bobkat Posted May 2, 2013 Report Share Posted May 2, 2013 I wasn't a person who was going to buy a luxury gen. It's not that I can't afford one, I just didn't (maybe still don't?) see the value in the brand name non-complicated watches. I rather have 10 watches with three hands and a date window than 2. I have a mix of "low and mid range" gens (think seiko, orient, sevenfriday, steinhart) and several reps, but somehow this hobby has made me want to purchase my first "luxury grade" gen. Before I found reps I knew only a little about watches, but mostly that I liked how smooth the sweeping second hand is. I definitely understood automatic, manual wind, quartz, the stuff my non WIS friends know. However as i've matured in my WIS-dom ( ), armed with new knowledge and obsession, have owned more watches than I care to count. There is a growing part of me that can now justify spending several thousands of dollars for a genuine luxury brand watch which I've loved for several years. I actually know it's not worth that money in my head (from a purely practical and return point of view), but my heart wills me to go for it. Am I alone? Has anyone else gone through this? The replica hobby/community/industry has made me into a customer of genuine swiss luxury watches ... I give up! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
panerai153 Posted May 2, 2013 Report Share Posted May 2, 2013 i've had that yen quite a few times in the past. Actually, I had genuine watches for probably 20+ years,beforeI ever saw or heard about reps. There are some watches that a rep just doesn't exist or it's so bad that it isn't remotely believable. These are generally the watches that I buy in lieu of reps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobkat Posted May 2, 2013 Author Report Share Posted May 2, 2013 i've had that yen quite a few times in the past. Actually, I had genuine watches for probably 20+ years,beforeI ever saw or heard about reps. There are some watches that a rep just doesn't exist or it's so bad that it isn't remotely believable. These are generally the watches that I buy in lieu of reps That's exactly my situation. The 3714 is a watch i've loved since I started loving watches. I've owned the rep, poured money and time into it for several years but always my rep 3714 story ends in sorrow ... and after several years, it's time for the gen. I don't think I would have made this decision unless i'd have gotten into reps (which I will always collect as well!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
docthor Posted May 2, 2013 Report Share Posted May 2, 2013 ... Gens lead me to buy reps Why...because of the vast amount of money one has to spend when buying a gen and the problems that are almost the same with gens and reps... I owned a lot of gens the last 6 years...236 to be precise and none of them made me as happy as I am now with my reps... One day, almost 2 years back now, I sold almost all of my gens (Panerai, Omega, Breitling, Rolex, Seiko, Sinn, Citizen, Bulova...to name a few of the well known as well as a lot of microbrands like Helson and stuff...), took the money and build a new bathroom for which I started to raise a fund. I still couldn't explain to myself why the hell there are more then 20k€ of watches in the drawer and I have to safe a few hundred every month to have enough one day to build the new bathroom. I felt so bored of all these watches...I couldn't do anything else then give'em away... So many of them had almost the same problems as one has with his lightly franken rep or superrep (like movement issues...running fast, running slow, needs pressure test, leaks somewhere, bezel not aligned, you name it...). And if this is not enough...the service of the gen watchmaker isn't good at all...they scratched the caseback, the bracelet, the inlay while servicing the watch and took 2 times more then a good rep watchmaker will take...+ what one has to pay for the gen parts...unbelievable. And if there is still guaranty on the watch one don't has to expect that he is in save hands...nonono...first...it will take a few months till you get your watch back...second...not always is the problem fixed but to make things funny mostly there is a new problem now with the watch and another few month for you without the watch... That and a lot of other things annoyed me and beginning of the year I thought about...why not buying some reps...the experience couldn't get worse So I sold the last "expensive" gens (Sinn, Revue Thommen, Omega) I had and made my way into the rep boards I read a lot, I learned a lot and fortunate for me...Domi is only fifteen minutes away Now I have some nice reps (ultimate 16622, ultimate 16600, noob 16610LV, noob 16570, franken 5513 and a franken 1675 in build) which still have some problems...but first...these problems can be easily solved with a little invest and the amount of money I had spent overall is, in relation to the gens, very little... That feels good to me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seeaye Posted May 2, 2013 Report Share Posted May 2, 2013 Good post Thor. Keeps me motivated to keep with the rep game rather then go gen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobkat Posted May 2, 2013 Author Report Share Posted May 2, 2013 Thanks for the thoughts docthor. I feel very much similar to you... Most of the time. Your course is quite rational and straight thinking. ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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