trance220

I finally ordered my first "real" rep - the $218 ETA sub from Andrew. I hope that I read right where it is the same noobmariner that others have... Everything I'm reading says to take the movement and bracelet from it and combine it with the mbw/tw best case - then throw on genuine tube/crown, bezel insert/pearl and do a spring bar mod. I've ALSO read where the noob case will accept these mods just as easily (except springbars?) so I guess my real question is where does the mbw/tw best case come into play? What is different about it? I finally settled on the sub simply because it seems to have the least noticeable/ most easily correctable flaws of the reps that I like. It was a tough month trying to decide which rep to start with. Thanks to you guys there is a wealth of material to try to make an informed decision!

That's what I want eventually. One of all the different models. Start with Rolex, move on to the others... nice collection! Lexington Steele would be proud his name came up in the Rolex forum!!!

That is a sweet watch! I like reading about the history of watches and am of the opinion that you can never know too much about watch history, so thanks for the info! The more I read - the more I am wanting to buy a vintage style rep and do some aging / vintaging. It has to be a model that's not too popular though. I've got this thing for having something that's different. I think the chronograph model would be cool to try out some ideas... I'm still leary of the movement, but I'll wait to contact the Silix guys until I'm ready to purchase. I've been reading up on the different movements, but I'm still so confused. I'm ready to take watch repair classes just to know what to do if something goes wrong. Is there really a living to be made in watch repair / upgrade?

Yeah, the movement issues scare me. I've read so much that I'm just confused now and not sure what to buy or not buy at this point. Everything I've read says to leave the chrono buttons alone and only set the date and time by the light of the waning moon while sacrificing a virgin after 4 am or something. I guess if it breaks, it breaks.. The only real experience I've had with reps were the cheesy models you find at flea markets and such, and they only seem to last a couple of months at best. I wrecked my Breitling rep in less than a day, didn't even get to photograph it..

Cool! Thanks for the info. I think I'm leaning towards the chronograph.. It makes me drool...

I was browsing Silix tonight, and there are two reps I'm interested in. The first is the Rolex Thunderbird (ROLS136) and the second is the Rolex Chronograph (ROLS074). Does anybody have any experience with these two? I've never seen them before. I dig the numerals on the t-bird and the hands on the chronograph model are pretty cool. Are these real models? I'm obviously new to Rolex...

Honestly I can't really remember much about the girlfriend/wife. She was kind of a background character the whole time. I was more absorbed in his reaction to everything... There was a watch that came in Sunday, and it's making me crazy because it was a genuine and I can't remember what make it was now. I want to say it was Mont Blanc or similar, anyway, it was platinum and had a diamond bezel surround. The pawn shop tested all of the diamonds to be real then looked it up to find the price. They wouldn't even touch it because they said it was simply too high profile for them. At the same time a guy came in with a fossil and they turned him down because they said they have a case full already.. kinda weird how they base things.. They have what I believe is a ladies Rolex oyster perpetual in the case that an older gentleman claimed was false. I haven't had time to really look at it yet, but they have it priced at about 1300 right now.. any thing I should look for on it besides the o in Rolex and the date magnification? I don't have access to open it up so it would have to be external identification.

Thanks for the kind welcome! As far as the customers replica YM, I sooo wish he would have sold it for 10 dollars!!! I would have jumped on it after the mandatory hold! I would have gotten it for about 50 after the mark up. I seriously think that I'm going to go with trusty's replica but cannot decide to go with the regular or "ultimate" waterproofed version. Probably just go with the regular for my first online purchase. I've bought cheesy replicas at flea markets and the like for years. they only seemed to hold together for about a month before disintegrating. I'm such a watch junky that I told my boss at the pawn shop that if any other replicas come in, to hold them for me no matter what they are... working at that place and being a watch lover is a dangerous combination! Once again, thanks for the warm welcome!

Hi! I'm not really new to the concept of replicas, but I am new to this forum and never knew such a wealth of info existed. I have been learning so much the past few days! I'm a huge fan of the YM Rolesium and even contemplated spending 1300 on one from another site before I found this place. Glad I didn't make that mistake!!! Anyways, on to my story.. I recently took a job working for a pawn shop until I can get back into my regular line of work. The job market is wonky where I live and I had to keep money coming in so... do what ya gotta do sometimes. The other day I'm standing behind the counter watching a busted Cadillac pull into the lot, rear of car smashed in, paint oxidized, not a straight body panel on the car, etc.. watched a man and his wife/girlfriend get out of the car, neither dressed very well and then I spotted it! From my research and own lust for said object I spotted his Yacht-Master before he even got into the store. It practically jumped off his wrist it was so bright compared to everything else on and around him. The first thought that came to mind was "fake" and I thought no..give him a chance, don't stereotype, etc.. He walks up to the counter and without saying a word looks left and right and nervously takes off his watch. He hands it to me and asks in a low tone "Do you handle high end merchandise like this"? As soon as he took it off, I knew it wasn't real. The o in Rolex was wrong among other things. I said I would have to check with my supervisor and that I would be right back. My supervisor pegged it as a replica immediately and said to go back out and say this word for word: "My supervisor says we can offer you 10 dollars for your watch". His reason for this is that 1) It lets the customer know that we realize the watch isn't real 2) It saves the customer face. Better to only be offered 10 bux and left at that rather than have someone call you out with a fake watch in front of others. So I did what I was told. Instead of leaving, the man makes this big scene demanding to know why we thought his watch wasn't real (even though we never said that) and yelling that 10 dollars was an embarrassment. He only embarrassed himself in front of the other customers in the end. The watch had all the tells of the replica - font was wrong, o was wrong, date window was off, I wonder if he really thought it was real or if he was trying to scam me? On my pawn shop related note, I'm buying a funky Breitling replica I found last week. They were selling it for nothing, and I will post pics of it to the Breitling forum once I get it. I promise it will be good for a laugh! I also found out that legally the pawn shop is not supposed to even knowingly accept a replica But if it's dirt cheap, they usually will. Hope this is in the right area, my apologies if it is not...