General Commentary-Timepieces

[blackbard]

I wanted to share a thought. I find this site very useful because it allows the knowledge transfer to all to buy or create a

"good timepiece". What do I mean by this? Many watch manufacturers probably started the same way many of us did by seeing

"Gen" pieces and wanting to either duplicate this, make it better or otherwise. This lead to creating custom pieces that eventually

they created a business out of. IWC is a perfect example: American who understood manufacturing wanted to apply this technology

to swiss fine timepiece creation and founded this very successful company. We who have modded our pieces should be proud to have

a "Good" watch regardless of the fact that it closely resembles the gen or not. Take Panerai reps. You have essentially the

exact same movement as in the gen, nice solid heavy cases, beautiful dials, fantastic straps etc....You have created

or purchased a Fantastic timepiece. I look in my watch box and marvel that I could pick up such quality at amazing prices and wear

the watch for the rest of my life if I wanted. Sure there are some of lesser quality. I have two canal street reps that while not

too bad are not nearly the same quality as, say, a noobmariner! picking up a $300 Graham is a great example of a watch with unique

styling, whether your personal taste or not that is of very high quality. ALL movements need service and once done, most if not all

of the movements in the higher quality pieces we discuss here would last as long if not longer than so called Gens. I never would have

begun messing with my gens had I not bought a couple of "cheap" reps and begun playing with the engines, dials etc. Now, although

I wouldnt necessarily tear into my gen Omega, I certainly would have much less fear and could even advise my watchmaker on changes

I may want to have made.

In addition, when you see a gen and know that the movement is an "off the shelf" ETA you kind of have to think twice before plopping

hard earned cash down for it knowing what the parts may cost. Yes, I respect and admire the engineering and cost that went into

creating the piece. I am not detracting from that. But in some cases, looking at a 6497 movement for $100 bucks and seeing that in a watch

that costs 10 times that or more makes one at least pause....

I love my gens because they are great watches. Not necessarily because they cost an arm and a leg sometimes. I love my reps

because they are great watchs(after mods). Someone put it properly in another thread. I have modded my cars both inexpensive

and expensive to get enjoyment out of them beyond what the OEM could have provided. I now have little fear of doing that for

gen watches or reps. I love watches. Period. This place has enhanced that enjoyment for me.

I dont think we really appreciate what value this site has sometimes, so I wanted to share this...