teddy boy

I don't have the most, but I bet I have one that ranks up there as one of the worst. My first rep is a 50th anniversary sub that I purchased from ireplicastore. I bought from them because they took paypal. This watch wouldn't fool Stevie Wonder if Stevie knows anything about Rolex Subs. It's not too bad except for the pearl which is about the size of a green giant green pea-uncooked. The watch is so bad, I don't think I'd wear it around the house. My total watch collection is somewhere in the 30s, five (soon to be six) of which are reps. I sold about 7 or 8 watches last fall to upgrade one of my bicycles to 10 spd.

You're probably right, and it will matter less and less as well. Johsua has ultimate planet oceans with chinese copies of eta movements for a little over half of what the genuine eta sells for.

The owners shame or the watches shame?

Is that out of shame?

The responses to this thread made me LOL. I just completed a bike ride where I do my best thinking and the analogy to a car occured to me. We're not talking about a crank case and need for a pump for heavens sake. The comment about the accutrons reminded me of something that I didn't know until I bought an NOS 218 with its original manual. Bulova recommended changing the position in which you stored the watch to regulate minor imperfections in timing. Storing it tilted forward tended to speed it up a bit, tilted backward had the reverse effect. That may be old news on this forum, but I found it interesting.

Thanks, this seemed a little bogus to me which is why I asked. It would seem that if this was important, some watch manufacturer would include it in their manual.

I was in a rolex store one day and the salesperson noticed my genuine air king. She suggested that I store the watch face down periodically to make sure that the oils are circulated through the entire watch. Does this makes sense?

I can only respond based on my own experience. I have a rep rolex day date that was sold as a swiss eta 2836-2. I decided to have the watch serviced and my watchmaker commented on the high quality when I picked the watch up. I think he was actually surprised at the extremely high quality for a replica watch stating that most reps that he sees are junk. He also seemed surprised that I got such a high quality watch for so little money. I asked if the watch had an eta movement and he confirmed that fact. I can't be sure, but I think that he would know the difference between a copy and a genuine eta.

The process of adding useless or non-functioning jewels is often referred to as "up jeweling". The term is meant to be derogatory. Be leary of rep sellers who tout the number of jewels as a measure of quality. The 25 jewel eta movements available on many reps are excellent and should not be downgraded because another movement might have more jewels.

Thanks for all the input, I decide to go with the Ingeneiur. If I can figure out how to take a decent picture with my wife's digital, I post pictures after it arrives.

I got in touch with my supplier regarding the white dial Mark XV and his response was that although he'd be glad to get it for me, the Ingenieur is a much more accurate depiction of the original. I like my supplier and trust him to send what he says, but he does have a dog in this fight since the Ingenieur is $50(almost 25%) more expensive. Any opinion on this subject from the loyal IWC crowd? This forum is great btw, I found your responses to my other thread very helpful. Hopefully one day I'll know enough to contribute to the knowledge base here.

Thanks to everyone who gave me advice on this one. I'm going to follow what seems to be the consensus advice and order the watch with the bracelet and then get a high quality generic strap. Everything says this is the best way to go. Thanks again

Now that I've read your post, I know what I'm going to do. I'll buy the watch with the bracelet and then get a good generic strap to go with it. That way I can pick exactly the strap that I want. It also gives an air of authenticity to the watch as a generic strap is usually the second strap for the watch. Good advice, thanks a bunch.

Thanks for your reply. That would suggest that I order the watch with the strap to get the IWC buckle and then worry about getting a replacement strap that will fit the buckle.

I am working toward buying a white dial mark xv. Given my nature, I have to research the thing to death before I buy. The only leather strap rep I own is a Panerai 029, GMT. I would describe the black leather strap as acceptable. I wouldn't allow someone who sells Panerais to handle it, but it looks legitimate on the writst and there are no odors as some have described leather straps found on reps various places on this site. Was I just lucky? I prefer the look of the leather on the Mark xv, but don't want to foil the appearance of the watch with a crappy strap. Could someone wiith experience comment on the overall quality of leather straps on IWC reps? I realize that the quality varies from watch to watch and seller to seller, I'd just like some indication of whether they're all junk or there are some reps with good straps out there. Thanks in advance.

I found a watch like the one on ebay, so my bad. I guess my exuberance over finding a fake rolex made me feel omipotent. I'll try to somehow recall my alert at ebay.

The site is prestige time, here is a link to the Mark XV, as you can see it looks quite different. If the one on ebay is legit, it has to be a different model or something. Thanks for your reply. http://www.prestigetime.com/item.php?item_id=2880

I went to a watch site that sells gens, the white dial Mark XVs all have white second hands. Moreover, when I look at this watch on ebay again, the hour hand is all wrong. It's blunted off and should be pointed. I reported it, it's definitely a fake.

I would have thought that too, but in a question regarding Mark XV reps with white dials, someone indicated that the rep has a rhodium second hand rather than the white (implying the gen had white). Moreover, there is another white dial watch listed on ebay that does have white second hand.

My reps with eta movements are accurate to within about 5-10 seconds per day, which isn't bad for an automatic movement. They're better than my gen air king, but it has a little age on it. My Japanese 21J (supposedly a myata) is accurate to about 30 seconds per day, still not in the unacceptable range. I can't comment on the accuracy of new gens as all my gens are decades old vintage classics. If they're good to a minute a day, you're grateful.

I was looking at gen Mark XVs on ebay to help me pick the best rep. I noticed this one that has a non-white second hand. I certainly don't consider myself an expert being relatively new to reps and brand new to IWCs, but I thought that all Mark XVs had white second hands, even those with white dials. Could some of you who really know take a look and take appropriate action if it is a fake? http://cgi.ebay.com/IWC-Mark-XV-s-s-bracel...1QQcmdZViewItem

Thanks for your reply. I contacted my guy and he said that he could get the watch with the eta 2824, nickel plated. This will be my first IWC so I'm really looking forward to it.

I have on a 1966 accutron 214, cross hatched face dial. It's in great shape. Choice today was between my real rolex airking, rep white gold day date with rhodium dial and this accutron. I guess I was just in the mood for the watch that hums today. Sorry no picture, I'm technologically challenged.

I noticed in a comment in a thread below that the Mark XV reps weren't very good. Is the consensus of the IWC collectors? I like the look of the watch quite a bit (especially the white/rhodium dial) and was thinking about that as my next rep. I obviously don't want to buy a poor quality rep, however. Any input would be appreciated.