My Greatest Replica Moment Ever

[crystalcranium]

This is a true story. My wife and I were out to dinner tonight when we spotted our jeweler Rachel enjoying a few drinks with her staff and a handsome stranger. During dinner Rachel came over to us and noticed my SS Black Sub from Paul. She grabbed the bracelet and said "Ah another one of your fakes!!!" which didn't surprise me, Rachel is pretty good at counterfeit detection by feel and she knows the chances are 50%-50% she'd be right accusing me of wearing a fake. I was intrigued when she told me her companion was her Rolex salesman from New York as she carries a full line of Oyster Perpetuals. After we finished dinner we walked to her table to say bye and the Rolex guy said "great watch". Thinking Rachel had informed him of the replica on my wrist I said something like "Yeah right, you know its a fake" and made light of it. I was floored to hear him lean over to Rachel and say amazed "That watch is a replica...My God!" He asked to see it close up and was flabbergasted by how indistinguishable from a genuine it was. He said "I honestly can't tell the difference". Now admittedly, everyone had had a few drinks but this submarriner will be forever known in my book as "The Sub that fooled the Rolex Guy"!!!!!

[Watchmeister]

Must have been a lot of drinks.

[shimside11]

My abay/aspire sub got some astonished looks at my local AD. These things are better than we give them credit for.

[purspeed]

I just don't think the average sales person or owner really cares to stare at their watches with such minute detail. Coupled with the credibility of the wearer (does the watch fit the person/occassion), it is absolutely no surprise that even the 100 dollar units are thoroughly convincing.

I read this somewhere, "we are a strange lot, aren't we..."

[rocket754]

I just don't think the average sales person or owner really cares to stare at their watches with such minute detail. Coupled with the credibility of the wearer (does the watch fit the person/occassion), it is absolutely no surprise that even the 100 dollar units are thoroughly convincing.

I read this somewhere, "we are a strange lot, aren't we..."

Problem with rollies is that most people automatically assume it's a fake.

[Linder]

One thing I read a while back that really hit home with me was the scruffy looking guy looking into the shopglass window may own a watch worth more than your house!

That and some of us sporting the nice watch and trying to keep up with our BMW payments shouldn't be buying watches at all.

[crystalcranium]

I just don't think the average sales person or owner really cares to stare at their watches with such minute detail. Coupled with the credibility of the wearer (does the watch fit the person/occassion), it is absolutely no surprise that even the 100 dollar units are thoroughly convincing.

Yeah I think this watch just did exactly what I wanted it to do in spades. Only another replica nut would say "those crown guards are a bit off". And my wife and I probably fit a more convincing profile of people who might have such a watch.

[crystalcranium]

I just don't think the average sales person or owner really cares to stare at their watches with such minute detail. Coupled with the credibility of the wearer (does the watch fit the person/occassion), it is absolutely no surprise that even the 100 dollar units are thoroughly convincing.

I read this somewhere, "we are a strange lot, aren't we..."

Yeah but this guy was her Rolex dealer. It felt a little more special hearing astonished praise coming from him.

[hk45ca]

One thing I read a while back that really hit home with me was the scruffy looking guy looking into the shopglass window may own a watch worth more than your house!

That and some of us sporting the nice watch and trying to keep up with our BMW payments shouldn't be buying watches at all.

yes, you have no idea how right you are. i don't ware nice clothes most of the time. i am just a casuall type of person in my apperance, just normal blue jeans, tennis shoes and most of the time a harley t shirt or something simular but i have a big house with nice furniture and 2 nice cars. i don't have alot of money but i guess i have enough, if that is possable, lol, i could afford a couple of gens if i wanted but i like the varity of having alot of watches so i buy reps, i want to spend my money on other things. i am sure that people see my watches and think they are reps but they would think that if they were gens because of my apperance most of the time. i have never had anybody call me out. but when people see the cars and come to my house and see how my wife and i live they automatically think they are gens. i can show them my collection and let them try some on and they are just amazed. i think if the rep is high quality the rest of it is the presentation. after that they don't look at them trying to find flaws. they assume they are gen. i just let them think what ever they want. my wife and i laugh about it all of the time.

[gander]

I am not that surprised, a lot of the problems that are highlighted are not that obvious to an untrained eye. Knowing what the faults are make it a lot easier to spot e.g. the hand stack of a GMT II. How mainy salesman are likely to notice that when selling a watch. A good rep, especially in a restaurant with probably less than ideal lighting and a few drinks, would be difficult to spot.

When I went to an AD the salesman had a look at my watch and wound it. This is probably because the feel of the how it winds is one of the most obvious differences.