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Zed

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The wife is going on a bus trip next weekend to NY NY shopping with the girls from work , are there any street vendors that sell the "good stuff" and if so where are they located ?

I am up for just about anything they have , if they have it ..

Anyone know or purchase from them ??

Thanks

Zed

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Absolutely not...i used to work on 5th Ave for 10 years and never saw anything worth buying and certainly never anything as good as what our dealers can provide. just pure junk they have...displayed in a cheap suitcase..sorry but maybe your wife might have better luck buying a cheap looking bag on the sidewalk from a vendor.

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Absolutely not...i used to work on 5th Ave for 10 years and never saw anything worth buying

I wouldn't say that - my mom picked up a couple of fair reps (fair for Canal Street) that suprised me. A Pam that looks to be an 004 and a VC that was pretty nice - They are nowhere near the quality provided by our "collectors" but they weren't terrible either. I wouldn't personally wear them, but I gave them to my friends for the holidays (yes - they know they are reps) and they loved them and the watches are still working...

And she picked up some purses that were really quite good.

Guess it depends on what satisfies you? Of course SteveG has very high standards!!!

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OK ... here are a couple of pointers ,

1) Do not ... Do not buy anything from the dodgy West Africans with suit cases and bundles who tend to walk down the street who advertise under their breath " Rolex, Rolex, Gucci, Cartier" the quality of their wares is really [censored] and incredibly over priced for what they are selling ...

These guys are commonly found in Midtown in high tourist traffic areas but also recently have been kicking around in Canal Street.

2) If you want better prices and better quality head further south on the 6 train and get off on Canal street... There are a number of vendors out there but sometimes it is hit and miss ... you should troll around and just take a look around what they have got... a number of these vendors are networked and if one doesn't have what you want in their stall they can probably get it for you ... that being said if they say they don't have it you won't be getting what you are looking for at that stall... get walking and find another stall.

Also be prepared to find that a lot of these stalls don't display goods as openly as they used to... the goods are often hidden in drawers ... so if you don't see anything just ask... the worse that is going to happen is that you will get a No--- we don't have [insert brand name here].... and bare in mind that if there has been a recent NYPD crack down ... not a lot if any will be willing to do bussiness with strangers the counterfiet market will be in lock-down.

a couple rule of thumb for purchasing reps in Canal street:

a)Take your time don't secumb to pressure ... a lot of goods there are hit and miss and there is, ofcourse, no garrentee of quality ... ( i have stopped buying reps there since the ones we get from our trusted dealers here are a lot better)

B) don't be affraid to haggle the vendor might seem insulted - they're just being coy- but be sensible don't push for a 75% mark down ... comprimise is the word ( i tend to work from 55% mark and work up towards a target price (normaly 5%-20% off the asking price)... if you can't reach it ... walk away... (you never know they vendor might just meet you half way ) .

Happy hunting,

Rags

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p.s. make sure you have a sufficient suply of singles ... nothing is more embarssing after a session of haggling than asking for change .

p.p.s there are a lot of "Legit" jewelery stores on canal street that sell blinged out reps- they are overpriced or priced accordingly since they use after market bezels, dials and bracelets that consist of solid Gold and real diamonds ( but in my oppionon they are over priced) i recomend that you avoid those entirely

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The strecth of Canal St. between Mullbery St. and West Broadway is a browser/shopper's paradise for inexpensive knock-off and rep merchandise. Its similar to HK night market or Silk st in Beijing. Full of store fronts that opens to the street as stalls. It is worth a visit even though it is not a good place for high quality reps. There are chinese women that hang around on Canal st. that will call out to passerby (mainly to tourists) rolex, rolex, rolex... Other will call out Gucci, etc. One woman I noticed was holding a sub as sample and if you ask for other style she has a page with color photos of other watches. The quality I don't know, but haggle as if it is a cheap asian movement and with no saphire crystal.

Afterwards, get a good meal in Chinatown or real Italian food in little Italy (Mullbery st)

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The strecth of Canal St. between Mullbery St. and West Broadway is a browser/shopper's paradise for inexpensive knock-off and rep merchandise. Its similar to HK night market or Silk st in Beijing. Full of store fronts that opens to the street as stalls. It is worth a visit even though it is not a good place for high quality reps. There are chinese women that hang around on Canal st. that will call out to passerby (mainly to tourists) rolex, rolex, rolex... Other will call out Gucci, etc. One woman I noticed was holding a sub as sample and if you ask for other style she has a page with color photos of other watches. The quality I don't know, but haggle as if it is a cheap asian movement and with no saphire crystal.

Afterwards, get a good meal in Chinatown or real Italian food in little Italy (Mullbery st)

Just got back from NYC for work and made a trip down to Canal Street. I have been there many times in the past few years and yes, the quality sucks. SUCKS SUCK SUCKS....and while going to one street vendor to the next, you'll either have Chineese women whispering Guicci Coach purse and some Nigerians/Jamaicans whispering Rolex Movado....some had their little suit cases open with some Rolexes, Tags and Movados...ha, the Rolexes were quartz movements...hmmmm......

While I was there, there was a shop getting busted by the Cops - I beleive on the corner of Canal and Broadway. I peeked in and saw a Chineese couple sitting with two of NY's finest while another one was behind the counter looking through the register/papers, etc. So, I kept on moving to down east on Canal.

Overall, its fun to see what kind fo rubbish they are displaying and thank God for this site, because over the years, this site has helped me learn alot about our hobby. When viewing their rubbish, I was pointing out all the flaws to my wife. The best is when the vendors tell ya they have higher quality of rubbish and when seeing it, they're still rubbish. rubbish I say, rubbish !!!!!

And yes, great food in Little Italy !!!!

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im sorry but to me its 50/50, i have bought from dealers a 50 bux bvlgari, 50 bux cartier pasha and must de 21, a 150bux omega, the noobmariner from ttk and the swiss blah blah seatimer. bvlgari strap fits horribly, worn 5 times, the pasha seatimer is embarrasing, eating with friends and being on class ive been told that there is a ticking noise, the 21, was white, turned grey after like 2 month, looks horrible, the omega just felt cheap setting the day it never aligned correctly, plus everytime i push the crown the minute hand just goes back like 20 minutes in a flash, the seatimer was just a wreck, bought it, the bracelet had some lumps, the datewheel never aligned correctly and after 2 weeks of use the dial broke and started spinning. Got it fixed by dealer and now 1 week later the bracelet rubber broke, its horrible!. The noobmariner has been good to me, i use it on fancy occations, brush looks awesome, works great, thanks ttk, nice watch. But for the rest its money down the drain, i dont even want to sum it up.

Then! from streets i bought a 80 bux daytona. obviously no fancy movement, but has been with me for over 2 years working quietly, looks good too, my ex girl had a pasha, had great look, heavy piece and still runs after 2+ years, then a friend got a bvlgari, with a nice glass caseback, looks very real and runs smoooth as hell, supposedly under 100. The only crappy NY watch i have seen was a 1996 submariner with quartz movement lol, only 15bux, that [censored] was hard to break.

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Actually you can get the same stuff that you can get from the dealers here.

The prices will be on par with Josh/Andrew, but at the very least you can hold it in your hand.

You can even get the HBB but it will cost you double what you'd pay.

A swiss swan fiddy will run you about the same price. An ultimate PO will run about the same.

It really all depends on what you're looking for.

For the most part...its rubbish...but there are dealers there that have quality stuff. Just got to know where to go.

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Actually you can get the same stuff that you can get from the dealers here.

The prices will be on par with Josh/Andrew, but at the very least you can hold it in your hand.

You can even get the HBB but it will cost you double what you'd pay.

A swiss swan fiddy will run you about the same price. An ultimate PO will run about the same.

It really all depends on what you're looking for.

For the most part...its rubbish...but there are dealers there that have quality stuff. Just got to know where to go.

yeah, i agree with that. some of the dealers actually have 'private stock' i.e. stock off premise or in a hidden back room that they you might get a shot at. most of these guys are not on canal street.. they off the main way.. like on mott or elizabeth. it also helps to speak chinese

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O boy, I first visited Canal st. this year, after years of having a far better "source", hence I was not tempted, but if saw this place 5 years ago I would go bananas, there are some interesting pieces, and if you don't know better they look OK; however, I failed to spot anything of similar quality and also I saw none of the familiar models (or versions of models), one thing comes to my mind, I never so so many fantasy Breitlings any other place...

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It is a hell of a place ... it is where my rep and watch obsession started 13 years ago ... it is true there is a lot of rubbish out there but the quality is heaps and heaps better then when i first started kicking around there ... i had found a really decent supplier ( very much under- your- breath and under- the- table transactions) there a while back ... but unfortunately he got knicked- and i lost my canal street conection to high end reps and since then have really been buying things online... still nice to see what they're selling over there tho...

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Last time I was there the Indian guys a few blocks East of Braodway were the ones to see for the ETA based reps. Some of them want big money, others are on par with the dealers here. If you tell them you know what you're looking at they'll usually come around. It also helps to show them a decent rep so they know what you're after.

The regular Asian subs can be had for $20-$25 if you go to the right place. They make great dissection watches for learning.

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Well my wife got home today from NY NY , as you can see she did make it to Canal St. and bought some pretty good junk ...

Here is an $80.00 Pam GMT , the first thing I noticed was all the scratches ( she didn't ) then when I flipped it over there looks like what is supposed to be a rotor cover just floating around inside the case which has now been corrected ( she didn't notice that either )

She also got a Breitling Navitimer ( both for $80 BTW ) but it's not even worth posting ...

I will wear this watch ( Pam ) when I am working on the car or cutting the grass but I definitely won't wear it out !

It also has a SS bracelet with a butterfly clasp (??) that desperately needs some polishing ...

The white dial sticks out like a sore thumb on my skinny A$$ wrist but the only good thing about it is that I sure don't need reading glasses to see what time it is ...

( Don't laugh now folks as this is a woman that knows nothing about watches at all especially Reps !! )

Zed

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Well my wife got home today from NY NY , as you can see she did make it to Canal St. and bought some pretty good junk ...

Here is an $80.00 Pam GMT , the first thing I noticed was all the scratches ( she didn't ) then when I flipped it over there looks like what is supposed to be a rotor cover just floating around inside the case which has now been corrected ( she didn't notice that either )

She also got a Breitling Navitimer ( both for $80 BTW ) but it's not even worth posting ...

I will wear this watch ( Pam ) when I am working on the car or cutting the grass but I definitely won't wear it out !

It also has a SS bracelet with a butterfly clasp (??) that desperately needs some polishing ...

The white dial sticks out like a sore thumb on my skinny A$$ wrist but the only good thing about it is that I sure don't need reading glasses to see what time it is ...

( Don't laugh now folks as this is a woman that knows nothing about watches at all especially Reps !! )

Zed

Man needs a good lawn mowing watch. Of course my lawn mowing watch is about as useful as my lawn mower now that Pedro came into my life. If the Pam is the better of the two, I'd hate to see the Navitimer.

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hate to say it but i told you so :whistling: .. $80 too much $ for canal st specials :thumbdown: ..

the SS on their watch are plated so carefull where you wear the watch ..

Naaaa , I didn't loose a penny , the old lady wanted to go on a shopping trip with her friends from work and it was with her money not mine :winkiss:

I told her to have a look around Canal St and IF there was anything good to take a pic with her camera phone and send it to me , well she got home and presented me with this junk ...

She went to shop and shop she did , you should see all her F'ing shoes if you think the watches are bad :black_eye:

The minute she stepped off of the bus a guy said "want to buy a Rolex , $10 bux" :thumbdown:

She goes every year on this trip with the girls from work , maybe next year she will know better :yawn:

Zed

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  • 4 weeks later...

I've been down "reps row" for four days this week to see if anything caught my eye.

So far, I know of only ONE who sells the quality of reps that the dealers have; some with A7750 others with ETA's 7750. He has them far up on display (I guess so noone steals it or they must be higher priced than the 21J's on the bottom and 'green-tinted' navitimers.)

Like others said on here, the priced are on par, if not slightly higher (Think $25-50 USD). At least you hold these things in your hand before you buy, unlike buying them on the 'net.

But one is GROSSLY overpriced --- the HBB which I expected to want to pay maybe $500 for. But the guy was selling it for $750. Ceramic bezel; correct markings (even "ceramic" and "titanium" on caseback) Before I splurged, I wanted to do some research here first.

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