The Top 10 Lies about Replica Watches

[brandwatch]

Never really posted this list here, but this was the 2nd replica watch board I found, so here it is. Whatever good it can do.

Most of us arrived here with minds polluted by scam sites and scam "review" sites: all peddlers of lies and deception.

In an effort to help cleanse the noobs' minds of this filth, I propose the following 10 common and devious lies and misconceptions

about replica watches, and the business of manufacturing and selling replica watches.

Lie #1: The best replica watches are made in Switzerland, followed closely by Italy.

-- This is the biggest lie of all. All replica watches are made somewhere in Asia, mostly China. Saying that replicas are made in Switzerland or Italy is a lie intended to extract more money from the ignorant.

Lie #2: Replica watches are graded according to quality. C (or whatever) is the lowest and AAA+++ (or whatever) is the highest.

-- Who decides what is "C" and what is "A"? The "International Replica Watch Governing Board"? Pure nonsense designed, again, to get more of your dollars.

Lie #3: The movements in "Swiss made" replicas are identical to the genuine watch movements. 27 jewel movements are the best.

-- (See Lie #1 for "Swiss made".) Far from the truth. Very few replica watch movements come from anywhere but China and any watchman can immediately tell it's not genuine. There are no Asian 27 jewels movements in replica watches; only 25, 21, or 17. (Some newer replicas are powered by an ETA 7753, which does have 27J.)

Lie #4: The best replicas are 99% true to the genuine and will even fool an Authorized Dealer (AD).

-- Not true. While some may be close (picking a number is impossible) to the genuine, all replicas are flawed. Do you really think you can spend $200 or less and get a watch that's 99% identical to a $4,000-20,000 watch? As for fooling ADs, maybe. Common clerks are easily fooled, but seasoned ADs, upon close inspection, will know it's a replica.

Lie #5: The gold on "Swiss grade" replicas is much higher than on other replicas. The crown, bezel, and mid links are solid gold and the full-gold replicas are 5-wrapped (or 6-wrapped, or whatever).

-- While a few models have been shown to have solid gold mid links (Rolex replicas), the rest of the watch is gold plated or double or triple wrapped gold. ("Search" for threads on how this is done.)

Lie #6: The best Rolex replicas are made with 904L grade steel.

-- Big fat lie. Good replicas are made with 316L quality steel. Rolex is one of the few companies that use 904L steel and it costs 3 times as much as 316L. Replicas are not made with 440 steel, either.

Lie #7: Buying a replica watch is risky, but not if you use sellers from "Replica Review" sites.

-- What most people don't know is the "review" sites are owned and operated by the people who run the sites they recommend--it's very incestuous. These "review" sites are clever and it's easy to get taken in by their lies.

Lie #8: You can tell you're getting a good watch after a thorough examination of the web site.

-- Please. If you think everything displayed on the web is true, you deserve to be fleeced. Scam sites lie about everything, from the quality of their goods to their pledge to make sure every customer is happy. Many even post pictures of genuine watches, (Look for pictures where the watch hands are set at "10:10." Pictures of genuine watches seen in advertisements are always set to "10:10.") but send you junk.

Lie #9: Picking a good seller will always result in getting a good watch, one I won't have trouble with.

-- We wish. Quality control in replica watch factories is hit-and-miss, but mostly shoddy. One batch may be great while the next produces watches that are DOA. (Remember, making replica watches is illegal, even in China. Replica watch "factories" are usually small operations that can be easily moved or hidden from prying authorities.) What is true, though, is a good dealer will want to protect his/her reputation and will fix whatever is wrong.

Lie #10: Paying by COD is the best way to get the cheapest price. Plus, I can examine my watch before paying the courier to make sure I get what I paid for.

-- A really dumb thing to do and a huge red flag that you're dealing with a true scammer. They want cash because they know you'll scream foul to your credit card company the moment you see the junk you just paid $1,000 for.

One final point. Remember, replica watches are counterfeit goods. While it is not illegal to purchase or possess replica watches in most countries, it is illegal to sell them. Keep this in mind when using PayPal or communicating with credit card companies.

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[pompe]

This might have been covered before but those "swiss 2824-2" i would bet a years wage that not one of them are genuine ! This is not a problem unless you pay extra for it. swiss micro manufacturers are finding it almost impossible to get hold of genuine 2824-2 for say a limited run of 300 since ETA wont sell to you unless you are already under the ETA umbrella, also it is the most copied movement around. knowing this do you really think the asian manufacturers have some magic way of geting a hold of large quantities of gen movements ? What you probably are getting is a Seagull clone of top quality but with ETA markings, dont get me wrong it is a great movement, and in my opinion equal to a standard grade swiss 2824-2. But dont pay swiss prices for something that is a Seagull st2130 with ETA markings

[brandwatch]

This might have been covered before but those "swiss 2824-2" i would bet a years wage that not one of them are genuine ! This is not a problem unless you pay extra for it. swiss micro manufacturers are finding it almost impossible to get hold of genuine 2824-2 for say a limited run of 300 since ETA wont sell to you unless you are already under the ETA umbrella, also it is the most copied movement around. knowing this do you really think the asian manufacturers have some magic way of geting a hold of large quantities of gen movements ? What you probably are getting is a Seagull clone of top quality but with ETA markings, dont get me wrong it is a great movement, and in my opinion equal to a standard grade swiss 2824-2. But dont pay swiss prices for something that is a Seagull st2130 with ETA markings

thank you for your visit!

[gtanak]

This might have been covered before but those "swiss 2824-2" i would bet a years wage that not one of them are genuine ! This is not a problem unless you pay extra for it. swiss micro manufacturers are finding it almost impossible to get hold of genuine 2824-2 for say a limited run of 300 since ETA wont sell to you unless you are already under the ETA umbrella, also it is the most copied movement around. knowing this do you really think the asian manufacturers have some magic way of geting a hold of large quantities of gen movements ? What you probably are getting is a Seagull clone of top quality but with ETA markings, dont get me wrong it is a great movement, and in my opinion equal to a standard grade swiss 2824-2. But dont pay swiss prices for something that is a Seagull st2130 with ETA markings

What you're saying carries alot of backlash which i hope you have adequate evidence for. Basing everything on the announcement by ETA and not much more is not really enough for me. I say this because many guys here and other forums place a premium on ETA mvmts and price their reps accordingly when it comes to selling. Are you insinuating that these guys are being dishonest selling seagull movements disguised as ETA? It is a common fact ( i have no evidence though ) that most ETAs supplied by our dealers come either used, NOS and often unoiled etc maybe due to storage. Just wondering cos i'm one of these gullible ones. Hope you can enlighten me with any evidence. So far my ETAs have never had a problem fitting in ETA parts from cousins or Ofrei ... unless they're selling seagull parts as well

[TeeJay]

What you're saying carries alot of backlash which i hope you have adequate evidence for. Basing everything on the announcement by ETA and not much more is not really enough for me. I say this because many guys here and other forums place a premium on ETA mvmts and price their reps accordingly when it comes to selling. Are you insinuating that these guys are being dishonest selling seagull movements disguised as ETA? It is a common fact ( i have no evidence though ) that most ETAs supplied by our dealers come either used, NOS and often unoiled etc maybe due to storage. Just wondering cos i'm one of these gullible ones. Hope you can enlighten me with any evidence. So far my ETAs have never had a problem fitting in ETA parts from cousins or Ofrei ... unless they're selling seagull parts as well

There have been several threads in the past about dealers claiming to be selling ETA movements, but there being something quite different 'under the hood'. I got sick of wasting my time trying to discuss the issue, as at the end of the day, no-one wanted to hear that their favorite dealers were pulling their pants down. To be fair, there have been less complaints of this happening in the last 12-18 months

[gtanak]

There have been several threads in the past about dealers claiming to be selling ETA movements, but there being something quite different 'under the hood'. I got sick of wasting my time trying to discuss the issue, as at the end of the day, no-one wanted to hear that their favorite dealers were pulling their pants down. To be fair, there have been less complaints of this happening in the last 12-18 months

I get what u mean TJ.. its a separate issue though, if a dealer ships a asian clone although you paid for an ETA vs what he's saying the dealers never ship ETA at all to begin with.

[pompe]

I thought this would be a infected topic that would probably been discussed before, so lets just say that NO i do not have ANY evidence and the announced ETA just might be a genuine i have no idea ! I know of cases where micro manufacturers have bought a batch of "genuine" grey market 2824-2 and got about 70% fakes, really good fakes that is, only detectable since the watchmaker disassembled some of them.

One point i do want to stress is that a good seagull st2130 is just as good or sometimes even better then a standard ETA 2824-2 and then you also know what you are getting.

My intent was not to insult anyone or accuse the dealers for selling you fake movements for real prices. If i have offended anyone i am sorry and hope you will accept my apology

Edited July 26, 2010 by pompe

[gtanak]

No worries mate. I've just been reading 1 too many similar comments and thought you might be able to substantiate what you posted. To each his own i suppose, buy asian by all means. The only asian i have is A7750 and the crown is a little wokky and rough even after servicing, all my other 'ETA' watches i own run like a champ, including the little 2678-2 in my WM9 V2 .. which by the way, i dun think BK would take too nicely if asked if his mvmt is real ETA or just a sellita clone.

[FxrAndy]

those "swiss 2824-2" i would bet a years wage that not one of them are genuine !

I will take you up on that bet!

Now if you had said today or the past couple of years or something else, i would probably go along with it, I could do with spare years wage.

I am not knocking what you say and you may have a poiunt but this place will argue about the smallest 0,1mm length of a hand so be carefull how you phrase things, oh an it is still possible to get gen ETA as a small manufacture if you want them. whether you want ETA these days with their methods is another question but some times there are limited other choices,

[TeeJay]

I get what u mean TJ.. its a separate issue though, if a dealer ships a asian clone although you paid for an ETA vs what he's saying the dealers never ship ETA at all to begin with.

Personally, I just consider it all part of the same problem: Person pays for X, dealer deliberately sends them Y.

I appreciate that sometimes a mistake in order packing could happen, afterall, human error is always a possibility, so it should always be considered, but anything other than human error, it is not acceptable. As above, there have not been many reported instances of this in the last 12-18 months, so that is a positive thing

[eddhead]

I am fairly certain that at least some of the watches I have that are supposed to be ETA's are indeed ETA's because I have had them serviced by a pretty reputable watchmaker who confirmed as much to me. This includes my UPO, and 4th gen PO. I also believe my 2892-3 PAM 029 from EL is also legit. but I have no basis of knowledge, just EL's word. Most of these were purchased several years back. Given some of the more recent horror stories, I am not sure I would necessarily vouch watches that are purported to be ETA today. Mayybe yes, maybe no.

Point is, most of the 10 commandments posted by the OP are probably true, but also well known by almost all of this forum's regular members, who as a rule tend to be extremely knowledgable. Certainly, anyone who would invest the extra funds in an ETA is likely to no the ropes enough to understand the risks. There are documented cases on this forum of members not getting what they paid for, but they I tend to think they are the exception rather than the rule. I am not excusing it, just stating my observation.

QC issues on the otherhand is another matter.