anton

Though I have had some issues with PP, I still use it today and they seem to be helpful when it comes to customer service. Some common reasons for "security checks" or "freezes" would be: 1) History of selling trinkets or low-ticket items and recently selling higher-ticket items ($1000+) and withdrawing the money as payments are received. 2) Receiving a large sum (again, $1000+) and then registering a cheque account and withdrawing. 3) Receiving payments from known high-risk countries or vendors. I could be wrong, but I have been through and known of such incidents. Just tread carefully!

I would not worry about any issues with PP if the money has been in your account for a while already. I used to actively buy and sell on the bay and had no problems withdrawing close to $5K USD onto my account.

I would never wear my rep, even in the big "T", where all they care about is selling and the upsell. If you've ever been in the flagship over on 57th st (I'm sure may of you have) and unless you take the trip to the mezzanine and second floors, the ground and lower levels are not well-educated about the many intracacies that the mechanical watches they sell have. Before I even knew that my first PAM was a rep, I wore it into there to buy a new watch (Super Avenger). Now either the salesperson wanted to save an embarrassing situation, or she may have genuinely loved the PAM on my wrist as she was letting me try on the Breitlings!

Legendary to NASA: Used by: For the: Ironically, my watch is only noticed by fellow sky enthusiasts. Space guys like Fortis now for some reason.

My sport "grail": Well, not so much a grail more than it is a life saver.

I would also like to find a dealer based in the USA who has everything they do overseas. Seriously, you're not going to find remotely resembling a "super rep" for under 70 quid. But, look for those watches that do look as good as their "swiss movement" counterparts but have 21J movements. Those could be had your price range. Try the 21J Chopard MM?

If you are this particular about the reps, then you'll find better satisfaction with buying a gen. Sure, we've been spoiled with the terms of "1:1" and "Super Rep", but IMO, you do get alot for $568 if the case construction and other detail matching is beyond reproach.

The screws are SS...but when I saw PVD on the page, I natually assumed the bezel was PVD. But instead, looking at the pictures, it is definitely rubber. But like I said, it would be a disappointment if it were the kind of rubber that attracts dust.

Go take a look at your friendly vendors in our "Collectors" section where you will find the BCE that you need instead of falling into the trap of what those scam consortiums are hocking these days.

The page seems to be a bit misleading... The title is: "AUDEMARS PIGUET- 124-PVD" But we all know it's the rubberclad version and the bezel looks like rubber too...but is this the high-quality dust-repellent kind, or just some standard rep rubber? The pictures seem to be a little confusing. At least to me it is. Picture in question:

...and now I'm just waiting for the early adopters to unload their SS ones...

If you have genuine hands, how can you put them into a 2834-2? The gen uses a modified JLC 889. And what about the date window position?

I have seen PAMs without box or papers and straps go for about $500 less than if they did include their paraphernalia. (I purchased my 233 that way). If the watch is a few years old, one wants their papers to get a good read as to its' service history, purchase date, place of purchase, etc. If it's more than five years old, the same information applies, but I believe that it only affects the resale price minimally.

Could any of us seriously say that we have a minimal desire to collect gens and only collect reps? Do we think that the line has blurred drastically between gens and reps that we can readily say that reps present a better "value" to us watch-wearers as a whole? IMO, though the quality of reps has increased much in the past couple of years, it still pales in comparison to the equivalent gens. If we truly believed in the statement of "not getting money's worth" with the gens, why are a taking these things apart, working on them, and adding gen or equivalent parts that when all is said and done, would reach near the threshold of the gen itself? Though we speak of the reliability issues of the gens out there and how they dissuade us from buying them, we should certainly be saying the same thing as far as reps are concerned. Exploding crystals, chronograph buttons that fall off, rotor stickers that gum up the movement, and chronograph second hands that jump further when you reset them back to "zero". On top of that, the movement might run five minutes fast per day! If you ask me, I've rarely run into these issues with gens. Reps, on the other hand, I have run into those issues. We are a minority when we speak about the advantages of reps to gens because a quite many of us are budding and experienced modders who know the "givens" that come with the reps we buy and try to correct those issues for the long run. But for the average user, they don't know any better. They want to buy the name, but not pay the price. And the way I see it, you get what you pay for. And oh yeah, I collect reps. Gens too. One of the reasons is that if something were to happen to my watch, I don't have to hunt around to find a rep-friendly watchsmith. Drop it off at an AD and 2-6 weeks later it is back home.

Hasn't the "genuine watch section" always been an underlying forum within the forum? I mean, we have categories with respect to the various watch manufacturers. It does not say "replica rolex, replica panerai, etc." but rather "Rolex, Panerai, etc." When you look over the various threads in their respective categories, we discuss much like the other gen forums about ge models and their upcoming release; what user's thoughts are about it; our new gen "toys" and how the next big movement will be. Granted, not many of us are at the level to discuss Haute Horologerie (there should be a category discussing high-end and AHCI brands), and lots of intelligent watch discussion is lost either in the "other brands" or "general discussion" sections. "RWG"...it's just a name, right? I see us as a "watch group" rather than a "replica watch group". We couldn't be the copy of a copy, since we are our own identity, right?

Today I am taking my first flying lesson: @Dani: Beautiful! I am picking mine up next weekend! Did you get it for the yellow or the Rossi?

These are the same as on the gen (bracelet 'buttons'). Bracelet just "snaps" into place. Though they should have taken an idea from the book of Omega Seamaster and made pushbuttons out of those instead...

Ubi, Either you have supreme photographing skills, or the quality of the ROO is beyond reproach. Only one other person made me green with envy: Corgi with his Aquanaut. Now you're the second. Wear it well!

Not to make it go off topic, but do you pronounce Worcester "Woosta"? My parents once visited my wife's family in Gloucester and they called it "Glow-Chester" and they were literally laughed out of town.

They make a J12 Chronograph. example: They also make a "superleggera" edition but it's just a bicompax version. Both are based on the 2894 and I don't think they've made one yet because it would be too thick if it used a 7750.

Said Janitor could be a retiree. I know it's not common for those who retire to relegate themselves back into doing menial work, but there are some who have retired and have gone on to work again for the sake of doing labor. Now that the fakery is concerned...isn't it all about the air of confidence that makes the distinction between real and fake? Noticed you mentioned you did a sale...are you perhaps a vendor?

The gen did have a 2226/2840 movement (2226 base - JLC 889/2 source + 2840 - DD 2001 source chronograph module) Now they have: 2326/2840 movement (2326 base - in-house movement + 2840 - same as above)

One tell-tale sign of rep rubber straps are that they are not properly finished at the ends when the strap is "cut" in the middle.

I don't get it. Where did you guys buy yours for under $100. I bought my last year for $130 from an AD. It ran about the same price as the calf strap.

I'll contribute too: I buy reps for the sake of comparing it to my local dealership---a la "test driving" the watch before I go and buy the real thing. My wife and I constantly get into arguments about how I am the kind of person that salespeople like---the one that believes everything the salesperson says and also buys right into the upsell. There is no research that I do, and I used to buy simply for the "wow" factor. Now that we have come into the realm of the quality of reps that we can obtain today, some of the pieces I've acquired over the years would rival my own and my father's collection. And he has been a Patek and IWC collector since the late 70's. I don't use the reps to replace my Gen collection. Because without the proper service and possible movement swap, they don't match the dependability of the gens. And until I see a rep of the IWC 5000 movement, I don't think that line will be crossed anytime soon.