Guide to the cheapest (but best) SMP

[Dave1988]

Hey guys, long time lurker, first time poster on RWG.

I've spent a year looking for the best SMP replica. Here's my thoughts.

First, a word of warning about Mary from watch international and her SMP. It's a popular one at the moment but it shouldn't be.

I bought one of these Seamasters from her about two weeks ago. First off, she was great to deal with and responded to all my emails really promptly.

I bought the Genuine Swiss ETA version. When the watch arrived, the first thing I noticed was how poor this rep was in the flesh compared to my WBK SMP.

- The glass on Marys SMP is flat, and has a terrible lupe effect. It just looks cheap.

- The crown scrapes against the metal when you loosen it. It really is a bugger to unscrew. The movement winds perfectly however.

- The band is quite bad. It feels so light and cheap compared to the WBK version of the same watch. As mentioned, it also uses screws while the WBK uses pins.

- The dial has no defined 'wave' pattern. The WBK dial has a great dial with distinctive waves, while Mary's version just seems to be painted on.

I was extremely dissapointed. After a day or so of thinking about it, I decided to contact Mary, and ask for a replacement or a refund. The main issue was with the crown. Every time I loosen it I know I was doing damage...

But Mary never replied to my email. 5 days later I emailed her again, and no reply once more. A great seller when buying something, but useless when you have a problem.

What I want to tell anyone thinking about buying this watch is don't.

Buy the WBK version for $110. It has a better everything except bezel and movement for half the price of the gen ETA version from Mary. Replace the bezel with the one from wholesaleoutlet990 on ebay. You now have a better, more gen looking watch for almost half the price.

[offshore]

As stated elsewhere it is Chinese New year, which will be the reason for no response.

Were you supplied with photos of the watch you were getting?

Offshore

[Dave1988]

As stated elsewhere it is Chinese New year, which will be the reason for no response.

Were you supplied with photos of the watch you were getting?

Offshore

As mentioned elsewhere, Mary hasn't replied in over two weeks, far earlier than the Chinese new year. Other members on repgeek have heard from her since then.

Mary supplied me with great photos, far further and beyond the call of duty on her part. The watch looked brilliant in the photos however in reality it was a let down. The crown issue is a major sore point with me.

[wat44]

I'll vouch for Mary - I have bought several watches from her, and she is my best dealer.

[gran]

Hey guys, long time lurker, first time poster on RWG.

I've spent a year looking for the best SMP replica. Here's my thoughts.

First, a word of warning about Mary from watch international and her SMP. It's a popular one at the moment but it shouldn't be.

I bought one of these Seamasters from her about two weeks ago. First off, she was great to deal with and responded to all my emails really promptly.

I bought the Genuine Swiss ETA version. When the watch arrived, the first thing I noticed was how poor this rep was in the flesh compared to my WBK SMP.

- The glass on Marys SMP is flat, and has a terrible lupe effect. It just looks cheap.

- The crown scrapes against the metal when you loosen it. It really is a bugger to unscrew. The movement winds perfectly however.

- The band is quite bad. It feels so light and cheap compared to the WBK version of the same watch. As mentioned, it also uses screws while the WBK uses pins.

- The dial has no defined 'wave' pattern. The WBK dial has a great dial with distinctive waves, while Mary's version just seems to be painted on.

I was extremely dissapointed. After a day or so of thinking about it, I decided to contact Mary, and ask for a replacement or a refund. The main issue was with the crown. Every time I loosen it I know I was doing damage...

But Mary never replied to my email. 5 days later I emailed her again, and no reply once more. A great seller when buying something, but useless when you have a problem.

What I want to tell anyone thinking about buying this watch is don't.

Buy the WBK version for $110. It has a better everything except bezel and movement for half the price of the gen ETA version from Mary. Replace the bezel with the one from wholesaleoutlet990 on ebay. You now have a better, more gen looking watch for almost half the price.

Sounds horrible..terrible way to start the year of the Tiger...you gotta return it to Mary asap

[Dave1988]

If any of you guys are interested in the SMP reps, and are active on repgeek, I've posted some photos of both the WBK and Mary Seamaster replica over there.

[spooky driver]

can you not post it here as well?

[Jkay]

I could swear there's a good photo review of the wave dial SMP here .. it might be between 1 and 2 years old. Chasing that review down should net you the information needed to score a really good wave dial

[Dave1988]

I could swear there's a good photo review of the wave dial SMP here .. it might be between 1 and 2 years old. Chasing that review down should net you the information needed to score a really good wave dial

A new dial is the hardest thing to source for a replica SMP. I've decided to replace mine, but I have no idea where to start looking for one. I've scoured ebay a few times on the lookout for one, but no bananas.

Do I have any alternative to purchasing a new one from ofrei?

[plaifender]

Check out By-tor's review of omega watches:

Triplehd also did a review of his highly modded SMP...

[Jkay]

Thanks Plaifender so there you have it ... according to the By-tor review I was trying to reference, the current "ultimate" SMP replica is terrible. The good one from 2 or 3 years ago was replaced with the bad current version, which you received.

[plaifender]

correct.. apparently there's no decent version available right now...

[lanikai]

First and foremost IMHO.. if you are looking to by cheap .. and spend the least amount of money.. you will get what you pay for..

if you are looking to spend 100-150 usd .. don't expect much..

Even buying the top of the line SMP.. you will need to spend money on upgrading the crown and tube.

the date wheel needs swapping to an eta dw..

here is my SMP chrono, it is the Ultimate and there were still a lot of mods that needed to be done to get it to standard.

My point being there is nothing wrong with Mary or the watch you bought... for the price.. if you had asked any of us, I think the advise that you would of gotten was that for the price you are paying.. don't expect much.

I bought a couple of SMP's and the one you have is one I donated to raffle...it has a heavy lens effect form the mineral glass and for the price was expected.

If I did not have a dealer that I am comfortable with and have been dealing with for years now.. I would no doubt do biz with Mary..

You can look at about 400 usd after all the mods to have a very good Watch.. if you are looking for quality.. ya gotta pay a little more... IMHO

I'm not bashing the thread.. but being realistic..

AC/Lani

[Dave1988]

First and foremost IMHO.. if you are looking to by cheap .. and spend the least amount of money.. you will get what you pay for..

if you are looking to spend 100-150 usd .. don't expect much..

Even buying the top of the line SMP.. you will need to spend money on upgrading the crown and tube.

the date wheel needs swapping to an eta dw..

here is my SMP chrono, it is the Ultimate and there were still a lot of mods that needed to be done to get it to standard.

My point being there is nothing wrong with Mary or the watch you bought... for the price.. if you had asked any of us, I think the advise that you would of gotten was that for the price you are paying.. don't expect much.

I bought a couple of SMP's and the one you have is one I donated to raffle...it has a heavy lens effect form the mineral glass and for the price was expected.

What you're saying is generally true in the replica world. You do get what you pay for. However my experience with the WBK and Mary SMP is the opposite.

Marys watch cost me $230 US. It has the loupe effect on the glass (which is inaccurately flat), a very shallow wave effect on the dial, and a fairly poor quality bracelet.

WBKs however, costs half that and has a great bracelet with good fit and finish, the best quality glass without fisheye effect I've seen, and a great dial with a pronounced wave pattern.

Of course, the quality of your Chrono rep is brilliant, but you ARE talking in the realm of $400 - $500.

With Seamasters, particularly the 2531.80, it doesn't make sense to spend that sort of money on a rep without seriously considering a used gen for $800-$900 on TZ.

Case in point, I wasn't expecting a replica of a lesser quality to WBKs for twice the price. I have no quelms about it, its the nature of the beast. I'm just sharing my thoughts.

EDIT- By all means do business with Mary, she's a fantastic seller (hopefully), but perhaps just avoid this particular watch, if WBKs is an option.

Edited February 19, 2010 by Dave1988