Turns out I needn't worry about being called out!

[danza1812]

So my Franken TC 16610 is with my modder having final touches, it will return with gen dial, insert and crystal.

I was worried about wearing it at work as there's a bloke who claims to be a bit of a Rolex guru. A TRF type.

I'm not averse to being called out, because it is what it is, a super reliable watch built with gen and rep parts for a fraction of the cost. But my intention with a Franken is to avoid that hapenning and hope the question doesn't get asked in the first place. I just knew this guy would want to examine the watch and he's not the sort to appreciate the cash savings and craft put into a modded rep. Hes more likely to try to ridicule rep owners to make himself look better cos he's bought and sold a couple of rollies on the bay!

Anyway, turns out I shouldn't worry. He was recently asked by some detective friend of his to cast his eye over some seized omegas and rolexes from a criminal to see if they are gen or not before they visit a local AD to establish if they could be stolen.

This guy told them the only way to tell was to tap the crystal with a knife, if it didn't scratch its definitely a gen! I just smiled in faux agreement with his surefire foolproof method!!!

Well need I say anymore. As soon as my watch gets back it will be worn openly and he can make his own mind up and I will just smugly sit back in the knowledge that as a rep fan it is more likely you will learn more about gen watches than gen fans will ever learn about reps.

[asciwhite]

[kramerica2]

I've seen it happen so many times. Gen experts are not rep experts.

I've passed my POrikka (which has many many flaws) so many times as a gen with gen Omega owners, just for kicks, and I never failed.

You can see it so many times in WUS forums. They can easily spot the very cheap and bad reps, but are clueless about the good reps most of us own.

Only rep experts would be able to call out a good rep, and you know, most rep experts would just give you a wink and show you their own rep....

Edited March 29, 2012 by kramerica2

[Guest Daytona1984]

so true :-)

[torobravo]

If it´s not an aficionado, very difficult to guess

[cougar1]

Nice one on the modded TC, it is a really great watch and the gen bezel/dial/crystal mod is the icing on the cake!

This guy told them the only way to tell was to tap the crystal with a knife, if it didn't scratch its definitely a gen! I just smiled in faux agreement with his surefire foolproof method!!!

Lol, that is it exactly though, most of the so called experts out there (and on gen forums and the like) still think that every rep is a canal st job and they have these idiotic sure fire methods of spotting them ..they haven't a clue...if they'd just admit they haven't a clue and that they are out of their depth it would be refreshing, but they can't! Silly buggers!

[rogerthat]

That is funny stuff

[Adeodatus]

Wait, what? This is not how you spot a rep?

[rek001]

Expert, LOL.

[frankt]

I have been around the various rep fora for a long time now, and have owned dozens of reps, but even with the knowledge I have garnered during this time, I could not swear that any watch was genuine or not without doing a good deal of on line research on that particular model...

to illustrate the level of knowledge most gen owners have, I once saw a doctor at the hospital, sporting a very nice 024 Pam sub, When I asked him how he liked his 024, he corrected me saying..."no...This is a 44mm model...."

I can honestly say that since I stopped collecting Rolex models @ 3 years ago, I would have no Idea whether a recent model Sub or SD was real or not...What chance does "Joe Lunchbucket" have...???? :inverted:

[slask111]

Haha i must agree. Most ppl at my workplace owns pretty nice gens, they have no clue though. I passed my 5th generation PO as gen so many times i just had to tell them its a rep at the end. The "knife on crystal" test seems to be most common. I tell my co workers that yes all my reps have sapphire crystal, and they dont belive that a rep can have that!

So it seems like the OP says, ppl with gens in general dont have a clue. They just make alot of money and buy a gen cause it looks nice.

[Craig88]

Better use the knife on him if he tries to test your watch...

[andreww]

Only thing a knife on the crystal will show you is that your AR is scratched

[smc]

Funny story about the knife. This applies to "experts" in a most areas. Often full of BS - not expertise.

[panerai153]

Fortunately, There aren't many true watch experts in the world. probably the preponderance are residing right here on RWG! As has been said, I probably could take my 1665 DRSD or my 1680 into and AD and not worry, unless there happens to be some older guy there who has been around genuine Rolex watches for 40+ years. He may know.Probably there are a few guys on the Vintage Rolex forum that are really knowledgeable enough to spot a replica dial, bracelet clasp etc.I'm not talking about having the watch in hand with a 10X loupe, I'm talking about from a distance of 5-10 feet. When you get past the really popular well known brands, i would guess that there just aren't any folks out there with enough knowledge to tell. Most folks have never heard of watch brands like Chronoswiss, Maurice Lacroix, Ulysse Nardin just to name a few, much less know enough to tell if your watch is a replica or the real thing.Where I live, I have never ever seen high end watches other than Rolex, Omega and an occasional Cartier. Never have I seen aBreguet,Blancpain, VC,or even a Chronoswiss or Breitling.

I believe this all goes back to who's wearing the watch. If you look like you can afford a 10k watch, then no one is going to question it.Interesting analogy, along these same lines. Thursday, I was doing the anesthesia for an Orthopedic surgeon friend. He is really good, really busy and probably makes north of 500K per year. He was telling me about his wife buying some "Diamond"Jewelry. "Not Cubic zirconium, lab made diamonds" he said. She has a thing about mined conflict diamonds after the movie "Blood Diamonds" At any rate his point was that because of who he is, and his socio-economic position in our small community, no one would question that these "Diamonds" were the real thing. I agreed with him, because it's true. Unless his wife went out wearing a 20+ Carat Pendant and 5 carat diamond earrings, no one would ever suspect. As long as the size was appropriate. I have a feeling that a fair number of diamonds I see on women in our community are probably not "mined" Diamonds, but some form of lab made stone.So guys take heart, we aren't the only ones wearing replicas!!

[FxrAndy]

Just imagine that he wanted to test your vintage sub with the knife, i wonder how quick i could remove it from his hands and test him with it to see if he was real.

[Nanuq]

Nothing involving bloodletting is required!

Step One: the tap test - tap your ring on the crystal. Is it glass or plastic? If not plastic, then proceed to...

Step Two: put a drop of water on the crystal. Does it ball up or smear out? Balls = sapphire (just ask Ken, he has pure carborundum balls)

Step Three: if it's plastic, put on your polarized shades and take it outside. In sunlight most gen acrylic/plexi crystals will produce a rainbowed Moire' pattern when viewed through polarized lenses.

Easy Peasy, and no crystals were harmed during this process.

[seeaye]

No it's true. I don't know much about reps, but I have been reading on this forum way more than I post. I can tell a TAG or an Omega usually, but I own a rep rolex and pam, but I still can't tell the difference between mine and the gen.

Maybe a better test would be to put all the watches in water and see if they make it

[browngo1]

as a rep fan it is more likely you will learn more about gen watches than gen fans will ever learn about reps.

Having owned gens before I got into reps, this is absolutely, 100% right on the button!

[Bardamu]

Having owned gens before I got into reps, this is absolutely, 100% right on the button!

This is right. Before discovering RWG, I spent few years on a French gen forum. Every time someone is speaking about reps, moderators and other members immediately say "stop ! don't speak about reps, don't make any advertising for fakes !". The result is that they know NOTHING about reps and how to make difference between gens and reps. Some guys have great knowledge about gens (really great !), but they don't have any idea about the details to take into account to identify reps. I learnt more about "how to call out a rep" after reading RWG during one week, than reading my gen forum during two or three years.

So, first point is that even a real Rolex expert is probably unable to identify your rep, because he's not a rep expert. These are two different things.

Second point : for sure, a guy who says "I can call out reps by using a knife" is not an expert at all. This guy has a big mouth, speaks loud, but doesn't know what he speaks about.

My recommandation : the first day you go to work with your Rolex rep, you go to this guy and you tell him "hey, I know that you're an expert with Rolex, look at mine ! I followed your advice, I took time to save money and I bought a real one, not a fake like so many idiots." Then, he wil feel so proud, he will immediately admire your gen watch. You can even say more and tell him "please check it, I'd like to have confirmation from the expert you are, that I've not been scammed".

Don't worry, he cannot call it out. And you'll have great fun !

Paul

Edited April 1, 2012 by Bardamu

[Arctos]

IME, what people on gen sites are mainly concerned with is getting ripped off -- paying the gen price and getting a rep.

That's fair. If I'm paying gen money, I damn well better be getting gen merchandise.

[rrari1]

I agree with everyone here. gen owners know nothing about reps and believe that all reps are the super low quality Canal Street type watches. I own a gen rolex, and look at a lot of the critiques on here of high quality reps and cant really tell the difference. the person I know who I feel would most likely call me out on a rep, is a friend who I know owns a rep panerai. In fact the reason I know his Panerai is a rep, is that when I bought an Alpha watch a few years ago, he knew so much about Chinese movements, that I had to ask him how he knew so much.

A friend of mine who is really a watch expert, bought a Daytona a few years ago online, and had to take it straight to a gen dealer to have it checked so that he could know it was real. his Daytona even had a problem in which when the chrono was reset, the second hand reset back to 11, rather than 12.

A female friend of mine years ago pointed out to me that the best way to tell if a high end handbag was fake, was to look at the womans shoes. cheap shoes = a fake bag. Another giveaway she pointed out is if the owner is taking public transportation, the bag is fake. Another friend of mine who has a collection of high end cars told me that she only buys CZ instead of diamonds, as when you arrive in a Bentley, no one questions the quality of your earrings.

The thing that started me reading these Rep forums was reading about the Hublot Big Bang watches. They have an inexpensive ETA movement in them and sell for over 10k. You are just paying up for a case, not the actual watch. Even some of the good brands like Cartier or Breitling have quartz movements in many of their watches. You are paying a lot for a shiny case with those watches.

[Jkay]

Even some of the good brands like Cartier or Breitling have quartz movements in many of their watches. You are paying a lot for a shiny case with those watches.

I read recently that customers were so outraged at being charged only $16 USD for a replacement quartz movement for their Cartier, that the company increased the price of the ETA quartz 20x to offer the illusion of higher cost.

[rrari1]

I can believe that. If you send your gen rolex in for a service they charge you almost twice as much to service a gold model than a stainless steel model even though they have an identical movement in them.