Manitou
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Posts posted by Manitou
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I'm just poor with an addiction to buying things until I'm destitute and living on the streets
Aren't we all ;-)?
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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)?
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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
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Dvdsen
Yeah thought so. Thanks!
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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
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Maybe some of you remember the post I made about deciding to go back to school, well now it's official, I found out that I've been admitted to Northern Illinois University this tuesday.
Since tuesday, I've been hitting up everything I can, and looks like FSA, or the US dept of education will cover me for about 13,500 a year with a mixture of loans and grants. I have applied for all of this already. Tuition and expenses is going to be between 18-20k. This is with living in the residence hall, which is more expensive than an apartment. I will be living in the dorm for the first year while I get used to school, plus the dorms are paid for by the grants, etc.
I'd like to hear from people who have worked during college, and their experiences. I know full time is not a good option, grades can suffer if one is trying to attend school full time while working full time. Most people who go back to school do the night school thing, I think that would take longer.
I'd like to keep the private loans to a minimum if I need them at all. I think I'll try to take up some kind of weekend job to cover extra food, clothes, cell phone (watches) etc.
First year there probably won't be a problem, but I'm worried about having anything left for sophmore year and beyond.
ANY advice will be greatly appreciated!
Steve
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
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Sorry, I meant: Are these really the SAME watches?
How about the Ultimate Submariner from Trusty?
Which one would you pick?
THX
Same watches as what?
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Hi Guys,
I'm a newbie when it comes to reps, I found these so called Perfect Submariners from different dealers (Joshua / Andrew / Pam111)...
http://www.trustytime88.com/index.php?main...706e9c0ca0aa808
http://www.pam111.com/product_info.php?cPa...roducts_id=1165
The one from PAM111 retails for just 229,- US $, that looks to me like a real bargain...
Are these really the watches?
Best regards
Frank
If what you're asking is whether the watches depicted are the actual ones sold, the answer is YES.
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That is the silliest thing I have ever heard. What is the point of an ULTRA-expensive piece of jewelry or wristwatch that costs more than MOST CARS if people don't see it or notice it? its pointless. And a $30 walmart piece would be adequate.
Furthermore, over the years and having met with literally thousands of people, I say a book CAN be judged by its cover, and I'm never wrong when it comes to that.
I'm sorry sir, but you are an [censored] ;-)
It seems you have totally missed the point of owning/collecting/wearing good craftsmanship and quality, and it seems you find flaunting monetary success more important than owning an actual piece. Although you are not the only one with this approach to expensive items - whether that be watches, cars or art - it sadly puts you in that category of watch wearers who do it for the (in my eyes) wrong reasons.
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I actually get the same kind of arrogance when I buy. I buy 3-6 reps a month, and still I have to hear the whine about the dollar and how hard it all is, and how others buy significantly more.
And that is utter crap. Spending 1-2000 dollars a month from any retailer of anything, is more than most pay monthly on their car, which is normally considered one of the bigger household items.
My 2c
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COPIED FROM ANOTHER POST (my own) ON THE SAME TOPIC:
If you buy this bracelet version you need to get a conversion-kit to fit a strap...you have 4 options ro do so:
- get an MBW strap incl. the conversion-kit (metal plots) and a nice deployant (100$ - 270$)
- get an ORACLE strap incl. endlinks, a ss buckle and a screw driver, the black rubber grey stitch looks killer (249$)
- get the APbands combo, conversion-kit and a strap...AAA-quality but the price is a bit higher (180$ + 100-260$)
- get on the phone, call the nearest AP Service Center (Clearwater), talk to Chad and try to get the original endlinks and a strap of your taste (way above 600$ for the cheapest combo)
Another option is a SIMONA strap for AP...she does these straps with plots that are covered by the actual leather in use...looks stylish...but you cannot use the endlinks alone....strap and endlinks are 1 piece!
I did the Oracle-style way.....the straps (I got all 3 possible) are top notch and the price is not bad either....you are able to use the endlinks for other straps...cool-move.
Theo
Thanks for the info!
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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
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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<)?
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The exact reason I'll buy a gen Luminor within the next year or two.
Enjoy it when you get it!
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What good is uniqueness if I don't like the unique design?
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.
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Why not just use your cell phone or a $20 quartz Timex, then?
We all know that people here are watch fans, first and foremost, rep collectors 2nd. The quality of my 210 is leaps and bounds past any rep I've owned. Is it worth the 10x price difference? No, but then we're back to the "all luxury goods are overpriced for what they are" discussion.
I'll stand by what I said in my earlier post. My rep collection has enough "variety" for me now. So from this point, I'll gladly take 1 used gen over 4-5 modified reps.
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!
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And you need to be lucky... Same thing as on stock market. Research, market developement and luck. There is no 100% safe investment in life.
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.
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Another thing about gens is that the regular maintenance they deserve to keep their value will cost allways as much as a decent rep. So take care of your gen watch and you will find out that your chances of getting a profit out of the resale value will be not easy. Most watches don
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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
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The photo is taken very wide angled. The real one is really cool. I had a gen one 2 years ago...
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Why are you collecting reps and not gens?
in General Discussion
Posted
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.