What are your thoughts on this?

[freddy333]

Questionable GMT hand

(Please post comments in TZ thread)

[JoJo35]

Looks real to me , but hey I could be wrong, although I have never seen a tapered aftermarket second hand. Here's an excellent thread from VRF for those who may not have seen it:

http://www.network54.com/Forum/207593/thread/1289058227/Little+reminder

I'd post this up on TZ, but I've never been much of a TZ guy. The same post is up on VRF; however, everyone over there should already be aware of the link I posted.

Cheers,

JJ

[Ronin]

Looks real to me , but hey I could be wrong, although I have never seen a tapered aftermarket second hand. Here's an excellent thread from VRF for those who may not have seen it:

http://www.network54...Little+reminder

I'd post this up on TZ, but I've never been much of a TZ guy. The same post is up on VRF; however, everyone over there should already be aware of the link I posted.

Cheers,

JJ

JJ, that is an informative post. I do appreciate VRF and ourselves for helping point out the differences between OE Rolex and Aftermarket.

< begin rant >

However,the use of "Fake" in the post is rather disconcerting. Seriously, they are 'replacement' hands, or 'aftermarket' hands. I mean really. I would venture a guess there are quite a few "Gens" out there that were serviced by independents that could have these hands.

I am getting rather bored of judging an entire watch (Gen), based on some part that, god forbid, did not come from the holy land of Rolex. Parts that are either 'user serviceable', or 'indie watchmaker cost savers' should be embraced by the Rolex community for keeping their watches alive. (Disclaimer: I totally understand wanting a Safe/Winder Queen that is unmolested, but for the average person that wears their watches, come on).

Calling a (Gen) watch a fake or a rep, illegitimate, or sub-standard because it has things like: aftermarket crystal, inserts, pearls, bracelets or even hands is just dumb. That's like saying your car is no longer legit because you put aftermarket wheels on it.

Forgive the rant. I have been watching the prices of "Gen" Rolex Bracelets on eBay, and if I had a (Gen) daily watch that took a 9315, I would sooner and proudly wear it on an MBW/Rep/Aftermarket bracelet before dropping $800+ on a 40+yr old used POS Rolex bracelet. (Gen Vintage Rolex bracelets look cool, but in reality they are crap this late in their life). If some VRF/TRF guy called me on it....F-them.

< end rant about nit picking, thanks for humoring me >

[panerai153]

JJ, that is an informative post. I do appreciate VRF and ourselves for helping point out the differences between OE Rolex and Aftermarket.

< begin rant >

However,the use of "Fake" in the post is rather disconcerting. Seriously, they are 'replacement' hands, or 'aftermarket' hands. I mean really. I would venture a guess there are quite a few "Gens" out there that were serviced by independents that could have these hands.

I am getting rather bored of judging an entire watch (Gen), based on some part that, god forbid, did not come from the holy land of Rolex. Parts that are either 'user serviceable', or 'indie watchmaker cost savers' should be embraced by the Rolex community for keeping their watches alive. (Disclaimer: I totally understand wanting a Safe/Winder Queen that is unmolested, but for the average person that wears their watches, come on).

Calling a (Gen) watch a fake or a rep, illegitimate, or sub-standard because it has things like: aftermarket crystal, inserts, pearls, bracelets or even hands is just dumb. That's like saying your car is no longer legit because you put aftermarket wheels on it.

Forgive the rant. I have been watching the prices of "Gen" Rolex Bracelets on eBay, and if I had a (Gen) daily watch that took a 9315, I would sooner and proudly wear it on an MBW/Rep/Aftermarket bracelet before dropping $800+ on a 40+yr old used POS Rolex bracelet. (Gen Vintage Rolex bracelets look cool, but in reality they are crap this late in their life). If some VRF/TRF guy called me on it....F-them.

< end rant about nit picking, thanks for humoring me >

Ronin,

I completely agree with you, as long as the aftermarket parts are identified, or the seller has a disclaimer that parts were replaced with aftermarket.

I keep going back to the same subject, and I hate to keep "beating a dead horse", but what most of the younger guys on these forums don't realize is the whole concept of wristwatches has changed over the past 40+ years. Most of these changes have come about because of computers and the internet. Back when I started buying watches, your sources were limited to jewelry stores, pawn shops and ads run in the newspaper. If there were any watch "collectors" back then, they were few and far between. There wasn’t a “watch community”. Per se, although I’m sure in the bigger cities around the globe there were folks interested in watches to the point that they were collecting. People bought watches for their utility, not to collect. I would suspect that most folks owned at the most two watches, one they wore for everyday work, another for dress. If you were fortunate enough to be able to buy a Rolex back then, you bought it because it was a good dependable rugged watch. When it broke, you took it to the nearest watchmaker who worked on Rolex. Unless they were affiliated with an AD, many would offer to replace parts with aftermarket. Yes, even back then, you could buy aftermarket crystals, hands, bracelets and dials could be redone if they were damaged. Using aftermarket parts was far cheaper than sending your watch to Rolex. Also, you could usually have your watch back on your wrist in a matter of days rather than weeks or months if you sent it to Rolex. So aftermarket parts have always been a part of the Rolex story.

Looking forward, there may come a day when those same folks who are screaming “FAKE!!!! “ the loudest will be forced to replace parts on their beloved Rolex watches with aftermarket parts, or else put the non working watch in their sock drawer until they can scrounge up a nonexistent or hyper expensive part. I believe that some of these folks are overreacting to the extreme. My definition of a fake is something that has nothing genuine , nothing produced by the branded company, and is primarily produced to deceive others. A genuine is and always will be a genuine, even if it contains some aftermarket parts. Again, I will say my feelings are, if the watch contains aftermarket parts, they should be honestly disclosed.

[theblueprince]

I'd happily put them on a watch if a watchmaker had them there and then in stock to put on rather than sending to Rolex who'd now only do it as part of a full $500+ service.

[TeeJay]

JJ, that is an informative post. I do appreciate VRF and ourselves for helping point out the differences between OE Rolex and Aftermarket.

< begin rant >

However,the use of "Fake" in the post is rather disconcerting. Seriously, they are 'replacement' hands, or 'aftermarket' hands. I mean really. I would venture a guess there are quite a few "Gens" out there that were serviced by independents that could have these hands.

I am getting rather bored of judging an entire watch (Gen), based on some part that, god forbid, did not come from the holy land of Rolex. Parts that are either 'user serviceable', or 'indie watchmaker cost savers' should be embraced by the Rolex community for keeping their watches alive. (Disclaimer: I totally understand wanting a Safe/Winder Queen that is unmolested, but for the average person that wears their watches, come on).

Calling a (Gen) watch a fake or a rep, illegitimate, or sub-standard because it has things like: aftermarket crystal, inserts, pearls, bracelets or even hands is just dumb. That's like saying your car is no longer legit because you put aftermarket wheels on it.

Forgive the rant. I have been watching the prices of "Gen" Rolex Bracelets on eBay, and if I had a (Gen) daily watch that took a 9315, I would sooner and proudly wear it on an MBW/Rep/Aftermarket bracelet before dropping $800+ on a 40+yr old used POS Rolex bracelet. (Gen Vintage Rolex bracelets look cool, but in reality they are crap this late in their life). If some VRF/TRF guy called me on it....F-them.

< end rant about nit picking, thanks for humoring me >

+1 I agree entirely.

Ronin,

I completely agree with you, as long as the aftermarket parts are identified, or the seller has a disclaimer that parts were replaced with aftermarket.

I keep going back to the same subject, and I hate to keep "beating a dead horse", but what most of the younger guys on these forums don't realize is the whole concept of wristwatches has changed over the past 40+ years. Most of these changes have come about because of computers and the internet. Back when I started buying watches, your sources were limited to jewelry stores, pawn shops and ads run in the newspaper. If there were any watch "collectors" back then, they were few and far between. There wasn’t a “watch community”. Per se, although I’m sure in the bigger cities around the globe there were folks interested in watches to the point that they were collecting. People bought watches for their utility, not to collect. I would suspect that most folks owned at the most two watches, one they wore for everyday work, another for dress. If you were fortunate enough to be able to buy a Rolex back then, you bought it because it was a good dependable rugged watch. When it broke, you took it to the nearest watchmaker who worked on Rolex. Unless they were affiliated with an AD, many would offer to replace parts with aftermarket. Yes, even back then, you could buy aftermarket crystals, hands, bracelets and dials could be redone if they were damaged. Using aftermarket parts was far cheaper than sending your watch to Rolex. Also, you could usually have your watch back on your wrist in a matter of days rather than weeks or months if you sent it to Rolex. So aftermarket parts have always been a part of the Rolex story.

Looking forward, there may come a day when those same folks who are screaming “FAKE!!!! “ the loudest will be forced to replace parts on their beloved Rolex watches with aftermarket parts, or else put the non working watch in their sock drawer until they can scrounge up a nonexistent or hyper expensive part. I believe that some of these folks are overreacting to the extreme. My definition of a fake is something that has nothing genuine , nothing produced by the branded company, and is primarily produced to deceive others. A genuine is and always will be a genuine, even if it contains some aftermarket parts. Again, I will say my feelings are, if the watch contains aftermarket parts, they should be honestly disclosed.

Again, I agree entirely. I would also like to say that when those folks who are screaming fake have to make the decision between a: sullying their precious watch with 'fake' parts or b: admiring their non-working paperweight, they're going to deserve a big:

for their snooty attitudes

[Ronin]

Well said Panerai153 & TeeJay.