Manitou

Yeah that's how I'm thinking now also. But my reasons at that time (before getting scammed), was that these things would keep or increase in value, which a car won't (unless we are talking Enzo catagory cars). So seen from that perspective, watches are a better investment. Anyways, I agree with you now.

Aren't we all ;-)?

Greetings and salutations dear forum members, I read through various old and new threads this morning, and my mind started drifting off on the topic of why I started collecting reps, and I concluded that all you various members must have many differing and interesting stories and reasons for having chosen to burn so intensely and passionately for something which is ultimately fake in terms of brand identity and production value (albeit not in design and to a certain extent signal value)? >>>> Well to start off I'd like to give my own background and reasoning for collecting reps. Ever since being a smallfry, I have been fascinated by timepieces and timekeeping. As a kid I had all kinds of casio monsters, calculator watches and whatchamacallit. When I got into my early teens, I started appreciating "real" watches -- Omega, Rolex, PP and Tag suddenly started taking up a lot of my mindspace, and I dreamt about the glorious day when I'd be able to afford one of these exclusive time pieces. Before it got to the point where I could afford one though, I took the random intercontinental Asia trips where I ransacked various, conspicuous markets for low-end replicas, in the vague and somewhat naive hope that some of these would satisfy my inner reasoning but hopelessly lack of actual ability of getting a gen. Unfortunately these "timepieces" had an annoying tendency to explode, implode, crack, squeak or hick-up when you least needed it (during carnal acts with hot dates and other embarrassing situations). So I quickly gave up on the replicas (not knowing better ones existed -- if they even did at that time?). Time passed and I started making money that made it possible for me to start investigating the real deal. I was in my mid 20s and I was lucky enough to have a very understanding wife whom I somehow managed to convince of the glorious advantage of placing our hard-earned savings in little metal dingobots that could do nothing but look good and tell time. So I bought several watches over the next few years. PAM 127, PAM 210, PAM 005A and B, 60s Sub, 70s IWC Aquatimer, Bvlgari Diagano Professional 2K, Super Avenger etc. etc. Watches tended to get more and more expensive, starting with a couple of 1000 dollars, soon being more like 7-8.000 dollars. Then came the day where I was offered an extremely rare and perfect Urban J

Yeah thought so. Thanks!

I am on the lookout for some good (and existing) PAM PVD models. Where is it possible to get proper non-gloss PVD that matches as closely as possible the gen PAM PVD? The 5B I had, had almost anthracite grey PVD, so I guess I'll be looking for something like that. Thank you guys !

Well Steve - I can't say I did, living a country where the government feels an itch to pay you to go to college. I have a couple of NY friends who paid their way through MIT and HBC

Same watches as what?

If what you're asking is whether the watches depicted are the actual ones sold, the answer is YES.

I'm sorry sir, but you are an [censored] ;-) It seems you have totally missed the point of owning/collecting/wearing good craftsmanship and quality, and it seems you find flaunting monetary success more important than owning an actual piece. Although you are not the only one with this approach to expensive items - whether that be watches, cars or art - it sadly puts you in that category of watch wearers who do it for the (in my eyes) wrong reasons.

I actually get the same kind of arrogance when I buy. I buy 3-6 reps a month, and still I have to hear the whine about the dollar and how hard it all is, and how others buy significantly more. And that is utter crap. Spending 1-2000 dollars a month from any retailer of anything, is more than most pay monthly on their car, which is normally considered one of the bigger household items. My 2c

Thanks for the info!

Greetings! I am contemplating getting a strap for my ROO - either a carbon/rubber/fiber or a leather strap. For leather I'd either go for a very smooth one or a very gnarly one. Anyone have any good suggestions? Thanks a bunch

Since in the end, it's about passion; say you had a crush on Scarlett Johansson, would you rather be with her (who probably has rather high maintenence), or with someone who looked like her but wasn't quite like her (given you like scarlett Johansson - otherwise >insert hottie of choice<)?

Enjoy it when you get it!

Oh, dont get me wrong, buying with the heart is the right thing to do. I was being objective, looking at the actualy production value of the product - not the subjective opinion of style and beauty. All the gens I've owned over time, I bought from your perspective as well - not because they had high production value. I would just argue that after having been introduced to this rep scene, I would feel a little rediculed, spending 10.000 dollars on a PAM 127 (which I HAVE done - I've had 3), when I have almost the same for 350. It's a little like buying a car in Denmark (where I'm from), and paying 180+% in taxes. On the other hand, buying an AP ROO rep, I would NOT feel like I had the real thing, because the finish, feeling and detailing of the original (given you like the style) are MILES from a gen. In many cases you dont pay for the product, you pay for maintenence - regardless of this maintenence being fancy offices and shops around the world, or the maintenence of a country with a high burn-rate (as is the case in Denmark with our crazy taxes). It's the funding of burn-rate no matter how you see it.

Well I would argue that many brands ARE worth their "overprice", or at least close to. Brands such as AP, Urban, Urwerk, Richard Mille and other in the same league. Brands where innovation, craftsmanship and uniqueness is held high. So I tend to agree with you, but... Brands like Panerai, Rolex, Bell & Ross and other "similar" brands, are definitely not worth their pricetag, taking assembly quality, finish and lack of uniqueness into consideration. In those cases you pay more for a fashion statement/trend than craftsmanship. So in the case of your 210; yes it's nicer that the reps, but vastly overpriced. It's almost like the fairytale of the naked emperor or the problems surrounding all artificially inflated markets. Someone just needs to cry wolf loud enough, and it can all collapse in a split second. Or if we get a huge global recession on our hands and all of a sudden everybody wants to sell their 210s? Then prices will drop like there was no tomorrow. But rare APs and one-offs will be the last ones to lose their value.... A Luminor Marina was 5-600 dollars when it hit the market some 15 years ago. THAT + inflation is the actualy value of that watch... I'd much rather pay 100.000 dollars for a RM than 10.000 dollars for a Unitas based Panerai (allthough I never did own a RM but several of the latter haha). IN MY FACE!

http://japwatches.wordpress.com/2007/06/23...rimero-stealth/ Bold and contemporary

No watches are definitely not a "no-brainer" investment. But on the other hand, it's a more rewarding way to make money that speculating in currency, stock markets or whatnot. A little like investing in Art.

I used to buy gens - didnt really know about the rep scene, but then I had my AP ROO T3 stolen, and that loss just made me realize how rediculous it was to pay that amount of money for something to wear, unless money is no issue what-so-ever. SO I sold ALL my gens, which included several PAMs, and Urban J

The photo is taken very wide angled. The real one is really cool. I had a gen one 2 years ago...

I