slay Posted July 15, 2007 Report Share Posted July 15, 2007 I dont know who got the rumor started that there was only shitty watches on canal street, i'm pretty sure it was one of the "New Yorkers". Maybe you guys dont know your city so well after all? Or was it just last century when you been there? I didnt really look for reps, I was only at 2 stalls, but yet I saw pretty much ALL the watches our dealers carry for less. The onoly watch that was more expensive was the Big Bang (yes, THE big bang!) it was 700quid, maybe there was room for negotiation, I dunno, I was not looking to buy one anyways. Basically an asian Unitas fiddy goes for around 80-90$, I'm sure you can get it cheaper of you haggle them down. It's definitely worth a trip if you are in town, because you can try the watches on etc. and as I said, prices are better than the dealers' and there is pretty much no risk involved. Besides of watch failure (probably), I dunno if they would take anything back. So please, new yorkers, maybe its time for a trip to canal street to see for your self! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2005SUBMARINER Posted July 15, 2007 Report Share Posted July 15, 2007 90% of the stuff sold in can00000000al st is pure crap ! .. & the basic` price is $60-$80 now if you take your time & look pass all the crap they sell down there you might find a decent quality rep .. did you see any steel fish ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corgi Posted July 15, 2007 Report Share Posted July 15, 2007 I find myself more and more surprised and amazed that the police departments do so little to reinforce the trade of counterfeits in a place like New York City... the city home to dozens of boutiques representing some of the world's most high-end timepieces and apparel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gioarmani Posted July 15, 2007 Report Share Posted July 15, 2007 I find myself more and more surprised and amazed that the police departments do so little to reinforce the trade of counterfeits in a place like New York City... the city home to dozens of boutiques representing some of the world's most high-end timepieces and apparel. The police show their face for posterity's sake, but there's nothing they can do about it on their level--that's all federal ball-busting territory. When I go to Canal St, there's a system among all the shop owners that when the cops start rolling down the block, a call goes out on the Nextel cell-phone/walkie-talkies & everyone closes the shutters to the stalls hocking fakes; the second they're gone, the shutters go back up. I know this because I was stuck in the back of one when it closed for 5 minutes. I dont know who got the rumor started that there was only shitty watches on canal street That would be the Chinese themselves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3384danny Posted July 15, 2007 Report Share Posted July 15, 2007 why do you type chinese in italics? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slay Posted July 15, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 15, 2007 90% of the stuff sold in can00000000al st is pure crap ! .. & the basic` price is $60-$80 now if you take your time & look pass all the crap they sell down there you might find a decent quality rep .. did you see any steel fish ? i didnt look for breitlings, cause i'm not really into them. they probably have some there, cause they even had all the big bangs! you dont really have to pass through all the crap, the nice watches were actually at the first stand i looked at right in the center of canal street. it wasnt the only one offering nice watches. and as for police not doing anything... I dunno, but I really think its a US thing. I mean in germany, there is NO WAY anyone could just sell anything on the street, cause you need a selling permid and blah blah blah to sell anything and the cops will ask you for it and if you dont have one, they will confiscate ALL your stuff. but thats germany. in america it seems to be no problems to sell pirated dvd movies right on wall street? among all those cops? a Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fotoman Posted July 15, 2007 Report Share Posted July 15, 2007 i didnt look for breitlings, cause i'm not really into them. they probably have some there, cause they even had all the big bangs! you dont really have to pass through all the crap, the nice watches were actually at the first stand i looked at right in the center of canal street. it wasnt the only one offering nice watches. and as for police not doing anything... I dunno, but I really think its a US thing. I mean in germany, there is NO WAY anyone could just sell anything on the street, cause you need a selling permid and blah blah blah to sell anything and the cops will ask you for it and if you dont have one, they will confiscate ALL your stuff. but thats germany. in america it seems to be no problems to sell pirated dvd movies right on wall street? among all those cops? a I've never been able to find any nice watches - now, i haven't spent hours looking. if you found a place, you should have written down he address. Now, Bags - they are there, they are nice, and they are cheap and i have spent time locked in teh back room cause of the cops as well only to come out with a garbage bag full of purses Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Watchmeister Posted July 15, 2007 Report Share Posted July 15, 2007 I have never actually looked for watches there. My biggest concern has always been how you know what you are buying. Swiss or Asian movement, etc. without taking them apart. I also always liked that here you can buy first and take the risk or have someone else buy it and review it and then buy it from that same dealer. I will have to go down there some time. In the Canal Street area there is absolutely a similar live and let live attitude that prevails in the counterfeiting areas of China as well. The NYC police system is focused on reducing violent crime and bagging the occasional white collar criminal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2005SUBMARINER Posted July 15, 2007 Report Share Posted July 15, 2007 (edited) like some one said b4 , NYPD does not do counterfeit busting . the feds do . i know many NYPD whom where r@lex reps all the time & always are asking me where they can score the good stuff! ....... i of course tell them that ima amature watch maker & that i find all the parts on ebay & them put them together .. p.s. i will be visiting canal st today & i will look for the steelfish ! Edited July 15, 2007 by 2005SUBMARINER Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
triplehd Posted July 15, 2007 Report Share Posted July 15, 2007 p.s. i will be visiting canal st today & i will look for the steelfish ! Last time i was in NYC, the only breits they had were the big Bentleys....and yes, I agree, 90% of Canal Street is crap....finding a good rep is like finding a needle in the haystack..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TK471 Posted July 15, 2007 Report Share Posted July 15, 2007 I'm surprised the BB was there. Most of the stuff I've encountered on Canal was REALLY, REALLY bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Watchmeister Posted July 15, 2007 Report Share Posted July 15, 2007 Well when some friends come to visit maybe we should go down there and look. It's only been 7 or 8 years and the last time was I there I didn't know better reps existed. Then again maybe they didn't - anywhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corgi Posted July 15, 2007 Report Share Posted July 15, 2007 It would be fun to get some RWG members together and go on a walk up and down canal street together... but coordinating that would not be easy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anton Posted July 15, 2007 Report Share Posted July 15, 2007 Slay, I frequent Canal St. maybe three times a week and so far, I've only seen ONE guy sell a Big Bang. Maybe you and I are talking about the same guy. He has the Black Magic, but unfortunately it's on his wrist and will NOT sell that one. He has pure crap, higher quality 21J's and then the ETA reps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
archibald Posted July 16, 2007 Report Share Posted July 16, 2007 I think the high end reps are a fairly e thing in NY, and for years the "rumors" were in fact....fact. Adam used to resell Canal St. reps on RWG and spent many hours searching for reps worth selling in direct competition w/ the asia-based dealers. He was able to source asian movement versions of some of the better reps of the time, but rarely or never any ETA powered pieces. If ETA powered reps were available on canal street at the time (2004 & 2005) I bet he would have been selling them. It comes as no surprise to me that you can get decent reps on NYC--in fact, it's probably easier to smuggle fewer high end reps than lots of cheap ones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anton Posted July 16, 2007 Report Share Posted July 16, 2007 I think the high end reps are a fairly e thing in NY, and for years the "rumors" were in fact....fact. Adam used to resell Canal St. reps on RWG and spent many hours searching for reps worth selling in direct competition w/ the asia-based dealers. He was able to source asian movement versions of some of the better reps of the time, but rarely or never any ETA powered pieces. If ETA powered reps were available on canal street at the time (2004 & 2005) I bet he would have been selling them. It comes as no surprise to me that you can get decent reps on NYC--in fact, it's probably easier to smuggle fewer high end reps than lots of cheap ones. But then again, they're also in the business to make mucho dinero, since 98.3% of the people in these great states know little, if anything (ex. "hey, nice daylight on!"; "oh yeah, i bought it because i saw it on TV") about the quality of reps. when they know "knockoff" , they think black and white; no grey area(s) unlike here. So it wouldn't be profitable enough for the dealers there to sell a A7750 Offshore for $300 when Joe Schmoe is looking at the $100 quartz rep right below it and thinking it's essentially the same thing! I had a conversation with a browser who was at my regular dealer and he looked at a fiddy. This has the cannon pin fixed, engraved bridges, swan neck, sandwich dial; the works. My guy wanted $280 for it and the guy who wanted it wouldn't pay more than $100 for it. So he ended up buying the non-sandwich, unitas copy, recessed pin, etc. But he couldn't tell the difference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eddhead Posted July 16, 2007 Report Share Posted July 16, 2007 I dont know who got the rumor started that there was only shitty watches on canal street, i'm pretty sure it was one of the "New Yorkers". Maybe you guys dont know your city so well after all? Or was it just last century when you been there? I didnt really look for reps, I was only at 2 stalls, but yet I saw pretty much ALL the watches our dealers carry for less. The onoly watch that was more expensive was the Big Bang (yes, THE big bang!) it was 700quid, maybe there was room for negotiation, I dunno, I was not looking to buy one anyways. Basically an asian Unitas fiddy goes for around 80-90$, I'm sure you can get it cheaper of you haggle them down. It's definitely worth a trip if you are in town, because you can try the watches on etc. and as I said, prices are better than the dealers' and there is pretty much no risk involved. Besides of watch failure (probably), I dunno if they would take anything back. So please, new yorkers, maybe its time for a trip to canal street to see for your self! you mean like that first one we went to on weds. nite with FWATCH?? Honestly, when I shop there it is usually with the g/f looking for bags for people in town for the w/e or for family. .. i have said this for some time now.. most vendors carry two grades of goods. if you look like you know what you are doing, and are not a police officer, and especially if you speak mandorin or cantonese, you can get to the good stuff which is usuall hidden away behind a fake wall, or a couple of blocks off site. been there done that. They tend to be very high quality LV's, channel's, coach's etc... but i have never really found a vendor who offers quality watches. best i saw was on mott street where i found an asian 21j rolex presidential i needed for a friend for 65. I think I talked him down to $50 or so. We had to ask for the rolex's because they were not in open site. The guy most have thought I was a cop, because he asked my g/f in mandorin "what is he" (talk about a loaded qeustion) It was OK for $50, but nothing special. I am curious to hear about what you bought and where you found it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TK471 Posted July 16, 2007 Report Share Posted July 16, 2007 A couple of years ago I bought an Asian Rolex TT Sub that ran for quite a long time. Years, actually, and was always pretty accurate. The gold started to rub off the bracelet, but no biggie, right? Aside from a couple of cosmetic differences (ok, a LOT of differences) it was a pretty good rep. Last year my mother, not knowing what she was looking for, brought back some horrendous quartz sub that wasn't worth the "metal" from which it was hacked. I think the bottom line is you have to know what you're looking for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slay Posted July 18, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 18, 2007 Slay, I frequent Canal St. maybe three times a week and so far, I've only seen ONE guy sell a Big Bang. Maybe you and I are talking about the same guy. He has the Black Magic, but unfortunately it's on his wrist and will NOT sell that one. He has pure crap, higher quality 21J's and then the ETA reps. No, he didnt have a black magic, he had a steel one with ceramic bezel and the only-steel one. Maybe he had others, too, I really didnt look much, cause I was not there for buying replica watches. At 12$ for a 6-pack of heineken (or any other non-shitty american beer), and a surrounding company of girls that have no problem drinking half a bottle of vodka and of guys from countries that are known for their drinkin habbits, there is absolutely no money for replica watches! you mean like that first one we went to on weds. nite with FWATCH?? haha, no that was not the one, but I think it was close to that one. Has FWATCH showed it off yet? Not sure though, as my orientation skills were barely enough to figure out where uptown and downtown was I didnt buy anything. I was tempted to buy the Arktos (guy asked 90$, could have probably had it for 70), but I decided to shop on 5th avenue instead Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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