Encounter with a Glashutte rep this morning

[crystalcranium]

Sitting in a meeting this morning when I noticed a tonneau cased perpetual callendar on the wrist of a collegue. I leaned over and asked if I could see his watch and it was a Glashutte. I turned it over and saw the 21J movement through the display caseback. The watch was substantial and the deployant clasp and leather band were of good quality. I handed it back to him and whispered "nice piece". After the meeting I went up to him and put my hand on his shoulder saying "You know, I'm something of an idiot savant about fake, Asian watches." He smiled and said " Three dollars in a shop in Singapore" We then started talking about high end fakes and it turned out he was in that part of the world to talk about business opportunities for an importing company he has a stake in and on a lark, he got a tour of a Rolex replica "sweatshop" from the business locals. He said there was a significant market in stolen high end genuine pieces there as well, or in watches that he termed had "fallen off the back of the truck". It was nice to run into someone without an ego to bruise and talk black market stuff. I gave him the website names of a few semi trusted sellers here and he told me he would check them out but he already knew of the Swiss movement clones we see as the high end of this business.

[eunomians]

Interesting anecdote(s).

It's a wonder that the brand Glas

[archibald]

We het a skewed view on forums--people mostly post the dramtic, like horror stories about getting called out, etc. Most people are just like us, which is to say not dopes. Someone likes your watch and you suss them out, maybe you just say, "thanks"; maybe you say "thanks, guess what? I can tell you how to get one for $350." Most people I've run into around hewre are as attracted as any sensible person is to a great deal, which a $350 watch that's for all intents and purposes indistinguishable from a 7k watch certainly qualifies as...probably more so in Dc, a town that runs on power and where watches, along with suits, are part of the power symbolism. I've given away at least 25 reps to people locally, and turned a bout 10 into collecotrs.