Gens Have Issues Too.

[millwright]

I am a HUGE Breitling fan... I have three GEN Breitlings, and I frequent my local AD to browse and see the real deals so that I can mentally compare later.

I handled a Bentley Motors and a Bentley Motors GT, as well as a pre-owned 6.75.

The pre-owned 6.75 worked well, but the flyback wouldn't... well... flyback. The pusher did NOTHING.

Same goes for the NEW Bentley Motors and the NEW GT.

!!! WOW !!!

I was shocked! I've always enjoyed Breitling's value and quality (QC especially.. NEVER had a problem with ANY of mine) so it was surprising to see issues in NEW and USED watches.

So, ease up on some of our dealers... if a 7.5k GEN has issues, I won't complain too much about a $350 rep if it has issues.

[fotoman]

of my 20 gen and reps i have owned, the only watch that has completely died on me is my Gen Movado SE a 1k watch that has a quartz movement

and no it wasn't the battery

another friend of mine just got a rolex datejust - i said its very nice, but take it back the dial is misaligned- tell them tmo fix it she was like, oh, wow, it is Huh

[Richard Tracy]

Sorry to hear about your woes,....

but Great post Millwright,.. puts it all back in perspective..

[millwright]

Sorry to hear about your woes,....

but Great post Millwright,.. puts it all back in perspective..

Indeed it does, and that was the intent of my post.

I LOVE my gens, but I'm worried about them now that I've seen the flyback reset issues. And for $5-8k, I expect them to have better QC.

My father had similar issues with the one of the hour markers falling off his GEN Datejust.

Oh well.... Caveat Emptor, no?

Edited December 26, 2006 by millwright79

[tvt]

Lets not fool ourselves in either direction here.

YES, gens have issues as well, of course they do. I had a BRAND NEW Tag Monaco (Stevet McQueen style blue face) dead upon opening the brand new box... just dead. Even well made watches are apt to have issues. But lets not get carried away....

The ratio of issues the fakes have are exponentionally higher than those of quality gens. I have had high end fakes arrive dead, die after a month of use, lock up, fall apart, fail every which way... and these are the GOOD fakes.

I'm just saying, don't fool yourself into thinking gens are some bullet proof holy grail, but also don't fool yourself into thinking fakes can even approach the quality of good gens.

[Richard Tracy]

Oh well.... Caveat Emptor, no?

....Oui !

[Richard Tracy]

I'm just saying, don't fool yourself into thinking gens are some bullet proof holy grail, but also don't fool yourself into thinking fakes can even approach the quality of good gens.

Oh I think some well built, maintained reps, can last the test of time, just as well as any gen...

and vice versa....

Then again on the flip side of that, are the watches, rep or gen that have never been opened

for decades and still keep time like the stars..... Go figure....

[kanerich]

1) gens are better made and more reliable on the average than reps, anecdotal evidence notwithstanding.

2) reps are reliable enough on the average to be satisfactory, anecdotal evidence notwithstanding.

This is how I feel, unless you actually feel that 1 or 2 have no truth or veracity to them at all I am not inclined to argue the points all that passionately.

However, I do feel that the "reps just as good as gen" proponents usually fall back to the "I am confident I am right IF you have the watch immediately serviced and IF you buy a certain movement and IF it is a watch with a ready supply of spare parts and IF you know a thing or two about watch maintenance and repair, otherwise all bets are off and you shouldn't be buying reps in the first place" which to me doesn't support the general proposition at all. It's like drafting a contract with so many escape clauses and conditions that at the end of the day you haven't agreed to anything.

[millwright]

Lets not fool ourselves in either direction here.

YES, gens have issues as well, of course they do. I had a BRAND NEW Tag Monaco (Stevet McQueen style blue face) dead upon opening the brand new box... just dead. Even well made watches are apt to have issues. But lets not get carried away....

The ratio of issues the fakes have are exponentionally higher than those of quality gens. I have had high end fakes arrive dead, die after a month of use, lock up, fall apart, fail every which way... and these are the GOOD fakes.

I'm just saying, don't fool yourself into thinking gens are some bullet proof holy grail, but also don't fool yourself into thinking fakes can even approach the quality of good gens.

My point was simply that a $5k + GEN should have a much more considerable QC than a $350 Rep... esp. considering that the rep is REALLY a $50 equivalent (most times) before mark up, etc. (according to what I've read here).

COSC testing requires much more of a timepiece than any of our reps get. And yet, it's obvious by a visit to my AD that bad GENS still sneak by.

All I was saying is that if $5000 gens have issues, then I don't see the point in complaining about something that's a tenth of the price when it goes [censored] up. Sure... if it's DOA, then contact your dealer. If something is HORRIBLY wrong, then contact your dealer... but if something is a little off, or you're not happy b/c it's not a 100% REP, then go buy a GEN.... and you STILL roll the dice.

Happy watch collecting!

[Guest TTK]

The ratio of issues the fakes have are exponentionally higher than those of quality gens. I have had high end fakes arrive dead, die after a month of use, lock up, fall apart, fail every which way... and these are the GOOD fakes.

I'm just saying, don't fool yourself into thinking gens are some bullet proof holy grail, but also don't fool yourself into thinking fakes can even approach the quality of good gens.

And on what do you base these assumptions......empirical evidence.....anecdotal evidence...hard facts and statistics...or just a personally held belief...!

I have a goodly number of friends who are either managers or assistant managers in various AD's.....they could tell you horror stories about not only the problems....but the sheer volume of complaints regarding genuine watches.....I would certainly never propose that good quality reps are more likely to be problematic than genuines.....cheap quality reps...yes.....!

[stevethebest]

And on what do you base these assumptions......empirical evidence.....anecdotal evidence...hard facts and statistics...or just a personally held belief...!

I have a goodly number of friends who are either managers or assistant managers in various AD's.....they could tell you horror stories about not only the problems....but the sheer volume of complaints regarding genuine watches.....I would certainly never propose that good quality reps are more likely to be problematic than genuines.....cheap quality reps...yes.....!

This is really a good answer, TTK. I think that a gen, which can have problems (as my gen Omega Speedmaster had!), can always be sent to an official Brand watchsmith who will do his best to repair your watch, and will be paid for that. With reps it is different, since it is not easy to find a watchsmith very keen to repair reps, and at the end there is no guarantee on the result. This is something that in my perspective overcomes the price paid for the watch, since I really love my reps, which have very good movements and parts that made them last for two years now (and I am sure/hopeful they will last for many years!)... I think that an "Official Reps Service" (excuse me for this joke) would make a fortune if the price applied for the service is coherent with that of the replica.

I really appreciate all the work you are doing, the posts you write, the watches you sell, and when I'll have some budget I would like to buy something from your catalog (if you wish to, of course...)