Something (Else), This Way Comes

[freddy333]

Stay Tuned for The Next Big Thing (aka The Golden Cuckoo) --

 

[Ronin]

Gold triplock. 16803? Something with nipple dial? … or a 5-digit Daytona?

[freddy333]

Update --

The Next Big Thing (aka The Golden Cuckoo) is scheduled to arrive by this weekend. If all goes well, I will post 1st pics then. Stay tuned --

[freddy333]

The Golden Cuckoo
 

Just in case --

[automatico]

 

[Ronin]

Woah! Ok, let’s see the SOTDC 2023. State of the Daytona Collection

[freddy333]

1 hour ago, Ronin said:

Ok, let’s see the SOTDC 2023. State of the Daytona Collection

I will try to shoot an updated SOTDC after the work has been completed on The Golden Cuckoo. Until then, I hope these will do --

[freddy333]

Update --

The Golden Cuckoo is now fitted with gen hands, balance/bridge, reversers & various screws to replace those that were either damaged or of poor quality. Although I had planned to swap the coronet for a gen, once I had the dial off & compared the clone to the gen -- & you are not going to believe this -- but the coronet on the clone dial is a clone of the gen 116508-0009 in the 2020-2021 Rolex catalog, page 141 if you have 1. Had I swapped the coronet, it would not match the catalog, so it had to stay.

Some of the details, like the coronet on this particular model, seem to be unique to the 116508-0009. Another of these unique attributes are the 3 subdial hands, which are not only GLOSS black, but the paint is applied to the entire hand & is so THICK that it forms a cone around the center rivet. It is quite a distinctive look & something I have never seen before on a Rolex, especially when the light is reflected on an angle from the center of the hands.

This is the only Daytona model I have seen that is painted this way (the subdial hands on all other Daytonas are painted with flat paint &/or have bare center rivet sections). Really, the only remaining tell -- & you have to know about it in the 1st place -- is the lack of an 'intense black' dial color. The 'intense black' of the gen is achieved much like many high-end black car finishes, which are often composed of a combination of deep purple & blue applied as a fine mist so it appears nearly matte from a distance. The clone is more of a semi-flat black, which, from an arm's length, looks like the gen. But this is the only detail that is missing as you view the dial close-up or through a loupe. If the case was solid 18kt, I would probably finish her off with a gen dial. But because gold plating is never permanent, I decided to draw the line there.

Unfortunately, once again, because the clone's original parts are so good, the external gen parts swaps are subtle, so it may be difficult to see the improvements. But, like the gen, the macro viewer is well rewarded for their close attention with a stunningly beautiful handset.

Also, because the watch sits about 3/4 mm lower on the wrist with the solid caseback, I may not fit this 1 with a display caseback. 3/4 mm may seem like a tiny difference, but it is quite noticeable when the watch is on the wrist.

Still deciding -- gen auto-wind bridge & crown. The clone parts are so good (greatly exceeding Trustytime's pics of those parts on his website) that I am still ambivalent as to whether they are needed. So these are to be determined.

This watch is incredibly beautiful. The more I look at her (yes, she's so striking that she's a she -- &, yes, I know what a she is when I see 1), the more I fall under her spell. How John Mayer could make a fuss over a mundane gold & green Daytona & miss this 1 entirely is beyond me. They are not even in the same galaxy & I say that as someone who -- up until now -- thought (most) yellow gold watches look needlessly ostentatious & silly.

[Ronin]

The clones have gotten so good and at our age and station in life, no one would second guess it. I would only swap outward facing parts that clearly have a tell.  I say let it ride. 

[freddy333]

In the brief time since The Golden Cuckoo was completed & seen in the wild, I must have been asked 'Is that real?' half a dozen times. More than any other watch in my experience. I always respond with 'What do you think?' The answer is always some variation of 'I don't know, but I wish I had 1!'

Now, I know the Cuckoo will easily fool Joe Q Public & many Rlx dealers, but is it good enough to fool a bunch of experienced, hard core rep & franken guys? So let's see -- Based ONLY on the dial text (circled in red), which of these is a gen & which is a fake? & state the reasoning behind your choice. If you are unable to tell 1 from the other, just say that. Remember, 1 of these IS a fake. 

[porschespeedster]

One on the right seems to have more depth and detail in the printing style.

 

The 'R' seems a bit more elegant...the tiny serifs on the small letters seem a bit more pronounced...all the letters seem a bit more raised. This could also be the light/the angle of course...as the left pic is more straight-on

[freddy333]

On 2/12/2023 at 10:45 AM, porschespeedster said:

One on the right seems to have more depth and detail in the printing style.

The 'R' seems a bit more elegant...the tiny serifs on the small letters seem a bit more pronounced...all the letters seem a bit more raised. This could also be the light/the angle of course...as the left pic is more straight-on

Although the comparison macro pic post above had many views, I am not surprised only 1 viewer took up the challenge. The differences are more interpretive than real.

porschespeedster -- You are correct on all counts except for 1 -- the dial on the right is actually the fake. But you are in good company because I just asked a friend who is a master watchmaker with a Rolex parts account to check it, inside & out, & he assumed it was real, too. He nearly fell off his chair when I revealed the truth. Took a 2nd look & still could not believe what he was seeing. The only tell is the watch's lack of heft, which is revealed when the real, SOLID gold Daytona & the fake are each weighed on an accurate scale. (The steel Big Kahuna does weigh the same as the gen. )

The point of this little exercise is that for the 1st time in my decades of collecting -- & although I would be the 1st to admit that I am NOT the world's most knowledgeable Rolex authority, I AM pretty savvy -- if I had not known the background of these 2 watches, I would NOT be able to tell the gen from the fake. Even upon close inspection with a loupe. Weight differences aside, even if I could hold both gen & modified fake watches in my hands and inspect them with a quality loupe, inside & out, I could NOT tell the difference without disassembling the movement (which WOULD reveal the fake movement's non-Rolex-like internal parts fit & finish). Yes, there are slight granular differences in the exposed surface metal of the rotor & bridges that CAN be seen, but, if all else looked copasetic, these would not even register in my brain or I would dismiss them as within the normal manufacturing tolerances I have seen in all Rolexes.

More to the point, if I was able to figure out that these new clones are nearly indistinguishable from their gen counterparts (& literally indistinguishable with just a few gen parts swaps), I am sure Rolex has too & probably long before I did. So it is only a matter of time until word gets out to the wider gen collecting community & then into the gen watch buying marketplace. Once this starts getting reported by social media influencers, Rolex will be forced into a corner because gen buyers who love to proclaim 'I would never wear a fake Rolex!' will quickly change their tune to 'I would be crazy to spend $50k on a Swiss-made Daytona when I could buy the same thing from the Chinese for less than a grand -- & have it on my wrist in a matter of days rather than years!' &, as you can see HERE & HERE, Rolex is only digging themselves deeper into the hole the Chinese may bury them in.

As auto indicated recently, I think it is likely that we will be seeing THE MOTHER OF ALL ROLEX REPLICA CRACKDOWNS sometime soon. Things will have to get crazy, so get yours while you can.

p.s. Eventually, the FASHION winds of watch collecting are going to change direction & most of the short-attention-span under-50s who, just 6 short years ago, were proudly proclaiming 'I do not need a watch' or 'Rolexes are for old men' will dump their recently amassed (& often massive) Rolex collections for the next big FASHION thing (probably some AI-based, beam-me-up-Scotty dual-reality gadget ). When that happens, the entire market may experience the largest collapse since the Quartz Crisis of the 1970s. 

[Ronin]

Blue is gen. Based on serifs and A.  ?

LOL. Went back and then read your last response. I sat and corrected. 
 

the thing with pad printing is that it can be inconsistent. 

[freddy333]

49 minutes ago, Ronin said:

Blue is gen. Based on serifs and A.  ?

LOL. Went back and then read your last response. I sat and corrected. 

Left is gen.

[automatico]

In my experience, there are very few replica rolex watches that will pass as genuine almost every time.

Your Daytonas are in that category.

 

I have one (and only one) that will pass almost every time and I got it from 'Stilty' just before he left the replica arena, a 15200 OPD.  It has all genuine exterior parts...dial, hands, complete case, crown, date wheel, worn case back decal etc.  It also has a genuine rolex strap with an aftmkt steel rolex buckle with one tiny flaw...

The watch is powered by a nos Mido/ETA 12892 movement.  The tell is the time sets opposite of a 3135.

I can take no credit, it is entirely Stilty's creation.  

[Ronin]

The stuff coming out of VSF and Clean as of late is pretty darn good. Ever since Rolex switched to “blue” AR under the cyclops that immediate tell is gone. 
 

I had my VSF 126610 Sub together with the Genuine 126610 and it took serous scrutiny up close to tell. On the wrist, and arms length it is indistinguishable. 
 

Still a VSF with Gen crystal mod would be a fearless wearer. 
 

Anymore, at my age no one would question me. 

[freddy333]

Followers of this thread may appreciate this (model number is actually 116508-0009) --

 

[freddy333]

Quote

Eventually, the FASHION winds of watch collecting are going to change direction & most of the short-attention-span under-50s who, just 6 short years ago, were proudly proclaiming 'I do not need a watch' or 'Rolexes are for old men' will dump their recently amassed (& often massive) Rolex collections for the next big FASHION thing (probably some AI-based, beam-me-up-Scotty dual-reality gadget ). When that happens, the entire market may experience the largest collapse since the Quartz Crisis of the 1970s. —me

"Rolex cannot make watches fast enough to keep up with the demand. With the average watch taking a year to make and the wait ranging from a couple of months to a couple of years, consumers are turning to the secondhand market. Luxury watch sales are a $75 billion market, with secondhand sales making up 30% of that, according to Boston Consulting Group. It continues to grow as demand, PARTICULARLY AMONG YOUNGER CONSUMERS, picks up."
Luxury watch market demand boosted by younger generation of buyers