Legend Posted July 31, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 31, 2012 Was just told by my TD that he doesn't think Noob are coming back at all. Thats a catastrophic statement! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maverick86 Posted July 31, 2012 Report Share Posted July 31, 2012 Unless that just means they'll come up under another name? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fingersxd Posted July 31, 2012 Report Share Posted July 31, 2012 Same thing was told to me after ordering from Andrew. He seems pretty sure they'll open in 3-4 weeks though? Hope everything's fine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Legend Posted August 1, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 1, 2012 fingersxd your nick is apt for what I am about to say, which is, I am keeping my fingers crossed. lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fingersxd Posted August 1, 2012 Report Share Posted August 1, 2012 Haha yeah.. You guys ever heard of these sorts of raids happening? Or is this the first? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Legend Posted August 1, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 1, 2012 The raids are regular parts of the rep business.. happens at least 2-3 times a year. The authorities need to be seen doing their job, even on a perfunctory basis. This time does happen to appear more serious, with rumors aplenty regarding the fates of the affected factories. We would just have to wait and see. Or maybe, its just a giant conspiracy to cover up the factory folks taking a mass hiatus to travel to London to watch the olympics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fingersxd Posted August 1, 2012 Report Share Posted August 1, 2012 Hahaa cheers on the Olympics part. Anyway, Andrew just told me the factory has just reopened and the raids have stopped! Now awaiting qc pics. Hope everything goes smoothly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Legend Posted August 1, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 1, 2012 Hahaa cheers on the Olympics part. Anyway, Andrew just told me the factory has just reopened and the raids have stopped! Now awaiting qc pics. Hope everything goes smoothly excellent news. My order has been on hold for quite a bit now.. lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fingersxd Posted August 1, 2012 Report Share Posted August 1, 2012 Ah well he mentioned in his email that the qc pics might take awhile as the watches will take longer than usual to reach him.. hope your order goes through as well buddy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeeJay Posted August 1, 2012 Report Share Posted August 1, 2012 Just to throw the cat amongst the pidgeons, I've got to report completely the opposite situation... I ordered a new watch 8 days ago, was prepared to wait 4-5 weeks for it to arrive, then see the threads about factory raids and think "Oh shit..." I was tempted to send a message to the dealer and enquire if I should expect delays, but didn't, and today, I received the new watch, way faster than the dealer has ever sent anything before Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cougar1 Posted August 1, 2012 Report Share Posted August 1, 2012 Great pic! So cool! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Legend Posted August 2, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 2, 2012 Just to throw the cat amongst the pidgeons, I've got to report completely the opposite situation... I ordered a new watch 8 days ago, was prepared to wait 4-5 weeks for it to arrive, then see the threads about factory raids and think "Oh [censored]..." I was tempted to send a message to the dealer and enquire if I should expect delays, but didn't, and today, I received the new watch, way faster than the dealer has ever sent anything before You are talking about one watch, and I am talking about the general situation. I guess not every order would be affected. It would all depend on which watch you ordered, and the choices your dealer made when it comes to accepting orders and delivery. Its good that you got your watch quickly, but there are many who would not, had they placed their order at the wrong time. There will always be exceptions in situations like this. Not every factory would be affected, and for those affected, there would be those that still operate in short window spans. I do not think your post is a "cat among the pigeons". Its more like "the white crow among the black" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hambone Posted August 2, 2012 Report Share Posted August 2, 2012 Today Andrew assured me that orders will be sent promptly, however one of his employees has been arrested, and sits in a chinese prison. His freight forwarder was raided and many package were seized by the Chinese police. Fortunately mine was not one of them and it is on the way. This problem has been taken care of and customers may now safely order with confidence. The crackdown continues though and it is serious, far more so than anything in the past. There is a united front of Swiss watch makers filing multiple lawsuits in America, and Europe seeking damages, cease & desist, along with a litany of copyright infringement claims. The pressure on China is huge. Nothing like ever before. This has become a huge embarrasment to the P.R. of China. They are the second most powerful country on earth, and change is afoot to garner stronger diplomatic and economic relations. My personal feeling is that one should not procrastinate to long if you want a collection of rep watches. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Legend Posted August 2, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 2, 2012 Today Andrew assured me that orders will be sent promptly, however one of his employees has been arrested, and sits in a chinese prison. His freight forwarder was raided and many package were seized by the Chinese police. Fortunately mine was not one of them and it is on the way. This problem has been taken care of and customers may now safely order with confidence. The crackdown continues though and it is serious, far more so than anything in the past. There is a united front of Swiss watch makers filing multiple lawsuits in America, and Europe seeking damages, cease & desist, along with a litany of copyright infringement claims. The pressure on China is huge. Nothing like ever before. This has become a huge embarrasment to the P.R. of China. They are the second most powerful country on earth, and change is afoot to garner stronger diplomatic and economic relations. My personal feeling is that one should not procrastinate to long if you want a collection of rep watches. Hi Hambone, I agree with your view. Talking about Andrew, it seems that the website for Trusty is down again? Do you have the latest site? I tried ttw168.com Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeeJay Posted August 2, 2012 Report Share Posted August 2, 2012 You are talking about one watch, and I am talking about the general situation. I guess not every order would be affected. It would all depend on which watch you ordered, and the choices your dealer made when it comes to accepting orders and delivery. Its good that you got your watch quickly, but there are many who would not, had they placed their order at the wrong time. There will always be exceptions in situations like this. Not every factory would be affected, and for those affected, there would be those that still operate in short window spans. I do not think your post is a "cat among the pigeons". Its more like "the white crow among the black" Oh absolutely, I just find it amusing that during a time when many forum trusted dealers are reporting issues, an off-board source comes through with the goods, and sooner than any previous order For the record, it was a budget GMT Master II Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Legend Posted August 2, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 2, 2012 Oh absolutely, I just find it amusing that during a time when many forum trusted dealers are reporting issues, an off-board source comes through with the goods, and sooner than any previous order For the record, it was a budget GMT Master II I don't think Rolex supplies are affected much. There are dealers that went offline entirely, and there are factories that cease operations for the time being. You're lucky, and should enjoy your watch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hambone Posted August 2, 2012 Report Share Posted August 2, 2012 Hi Hambone, I agree with your view. Talking about Andrew, it seems that the website for Trusty is down again? Do you have the latest site? I tried ttw168.com Thanks Andrew's site is up and running fine . Try again and order anything with confidence. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Watchmeister Posted August 2, 2012 Report Share Posted August 2, 2012 It seems the industry has outgrown its proper role in society. At a minimum it is no longer business as usual as it has been over the last couple of years. Guess it was getting too easy. It is one thing when you have a 50 women in a random basement assembling watches. Very easy to move that " factory". When the factory becomes more of a real high volume factory it is a lot tougher to close up and open elsewhere. As someone who has observed the rep industry for 10 years + the one thing I do know is that it doesn't disappear. It just adapts. So whether we will now go back to "Vietnamese" or "Malaysian" bests the industry will carry on. Heck a majority of our dealers don't even live in China. They are smarter than that. Factories come and go. And the current factories were wielding too much power and making too much money. A smart dealer just moves the card game. From a buyer perspective it is feeling like the old days. Buy very carefully and from trusted dealers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andreww Posted August 2, 2012 Report Share Posted August 2, 2012 (edited) Hi Hambone, I agree with your view. Talking about Andrew, it seems that the website for Trusty is down again? Do you have the latest site? I tried ttw168.com Thanks Interesting to see where www.yourtrustytime.com is now being directed to Edited August 2, 2012 by andreww Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Legend Posted August 2, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 2, 2012 It seems the industry has outgrown its proper role in society. At a minimum it is no longer business as usual as it has been over the last couple of years. Guess it was getting too easy. It is one thing when you have a 50 women in a random basement assembling watches. Very easy to move that " factory". When the factory becomes more of a real high volume factory it is a lot tougher to close up and open elsewhere. As someone who has observed the rep industry for 10 years + the one thing I do know is that it doesn't disappear. It just adapts. So whether we will now go back to "Vietnamese" or "Malaysian" bests the industry will carry on. Heck a majority of our dealers don't even live in China. They are smarter than that. Factories come and go. And the current factories were wielding too much power and making too much money. A smart dealer just moves the card game. From a buyer perspective it is feeling like the old days. Buy very carefully and from trusted dealers. same wares under a different front, I agree.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeeJay Posted August 2, 2012 Report Share Posted August 2, 2012 I don't think Rolex supplies are affected much. There are dealers that went offline entirely, and there are factories that cease operations for the time being. You're lucky, and should enjoy your watch Absolutely, especially as wifey hasn't noticed it as a new watch yet As mentioned, elsewhere, it was only bought as a movement donor, but I figured I'd give it some wrist time to give the movement a shakedown Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PAM1962 Posted August 3, 2012 Report Share Posted August 3, 2012 It seems the industry has outgrown its proper role in society. At a minimum it is no longer business as usual as it has been over the last couple of years. Guess it was getting too easy. It is one thing when you have a 50 women in a random basement assembling watches. Very easy to move that " factory". When the factory becomes more of a real high volume factory it is a lot tougher to close up and open elsewhere. As someone who has observed the rep industry for 10 years + the one thing I do know is that it doesn't disappear. It just adapts. So whether we will now go back to "Vietnamese" or "Malaysian" bests the industry will carry on. Heck a majority of our dealers don't even live in China. They are smarter than that. Factories come and go. And the current factories were wielding too much power and making too much money. A smart dealer just moves the card game. From a buyer perspective it is feeling like the old days. Buy very carefully and from trusted dealers. Greetings, Would you mind to expound on this statement? As a relative new-comer (though I've been buying reps for 10 years plus, I'm new to this board! ) I'm not certain what you mean by "....feeling like the old days..."? Best, PAM1962 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
panerai153 Posted August 3, 2012 Report Share Posted August 3, 2012 I'm not buying anything from anybody right now, soIi really don't have a "dog in this fight". I do think that business will return, however it maybe that the "factories" will have to adopt a much lower profile. As Watchmeister said, the big factories are harder to hide, and much more difficult to move around. I'm sure all of the luxury brands have had enough. If the rep trade, in watches, handbags shoes, clothing etc. is affecting their bottom line, they will react. I seemed to have read somewhere that the major brands were selling lots of the top end watches, but the mid range brands were being hurt by the recession. It's probably not a coincidence that the mid range watches are the ones that are the most replicated, The Rolexes, Omegas, etc. Lots of folks can pull off a nice Rolex or Omega, or comparable brand rep, whereas they would feel uncomfortable with a rep of a 60k complication. The luxury brands factor in the cost of stamping out reps as a cost of doing business, just like they invest in advertising. What probably really sets them off is to spend a small fortune introducing a new model, and almost before the ink dries on the ads, the rep factories are producing amazingly accurate reps at 5-10% of the cost of the genuine! Every time Rolex sponsors an event like Wimbledon or the Americas Cup, it is selling reps to a lot of folks as well, trust me, they don't like that. It's a very real possibility that the Chinese authorities are caught between the proverbial "Rock and a hard place" On one hand if their economy is really cooling, the last thing they want is to have lots of unhappy folks out of work, which would happen if the rep business in it's entirety is shut down. On the other hand, turning a blind eye to the problem is a massive problem. They have very influential business folks asking some hard and embarrassing questions. China is a member of the WTO. under the mandate of the WTO I believe that they had to sign some pretty binding agreements that include strong anti-counterfeiting rules. So what will happen? no one knows. They could continue the raids, closing factories and arresting managers and owners and sending them to jail. At some point in time, the risk of doing business, at least on a large scale will outweigh the profit potential, and the factories will close and stay closed. If that happens, the flow of reps will slow to a trickle, as the businesses will be forced underground and will operate as much smaller entities. On the other hand, after the Chinese "elections" this fall when a new president and politburo will be chosen (appointed), business could return to what we consider the normal of the past few years. The future of reps of all types could very well be determined by the direction that the new Chinese administration takes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rogerthat Posted August 3, 2012 Report Share Posted August 3, 2012 Nice write up 153 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marlin22 Posted August 3, 2012 Report Share Posted August 3, 2012 All watch related companies are tightening the noose, I got word the other day from my Swiss contact that prices for ETA parts and movements are on the rise and are going to be harder and harder to acquire due to the big corporate entities wanting to limit the distribution of ETA parts on to the open market. So its not just China cracking down. All I can imagine is that since the economies of the world have slowed, people rather buy a good rep. for under $1000 as opposed to a $6k watch, and it's effecting everybody's bottom line. So it looks to me as if things are going to get harder in the future, hope I'm wrong, for all or sake... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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