First replica purchases

[phild]

I am new to collecting replicas. I made my first purchase a few days before I found this site. I ran a search on Google and discovered a site called hotreplica.com. It is a Russian company, and it offered a huge selection of fascinating replicas. I chose a Chronoswiss Pathos Skeleton, and ordered it on April 27th. It arrived today, and it is even more beautiful than it appears in its photo at

( http://www.hotreplica.com/product_info.php...roducts_id=1051 )

There was no need for any personal contact with anyone at hotreplica.com. I ordered on line via credit card, and trusted that it would arrive intact and exactly as ordered. I received several email confirmations and my watch was sent by regular air mail, so I did not have to sign for any package. Shipping and handling was a reasonable $11.00

A few days after ordering it, I discovered this forum, and noted several comments on hotreplica.com here that were strongly negative. None of those comments, however, were from people who had actually purchased a watch from hotreplica.com. Based on my own experience, I would recommend this dealer, primarily for its vast selection and easy shipping method.

I spent a great deal of time carefully reading the posts here, and noted constant references to Joshua Tan. I went to Joshua’s web site, and photo album and found two more watches I wanted to buy. He was extremely helpful, and within a few hours, I had purchased a replica of a Vacheron Constantin Malte Perpetual Calendar:

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v646/jos...nt=DSC_0109.jpg )

plus a replica of a Chronoswiss Perpetual Calendar:

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v646/jos...nt=DSC_0171.jpg

Joshua shipped the Chronoswiss replica out of Singapore via EMS and it arrived yesterday. It is every bit as beautiful as it is in this photograph.

He shipped the Vacheron Constantine from China on the same day, also via EMS. It has not as yet arrived.

EMS, whose packages are delivered in the US by the US Postal Service, requires a signature, which for me, anyway, creates a potential problem, since I travel a lot. In spite of that issue, I am looking forward to eventually purchasing other watches from Joshua – he is a treasure. However I will also keep an eye on hotreplica.com as well – primarily because of its large, ever-changing selection, and its simple, no-signature required shipping method.

Both EMS and regular air mail seem to take about the same amount of time from Asia or Russia to the US – a couple of weeks. EMS offers a tracking service, and Joshua promptly provide numbers, but neither the EMS Singapore website or the EMS Chinese website were able to track my parcels for me.

[offshore]

Welcome phild,

Glad your 1st experience was positive, others haven't been as lucky!

The dealers here , for the most part, are time tested and true. So you can buy with a degree of confidence, ( and obviously refer to other members reviews and experiences)

I do however put to you and all members a timely warning. There is nothing stopping any dealer having a run of bad luck, or simply " going bad". Its happened before, and will happen again.

So, learn from the other members experiences, purchase selectively and carefully, but always bear in mind.

"Caveat Emptor"

Offshore

Again welcome- enjoy your time here.

[cwai02]

Hotreplica's price is way overpriced. It's like double to triple of what I paid.

Most of the watches there are ugly fantasy stuffs with faux chronos.

What the hell is Genuine Replica anyway. Where can I find replica of replica?

Edited May 13, 2006 by cwai02

[phild]

Thanks, Offshore, the welcome and warning. I am well aware of both the risks and benefits involved in this fascinating hobby. I am enjoying the watches I have purchased so far, and will continue to enjoy them. And if they eventually stop working, I can probably have them repaired.

I agree with cwai2 on hotreplica's pricing being higher than others. It may be inflated by about one third, but I do not feel that I paid three times as much as I might have done elsewhere for the same product. I am willing to pay a bit more for a watch I would like to own, but can't find elsewhere. As for their watches being "ugly fantasy stuffs with faux chronos," such judgements are matter of personal tastes and preferences. I do not consider the watch I purchased to be ugly at all-- quite the opposite. It may well be quite different from the original, but since I am not buying the original, those differences are irrelevant to me. I also do not expect to find fully operational chronographs in the watches I am buying at this price point. As for "genuine replicas" of course it is meaningless hype. But once again, I am buying a watch, not the words that may accompany it.

[jkerouac]

Welcome, Phil.

For $145, your risk with hotreplicas is relatively small. We will all be interested to hear how well the watch performs over the long term.

[phild]

Thanks, jkerouac, for your post. That's exactly how I feel about all of my replica watches. That watch from hotreplicas is the most expensive of the lot, and if it flames out on me, it's not the end of the world. Meanwhile, I am enjoying my first skeleton watch immensely. I will let you know if it stops working.

Phil

[case510]

Hi phild.

Just for curiosity, what item you bought from hotreplica.com? (They have article # such as RUS1234)

I purchased in 2005 from them Patek Philippe Calatrava with ETA 2824-2 (rus8904) for about $400. It still works. I remember it took more than 4 weeks to get the watch. Russian post service must be not so perfect.

[phild]

Hi, Case510,

I purchased a Chronoswiss Pathos Skeleton from Hotreplica.com. Here is the link to the item:

http://www.hotreplica.com/product_info.php...roducts_id=1051

It is item number 9184. They still have two of them in stock. It cost $144 plus shipping, and it took about two weeks to get to the US from Russia. It came by ordinary air mail. I did not have to be here to sign for the package, which was worth the extra dollars I paid for the watch. Glad to hear your watch is still working. With an ETA movement, it should. My watch has a Chinese movement, so there really is no way to know how long it will work. But I am enjoying it immensely while it does!

phild

[jjajh]

Hi Phil

Welcome to RWG

Word of caution: Don't oversell a rep dealer to the forum on your first post.

Look around, read topics and meet other replica watch enthusiasts.

Happy Hunting

[cwai02]

@phild

My statement wasn't against you nor your taste. I was talking in general. Most of the watches at hotreplica are asian auto with faux chronos, those usually sell for $30-$50 Euro at silixprime.

I just checked the PAM page. I am glad that I haven't had breakfast yet.

You know what happen when Corum Bubble Dive Bomber rape my PAM111?

->

Btw, the price of those asian auto crap are indeed double of silixwatch.

The ETA stuffs are like double to triple of what other dealers are selling.

After all, as long as you like it...

Edited May 15, 2006 by cwai02

[case510]

@phild

My statement wasn't against you nor your taste. I was talking in general. Most of the watches at hotreplica are asian auto with faux chronos, those usually sell for $30-$50 Euro at silixprime.

Well, I see the price of PAM111 at silix-prime.com is $225 or $240 (against $150 on hotreplica.com)

I found only wholesale dealers who sell cheaper than hotreplica.com if you buy a dozen or more watches. If someone sell one or two models for $99 and all the others for more than $200, average price nears to $200 (I mean Chinese movements only)

Anyway I am not going to by more watches from anybody in the nearest future, even for $10

Cheers

[gran]

I am new to collecting replicas. I made my first purchase a few days before I found this site.

Great to have another collector here. You seems to have a taste for complications and that means that you have to buy watches that are functionally very far from the real deal. I call these approximations or in some cases fantasy watches. They are nice, flashy and impressive to look at. Myself, I dont buy complications like these any more (even if they look spectacular) and above all I try not to buy watches with a silly sun at the place where a modest moonphase dial should be revolving.

Regards

Gran

[phild]

Thank for the welcomes and cautions and advices -- I cherish them all. I was not trying to sell the merits of one dealer over another here -- I intended to simply report, as a newbie to this hobby, on my first experiences with hotreplica.com and Joshua, both of which were productive and instructive.

I went into this hobby knowing that there are many levels and designs of replicas, and I also know that people buy them for different reasons. I enjoy collecting watches that are strikingly different from the common watches I have always owned, and I choose those that appeal to my own aesthetic tastes. I do not buy them for the quality of their movements, for their complications or flash or glitz or for their degree of fidelity to the original. And I do not buy them so I can imply to others that they are real. I do not buy on price, either -- if I like it and can afford it, I will buy it. If not, I won't. I like the replicas I have purchased so far because I simply enjoy looking at them on my wrist. And if they keep good time for a year or two, I will be delighted.

I am well aware that many replica collectors have quite different standards. Many of them might find my particular taste in watches not to their liking. Likewise, I find the design of the majority of watches collected by members of this forum to be far from my own tastes. The beauty of any collecting hobby is diversity of taste and purpose. I respect the choices and purposes of everyone on this board, and I greatly value all of the comments and suggestions I have received so far. This forum is a wonderful tool for all replica collectors. I am acquiring a great deal of useful knowledge from the posts here, and will be using it to gradually build my own replica collection. Thanks again for the comments and advice.

phild

Edited May 15, 2006 by phild

[cwai02]

Well, I see the price of PAM111 at silix-prime.com is $225 or $240 (against $150 on hotreplica.com)

I can't even tell which one at hotreplica is a PAM111.

http://www.hotreplica.com/index.php?cPath=31

Those 150 crap can be found on silixwatch for $40-50 Euro.

http://www.silixwatch.com/class.asp?aid=43&nid=91

$240 for a more accurate dial with Unitas 6497 movement or $150 for an ugly rep with asian auto.

You make your own decision.

Hotreplica sucks, period.