Deepseadweller Posted September 20, 2009 Report Share Posted September 20, 2009 What was the first rep you ever saw and what did it do to you ? Here is my story: Sometime in the 70s my Granddad bought two "white gold" "omega" dress watches (on "white gold" mesh bracelets) and showed them to the family. All of us were very impressed and there were a lot of "Ohs" and "Ahs". Although he was a cop, he was a very trustful (some might say gullible) person and had bought those as an investment from a rather dubious source. He was convinced that they were genuine and he had paid a substantial amount of money for them. My father (who was and is exactly as leery as my pop was trustful) quickly spotted that the Omega sign was crooked and appeared to be hand-drawn. When my grandfather realized that he had been scammed he wasn't as much angry as he was disappointed and sad. I remember him sitting in the kitchen, hunched over the watches and shaking his head for a long time. I knew nothing about "intellectual property" or "copyrights" back then but I knew that, what had been done to my grandfather, was just wrong. Everytime I see someone on the bay or elsewhere trying to sell a replica as a genuine watch I am reminded of what happened to my granddad and I get very angry and sad. Sad because I don't think he was as trustful after this incident as he was before. The other thing I realize every time I recall this, is how much replicas have improved since then. Cheers DSD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeeJay Posted September 20, 2009 Report Share Posted September 20, 2009 I hope karma settled the hash of whoever did that to your granddad. Reps are reps, but they can still be enjoyed 'as watches'. The first time I saw a Rolex, I was about 11 years old, and a friend bought his dad's Rolex into school. It was gold, and on a presidential bracelet. I'm a bit fuzzy on if it was a DD or a DJ, but I think DD. My friend let me wear the watch during a maths lesson (We were both interested in watches at this age) but by the end of the lesson, my wrist had a rash around it where the watch had rested. I've not worn or touched gold since. I'm not sure if it was a rep or gen (it would not have surprised me if it was gen) but it was my first exposure to Rolex as a brand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deepseadweller Posted September 20, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 20, 2009 Actually my family tried to convince my grandfather to press charges against anonymous but he never did because he was embarassed and I think the person he acquired those fakes from wouldn't have been deemed suitable contact for a police officer. So I don't know if the man who scammed him was ever brought to justice. DSD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lanikai Posted September 20, 2009 Report Share Posted September 20, 2009 first rep I saw was a terrible Rolex .. President.. the first acceptable rep I saw.. Pam.. fiddy .. Russian movement L Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jchurch Posted September 20, 2009 Report Share Posted September 20, 2009 First rep that I knew was a rep was an awful quartz rolex picked up in TJ Mexico... cheap folded band cheap all around think I paid a 5er for it. lasted probably a year than the band broke. probably 15ish years ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mercury Posted September 20, 2009 Report Share Posted September 20, 2009 First rep was a scam site Omega 007 Planet Ocean. It has a terrible AR job but the movement, whatever kind it is, is a work horse and hasn't let me down after all sorts of harassment. A good parts watch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronin Posted September 20, 2009 Report Share Posted September 20, 2009 This exact watch - in 1986. High School buddy's mom brought it back from a trip to HK. I hung onto it for posterity. At one point the owner of a local music store (circa 1988) wanted to trade me a Rickenbacker 4001 for it... But I told him it was fake. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnQ Posted September 20, 2009 Report Share Posted September 20, 2009 I had a friend in high school, and every year his grandma would go to Mexico and buy fake rolexes and oakleys for Christmas presents. These were the turn your wrist green variety as well. Crowns falling off, logo falling off the dial, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeeJay Posted September 20, 2009 Report Share Posted September 20, 2009 Actually my family tried to convince my grandfather to press charges against anonymous but he never did because he was embarassed and I think the person he acquired those fakes from wouldn't have been deemed suitable contact for a police officer. So I don't know if the man who scammed him was ever brought to justice. DSD That's a real shame your grandfather felt unable to press charges, but chances are karma settled the guy's hash for him at some point Thanks for bringing up such an interesting topic Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeeJay Posted September 20, 2009 Report Share Posted September 20, 2009 This exact watch - in 1986. High School buddy's mom brought it back from a trip to HK. I hung onto it for posterity. At one point the owner of a local music store (circa 1988) wanted to trade me a Rickenbacker 4001 for it... But I told him it was fake. Absolutely awesome watch To a 'civilian', it would pass as the real thing To someone who 'knows the brand', it's identifiably fake... But to anyone who appreciates watches, it's fun to spot the tells, and still looks good Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maxman Posted September 20, 2009 Report Share Posted September 20, 2009 The first rep that I saw was at a rep sight about ten months ago. The thing Is I could not get over how great this rep looked. It was the Omega Seamaster po chrono. I compared to the gen and It was spot on, unbelievable Then I ran Into RWG1 and they said to stay away from rep sights that show 10 10 watches. Because the gens are always shown at the time of.... thats right you guessed It 10 10. Now I know why that rep looked so real. Because It was Im glad I had visited RWG1. Saved me a nice hunk of change. God only knows what I would have received, If anything Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeeJay Posted September 20, 2009 Report Share Posted September 20, 2009 The first rep that I saw was at a rep sight about ten months ago. The thing Is I could not get over how great this rep looked. It was the Omega Seamaster po chrono. I compared to the gen and It was spot on, unbelievable Then I ran Into RWG1 and they said to stay away from rep sights that show 10 10 watches. Because the gens are always shown at the time of.... thats right you guessed It 10 10. Now I know why that rep looked so real. Because It was Im glad I had visited RWG1. Saved me a nice hunk of change. God only knows what I would have received, If anything Mike I bought from one of the so-called scam sites once. I got exactly what was advertised, in the time-frame promised. Of course, I paid about twice as much as the same watch would likely cost from a Cartel Dealer, but never mind, as far as I'm concerned, I got what I paid for Never again though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maxman Posted September 20, 2009 Report Share Posted September 20, 2009 I bought from one of the so-called scam sites once. I got exactly what was advertised, in the time-frame promised. Of course, I paid about twice as much as the same watch would likely cost from a Cartel Dealer, but never mind, as far as I'm concerned, I got what I paid for Never again though Thats good to hear teejay. The sight I had visited was Exactreplicas. Thery are no longer around at least not by that name. There were many complants I had seen later at complantborad.com. Most people got rubbish that was DOA. Im glad that at least you got something for your money. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shtslr1 Posted September 20, 2009 Report Share Posted September 20, 2009 now you have me laughing, 1984 , my first noght out in New York with college buddies that lived their, so they knew all the right "wild" places to go. on my way to meet them was hit up by one of the famous Briefcase guys. Knowing nothing i acquired a piaget watch for $50 . and then embarked on a wild night, sometime before midnight i looked at the watch and low and behold the christal was gone, a few drings later i raised my arm to check the time and both hands swung down to the 6. it ended up retiring the night long before i did. Never even knew good reps existed until 98-99 when my gen guy showed me a datejust i was thinking of, i enquired if it came in a black face with diamonds as i had seen somewhere. he pulled it out and my untrained eye said yup i'll take it expecting to lay out 8-10k. he told me 600 and explained the world to me. i have never been the same since. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vlaletom Posted September 20, 2009 Report Share Posted September 20, 2009 i have seen my first rep in 1984, a fake cartier that a friend had at school. (in france) Later on that same year i spent the vacation in N.Y. baught my first in canal street. It was a SS datjust, on ajubille band, and was quartz powered. I think it lasted a few year ... The funny thing is that like 15 year later i did buy a gen ss datejust, on oyster band this time. So yes rep leads to gen, hehe It's around 5 year ago that i saw my first mechanical and waterproof rep, that a friend had baught in turkey. I then started didging the web, was scamed for 120$, on somme site i dont remember, for an explorer 1. And then discovered RWG1 & TRC.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeeJay Posted September 20, 2009 Report Share Posted September 20, 2009 Thats good to hear teejay. The sight I had visited was Exactreplicas. Thery are no longer around at least not by that name. There were many complants I had seen later at complantborad.com. Most people got rubbish that was DOA. Im glad that at least you got something for your money. Mike The site I ordered from was EuroFakes, and they're still about. I wouldn't say it was a scam site, as I got what I paid for (and what they advertised) but I definitely got my pants pulled down over the price Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jkerouac Posted September 20, 2009 Report Share Posted September 20, 2009 Twenty-plus years ago I was in Houston for a home builders show. A big guy in a 10-gallon hat walked over to me in the parking lot of a Dennys (or similar) and offered to sell me a Rolex. The location of the sale itself was a tipoff -- if not, the extremely crooked 'R' in the name Rolex left little doubt. I can't remember whether I even held his watch in my own hand before saying "no thanks" and walking away. Next obvious rep sighting would have been in Tijuana. Nuff said. Similar quality to the Texan's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Posted September 20, 2009 Report Share Posted September 20, 2009 A Piaget Polo. Probably in the mid 80s. Junk by modern standards. Snapped it up instantly then since the Polo was my favorite in those days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chronoluvvv Posted September 20, 2009 Report Share Posted September 20, 2009 1988, someone i used to know brought back a PVD/DLC-coated Cartier from Thailand for me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wombat247 Posted September 21, 2009 Report Share Posted September 21, 2009 A friend of my sister's came over one afternoon in late high school/early college years. She held out her wrist to show us all the new Rolex her father bought for her. He bought one for everyone in his family. I took one look at it and saw the hand ticking and told her it was a fake. She argued the point and insisted that it was real and that her father paid a lot of money for it. I guess she read my face because I realized what I had done and stopped talking. She stormed off and I later heard that she "threw the watch back in his face". She was one of the nicest people I've ever known and I think she was genuinely surprised and embarrassed that the watch was a fake. I don't know what kind of man her father was but based on the stories I heard after that point, he thought he'd get away with telling them these watches were real. That's the last time I told anyone their fake watch was a fake. All I say anymore is "nice watch" when someone shows me a rep. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hackR Posted September 21, 2009 Report Share Posted September 21, 2009 one of my first reps...Breitling Emergency (kinda/sorta) -- from one of my trips to Singapore...and quite honestly, i can't recall the year...somewhere around 2000-2002, i think?!... this is one hunk of metal...but seriously, a nice darkened color brushed ss bracelet/case...the bracelet clasp has a raised wings logo, too...sunburst blue dial... i believe the logo is the Breitling Jet Team, but i'm not sure?!...7 jets in the logo... anyhow -- enjoy the pix... R- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeeJay Posted September 21, 2009 Report Share Posted September 21, 2009 A friend of my sister's came over one afternoon in late high school/early college years. She held out her wrist to show us all the new Rolex her father bought for her. He bought one for everyone in his family. I took one look at it and saw the hand ticking and told her it was a fake. She argued the point and insisted that it was real and that her father paid a lot of money for it. I guess she read my face because I realized what I had done and stopped talking. She stormed off and I later heard that she "threw the watch back in his face". She was one of the nicest people I've ever known and I think she was genuinely surprised and embarrassed that the watch was a fake. I don't know what kind of man her father was but based on the stories I heard after that point, he thought he'd get away with telling them these watches were real. That's the last time I told anyone their fake watch was a fake. All I say anymore is "nice watch" when someone shows me a rep. That's the kind of thing my wife's biological father would do, back when he was alive. I wouldn't want to put your friend's father in the same catagory as him, as he was a real scumbag, but yeah, it's not nice being in that kind of situation Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeeJay Posted September 21, 2009 Report Share Posted September 21, 2009 one of my first reps...Breitling Emergency (kinda/sorta) -- from one of my trips to Singapore...and quite honestly, i can't recall the year...somewhere around 2000-2002, i think?!... this is one hunk of metal...but seriously, a nice darkened color brushed ss bracelet/case...the bracelet clasp has a raised wings logo, too...sunburst blue dial... i believe the logo is the Breitling Jet Team, but i'm not sure?!...7 jets in the logo... anyhow -- enjoy the pix... R- I don't know Breitlings enough to comment on accuracy, but regardless, that is one nice watch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toadtorrent Posted September 21, 2009 Report Share Posted September 21, 2009 Mine was a TT Rolex Day-Date. 10 years later, the QUARTZ movement was still going strong, but the gold looked like faded dog [censored] on moldy cardboard. I tossed it...and now feel bad as it would have been a good benchmark. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeeJay Posted September 21, 2009 Report Share Posted September 21, 2009 Mine was a TT Rolex Day-Date. 10 years later, the QUARTZ movement was still going strong, but the gold looked like faded dog piss on moldy cardboard. I tossed it...and now feel bad as it would have been a good benchmark. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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