newbie story...

[snowcrash58]

hi all!

don´t know if my approach to reps is a typical one (longer story)

first i´m not only new to replicas but also to watches at all.

around my last birthday two months ago i was considering a gift for myself. as i am doing each year. so what kind of?

i´m someone who traditionally ever hated watches. my first and only i got at 14 from my uncle (nice digital seiko quartz, as far as i remember. and highly modern at this time!), after it broke later during playing soccer i never had a timepiece again. meaning for 25 years. inherited an old gold omega(?) from my grandpa: sold it! bought durin´a NYC trip just for fun a "whothehellitwas" rolex from a street dealer: was a nice gift for my girlfriend (she lost it soon, and btw. was a real "blingblingplasticfunpiece", so who the [censored] cares about it)!

watches? just something which is "defo" not necessary. my mobile is telling time, and on travel i was happy NOT to have back in my mind that my wristwatch could be stolen. my powerbook and my smartphone are terrible enough to protect!

this birthday i decided: let´s have a watch again. why? i also hated more and more to play "hide and seek" for my mobile just to check out, how late i will be at this damned next meeting. and always ask someone in crowded underground-trains just for the [censored] time, if i failed to "explore" my mobile in deep backbag-bags. lets have a real WATCH.

but: what kind of watch? have to admit i am a techy guy. love technology. and i am an educated artist. love contemporary design and art. love design classics .

so i checked around. funky "hightech radio controled atomic powered" time computers? sometimes nice, of course, but i own several computers already. NOT one more around my wrist! and if i wanna have accurate time: my phone is regulary synced to internet timeservers. also on the road. thats enough. time, just time, simple to spot, this was my problem to solve.

so i came up with the idea of a common noname watch, purchaseable in the next common watch shop. not too expensive, 100 to 300 euros. i don´t want to think about loss and the need of bodyguards in dark highcrime-areas of cities wherever on this planet (Vienna, city i live in here in europe, is a mostly save place. or lets say: the brokenup locker in my gymn, this happens also here).

OK. solution: noname watches. but: why are so many watches that ugly? mean this would be the only visible jewelery i would wear (grinn, i only wear some "jewelery" on more nasty bodyparts). and, tatarataa, without looking at pricetags, the only noname products I instantly liked, cool design, nice and so on were 300 to 600 bucks and more, hm.

NO.

I also have to admit: yes, i like fashion labels, sometimes from not yet known young designers. meaning, beside wearing street wear, have also, for example, two excellent suits, one helmut lang, one hugo boss. and collect rare sneakers, more that vintage style or, more contemporary, from skateboard labels.

OK, to have a better idea whats on in "watch fashion", went downtown Vienna, entered, well dressed, some highly exclusive shops, maybe you know, Vienna is a very expensive and rich city, with bulks of really rich citizens, so have cool stylish watch shops too.I ignored them only until now.

puh, very nice. found out, I like, especially from my personal design point-of-view, tag-heuers for sophisticated tech and design, and ("shiver! am i a pimp or a "nouveau riche?", asked myself first) classic rolex sports watches. yes, thats the thing. but: do i want a "car price level" piece of timetelling jewelery?

defo NO.

again: so what? why not a second hand "vintage" watch from a brand like tag or rolex? surfing ebay, [censored], never thought, that this stuff is that enourmously expensive. buying ancient computers is more easy and affordable. but learned a lot about ancient stuff, from design periods as "analog watch craftmansship" was also meant as the most sophisticated technology on this planet, the times of classic 50/60/70s mercedeses, and as rolex was a technology leader. yes, thats interesting. i drive actually a black 70s mercedes for the same reason: cool, affordable, still easy to repair. and mercedes is still a technology leader (beside that i ask myself: how will there be an old classic mercedes in 20 years? will it be the same as nowadays with old computer? basically NOT to fix, better trash?")

and i want a rolex. no, rolex is no technology leader anymore. never again, AFAK. this brand seems to me NOT "mercedes". more "rolls-royce". but vintage tech design i like. design understatet. brand crazy, crazy overstated. thats funny. thats the way i like it.

long preface. what did I really? well, you will guess for sure: said to myself, well man, you always want to have backstage-tickets to recent globalisation-processes or media hyped asian hightech-rip-off-industries. yes, you still believe, that the west has to be and stay evolving-revolving creative and cannot sit back on [censored] brand copyright-protections lasting for dekades or centuries. this never worked in the past, and will not work at all in the future. and you like subversive action. and its fun to use the net...

so i bought a nice, moneyworthy classic rolex-replica submariner. from a "real" guy from here in Austria ( he has a limited collection, medium quality), found over the net. for 80 euros. its telling quite accurate time (average +5 seconds a day), is looking clean made with no obvoius flaws. and if its in details (these [censored] last 5 percent..) , exact, i don´t care. and if it will break in ,let´s say, two years, thats ok too.

and than i found, more through incident, these two forums, rwg & replicacollector. and in the meantime ( i had to wait for this watch for two weeks), i would more buy a vintage SD rep cause of having more insight. maybe i will do it. and give the sub to my girlfriend. have to ask my dealer again. fully mailorder from a dealer in this forum? not yet, no trust. only, if my guy will fail eventually.

would i ever buy genuine rolexes? yes, if i will have enough money to simply REPLACE a stolen/broken/whatever watch without special financial "pain". buying one ONCE would not the real problem, if someone really wants something. conclusion: not now. wait.

last thought: if I would be responsible at rolex, I would carefully evaluate certain limited reissues of the vintage lines. in the way as brands as adidas for example sucessfully started some years ago with sneakers. rolex never did, right?

now you HAVE to buy replicas for that. or spend really, really much on auctions. thats weird, IMHO.

best

Edited May 22, 2006 by snowcrash58

[jkerouac]

Welcome, SnowCrash.

You seem to have a pretty good sense of where you are in regard to watches and what your aesthetic sensibility is. Keep sharing your thoughts and insights.

[Wyvern]

Welcome!!!!

[Esmarc]

Welcome! Excellent first post!

Esmarc

[BilboBaggins]

Hi there

Welcome to the forums

Jon

[pobiga]

Welcome on board!

[Johnkaz]

Welcome snowcrest.

[irongambit]

Welcome sir. Enjoy the ride.