, and countless others who hold respectable jobs. It is more likely that you get envious of many of the watch collections available here, than the other way.
Enough rambling, welcome again to RWG and I wish you a pleasant stay here. Replace that misinformed contempt with understanding of who and what we are about, and you would do a lot better.