TeeJay

Shocking.

What is?

One of the things I find interesting is the question of what, exactly, people expect from a rep watch, what matters most to them. Does it have to match EXACTLY the real thing to be satisfactory or is it good enough if it looks similar but otherwise looks good and works well.

I think how you see a rep determines to a great extent what you get out of it. I might think my rep is good because it looks good, the printing on the face is sharp and well aligned, all the parts fit together reasonably well, the buttons work and it keeps reasonably good time. If the date wheel is in the wrong place or the sub dials have different numbers on them is of secondary value. So, I guesss the question is, what do you want out of rep watches and what does it take to keep you interested?

I would say that you've essentially summed up my feelings towards reps. I don't demand 100% 1:1 accuracy in replication, because I don't ever intend to try and pass the watch off as genuine, so it doesn't have to be 'perfect', from that perspective. From my point of view, as long as everything on the dial is clear and correctly spelled, the watch does what it needs to do, and I like how it looks, that's perfect for me It's like a couple of my planned projects, a 1665 and 16800, I know I'm not going to get them 100% perfect to the originals, so I'm just going to do what I can to make them at least look 'historically accurate' to be identifiable as their correct model to another enthusiast. I couldn't care less if a member of the public sees the name on the dial, infact, I prefer it when they don't see the R Word on the dial, as that is then inviting the question "Is that a real Rolex?"... While I would never say 'Yes', I prefer to just fly under the radar

It's been a quartz weekend for me... Rolex yesterday, Tudor today

I thought it was just me.....

But when I started reading this thread, I was amazed to see some of the "old guard" posters joining in the reunion!....

The hobby has changed dramatically, with a lot of new folks adding a lot of new ideas, and a lot of new reps showing up, for a WHOLE LOT of money by the standards of just a few years ago!!

As I type this, I'm wearing my Arktos 21J that I have worn often over the past 4 years, that only cost me $70.00, and it still is tight, clean, and accurate...

The only watch I have bought recently in my 21J Ploprof, and I only bought that because I've been looking for one for @ 30+ years, and at $149.00, it was a steal!!!

I'm amused at how anal many of the new guys are about such mundane stuff as a/r colors,and lume brightness.... and watching the "Planet Ocean Follies" evolve over @ 5 years, has become a daily source of entertainment for me...My $75.00 edition from '06 still looks almost as good as any of the dozens of iterations I have seen evolve over that period...

So I'll keep on reading, and maybe posting once in a while....And maybe even buy another watch or two...Who knows....

And maybe someday the words "franken" and "ultimate" will revert to their true meanings......

They're scared of getting called out

Haha ya the image didn't show up when I was viewing via tapatalk

When I went back on my comp just now it was there - I felt silly

TeeJay you are a wiser man then I

If at some point you have the time I'd love to see some of the work you have done.

I should mention while this tattoo is a newer creation in my mind - I've had another on I'd like to get done that I've wanted for about 6 years now. For some reason I'm still not ready to get it tattooed.

I know I want it, but I'd rather get the idea I spoke about in the earlier posts as a first tattoo. (almost like a tester tattoo)

The tattoo I've wanted for a long time.. Well I really have a connection to it and id haaaaaate for it to be messed up at all.

Silly I know.

The original tattoo idea I had that I'd like to get one day is:

the yellow river dragons gate story.

Long story short the idea is that if a koi can, through determination and hard work, swim up stream to dragons gate, at the top of the river it can be transformed into a dragon.

(very hard to do and only a handful succeed)

Essentially it would be a koi fish near the ankle, a dragon near the knee and 7 lines like rapids between the two ( and then make it all look like a river the koi was trying to swim up).

The 7 rapids are the 7 virtues - the idea is that, if I can live each day with the 7 virtues in mind and action - maybe through my hard work I'll become a dragon among men.

Glad you like the design I totally understand what you mean about your own tattoos, they have to be done when you're ready to get them done, especially a piece with such significance One suggestion, is rather than having the dragon and the koi, had you considered having a dragonkoi halfway up the rapids, showing its transition? Here's a link to a thread with some of my tattoo work, which also has pics of some of the stencils I've drawn for my bodysuit, but here's some of my more recent work

My friend, T's arm:

My own work on my own legs: Kanji reading 'ai shimai' on right thigh and 'aniki' on the left.

My friend, E's leg, freehand and linework, shading and color for another sitting: (The heart key and Dad were done by another artist, not me...)

Concept sketches for E's bodysuit:

[Edit to add]

The 7 rapids are the 7 virtues - the idea is that, if I can live each day with the 7 virtues in mind and action - maybe through my hard work I'll become a dragon among men.

I forgot to post this pic of my dragon, which I also drew the stencil for (still needs a lot of work till it'll be completed )

If I was talented I'd try and draw that for you haha. But if you made the buttons like brush strokes that would be in line with the Asian theme of ur current tattoos

Did you not see the pic above? That's precisely what I did do

That's a super nice gesture to ur mate.

Personal I love my best friend to death - but I'm still not at the point where I'd get a representative tattoo of them

The overall theme for my bodysuit is family, and there are already tattoos for my mother and father in law, my best friend/brother since childhood, my sister, and the mother of my godson. Other 'friend' references are going to my two other best men, and the friend who's letting me tattoo her with a full Japanese bodysuit as practice,in addition to other references for my wife, all my aunts, uncles, grandparents and cousins

Who knows though - I hear tattoos are addictive !

That's one view, but a different viewpoint I read in an interview with a Japanese Master, was that serious tattoo collectors, are like any other art/collectible collectors, and where an addict will take the same drug over and over again to get the same result, a tattoo collector gets different tattoos, and once their collection is complete, they stop

Definitely understand what you're saying

I think I'll have to tone down quite a bit given the size restrictions of my leg haha.

As far as the images being a band - I really mean it as 4 separate images on the leg.

So like the elephant on the outside, then an eye in the front, lion on the inside, eye on the back.

So a band in that aspect, but they would be stand alone images.

Is that kind of what you were talking about?

Ahhh, if the images aren't going to be 'pulled together' by something like some wind spirals for example, then yes, that would still be stand alone images When you said 'band', I was thinking a continuous, solid design Your enso has actually inspired my creativity in creating a design for myself I needed to include something in my bodysuit for one of my best friends (one of my best men when I got married) and as he's a serious gamer, I decided to use the PlayStation buttons as reference to him, but was stumped as to the best way to draw them up, given the bodysuit will be primarily traditional Japanese. But, once you put up the enso, I knew how to do it... What do you think?

Design will be tattooed at about 3 inches tall, not as big as it looks on the screen

I hate Tudors...

Filthy Rolex-wannabe watches...

Delta will be offline for awhile now as he runs home to change his shorts.

I've been waiting for it, but nobody has commented on the "M" being larger than the neighboring letters.

Here's another little Rolex weirdness: it's supposed to look that way.

Check it out: http://media.photobucket.com/image/5514%20comex/marci52/5513A1.jpg

I think the angles are the same on that one too, definitely looks like the draftsman was having a chuckle that day

Damn that's tasty What's the recipe on that?

indeed you did

deltatahoe

@teejay, i'm not sure if it is the picture or the dial print. i suspect it is probably the print -- apparently the comex logo was silk-screened onto the dial. i'll check later and post back with an answer.

That's cool, I just wondered, as from an artists point of view, if I was doing the design, I would have been consistent with all 90* corners or all rounded corners, and figured the draftsman who did the dial print would have done likewise (unless it was his idea of a joke to see if anyone ever noticed ) so I just wondered if it was just the camera and my eye playing tricks with me

good eye nanuq

oh, and my apologies for the poor iphone pic -- lighting wasn't great at 6:30 am this morning

deltatahoe

I'm not sure if it's my eye or the photo, but the inside angles on the O Square appear to be two different types... The top corners appear to be 90*, but the bottom corners appear to be more gently curved. Likewise, the inside edges of the COMEX C and E appear to be curved corners, except for the bottom corner, which appears to be a 90* angle. Is that just a trick of the photo, or are my observations correct? Not trying to pick holes by any means, I literally just noticed, and am genuinely curious

Thx guys

I think what I'll do is talk to an artist and see if I can get a traditional lion (like the first one, wrestling with the Enso like in the second pic)

I've four a way to better verbalized the meaning behind the tattoo.

---------

The elephant balancing on the enso, shows it's mastery over the path and the thus the mind.

It would be places on the outside of the leg and the Buddha lion would be placed on the inside of the leg.

It shows that while on the outside I might appear to have everything in order (like the enlightened elephant),

on the inside I'm still constantly wrestling with my mind/path, there will always be that internal struggle (the Buddha lion wrestling with the Enso).

The all seeing eyes facing behind are a reminder to learn from past experiences - remember the lessons we are taught and carry them with me on my journey.

The eyes facing forward, look to the future.

They remind us that our actions have consequences, both good and bad.

Look within and be mindful of those consequences before you take a step down that path / in that direction.

From what you've said, the lion wrestling with the enso is definitely more fitting than the lion with its foot on the enso, in a kind of protecting/masterful way, but, I still think that a design of that nature, would look better as a stand-alone piece, rather than incorporated into a band with the elephant on the enso and the eyes. As Ami James would say, you're trying to cram 80 lbs of [censored] into a 5lb bag... Not that I think your idea is [censored], far from it, infact, I think it's an awesome concept, and will result in some very meaningful artwork, I just think that as you want to represent so much, you may be putting too many details into the one tattoo. Along the same lines, Dan Gold has said that a tattoo [referring to a Japanese sleeve] "should be like a Chinese tea-party, where you have one host, and one or two guests...". So bearing that in mind, I would suggest having the elephant and lion as independent but complementary pieces. For example, I have the Arabic text 'jihad' (struggle) on the inside of my right arm, and the Japanese text 'giri' (burden of obligations) on the inside of my left arm, representing that one needs to struggle to maintain ones obligations, and even though the two words are not seen side by side, they still balance each other aesthetically

I noticed a small nick in the corner of the keeper of my Tropical-Style strap, so rather than run the risk of it tearing while being worn, I've put it away and put the watch back on my favorite SS bracelet

Well its settled. I just bought the Black Rolex Submariner

http://www.cqout.com/item.asp?id=12307044

There was a problem with the transaction and processing though. I tried to pay and it said Error a couple times. I used 2 different cards to try and pay it off. Didnt work. So I called up Chase, the card company and they said there was 3 attempts. So they removed the block and stuff. I tried again, and this time it went through, but online at CQout's website, it still says Error, Card authorization failed.. They dont even have a telephone number that works so I can call customer service. So now I have emailed them the problem, hoping to get it fixed asap so I can get my hands on the watch. Hopefully this is just a small hiccup. Has this ever happened to anyone?

I've only ever used their in-house escrow system rather than direct card transaction and never had an issue, so I would suggest simply trying again, but from your comment here:

Due to some issues with transaction and processing, I have decided to cancel the order and transaction. I'll look up your dealer Jkay, thanks for the information.

I am looking at the $48 Sub since the $74 is out of stock

http://www.timesshop.net/6415-ro6524-rolex-submariner-black-ss-noobfactory-asian-21j.html

Whats the difference between this one and the $108??

http://www.timesshop.net/6416-rwi-promotionro6524-rolex-submariner-black-ss-noobfactory-asian-copy-2836-.html

and the $74?

http://www.timesshop.net/6861-rwi-promotionro1187-rolex-submariner-black-dial-ceramic-bezel-ss-ss-asian-copy-2836.html

I would suggest you forget about buying reps all together, and just buy from shops... I'm not sure why you had an issue with the card system, but you could get that with any transaction. My father in law was trying to purchase access time on a T-Mobile site yesterday and the site played up several times before it processed his order properly, it could've just been a server glitch or an issue with the software, it is certainly not the fault of the dealer themself, just bad luck... As mentioned, I've only ever used the inhouse escrow system and never had an issue, but you do have to be a registered user of the site to use it... Best of luck with your purchase

lol good luck with that.. If it looked any faker it'd be a timex.

For the price, what do you expect? It would still fool 99% of the folks out there... Actually, I take that back, it wouldn't fool them, because it says 'Rolex' on the dial, and everyone knows that Rolex = Fake But in terms of being able to tell specifically what the tells were, no Joe Public would have a clue

I pointed out five details, which cannot be found on genuine Tag Heuer Calibre 16 movements. At the beginning you even described that caliber as a movement with only silver polished screws. I asked you to confirm that we are talking about the same thing: A gen TH movement. After I received a movement with blue screws - which you admit to have seen before -,

Two blue screws could be a manufacturing variance! If the movement was acquired from a reliable source, it does not mean the movement is in any way suspicious!

still cannot see why in this case I should pay for service.

You pay for the service because Andy did work for you which took him time and time = Money, regardless of if you got paranoid and then made him undo the work... If you are this paranoid that you are being ripped off, I suggest you take your money, go into your nearest TAG AD, and ask them to order you a movement from their suppliers.

Well, I'm only saying that I bought those gen hands because you sold me a genuine Tag Heuer Calibre 16 movement - which turned out to be not a gen Tag Heuer movement. This is why you took it back and this is why I have no use for the hands neither.

Which you believe may not be a gen movement... As above, variations occur in watch production, it does not stop the item 'being real'.

LOL. if it wasn't a genuine movement were the genuine hands ever fitted? If so one would have to conclude it is a gen movement, correct? I mean working off of your logic that you have no use for the hands without a genuine movement.

If it isn't a genuine movement I feel bad for both parties involved. If the movement checked out and was a genuine movement would you be willing to split the 300 he refunded? You know as a token for dragging someone through the mud over fake DRAMA caused by idiotic thinking?

Why should he be able to split it? If the movement checks out as genuine, then Andy deserves the full 300...

Looks good

"i removed the movement and refunded him the money that he paid for it and send it back to him.

a few days later brian then said that he wanted the money back for the work which included removing and fitting crystals for AR and the run about trying to get a set of gen hands which is not the easyest of things to do as i am sure you all know."

Let's get the facts right:

On the 9th of June I gave Andy my bank details and sent the following pm after Andy refused to take back the hands:

"Ok, I understand that you do not want to have the hands back. I cannot use them without a gen movement neither. The 60 € for labor is also compeletely useless for me as the watch is not completed in any way.

I cannot see why I should pay for both of these. Let's settle the case and refund the movement+labor costs, which are together 360 €. On the other side I will keep the hands and you can have what I paid for it, even if the hands are no use for me."

This message was ignored by Andy. The following day Andy sent me the watch parts back and after five days the 300 Euro refund arrived.

I had the following pm on the 14th of June:

"The 300 € for the movement arrived, but you forgat to refund the labor costs, which are 60 €. I do not want to make your nick with this transaction public or leave negative feedback, even if I still feel [censored] off. When the labor costs refund arrives, this case is settled for me."

This message was also ignored by Andy.

BTW this is how the movement was described to me on the 4th of May: "€300 for the movement and it has silver polished screws just like you want,, not cheep but dont forget this is a Genuine TAG new Calibre 16 chronometre movement and you pay over 400 for a standard new non decorated 7750 that is a good price"

After I received the watch and made my complaints about the movement Andy wrote to me: "Yes it does have one blued screw, i admit, and that is the way i got it."

It's strange that both of the blue screws are under other movement parts so they cannot be seen or changed easily.

Andy did work for you, swapping parts around, and that costs. If you went to a garage and had say an engine swap performed on your car, even if you then wanted the original engine put back in, there's no way you'd see the labor cost refunded, because regardless of your perception of the scenario, work which took time was performed... If Andy says that the movement was acquired as genuine from a trusted source, that should be good enough. Even if you don't take his word for it, considering how companies like Rolex can change minor details in a production run, it is really beyond the realm of impossibility that a couple of blued screws were installed by the factory? Are a couple of blue screws really worth this hassle and public embarrassment over? Lets be clear here, you have seriously embarrassed yourself here by doing this, and I doubt any other forum modders would be willing to work with you in future as a result...

@ T... that is one sweet PAM mate.... obviously one of the prototypes Congrats

Thanks, amigo, I'm sure it's salvageable somehow into some kind of fantasy project

+1

And by knowing FxrAndy personally (IRL) I know he would NEVER put his reputation at stake for a couple of €..

+2

Incase you missed it, here's that link again, as I would highly recommend this dealer as a source

I have done my research, and I have a faint idea on the difference, but since this forums has actual veterans on the subject, I am here to make sure and to as questions. Signing up on this forums to ask those questions is part of researching.. How do you think you got here to this forums and why? To research. Dont play high and mighty to me, I was just asking a question. If you dont know the answer or if you didn't want to answer, leave the thread alone... By the way, I have used the search function. Nothing. Dont accuse me yeah?

In my first thread, I was originally looking for a Replica Rolex, but I couldn't find a website that I could trust, since I have no clue where to find them other than the internet. After searching online with some suggestions from a member here, I came across the Invicta brand, which sold real watches with quality around the price range I was hopping for. Besides, I hear that any GOOD replica watches starts way above my budget. I am a beginner and wanted to start collecting some watches, but I dont think I can afford to do some replica's due to their cost. I am starting small. They dont look fake at all anyway.

Did I not give you a link to a sales site with a budget Submariner? They operate a 3 strikes policy which works this way: Dealer gets three negative reviews [EVER!] and they are gone. Even one of the forum dealers here fell foul of that rule while operating on that site. To maintain a profile there takes the utmost dedication to customer service. If a dealer gets booted off while a transaction is in progress, the funds are returned to the buyer, it is 100% safe. If you don't trust them, then that is your issue, not a slur against the site (or other dealers as listed on the forum)and you should probably forget about collecting reps as a hobby and stick to shops where you can handle the merchandise before purchase, because trust between dealer and client is crucial to a smooth transaction. As for your question about quartz or chronograph movements, I believe that a chronograph is just another term for a stopwatch, and can be either an automatic movement, a hand-wind movement, or a quartz movement. I may be wrong there, and am happy if anyone else can provide a better definition of a chronograph movement. A quartz movement is a battery-powered movement.

It looks fine to me...