squashlovernk Posted June 11, 2012 Report Share Posted June 11, 2012 I understand the poor build quality or assembly from the factory issue BUT due to the recent higher quality of the 1:1 builds coming out, why do reps STILL suffer from poor water resistance (pressure tested to depth)? For example, one could pick up a Seiko Monster or equivalent Orient Diver for around $150 and know 100% that the watch would function FLAWLESSLY and be FULLY water-resistant to its 200m claim. Even reps that get a service from a watch smith or modder RARELY pass a pressure test of 100m and most range from 50-70m, WTF?? The newer 1:1 builds look and feel amazing for the value but again I am shocked sometimes to see that a $150 Seiko, Orient, Citizen, or equivalent is still functionally SUPERIOR to reps costing 3-4 times MORE!! What gives, hope someone can enlighten me on this as logically it does not make any sense to me. Given the quality of the cases used and materials available today, I still do not understand why these reps suffer from such poor water-resistance capabilities (structural integrity). Any and all opinions welcome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rrari1 Posted June 11, 2012 Report Share Posted June 11, 2012 This amazes me too. A 25 dollar casio is more water resistant than our 500 dollar reps. I have paid to have all of mine waterproofed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rolexman Posted June 11, 2012 Report Share Posted June 11, 2012 Not true. I have a $10 Submariner with 3 rubber seals in the crown like a gen trip-lock. Case back, crystal all seal like they should. Water resistant up to 6 bar (maybe more but my machine only goes to 6 bar). But that doesn't matter because not much of us go deeper than 60m It all depends on the factory that makes the watch, but in my experience most replica's are made really well when it comes to WR. The Tag Aquaracer has double pusher seals like the gen and also the Breitling Abyss is sealed to the max! The problem once again is Quality Check. Factory workers that don't screw down the case back properly or crystals that are pressed in tilted etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FDG Posted June 11, 2012 Report Share Posted June 11, 2012 Not true. I have a $10 Submariner with 3 rubber seals in the crown like a gen trip-lock. Case back, crystal all seal like they should. Water resistant up to 6 bar (maybe more but my machine only goes to 6 bar). But that doesn't matter because not much of us go deeper than 60m It all depends on the factory that makes the watch, but in my experience most replica's are made really well when it comes to WR. The Tag Aquaracer has double pusher seals like the gen and also the Breitling Abyss is sealed to the max! The problem once again is Quality Check. Factory workers that don't screw down the case back properly or crystals that are pressed in tilted etc. +1 just check the watch yourself, grease the gaskets and test it. Never has a watch failed on me that way. But some watches are just notorious for lack of water resistant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheRelumer Posted June 11, 2012 Report Share Posted June 11, 2012 DSSD reps are WR fine once the fake He valve is sealed from the inside and all O rings are greased. its a hit and miss though with reps Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woof* Posted June 11, 2012 Report Share Posted June 11, 2012 I understand the poor build quality or assembly from the factory issue BUT due to the recent higher quality of the 1:1 builds coming out, why do reps STILL suffer from poor water resistance (pressure tested to depth)? For example, one could pick up a Seiko Monster or equivalent Orient Diver for around $150 and know 100% that the watch would function FLAWLESSLY and be FULLY water-resistant to its 200m claim. Even reps that get a service from a watch smith or modder RARELY pass a pressure test of 100m and most range from 50-70m, WTF?? The newer 1:1 builds look and feel amazing for the value but again I am shocked sometimes to see that a $150 Seiko, Orient, Citizen, or equivalent is still functionally SUPERIOR to reps costing 3-4 times MORE!! What gives, hope someone can enlighten me on this as logically it does not make any sense to me. Given the quality of the cases used and materials available today, I still do not understand why these reps suffer from such poor water-resistance capabilities (structural integrity). Any and all opinions welcome. I don't know why you think this, I have owned over 30 reps the last 4 years. All were waterproof but for one that had been modded poorly with crown and tube. In all my time around these forums I have only heard of a couple failing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Watchmeister Posted June 11, 2012 Report Share Posted June 11, 2012 Reps are ultimately assembled by hand. Most lower end gens are by machine. In fact the lower end gens have mechanized QC. There are a dozen other reasons - potentially inferior parts, etc. What I am curious to know is whether folks who buy reps advertised as water resistant and don't open the case have had problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sgtguk Posted June 11, 2012 Report Share Posted June 11, 2012 Can only talk about the reps I've had so far, and I haven't had them tested with a machine, mine have all been fine to swim shower and snorkel with I do make sure mind that I grease the caseback etc and seal the He etc before they get wet not tried any of the chrono's I've had though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sneed12 Posted June 11, 2012 Report Share Posted June 11, 2012 For example, one could pick up a Seiko Monster or equivalent Orient Diver for around $150 and know 100% that the watch would function FLAWLESSLY and be FULLY water-resistant to its 200m claim. Really? You've never seen a flooded Seiko or Orient diver? What I would know 100% is that Seiko would replace my watch if it failed at depth. I would be reasonably confident that if I were to grab a 007 or Mako out of the dealer display, strap it to my wrist and dive with it, that it would be ok--but not 100%. Gen rolexes flood, as do gen seikos. A good rep can be made just as waterproof, you just don't get a warranty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeeJay Posted June 11, 2012 Report Share Posted June 11, 2012 Reps are ultimately assembled by hand. Most lower end gens are by machine. In fact the lower end gens have mechanized QC. There are a dozen other reasons - potentially inferior parts, etc. What I am curious to know is whether folks who buy reps advertised as water resistant and don't open the case have had problems. Very very rarely... Maybe two watches in probably 20+ purchasses have had an issue. My latest 16610 only developed a fogging issue after I popped the crystal to re-align it. Out of the box, it was fine. Since re-sealing it properly, it is fine once more With regards the topic question: For the most part, they don't! I remember reading a comment a while back where some chump a buyer had paid a TD for 'waterproofing', and said watch leaked like a seive on delivery Okay, yes, statistically, there may be occasional leaks (as mentioned above, which happens to gens too!) but in the majority of instances, even with chronos, these watches do not have to come off the wrist for swimming/showering/bathing... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cib0rgman Posted June 11, 2012 Report Share Posted June 11, 2012 +1 just check the watch yourself, grease the gaskets and test it. Never has a watch failed on me that way. But some watches are just notorious for lack of water resistant. +1 I do not even grease mine they have gone from the mail to my wrist and then to the water. I still do not understand why popel keep saying that rep are poor at waterproof Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeeJay Posted June 11, 2012 Report Share Posted June 11, 2012 +1 I do not even grease mine they have gone from the mail to my wrist and then to the water. I still do not understand why popel keep saying that rep are poor at waterproof +1 I think it's the rep myth which annoys me the most to see perpetuated... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woof* Posted June 11, 2012 Report Share Posted June 11, 2012 +1 I do not even grease mine they have gone from the mail to my wrist and then to the water. I still do not understand why popel keep saying that rep are poor at waterproof The same people that perpetuate the myth that anyone who see's a Rolex assumes its fake. lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slask111 Posted June 11, 2012 Report Share Posted June 11, 2012 Ok so what do you use to grease your seals/gaskets with? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sneed12 Posted June 11, 2012 Report Share Posted June 11, 2012 Ok so what do you use to grease your seals/gaskets with? ...gasket grease...? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slask111 Posted June 11, 2012 Report Share Posted June 11, 2012 Ok ok hehe But there are so many types of grease out there. And i would suppose that alot of ppl have their idea of the ideal grease.. But maybe this works: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
txcollector Posted June 11, 2012 Report Share Posted June 11, 2012 Really? You've never seen a flooded Seiko or Orient diver? What I would know 100% is that Seiko would replace my watch if it failed at depth. I would be reasonably confident that if I were to grab a 007 or Mako out of the dealer display, strap it to my wrist and dive with it, that it would be ok--but not 100%. Gen rolexes flood, as do gen seikos. A good rep can be made just as waterproof, you just don't get a warranty. Exactly. I had a brand new Omega that fogged after going down to 90 ft on a very cold lake. Omega serviced and repaired it at no cost to me but for a watch rated to 2000ft fogging is not really acceptable. If I'm planning to swim or dive with a rep I always inspect, replace, clean and grease every gasket. Never had a problem diving with any of them down to 120ft. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
panerai153 Posted June 13, 2012 Report Share Posted June 13, 2012 My experience with my watches that are reps of genuine dive watches, such as Rolex 16610,1680,as well as two PAMS, etc, has been mixed . I have a pressure tester, and a year or so back, I tested all my watches , here are the results below. Some may be water resistant to immersion in a glass of water, but won't survive a dive to the deep end of a swimming pool. Here is a list of watches I tested and where they leaked or didn't old skool EL PAM 063 -failed leaked from crown/tube/stem DSN PAM 24A - failed, leaked arounf Crown/tube/stem WM9/BK v3 Rolex 16610 -passed 5 atmospheres ETZ Rolex DSSD - failed, leaked around crystal Euromariner/BK Rolex 16610 - passed 3 atmospheres MBW Rolex 1680 - passed 3 atmospheres MBW Rolex 1665 - passed 3 atmospheres ( Since the test it fogged when I sprayed it with a stream of water under pressure accidently. now retired from underwater use!) PT Rolex 1680 - failed leaked around crystal noobmariner Rolex 16600 - passed 3 atmospheres UN Maxi marine Diver - failed leaked around crystal That's the results of my watches, your identical watch from the same dealer may not test the same. I wish they were all water resistant. It would simplify things a lot. I have always wondered why you can buy lots and lots of water resistant "dive" watches for around the same price as a high end rep, but the rep makers obviously don't need to make them water resistant, because we keep buying them anyway. honestly, I have several genuine dive watches that are probably cheaper than some of my highly modded reps. I wear them when diving. my three dive watches that I use are a Doxa 1200T, MKII stingray (Blancpain FF homage) and my Ocean7 LM7 Ploprof (Omega ploprof homage) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
indywatchguy Posted March 11, 2013 Report Share Posted March 11, 2013 I agree with some of the other members. I've worn all my reps right out the box to the pool...snorkeling, swimming, and diving down to 50ft. Zero issues but prior to this I always tighten down the case back. Several reps I received have had loose case backs but everything else was fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
panerai153 Posted March 11, 2013 Report Share Posted March 11, 2013 Some of the reps are really hard to get water resistant. As you can see from my post above the main ones that failed were two PAM's that both leaked around the crown/crown gasket. the UN Maxi Marine is a really cheap rep that probably could be made WR with a little work. the DSSD probably didn't have the crystal seated properly, or the crystal gasket was crimped. the PT 1680 has non gen construction and I believe a glued on crystal, probably wasn't glued on properly. It came from a guy who scammed some folks here, I know he fooled around with it, tried to do a crystal replacement and probably didn't glue it properly.. all of these are pertty strauight forward fixes, but if you jumped in a pool with any one of them, they would more than likely have flooded. My 1665 has since gotten a replacement T-39 superdome, and it's fine. We found that it had a crack at the base of the crystal running up over the retaining ring to the edge of the bezel. i probably cracked it when I hit it against something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Watchmeister Posted March 11, 2013 Report Share Posted March 11, 2013 Like P153, I have found water resistance to be all over the map. My approach is simply to pick the one or two watches which will be swim watches for the Summer and get them tested for WR down to 20 feet or so. But I do the same with gens to. I have ruined a gen AP RO which I took swimming and didn't have checked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
icoopernicus Posted March 11, 2013 Report Share Posted March 11, 2013 I do the hot water check, dunk in near-boiling water and look for escaping air bubbles, if I see none I will wear it swimming. As a rule, outside of light rain or washing my hands I don't consider a chrono anything to be water resistent, any rep with a screw in crown is good if the crystal and caseback pass the boiling dunk test. I would like to learn a little about waterproofing my watches, I think all I need is some molykote for the seals and a little knowhow regarding proper crystal installation and crystal seals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nanuq Posted March 12, 2013 Report Share Posted March 12, 2013 Seriously, I have no idea why some of these reps leak. It's got to be the build quality. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
agentoso74 Posted March 13, 2013 Report Share Posted March 13, 2013 One of the TD told me that watches which cost above $200, factory will have it waterproofed. Not sure is it true. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sneed12 Posted March 15, 2013 Report Share Posted March 15, 2013 One of the TD told me that watches which cost above $200, factory will have it waterproofed. Not sure is it true. It's not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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