statikman Posted April 27, 2006 Report Share Posted April 27, 2006 I have a new client ( I'm a hair stylist) that noticed my 212 4 weeks ago and complemented me on it. Normally I will let most people know my watch is a rep if they express any interest but this guy was wearing a Santos and said he had a Panerai as well and named the local jeweler he bought it from. We talked watches a bit and I allowed him to think mine was gen. He came in this evening wearing a beautiful 125 and I happened to be wearing my 118 (on bad python) with the flimsiest lever in the world. You know, when it opens a little on its own just by moving your wrist. He says, "Man, how many Panerais do you own?" and I tell him "just the two." and I go on to change the subject, while trying to keep my left arm from being too close to his sight line. Throughout the appointment, he talks about ethics in life and business. He is from India and is an MIT grad, and just a little bit of an elitist. I can tell that he would have no appreciation of a fine replica or the type of person that would buy one so I continue to allow him to think it's genuine. I have truly never implied my watches were anything other than reps but I know I would lose this guy and his wife as clients if they knew. I've always been quite proud of my reps and have many clients with gen Pannies who know my hobby but I feel like an [censored] perpetrating in this case. Now it's gone too far to come back from so I'm going to have to watch my book for his next visits and make sure I'm not wearing a different Panerai than he's seen already. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mossanti Posted April 27, 2006 Report Share Posted April 27, 2006 Nice one ..well ...its you choice..I just dont care.I will never tell my wathces are reps...only if they really know about watches..or into the hobby..otherwise...Live my life to the max.. and at least some people got a genuine watch..not like me ...cant afford it ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craytonic Posted April 27, 2006 Report Share Posted April 27, 2006 watch them call the gen fake Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjedwardz Posted April 27, 2006 Report Share Posted April 27, 2006 Just make sure you wear a better quality rep next time he's in Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dadog13 Posted April 27, 2006 Report Share Posted April 27, 2006 I always tell the truth...i am proud owner of reps! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Watchmeister Posted April 27, 2006 Report Share Posted April 27, 2006 Moral of the story - always wear a good quality rep. Statikman - good luck on remembering. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SWATCHman Posted April 27, 2006 Report Share Posted April 27, 2006 Just shows that most gen owners don't know a rep from a hole in the ground. I usually do not pretend that I'm wearing genuines, but if I were cornered and thought I had to, I would not hesitate to do so. Won't make the world any different. Or maybe it will: your client may be inclined to step up to Patek or Glashuette to distance himself from the caste of hairdressers. His wife may leave him in due course, since she is only getting crappy presents and cheap flowers as a result. And in the end an Indian-American super genius who would have brought world peace and abolished famine is never born. Dude, next time wear your Timex! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HighDef Posted April 27, 2006 Report Share Posted April 27, 2006 They don't ask..I don't tell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
speedy1 Posted April 27, 2006 Report Share Posted April 27, 2006 (edited) I have a couple of very nice vintage watches, a 1966 321 speedmaster and a 1967 autavia. Both are well repsected among the WIS community and between the cost of the watches and the cost of having them restored they have had a tidy sum invested in each and both look almost new. To get the point, because I wear these watches, no one has even thought about questioning the llucky 1680 sub that looks new that I always wear. Or even the New GMT II that I recently started wearing. They look perfect to every one but the nitpicking bastards (said with lov guys) on this site. But if I wear the Pam 27 and show my coworker that wears a 112, He will see that it is a fake instantly. Then I am afraid that he will doubt my genuine watches. So that makes me feel like a schmuck . Edited April 27, 2006 by speedy1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hookoo Posted April 27, 2006 Report Share Posted April 27, 2006 Yesterday I had a lunch meeting with a vendor, and he was just so impressed with the 111h. He wanted to guess what it cost was. So I let him. He guessed it @ 3k. I nodded. Normally I would just say what I really paid. But, he was writing the name of the watch down and model# so he could look it up on the internet. He wants one bad. I bet I see him here in rep world in the future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubiquitous Posted April 27, 2006 Report Share Posted April 27, 2006 Throughout the appointment, he talks about ethics in life and business. He is from India and is an MIT grad, and just a little bit of an elitist. Hmmmm... I wonder what Sig Bonati and the fine folks at Officine Panerai think of ethics in life and business? Seeing as how they have no problem overcharging people 25x+ over what Panerai's really should cost, I'd have to think that maybe they didn't take that class? I know! Maybe the extra $4k - $9k of what they charge for a watch is actually for the superior, precision turned crown, or the swan's neck regulator that some of our reps don't have? Or, maybe the extra money spent is for the pear wood box, and the high quality parchment that the certificates and paperwork are printed on? Cause it's certainly not for the ETA movements they put in... Nor for the after service and warranty that accompanies the time piece. And don't tell me it's for the R&D and IP that goes into the watch's design and production- There haven't been THAT many changes to the overall line up that would quantify the prices they're charging! Hell, for ethcs of my pocket book, I'd much rather spend a couple hundred dollars for a nice SWISS ETA Panerai rep, and spend a few hundred more to send it off to Ziggy for a relume, cannon pinion fix and overhaul and have it all back in a few weeks vs. the 4 month turn around time from Panerai Service. At a fraction of the overall cost of a gen, and with a newly serviced watch that will glow like a torch and looks the same as it's genuine counterpart, it's not hard to see the economics in that! Personally, I'd rather have the $4k extra in my bank account- Not Sig. Bonati's! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whatch-A-Doin? Posted April 27, 2006 Report Share Posted April 27, 2006 Who cares! Screw em! Wear your watches proudly!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pugwash Posted April 27, 2006 Report Share Posted April 27, 2006 (edited) And in the end an Indian-American super genius who would have brought world peace and abolished famine is never born. ... and neither is the evil despot that anthrax-bombed all the geniuses working on abolishing cancer of the puppy and kittenpox. Can you tell I hate that argument? edit for spellink Edited April 27, 2006 by Pugwash Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fitch Posted April 27, 2006 Report Share Posted April 27, 2006 @ubi; with you on that one! although i do tend to buy genuines if there's not a good rep available and if i can afford it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leeroy697 Posted April 27, 2006 Report Share Posted April 27, 2006 The only people who know my rep is a rep are of course my family/friends. They know that I am not gonna spend 3+ on a watch. Other than that when Im out and someone says nice watch or looks at it I just dont say anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Indyclmbr Posted April 27, 2006 Report Share Posted April 27, 2006 @ubiquitous I agree. Why spend the $4 grand? Especially when one can pick up a very nice eta-based watch for a fraction of that. I'm thinking specifically of the reps built on the 2893. It's a superb movement-the very same movment used by Panerai in the early GMTs. I understand the points made about quality control, etc., but it still doesn't convince me to shell out the several thousand extra dollars. Of course, that's just my opinion based mainly on my frugality. I also know that there are some very aesthetic differences between reps and gens which, for some, make all the difference. Personally, I can't justify the expense for those details. Having said all of that, I will add this to the thread. My friends and family know my reps are reps for two reasons. One, I tell them and two, because they know I would not spend that much for a watch, let alone two or three of them. I'm sure I bore them with all the details, swiss eta movement, saphire crystal, etc., but they play along. On the other hand my boss commmented on my eta 2893 EXP II yesterday. He said he noticed the watch several times and liked it. He took a look and was thoroughly impressed. He wears a gen Datejust that he points out to people occasionally, at least he has to me on several different occasions. I didn't tell him it was a rep and I won't. He doesn't know a lot about watches and I figure, why complicate it. I leave the complications to my watches. Climb on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SubFrog Posted April 27, 2006 Report Share Posted April 27, 2006 I'm with High Def on this one. I just don't say anything, but if they do...kill them immediately. Love my reps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
archibald Posted April 27, 2006 Report Share Posted April 27, 2006 You will never get called out (unless you happen to randomly run into a true WIS who spends some quality time looking at your wrist) if you: Wear only the best reps available and do all the mods you can afford and/or have time to do. If you wear a bad rep, a fantasy or day-date chrono etc, you probably still won't get called out very often, but if you do it's your own fault. Never wear a rep of a genuine watch you would never plausibly wear. If you do cold calls down at the Merrill Lynch storefront next to the RiteAid, don't expect anyone at the TGI Friday's to believe the Sky-Moon you wore on Wednesday and today's platinum Yacht-Master are both real. Never wear a rep into an AD. The "I fooled an AD" posts you see around here are self-delusional. No AD is going to call you out unless they are ninnies and/or fools. But they also spotted your rep in 15 seconds. If anyone does call you out, remember you are innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. If anyone ever calls me out they better have their [censored] together and be able to point out the specific flaws or else they are going to get embarrassed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubiquitous Posted April 27, 2006 Report Share Posted April 27, 2006 Never wear a rep into an AD. The "I fooled an AD" posts you see around here are self-delusional. No AD is going to call you out unless they are ninnies and/or fools. But they also spotted your rep in 15 seconds. I don't fully agree with this statement. At least, not in terms of wearing a heavily modded vintage MBW 1665 into an AD's Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pugwash Posted April 27, 2006 Report Share Posted April 27, 2006 I don't fully agree with this statement. At least, not in terms of wearing a heavily modded vintage MBW 1665 into an AD's ... or even something like an IWC GST Chrono. People who know I wear reps seem to take an interest in what I have on each day. People who don't, probably haven't even noticed I wear more than watch. I work in a job where I can conceivably afford one decent Gen around $2000-$4000 and no-one would even find it that unusual (UNIX Sysadmin) even if people knew how much they cost. They think either $300 or $15000 usually. The time one of my pals pointed out my fake Sub to another friend with a real 18k President, it was to compare the sweep and point and laugh at the guy with the pres because I got a bargain and he didn't. The guy with the gen didn't even question the fact mine could have been fake. He just said a simple "Oh, you've got one too" until my pal pointed out mine wasn't real. We tried each others' watches out, then got back to the matter at hand, which was beer and catching up on old times. Let's face it, most people want to believe it's real. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sssurfer Posted April 28, 2006 Report Share Posted April 28, 2006 I usually tell it is a rep without any problems, but if I am facing anyone who values anyone from the price of his watch (or pants, or car, or girlfriend, or what), and if I can't simply ignore him for any reason, then I happily fool him with no pity nor remorse. He simply deserves it. If anyone ever calls me out they better have their [censored] together and be able to point out the specific flaws or else they are going to get embarrassed. Ditto. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Polynomial Posted April 28, 2006 Report Share Posted April 28, 2006 Well, what can be worst then being caught wearing fake Rolex? Wearing fake Casio. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ekhunter Posted April 28, 2006 Report Share Posted April 28, 2006 (edited) I usually tell it is a rep without any problems, but if I am facing anyone who values anyone from the price of his watch (or pants, or car, or girlfriend, or what), and if I can't simply ignore him for any reason, then I happily fool him with no pity nor remorse. He simply deserves it. Ditto. The true beauty of having quality reps is that someone would really have to stare at your wrist for a while, and know what they are looking at to tell the difference. I think that someone who knows reps is a lot more likely to I.D. a rep, than anyone else. I have a real Rolex and many Reps, Sub LV, Omega P.O., etc. People just think if you can afford it, then it must be real. I never paid attention when I use to wear my real one all the time as to where someone's watch was a rep or not. I still wear my real Rolex of course, but I love my reps though, in fact, I love wearing them almost as much and would never tell anyone otherwise that they are reps. In fact, if some little wise ass rich punk ever was anal enough to notice or care that mine didn't look like his real one, I would just say "what makes you think that yours is real", people would then think that he was the one with the rep. The point is, they are Reps, get a quality one and just have fun with them, wear them proudly, and probably no one except the real experts you find on this site will ever know if they are real or not. I don't tell anyone, and just hope I don't cross paths with one of you experts. I could name a few that could probably sniff them out like a dog on a hot trail. Got to go. Need to watch Shady's avatar again before I go to bed. Edited April 28, 2006 by ekhunter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaymoi Posted April 28, 2006 Report Share Posted April 28, 2006 Fake watches...? Me!? Don't insult me sir! These are all genuine.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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