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.

I wouldn't bet on it and I predict more confusion and less origin certanty as we move into the ETA shortage era. Even The Zigmeister stated in his recent teardown of the Chinese 2824 copy that it was tough to see any differences, (except for the absence of an ETA hallmark), right down to the machining marks. As I stated earlier, I think once we get used to the Chinese providing movements that are 99% accurate copies of ETA's and performers of ETA quality, naming them "swiss movements" is going to mean less and less.

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.

kind of...

The owners shame or the watches shame?

only quartz watches should be stored face down...

Is that out of shame?

Wow, thanks Rob for the kudos! I'm still all thumbs with the micro screwdriver and the eyeglass loupe!!!!

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.

The amount of oil in a properly lubricated mechanical watch is so small that circulation is not possible. You actually want the oil to stay in place in a jeweled bearing and it does this through a capillary action and surface tension. I don't think the service interval for getting your watch cleaned and oiled would be changed very much by position. Oils dry out at a pretty predictable rate but....I'm not the expert here...The Zigmeister is. Dial up or down storage probably refers to the position a well adjusted watch is optimized for 8 hours a day as far as running regulation...on your night stand off your wrist while you sleep.

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?

Apologies if you have read this before, but I have posted a similar thread on another forum.

My questions (to those with greater experience than moi) is whether or not the replicas offered by the like of Josh, Andrew, etc with Swiss Eta movements (2836-2, 2824-2, etc) are really Swiss Eta movements?

I have read lots of threads from various sources all making contrary claims to one another. Some say that the movements are genuine Eta, others say that they are all just Asian copies of Eta movements.

If anyone who knows the truth, I'd be mighty glad to know the answer.

Cheers

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.

Hi 2u all ,

I'm still reading and learning............so wanna thank you for all the info that is present.

Also haven't bought any rep yet, but the money is almost burning out of the pocket. However, I'm patient also considering all the hassle about methods of payments where dealers won't use PP anymore (maybe one of the Dutch members can give me an advise on whom to buy from and which method of payment can be used the best for that transaction,...............Thanks!)

A question though (actually, this is my second ) that is still bouncing back in my mind.....................

On several watches I saw mentioning: 17 jewels, 21 jewels, 25 jewels, also in German '20 Steine'..........

I still haven't figured out, what this means exactly..................

I hope that one of you can help me out on this quest...........

Thanks a lot.

I assume that if you're reading here, you know not to be sucked in by the claims of some unscrupulous scam sites that only a 27 jewel eta can mimic the smooth sweep of a genuine rolex. But just to make certain, that claim is nonsense. To the best of my knowledge, there is no such thing as a 27 jewel eta movement. Moreover, the number of jewels doesn't determine the smoothness of the sweep, smoothness is more closely related to beats per hour (abbreviated bph by many sellers). Obviously the number of jewels can affect attainable bhp, but jewels do not directly determine sweep. No mechanical watch gives an absolutely smooth sweep. The only watches that give an absolutely smooth sweep have tuning fork movments such as the Bulova accutron. If you've ever seen the sweep of an accutron, there is no mistaking any mechanical watch for that absolutely smooth sweep. There are mechanical watches that come close, however.

To reietreate, jewels are not always a guide to quality. On my wrist today is a 1940s Hamilton with a 19J 982 medallion movement. The movement hasn't been manufactured in almost 60 years and "only" has 19J but is still regarded as one of the finest watch movements ever made. One reason it "only" has 19 jewels is that it is an manual (hand wound) movement as opposed to an automatic movement. Automatics require more jewels than manuals because of the winding mechanism. You will notice looking at the replicas with good manual movements such as some of the Unitas movements, that the manuals gernerally have fewer jewels as compared to the automatics.

The site that I've linked below has a list of the 79 most commonly used watch calibers (movements) and the companies that use them. Although it doesn't speak directly to the issue of jewels, it does give you a list of some high quality swiss watch movements. You will notice that many of the swiss movements used in replicas are also used in some of the finest gen watches made. In terms of buying a rep, if you buy a watch from one of the dealers recommended by this site and get a good swiss movement, you'll be getting a good watch. Unless you've owned some quality gen timepieces, a careful rep purchase will probably be the finest watch you own. Have fun, I'm new to this forum but can tell you that there is a wealth of knowledge and expretise residing here!

http://www.ozdoba.net/swisswatch/caliber.html

Hi 2u all ,

I'm still reading and learning............so wanna thank you for all the info that is present.

Also haven't bought any rep yet, but the money is almost burning out of the pocket. However, I'm patient also considering all the hassle about methods of payments where dealers won't use PP anymore (maybe one of the Dutch members can give me an advise on whom to buy from and which method of payment can be used the best for that transaction,...............Thanks!)

A question though (actually, this is my second ) that is still bouncing back in my mind.....................

On several watches I saw mentioning: 17 jewels, 21 jewels, 25 jewels, also in German '20 Steine'..........

I still haven't figured out, what this means exactly..................

I hope that one of you can help me out on this quest...........

Thanks a lot.

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.

Overall I agree with Insane's advice.

I myself am partial to the Ingy, and think it is one of the most distinctive watches available. It's also a very substantial, solid watch.

There was a flurry of interest in the Inge when it first came out, fueled in part by a group buy. A number of those watches have appeared on the resale market, so if you are interested in trying it out you might monitor the member resale forum and you can easily save back the premium that your dealer is asking.

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

Because the straps are so cheap many dealers will throw one in for very little extra, so do ask. It's your choice - I prefer straps on some watches and bracelets on others. It's hard to get a bracelet once you have bought the watch, but you will be able to get a strap that fits with a generic buckle fairly easily.

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.

Generally leather straps on reps are junk. Especially if they are alligator/croc 'style' leather. You could pick up a nice leather strap for $40-$50 from a 3rd party supplier; that would be (and is) my choice.

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.

Here is one on TZ............it may be different year in production. But that style of hour hand definitely exist, and they can be non white second hand. like the other poster said, with such a small second hand, it defeats the purpose of having it white against white.

http://forums.timezone.com/index.php?t=tre...ev=&reveal=

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.

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.

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 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

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.

It would not make sense to have a white hand against a white dial - you would not be able to see it

Cheers

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.

Hi All,

A bit of a novice question, so appologies in advanced.

I have 2 reps. a "perfect" Sub and a Planet Ocean 4th gen. Both are a few secs fast per day.

Would the real deals keep much better time?

How many secs do the gens lose per day?

Many thanks

Dan

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

I don't think that you could go wrong pickin' up one of these reps. The white dial verison is excellent, considering that the seconds hand is rhodium and not painted white. The latest MK VX, for the record, is a very well-made rep with a high quality accurate and proven movement that we all know well and love so much.

Best regards

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.