Sweattdogg

i thought he was all about HGH. I've heard it can keep you looking young for a long time. Either way he has def put in the work to keep that body. I don't care if it's roids, HGH or anything else I dunno about. You still have to put in the work to get the results. I wish I had the kind of drive that he has at double my age.

Yep normal

That's pretty cool. Maybe take a picture every few months. I'm guessing they will even age in the dealer stock so who knows what color you will get when you order it in a year or so.

I believe he's wearing a rep rubber strap. Josh told me he drop ships to Clinton all the time and often Bill is the one who snaps the QC pics.

Looks effing awesome!

I've always made money off of well bought used gens. I've usually lost money on my reps. Both have their places in a collection. I had reps of most of my gens before I owned the gen. Most people I meet cannot tell the difference between rep and gen and those that can and usually amazed at the quality of the reps. Either way I appreciate anyone who can have a conversation about watches.

To answer the question I would buy a gen, but only used and if I can get it for a great deal that I know I can get my money back out on the drop of a dime.

That rotor looks nasty. With all the problems you may want to get something new unless you are wanting to practice a movement swap and have all the tools and knowledge needed. Good luck with it.

That looks awesome! Def like the mom and pop shops here in town.

I had an EL V3, bomb watch. I didn't mind the wrong bridges as the movement was a stock swiss ETA and then they didn't have an asian option. That was my first major rep. I loved it, but I agree with you that some of these new releases are making old parts that commanded high prices obsolete.

Same here... and in the stills the movement looks a step closer to getting the plate stampings correct.

I agree I think the movement looks pretty good. As far as the rest of the watch goes, I'm not sure anything tops Eddie's V3.

Unless he is trying to pass of a rep as a gen on a sales forum I fail to see why it would be an issue. I don't see the need to call someone out unless they are trying to rip someone off.

I like ceramic but sometimes it's best to stick with what works. Steel for me and screws in the lugs. Proven for years

My wrists are small and I love my 44 and 47mm pams

Is there are picture of the dial charged in the dark? I would think that uneven lume would glow brighter and duller in spots.

Wow. I may need to order one of these

I've always wanted one, but I've never seen a version that I liked enough to buy. I think all Monacos are awesome!

Zigs lume on the hands of my 112 match the gen dial perfectly in color and duration.

Still not sure what the issue is. You have not handled enough reps to be making the statements that you are making. If you are wanting to know if a replica can rival the quality of a gen then I'm sure it can. Based on my rather large experience I would say in general most rep watches that come directly from china do not have this quality. I've had countless watches serviced that were missing o-rings on stems and casebacks. Watches that wouldn't set the time correctly or failed to keep good time. Watches with dirty movements, hair and dust on jewels. Little to no lube on vital parts. You don't know this because your experience is limited.

Your opinion that most of the rep factories in China can produce a rep that is as good as the geniune factories does not hold water. The parts in general are not to the finish or fit as gen. The people putting the watches together are not as skilled, and the factories are not as qualtity controled. What do you think happens at a rep factory when they run out of stem o-rings? Do you think that someone gets up hits a red button and everyone stops what they are doing until the correct parts come in? No they put it together without the oring. Guess what happens with that watch when you accidently dunk it underwater even washing your hands.

I love rep watches. I have both reps and gens and in my opinion gens are better out of the box, that's not to say that the reps are not good. Half of the fun of reps is upgrading them and or fitting gen parts. If someone comments on my reps I don't try to pass them off as real. I guess I'm secure enough that I don't have to. I tried to give you a friendly heads up on how to get replacement screw and some advice on a nice starter watch in a Seiko Black Monster if quality is what you are looking for. You decided to try to give me a business lesson. Again, it all goes back to the fact that you don't know what you are talking about and frankly, I do. If my advice is not appreciated I will move on to the next topic. If it is your post my guess is it will be "Who has the best Sub?"

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It's business my friend. Business. Like any other business. You playing with your watches and me actually doing some serious business and understanding business at multiple levels all these years makes you no better to talk about the watch business. The watch business is first a business and then a watch business. It's a business where they have to invest heavily to produce what they produce. You think rep watches come to you just like that. Panerai themselves spend tons of money for R&D. From design to implementation to testing etc. Rep manufacturers have to do the same at the copying level. It's about investing and producing returns. It's a complicated game. Very complicated game no matter what you are doing. And if you indeed have more experience than me playing with watches then you should be the one to know the progress that has been made over the years. How did it happen, fell off the sky? If they didn't have pressure to produce better ans better watches they would settle where they were 5 years ago or 20 years afo where the Panarai logo on the caseback of a rep was a sticker!

So if YOU think that playing with your watches and your straps you have figured it all out maybe you should reconsider and understand the real world goes beyond straps and buckles.

Oh, and one more thing. I'm a consumer too. I happen to own a few gen watches. Not the $20 000 ones but own 3 watches of >$2000 and many over the years from $20-800. When I paid $2800 for a watchand when I look at that watch the amount is well justified. You can see and feel quality. I also owned over the years thousands of other items from cars, computers, furniture, phones, shoes, underware to nail clippers. By this time in my life I can tell quality from garbage. So yes, me having experience with one rep for over 3 years actually does put me in a position to understand if the product I got is of quality or if it's pure garbage. It may not match 100% the real, and a U-Boat person can spot it in under a sec, in the dark but this is absolutely irrelevant.

And in all these years of business you have never heard the term "OEM"? I must know what business you are in as a backup in case my real career falls through. Until then I guess I will just be the guy playing with my watches.

not true. The rep industry is much like any other. You have to try hard to produce results in order to survive and to thrive. Think about this. Their best customers and their biggest chunk of revenue coms from returning customers and from referrals from other satisfied customers. And who are they competing against? Top watchmakers who put out there some super quality watches. The bar is already set extremely high for them. When you give the Chinese money and show them how (here comes the copying part) they can too produce quality. Chinese quality is identified with sh1tty quality but the price we pay for the Chinese product is shitty too. Much like with food. Let me charge you $300/person for dinner and I know how to make a nice presentation too. You give me $5 I can barely cover the cost of the materials I'll use for your dinner. I bet you, if you give for your Panerai rep another $250 (making it total $500) these reps can easily exceed the quality of the gen. But there has to be a balance. In any case, the Chinese know they have to produce quality too (up to the extend that $250-300 allows). Noone is willing to pay $300-350 for a rep that's pure garbage. I know I don't. With $400 I can get a super authentic watch from a middle range manufacturer. And I'm not so sure if a Seiko is much better than a Breitling or Panerai rep.

So your experience in the rep game is the 3 weeks you have on this website and a broken u-boat rep? Sounds like you have it all figured out.

If you are interested in quality go Seiko. My black monster has tons. Bottom line is with a rep you are buying something made in china with little to no quality control.

Comment #3: A couple of months ago, while I was changing the strap on my rep U-Boat, I lost one screw. Went to a couple of generic repair shops and all I got for a reply was 'this is so unique, I guarantee you you won't find it anywhere'. I ended up taking the watch at a store in the mall that sells expensive watches. Tag Heuer, Panerai, Hublot etc. I asked 'do you have U-Boat?". One guy said no but he held up the watch after I told him what my problem was and he ended up giving it to another guy. Mid 50s. He held the watch, he looked at it front back, turned it around a couple of time and he said something like "That's a big watch, nice!". He then went on the side and sat on his desk and looked at it under the loupe to see what screw that was. And while he was playingthere with the watch he said "I may be able to get a screw like that but it will be silver. But then it won't look good. Your best bet is to contact the manufacturer, is it still under warranty?" and the convesation continued. At some point I even said I paid $4700 for it, too. He even tried to find U-Boat's phone number to help me but he finally couldn't get it. And this whole thing took place not in the dark. Plenty of light. The guys is a guy who kbnows what an expnsive watch looks like. He sees them, he touches them, he repairs them. Of course I didn't ask him to check it and double check it if it was real but he surely even looked at it unde the loupe (at least part of it). And it never occured to him it may be fake. Now you can see where I'm coming from when I say I don't buy the "I can spot anything in uder 1 sec and not only that but in the dark too!" theory.

Your best bet to get a replacement screw is to contact one of our dealers. As far as spotting the rep you are posting on a rep website with many members who are very experienced. They will be able to spot a fake very fast. Most people on the street will not have these skills. No rep watch no matter how good will fool everyone all the time. I generally buy a rep and if I like it enough will save up and buy the real deal. Stay on these boards long enough and you will be the one picking out the flaws.

Zig just serviced a 112 that I have. It had no o-rings on the stem. Always best to have someone check and test it before you swim. These factories in China don't have strict quality control. If they run out of o-rings they will not stop making the watches, they will just just make without the o-rings.

The case is still good and the movement will be too if you can get it serviced soon. Just keep you eye out for a replacement dial and hands. Those pop up on the parts area pretty frequently.

Did anyone else have the thought of what is to stop people from buying a 318, returning it to Panerai to get an upgraded movement, get the watch back and put in an standard ETA that it came with? No one would be able to tell the difference on the 318 even if you pulled off the back, and you would have a brand new real Panerai movement to put into something else.

I've had a 111F for about 4-5 years now. Still my favorite gen watch. The best part is that it's worth about what I paid for it used ($3k). I will however have to get it serviced at some point so I'll figure that into my cost of ownership.