For me it all started when I got a genuine Tudor Sub from my father for my 18th birthday (which seems ages ago now, damn how time passes by). I loved that watch, but since I wore it on a daily basis, it got scratched and beaten up after some years. I wore it during my military time, while diving even when I was asleep. After 6 or 7 years I wanted it serviced and polished and nearly freaked out, when I saw the bill from the authorized Rolex dealer. That was the point when I started to look for a similar replacement for daily use... Since I only found some really bad brass Rolexes, that I bought on holiday in NY or Spain, I was not really pleased. These things just looked too bad to be true.
Around 1999 I started searching the web, but needless to say, it was nearly impossible to find a reputable dealer or a decent Sub rep at that time. In 2001 I found replica center. Well you know that site that pretends to offer unbiased replica information and links to completely unaffiliated rep sites (sarcasm dripping). I was lucky enough to find a site through them, that send me a watch at all and a not so bad one after all. So I ordered a Class AAAAAAAAAA+++++++++ Asian copy, since they wanted more than $800 for a 100% (more sarcasm here) swiss version. The watch I got cost me around $280 and turned out to be a quite decent Sub with a Miyota movement (I checked that some years later with more background knowledge acquired from the web). It was actually not too bad, water resistant and had a decent magnification for the time... Only the bracelet was really crap, it had imitated SEL, that were hollow inside. Although the price was a bit exaggerated, but that I learned later.
After a long time of daily use and scratches all over the bracelet and the bezel inside I started searching for a new rep bracelet and bezel insert,which I found on ebay. I exchanged them, but my findings in ebay started my interest in reps again and that's when I ended up at RWG...
Now around 40 reps later and a lot of money going to China, I still own the old Miyota and it still keeps perfect time... Although I don't wear it anymore since I got some nice ETA subs and a lot of other watches to replace it. I gave it to my brother lately and hopefully it will last him a long time.
I bought a real Sub also, but I am really thinking about selling it, since I will probably never dive as deep as 1000ft anyway ) And the ETA Subs give me all I need from a Sub... apart from my first Tudor one, which really has a special place in my collection - even more so after my father died two years ago.
Well, that was me becoming a rep afficinado!