What Got You All In To Reps?

[rag9fx]

Hi everyone,

This is probably a question that had been covered b4 but i would love to know how you got interestered/ hooked. I for one got caught up in it all when i was 13 years old my first rep was a cheap brass based Tag Heuer SEL Quartz bought in canal street . the dial was so crap that it had White-out/ Tipex to cover up a flaw on its white dial ! My dad got me into the fakes he had acquired many ... he used to travel and still does a lot for work to developing countries and used to wear reps when he traveled. Oddly enough it was my introduction to reps that got me obsessed with watches on the whole.

But reps fascinated me ... i enjoyed comparing quality of product between vendors and seeing what was for sale in other countries ... and even sniffing about other cities trying to find where i could buy reps. Over time i found my one vendor on canal street who offered ( what was to me at the time high end reps) - hell they used proper stainless ! - back in the day the introduction of stainless steel in canal street reps was a major thing! unfortunately he got closed down and i moved to the internet for buying reps which was a massive step for me because a lot of the sites that were up at that time were selling pieces that i bought on canal street on a significant mark up... but then i found i offer bought my first two internet reps from there a 5517 and 1680 (pieces that since i have seen been here at rwg i have seen that i was over charged for ... well you live and learn)

well thats my litte story ... lets hear yours.

Rob

Edited January 7, 2007 by rag9fx

[1976]

Hi everyone,

This is probably a question that had been covered b4 but i would love to know how you got interestered/ hooked. I for one got caught up in it all when i was 13 years old my first rep was a cheap brass based Tag Heuer SEL Quartz bought in canal street . the dial was so crap that it had White-out/ Tipex to cover up a flaw on its white dial ! My dad got me into the fakes he had acquired many ... he used to travel and still does a lot for work to developing countries and used to wear reps when he traveled. Oddly enough it was my introduction to reps that got me obsessed with watches on the whole.

But reps fascinated me ... i enjoyed comparing quality of product between vendors and seeing what was for sale in other countries ... and even sniffing about other cities trying to find where i could buy reps. Over time i found my one vendor on canal street who offered ( what was to me at the time high end reps) - hell they used proper stainless ! - back in the day the introduction of stainless steel in canal street reps was a major thing! unfortunately he got closed down and i moved to the internet for buying reps which was a massive step for me because a lot of the sites that were up at that time were selling pieces that i bought on canal street on a significant mark up... but then i found i offer bought my first two internet reps from there a 5517 and 1680 (pieces that since i have seen been here at rwg i have seen that i was over charged for ... well you live and learn)

well thats my litte story ... lets hear yours.

Rob

So my kind of think is that i love watches and i didnt want to get broke bying gens,so i turned on replicas.You can have a watch of youre dreams in very good qouality and very cheap,besides all that i am geting very bord having one watch i like to change all the time,with what iam wearing and what is my mood so reps are working just fine.

[gran]

I found RWG while looking for genuine LONGINES watches I stumbeled upon replicas that looked to me very much like the genuines at first glance...i noticed the low prices and that was the start.....but more important than that was the forum itself with original (and to me likable) personalities such as omni, neo, rya, dlgates, ttk, bricktop, ozolom, Highflyingclive, Demsey, thor and his ggg thread, all the RWG moderators minus one and so many many others not mentioned.....later a sizable number of others like Dani, nanug, JTB, kenberg and not forget all the oher Norwegian members.....I almost forgot my hero klink whos genious is seen at intervals of rapid posting....Magnus, star and others at TRC...

I guess i am still into replicas because of that legacy more than anything else....I can not deny that fact that you other replica nuts have fueled that I got into replicas...it is partly a group thing belonging to a community..even if I am an Individualist at heart athat bove all I stress the importance of independence, individual self-reliance and liberty...yeah

Long live RWG

Gran

[rek001]

About 6 years ago I discovered Timezone forum and I started to collect watches. I bought a gen DateJust and a UN Marine Chronometer, then I decided I didn'twant to buy expensive watches, deciding which one to buy is too stressful, and I can't buy them as often as I 'd like.

So, I discovered Poor Man's Watch Forum and affordable watches and Poljot forums and hung out there. So I was buying interesting Seikos and Poljots in the $200-300 range. One day I looked at a PMWF forum member's watch collection on his personal website and he had some replicas.

I looked at my watch collection and noticed that a lot of the watches I'd been atracted to and purchased were "homages" of genuines.

I e-mailed the PMWF member and asked him where he's gotten his reps, and he directed me to RWG 1, this was 3.5 years ago.

Now I have over 30 watches, t's been a very interesting experience.

Things have changed so much, when I joined RWG, you NEVER said a dealer was selling, we were all hobbyists and "traded" watches.

Pricing? You never discussed it on the forums, only with your dealer through PMs, so you never knew what other people were paying. A few times I paid $175 for one of those non-functioning chronos where you push the button to move the subdial hand. Pathetic.

I know this sounds amazing, but, it was Wo-Mart Paul who changed the rep buying game forever, he was the one who set up the first web store with prices, completely transparent.

I've enjoyed this rep foum and hobby so much, and it's incredible how far it's come in the 3.5 years I've been here.

[s-o-w-m]

google show me the way to RWG....the wonderful reps land..

everyone can learn a lot here...........

[Jason]

My ex gf was into fake purses, so when searching for them in asia I stumbled upon my first reps. I had a couple of Gen's at the time and liked watches, but was not obsessed by any means. I bought a crapy daytona and a Breitling and amazingly enought they are still running (like 2 yrs later). This was the catalyst that has led to my new obsesion. In fact it is starting to eclipse my obsesion with cars which I hope will save me some money

I very quickly found RWG, TRC and RWI after my first purchase and my eyes were opened to the quality of reps that could be obtained.

[jkerouac]

Five or so years ago my brother gave me a Rolex rep that I thought was pretty decent, though it wouldn't measure up by today's standards.

A few years later on a visit to Switzerland, where I visit regularly, I got the recurring bug to buy a nice genuine. I hadn't purchased a nice watch in some years, and visiting Switzerland always puts me in the mood to upgrade watches. But I just couldn't see spending the money, even at exchange rates at that time, so I decided to wait until I got home tp scope out a good buy on a genuine.

Web searches led to rep dealers, and further research led to RWG 1. The result: over the last 2+ years I have spent more money on reps than I would ever have considered spending on a single genuine. And the watches I have collected are nicer than any gen I would have purchased. I am much more knowledgeable about watches than I was before. And I have found a tremendous community of people from around the world that I consider friends. And if I never purchased another watch in my life [note to wife: fat chance!] that would be worth the price of admission in and of itself.

[cskent69]

You are probably not going to believe this - but it all started when I was high school. One of the summers I took a trip to Taiwan and hooked up with some folks who where on a Rolex hunting expedition. I followed along for the ride. While i did not buy a rep that trip - i bought a "gen" Tag Heuer. In a subsequent trip, i went on a Omega hunting expedition and came back with a cheap Omega branded watch (of a model that did not even exist). I also came to believe that the Tag that i originally bought was probably not genuine either (although it came will all the necessary papers and documents).

Anyway, 2 years ago - i decided that I liked that PAM's due to a magazine advertizement. So I looked on e-bay to try and get a gen used one. Imagine my sticker shock when i saw the actual prices. However, I saw someone selling a "replica". I bought the rep - got taken for a bundle, given what I know now - but stumbled on to RWG in the process. The rest is history. A long forgotten interest (High School was a long, long time ago now) which has been rekindled.

It is great to be here amongst friends.

[elprimerozen]

....i go way back...my mother gotthe first rep before i was born..a lady datejust(quartz) and im 28 years old believe it ornot!

[chrisbailey86]

With me it was probably work. On my first day in my new job in the city some while back, my boss houded me for wanting a brietling! He educated me about Rolex's as he owns one gen himself. So in a need to fit in, i hunted the internet for a replica that looked good and was affordable. During this proccess i stubbled on a few forums, but everone seemed to rave on about RWG. I had a look, and due to the people and the education it offerd, i signed up. As they say the rest is history.

I feel that researching the best reps and looking at all the flaws and imperfections of reps, has made me an avid watch follower/collector. A watch is a mans ID, no matter if its a rep or not, as even a rep projects taste.

Thanks to you all!

[section8]

I actually got into replicas through another message board. Someone posted a link to what I now know to be a scam site with shoddy watches and it intrigued me. At the time I only had a gen Tag Link Quartz and a beater Swiss Army watch.

The original scam site (can't even remember which site it was now) led me to start doing some research into replicas. I spent about 2 or 3 weeks off and on looking around before I stumbled across this site. I was amazed at what i was reading - that not only was there an entire community of people that loved watches - but people that collected replicas AND genuines alike. I started searching for a Tag Heuer Targa Florio replica (which i didn't know wasn't rep'd) and just started learning. I soon bought my first replica from Eddie Lee - a Breitling GT - and I've been hooked ever since.

My thanks to everyone here for all the guidance and excellent information that is posted!

[chrono903]

student loan, house note, 3 teenage daughters, and changes in insurance reimbursement.

[In Absentia]

6 years ago I was travelling in Vietnam and Thailand with my wife and a couple of our very good friends. One day we stumbled across a watch market... I bought two Rolexes and an Omega Seamaster that I thought looked FANTASTIC. I found them in a drawer the other day - compared to what we have now they were nothing. And they were WAY overpriced - but I liked them and used them on a regular basis the following years (actually two of them still work, so they couldn't have been THAT bad).

I just liked the looks of them, but weren't THAT much into watches - until about two years ago when I found a scam replica watch site on the net. I liked the idea of replicas that close to the original a lot (the pictures turned out to be originals BTW...). Fortunatly, before ordering anything, I found the old RWG where I saw some pictures of the (at that time) brand new PAM196. Which I bought. And the rest is, as several of you have said, history...

[Ozzy]

Well... here is my story. I was 15 year of age, around two months ago, and i was on holiday in cyprus. My dad met up with some of his old friends there which he had not seen in a rather long time. One of his friends had a Gen GMT master II which i really liked the shape and style of. I wanted, and was going to go and cross the border into Turkey to pick a rep up. I thought the four hour journey (two hours there, and two back) would be worth it at the time, but in the end i didnt go. When i came back to England i felt the need to get one, no matter what risks i would be taking with my money. So i was searching though google and built up a good relationship with someone over in China. This person giving me great deals on watches: ROLEX; PANERAI; A LANGE; OMEGA; BREITLING and others, despite her not taking the biggest of profit margins for herself. I then did a search for 'Replica Watch Forum' in google to see if there was anyone else who had the same intreast in watches wich i have.

[SportsterRider]

Well, for me it was simple economics. To me, there are two types of rep owners - WIS who can't afford the gen that they want, and what I call RIS (Replica Idiot Savants), who are simply replica nuts.

I consider myself a WIS. I own two replica's, both Rolex. I have an LV Sub and a tu-tone DJ. I currently couldn't afford either of these in gen form, so I bought the reps. If/when the day comes that I CAN afford one, or both, I will give my reps away as a gift. This is one of the reasons I haven't purchased a SMP rep yet. I'm likely going to be in a position to be able to afford a gen in the next year or two, so owning a rep of one isn't really a burning desire, despite how good they are. That may change if it ends up being closer to TWO years before I can get one. Then I might pick up a rep to get me by until I get the gen.

I will say that I believe a lot of these reps are damn fine watches. Many of them (my Rolex reps included) would sell for a lot more than I paid for them if they had their own name on 'em. I think my so-called perfect sub is a higher quality watch than the 9937 Invicta I owned. The Invicta goes for ~$300.00. I paid a little over half that for the Sub. But no matter how good they are, they're not the real thing. So for me, again, it's economics.

[morgan]

Saw some very cool panerai gens whilst in London and decided to get one when i returned to the states and I did! I started looking

again and these reps came up on searches here and there.. before you know it I found forums like this and now I have around 8!

What a thrill every time the postman comes w/ a new one... like a freaking kid at xmas.

[hanswurst]

For me it all started when I got a genuine Tudor Sub from my father for my 18th birthday (which seems ages ago now, damn how time passes by). I loved that watch, but since I wore it on a daily basis, it got scratched and beaten up after some years. I wore it during my military time, while diving even when I was asleep. After 6 or 7 years I wanted it serviced and polished and nearly freaked out, when I saw the bill from the authorized Rolex dealer. That was the point when I started to look for a similar replacement for daily use... Since I only found some really bad brass Rolexes, that I bought on holiday in NY or Spain, I was not really pleased. These things just looked too bad to be true.

Around 1999 I started searching the web, but needless to say, it was nearly impossible to find a reputable dealer or a decent Sub rep at that time. In 2001 I found replica center. Well you know that site that pretends to offer unbiased replica information and links to completely unaffiliated rep sites (sarcasm dripping). I was lucky enough to find a site through them, that send me a watch at all and a not so bad one after all. So I ordered a Class AAAAAAAAAA+++++++++ Asian copy, since they wanted more than $800 for a 100% (more sarcasm here) swiss version. The watch I got cost me around $280 and turned out to be a quite decent Sub with a Miyota movement (I checked that some years later with more background knowledge acquired from the web). It was actually not too bad, water resistant and had a decent magnification for the time... Only the bracelet was really crap, it had imitated SEL, that were hollow inside. Although the price was a bit exaggerated, but that I learned later.

After a long time of daily use and scratches all over the bracelet and the bezel inside I started searching for a new rep bracelet and bezel insert,which I found on ebay. I exchanged them, but my findings in ebay started my interest in reps again and that's when I ended up at RWG...

Now around 40 reps later and a lot of money going to China, I still own the old Miyota and it still keeps perfect time... Although I don't wear it anymore since I got some nice ETA subs and a lot of other watches to replace it. I gave it to my brother lately and hopefully it will last him a long time.

I bought a real Sub also, but I am really thinking about selling it, since I will probably never dive as deep as 1000ft anyway ) And the ETA Subs give me all I need from a Sub... apart from my first Tudor one, which really has a special place in my collection - even more so after my father died two years ago.

Well, that was me becoming a rep afficinado!