lanikai Posted January 20, 2010 Report Share Posted January 20, 2010 Every time I read a thread by a member regarding how exciting their first purchase is .. and I still get excited.. I keep wondering about the fascination with reps.. we already are enthralled with watches period.. and most of us have genuine models ... and the genuine should do it right ?? I mean they are the real deal.. But for me I tend to wear my reps and frankens about 90% more of the time.. I'll wear my gens into AD's and places that are apropos for them.. but I really LOVE my frankens and super reps..more like they are special to me over the gens..especially when friends here have a hand in supporting the frankens. Reps do have a mystique that bellies the fact that they are just watches.. I mean the genuine are watches, and genuine at that.. so why do I gravitate to the reps.. because truthfully with all the reps I've bought I could have a bigger collection of genuine.. for every 4 high end frankens.. that could buy a gen IWC 3717...you get my drift.. So the mystique could very well be the fact that it is bottom line, an illicit hobby?and part of the thrill is receiving them.. or that replicating the gen especially the vintage Rolex line or the Panerai brand is a challenge and also very hard to get some of the parts.. and man being a hunter by nature.. or predator,it's innately what we do .. Or to be crude.. getting over on the brands that rape the world with pricing and control.. maybe control is a better angle.. that I can control something that would be out of reach normally.. My gen But I enjoy and wear my Ubifranken 9411 more Now most of you are better versed with semantic.. and putting thought's on paper.. I'd like to hear "why the fascination" with reps?? thanks for your time.. AC/Lani Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nanuq Posted January 20, 2010 Report Share Posted January 20, 2010 Every time you post a picture of your Ubiflake it makes my heart stop, and I wind up jamming an epi-pen into my thigh to get it going again. *gasp gasp* I think reps hold our attention from pride of ownership. It's like buying a 4WD versus building one. One is part of your soul, the other is just a truck. One sings to you, the other is an appliance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris5264 Posted January 20, 2010 Report Share Posted January 20, 2010 It's probably a little of all the things you mention,,,and I think this forum is a huge reason I still even consider reps..I don't even have a rep right now and was torn with the issue....a pam sub rep now...or a gen in a VERY long time. I might consider a rep but there still has to be something special to it,,,a rep that was torn apart by The Zigmeister or something besides just trying to make money...some type of art to it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PAMman Posted January 21, 2010 Report Share Posted January 21, 2010 I don't even like Subs but that Snowflake looks just brilliant. I am the same with reps over gensespecially when the reps are frankens. however, older gens seem to give a similsr buzz Recently bought a MKii Speedy and a gen old navitimer - they are getting plenty of wrist time too, along with a Sinn 144 chrono. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeteM Posted January 21, 2010 Report Share Posted January 21, 2010 I agree with Chris for me the forum helps fuel my interest and enjoyment, the pleasure of frankens etc is in the ownership of the making of the watch being part of the process directly or indirectly that brings it to your wrist. With a gen the value is more in how you earnt the money to buy it not so much in the watch or its in the kudos or fulfillment of owning that brand. With reps for me its not what it cost but what care and attention it went through to be the watch it is and the greater understanding you have of it and what went into putting it together. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deniz21 Posted January 21, 2010 Report Share Posted January 21, 2010 this tudor is awsome, the hands... oh my god personaly for me...i think that i will buy me sooner or later (i think later ) a gen, atm i dont think that i buy me a gen, its simply too much for me... but i love watches.. so what should i do??? yes i searched in google and came here then i talked to me, give it a try..i loved the planet ocean at the first time i saw here..so i bought a upo..and you know what? i love my rep upo the same way believe it or not but thats the way i feel, i know its a rep but i dont treat here differnent like i would treat a gen i know its only a rep, but shes so beauyful, and i think thats the fact most of the reps look almost like the gens and that is the mystique for me, its only a rep but so goo dam beauty and thats why i bought it, not to fool someone or, being a cooler guy like someone else.. its the beauty of them..of every singel one. but ok your right..no history in it yust bought it that point comes here... i dont have the experience like many of you have with überfrankes like the tudor, or the daytonas from ubi, or so many others from rwg´lers... but the fact of the beauty, and the history that this watches have for the builder..thats the thing why you guys love this watches more like the gen.. (me thinks) you spendet your time, your sweat in some times your blood..and of course your money to make a timepice with your own hands...and thats something...that no money in the world can buy almost forgot my pam i love her of course the same way, today i pressed thy crystal in better, and i was realy proud about myself denz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Relayman Posted January 21, 2010 Report Share Posted January 21, 2010 (edited) With the Reps, it is challenge. The fact that the Reps today are pretty darned good might also have something to do with it. PS: Your pics are shameful. They are a bad influence on all of us addicted watch addicts. Edited January 21, 2010 by Relayman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paneristi_man Posted January 21, 2010 Report Share Posted January 21, 2010 I just find that having reps is affordable and gives you the freedom to own many exotic/expensive watches that you can only dream about. For instance, a gen Hublot may cost you north of $20K and unless you are very rich, you wouldn't be throwing that much money on a gen. How many reps can you buy for $20K? Even if you cost in all the mods etc, say you spend $700 per watch ,you're looking at almost 30 watches to play with.We have many good reps at the $300 mark. You can do the sums. It's great that for the money I spend I can get something which is very close to the real thing at a fraction of the price of the gen. One of these days I might go gen but for now I'm happy to just indulged in reps. The other thing I can say is that with a rep you don't feel bad if you get tired of it and not wear it. I have a friend who wears a gen rolex but that is his ONLY watch. So when he's out in casuals he's still wearing that same old rolex though nothing wrong with that but I can match my watch to my clothes a lot better.If I wear casual I can opt for PAM for instance. It's just having more flexibility and more things to admire. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeeJay Posted January 21, 2010 Report Share Posted January 21, 2010 As I've mentioned many a time, for me, I simply don't feel that gens are worth the price tag (a philosophy which extends throughout my life from the clothes I wear, to the food I eat. I rarely, if ever, go 'brandname' rather than generic, and I consider reps as a way of getting a nice watch at a reasonable price. I think there's a difference between buying something (anything) out of the box, and buying parts or modifying an existing product, and while not everyone who gets into the hobby goes down the modding route, I feel for those who have a true passion for watches, for many, it is an inevitability, as I was discussing earlier with Deniz21, so I'll re-post my thoughts here: With watches, I've never let myself get too hung up on the 'little details', and just enjoyed them for what they are. The only rep I've intentionally modded as I wasn't satisfied with it 'out of the box', was my 1655 McQueen Explorer, as when it arrived, the dial had no luminous paint, and the 24 hour hand was a kind of wheat-yellow. The color of the hand I could have ignored, but a watch with no lume is no use to me, and I figured as I was going to have to take the hands off to lume the dial, I might as well tint the hand a darker red (as per the model with the luminous dot on the second hand) while I had the hands off Of course, I still don't actually wear the watch very much at all. I just don't like it as much as I thought I would, so I just keep it as a 'spare' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fakemaster Posted January 21, 2010 Report Share Posted January 21, 2010 When you make a Franken Tudor that only you would want, that makes it about creating things. And the satisfaction that comes from it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubiquitous Posted January 21, 2010 Report Share Posted January 21, 2010 To me... Building frankens is just more fun With gens, you buy them and you're done; on to the next watch. With building a franken, each part and component is a search... Mapping out the recipe list... And once all the pieces to the puzzle are collected, put it all together and make sometihng of it. It's far more fascinating to me, and I feel as though I've learned so much more taking this route than I would have had I just bought gens. It's truly been an educational adventure, and one that's taught me how to appreciate these tiny little machines as more than just a watch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hackR Posted January 21, 2010 Report Share Posted January 21, 2010 many of the reasons i'm into reps have already been spoken... the variety, the challenge, the hunt, the trade, the buy/sell, the learning, the butchering...etc, etc... but to me, every watch has a story...it's source...the discussion on the forum or with friends about it...knowing i own a watch with member "heritage"...helping others with parts, ideas, sourcing - and adjusting their tastes!... yes - it's a hobby...but to many of us, we're part of a crazed community that shares a brotherhood of sorts and a passion... as i type this, i'm wearing a PAM homage watch assembled by Mickey Padge from an old pvd case/dial/movement he picked up and personally distressed, etc...it's mounted on a gorgeous unique Blackbard strap, with a SC buckle from Panera...it's been lumed by Z...this watch covers the US, UK, Turkey, Canada...all these members i know and they know me...and all of them i'd offer my support, parts, opinions, and help...it's not about watches, it's about friendships... every one has a story...and i'm glad i have a library full of stories... R- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Watchmeister Posted January 21, 2010 Report Share Posted January 21, 2010 For me, it's not the destination - it's the journey. Oh, and who you are traveling with. And we have a number of wonderful travel companions. I have been "traveling" with some of my friends here for years and over those years we have become the best of friends. It is a fabulous hobby and an even better forum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
budda Posted January 21, 2010 Report Share Posted January 21, 2010 +1 I just find that having reps is affordable and gives you the freedom to own many exotic/expensive watches that you can only dream about. For instance, a gen Hublot may cost you north of $20K and unless you are very rich, you wouldn't be throwing that much money on a gen. How many reps can you buy for $20K? Even if you cost in all the mods etc, say you spend $700 per watch ,you're looking at almost 30 watches to play with.We have many good reps at the $300 mark. You can do the sums. It's great that for the money I spend I can get something which is very close to the real thing at a fraction of the price of the gen. One of these days I might go gen but for now I'm happy to just indulged in reps. The other thing I can say is that with a rep you don't feel bad if you get tired of it and not wear it. I have a friend who wears a gen rolex but that is his ONLY watch. So when he's out in casuals he's still wearing that same old rolex though nothing wrong with that but I can match my watch to my clothes a lot better.If I wear casual I can opt for PAM for instance. It's just having more flexibility and more things to admire. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shundi Posted January 21, 2010 Report Share Posted January 21, 2010 For me, it's not the destination - it's the journey. Oh, and who you are traveling with. And we have a number of wonderful travel companions. I have been "traveling" with some of my friends here for years and over those years we have become the best of friends. It is a fabulous hobby and an even better forum. Beautiful....perfectly said Kruzer... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sadh40 Posted January 21, 2010 Report Share Posted January 21, 2010 i think it has to do with loving your watches. a watch can be gen or rep...but it is the feeling with which you associate with the piece that matters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eton Posted January 21, 2010 Report Share Posted January 21, 2010 Great post Lani! We're all here for a reason, our passion for watches runs deeper than most. For most people, watches are just something to tell time, for others it's a part of their jobs (Pilots, divers, doctors, etc..) For the enthusiast, the intrigue might have ignited when you first saw James Bond use his watch as a laser, or Doc Brown timing the launch of the DeLorean Okay, so those were two instances where my eyes popped out of my head and my jaw dropped That's where it started for me and the web has allowed us to connect and be a community, which has turned my passion of watches into a full blown hobby...the support, knowledge and guidance of forum members helps me grow and learn everytime I log on. If the net didn't exist, where would we be?...I know I wouldn't be purchasing reps let alone modding them, I would have just bought a Gen and that would have been the end of that story! I'm a car nut, so when I modded my car, it gave me more memories and friends than if I were to just go buy something off the lot and leave it as is. Reps have allowed me to meet people that I otherwise wouldn't have! So, it's more than the watch itself, it's the human side to us all that keeps me coming back for more. Don't get me wrong, I'm a complete watch addict and Reps provide a journey and experience that I wouldn't have by just saving up to buy a Gen! So thanks for the support, I wouldn't be here otherwise Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nanuq Posted January 21, 2010 Report Share Posted January 21, 2010 Boy there were some great posts here today. Thanks for chiming in, gents! I'd like to toss in another thought. Back when we were all watch noobs (except for Ubi, he was born a WIS) wristwatches and clocks were mysterious beasts that could only be opened, much less touched in the innards, by grey haired men with aprons that smelled vaguely of oil and pipe tobacco. We knew there were wondrous things happening inside those cases, and if you listened closely you could tell watches apart by the sounds of their ticking. But God forbid you ever touched the guts, for fear of breaking it! Time passed, and each of us experienced the very first time when we opened a caseback, laid the watch down on a table, and leaned in close. We saw the balance turning and the wondrous little bits moving around, and held our breath so we wouldn't get it steamy. We soon closed it back up, but the seed was planted. And before long, we had it open again. Then came the time we did our very first surgery, removing a movement from the case. We were oh so careful to not lose those !@#$^!^&* tiny little screws, but dammit they just seemed to jump off the table. With trembling hands we turned it over and dumped the movement into our hand, and felt the world pause for just a moment. We looked at the dial and the hands, wishing for a better magnifying glass. All those gears and screws! It was simultaneously breathtaking and frightening, so delicate and breakable and fascinating. It just felt like it was breaking as it sat in our hand, so pretty quick we put the movement back in, half of us boogered up the keyless works getting the stem back in, and we struggled for a half an hour to get that !#@$%#$^@# tiny little fricken screw back into the case clamp, but lo and behold, the threads caught and it sunk down tight against the clamp and wow... the movement was back in! We gave the stem a few turns and it took off running, and we felt like we had just climbed Everest. And all of a sudden, that watch was ours. We had taken it apart, and rebuilt it, and it still worked. Now it meant something to us... it was more than "just a watch", it was part of us. Something to be proud of. Any old Joe can buy a watch from a showcase. To take one apart and reassemble it and have it work... that makes it a part of you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redwatch Posted January 21, 2010 Report Share Posted January 21, 2010 I've always been into tinkering. That's how I became an engineer. I used to drive my parents crazy when they would come home and I had torn open the stereo or my mom's first PC. It was just a natural progression for me to start wanting to tinker with watches. Who in their right mind (except you ziggy) would want to tear open a gen rolex or omega to "tinker" with the parts! Rep's fulfill that need for me and it's a way cheaper way to learn about how these things work. The flip side of that has already been stated here numerous times in this thread. I cannot, and will not, justify the cost of the majority of gens. There is just no way that Rolex watches are worth that kind of money. Its outrageous to me. I am not denying the design and engineering quality, but you are paying for status, not the actual build cost. One other thing......I would rather have a few good quality reps, or franken reps than one gen watch. I would simply get bored with it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmarin.72 Posted January 21, 2010 Report Share Posted January 21, 2010 For me it is as plain and simple as this I wouldn't enjoy playing or spending time with someone else's children(gens) but my own (frankens). Nothing compares to that feeling,me thinks Just my 0.02$ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lanikai Posted January 21, 2010 Author Report Share Posted January 21, 2010 Great thought's All.. it's not like we all woke up one morning with the thought that we're going to become hypnotized with the symphony of the mechanical movement..I think we all had a fascination with watches and clocks from a very young age.. staring at the local drug store counters at a Timex or Seiko.. walking past the jewelers window with you family at the mall gawking at the display window with those beautiful Rolex, Bulova, Omega watches.. so close but so out of reach.. and like Nanuq states .. even as an adult.. here for the first time .. a member telling you to : "just take out the movement and do it yourself",.. how fricken Alien is that to think that you would be able to do it.. and then the first time you actually swapped a crystal.. which at one time seemed as far fetched as climbing Mt Everest.. I think the defining point is when you actually do even the smallest of fixes.. like reattaching the hands or simply removing the crown and the movement..the natural high of actually accomplishing the smallest of tasks.. but without the support of this community ... at least I for one would of given up the journey, out of a sense that it was not as rewarding..which would of been one adventure in my life that I would have missed out on a great deal of friendships and camaraderie had I just bought one watch, as was my thought when coming here.. All I can say is for those who leave after one watch.. . . . ya dunno what your missing out on.. edit add:.. btw.. kruzer is the king of multiple journey's.. more projects than NASA and the State Department have going on at one time.. the most frequent flier miles of anyone on the board.. bar none.. Ubi ..the architect of the projects.. gives us our marching orders with his "recipes" .. tech adviser to all .. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeeJay Posted January 21, 2010 Report Share Posted January 21, 2010 When you make a Franken Tudor that only you would want, that makes it about creating things. And the satisfaction that comes from it. Precisely To me... Building frankens is just more fun With gens, you buy them and you're done; on to the next watch. With building a franken, each part and component is a search... Mapping out the recipe list... And once all the pieces to the puzzle are collected, put it all together and make sometihng of it. It's far more fascinating to me, and I feel as though I've learned so much more taking this route than I would have had I just bought gens. It's truly been an educational adventure, and one that's taught me how to appreciate these tiny little machines as more than just a watch. I agree entirely. Even buying reps without plans to modify has that same 'bought it... Next..." feeling as it's just a purchase, irrelevant of cost or provenance. But coming up with an idea, mentally stripping it down to get the recipe and then searching for the parts, that's the real fun Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mt666tm Posted January 21, 2010 Report Share Posted January 21, 2010 For me, I 1st got reps to test them out and see how they felt, and how I felt wearing them, before buying the real thing. The 2nd reason was to have the same watch to wear while doing things where I could possibly damage the watch, or if I am in places that there is a possibility of getting jacked, like while travelling, etc... if i'm wearing a rep, go ahead, take it! I also feel that counterfeiting is really an artform. I love my real watches because I like to swim with them, but I get more compliments on my reps than my gens, and I get accused of my gens being reps all the time. I just installed a saphire caseback for my Sub (from Thomas Preik) and nobody believes that it's real anymore Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lanikai Posted January 22, 2010 Author Report Share Posted January 22, 2010 For me, I 1st got reps to test them out and see how they felt, and how I felt wearing them, before buying the real thing. The 2nd reason was to have the same watch to wear while doing things where I could possibly damage the watch, or if I am in places that there is a possibility of getting jacked, like while travelling, etc... if i'm wearing a rep, go ahead, take it! I also feel that counterfeiting is really an artform. I love my real watches because I like to swim with them, but I get more compliments on my reps than my gens, and I get accused of my gens being reps all the time. I just installed a saphire caseback for my Sub (from Thomas Preik) and nobody believes that it's real anymore I like that sophisticated way of putting it.. that certainly is a large part of the psyche I'm sure.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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