Standards for buying reps

[subzero1]

Not sure if this topic has been broached before - how do you decide what new reps to buy?

For me, there are a couple of necessary (but not sufficient) conditions - it must be a super-rep or close to it. That means sapphire crystal and good detailing on the dial and case. No recessed datewheels, which rules out most 3-6-9 chrono's (except the HBB where the date is recessed on the gen too). No quartz. No all-gold, but 2-tone is OK.

OK, so those are the ground rules. After that I start to look at watches as ways to match or complement my clothing and overall style. Generally this means no super dressy watches like VC or Breguet. Cartier is OK, but just barely. Other than that I look at things like: Is it a unique looking timepiece? What is the dial color? Is it on SS or leather? Can I match it to a nice leather or croc aftermarket strap? Do I have a red watch? A blue watch? A yellow watch? Can I justify another white dialed watch? How many black dialed watches with SS cases can I actually justify?

So those are my thoughts about new reps. I just sold 2 watches (Breitling Bentley GT and a PAM 024) and bought 3 others - HBB SS/RG, Porsche Flat 6 red Chrono, and Dewitt Academia. I think the new ones are more interesting watches and good replacements for the ones that have left me....

[assasi9]

this was my first ever rep:

http://www.trustytime88.com/index.php?main...8141329dec07e69

i ran into it after searching to buy the gen. i first saw it as the 'GQ magazine's man of the year watch' and fell in love. then i ran into an ioffer ad without knowing anything about reps and took the plunge. havent looked back since!

[TeeJay]

The standard by which I choose my watches is easy. No glaring errors in spelling. ie: Polex, Qmega, Paneroo. (I admit, I would like a really bad FAKE Rolex for my collection, but other than that, I like things to be spelled properly) Other than that, I'm pretty tollerant.

Sapphire crystals are good, but I don't demand them. I've lived with scuffed up watch crystals my entire life, I'm not going to start getting snobby about it now I wear nicer watches.

AR is something I can take or leave. My PVD 111g has AR, and to be honest, sometimes, the blue/purple glaze irritates me. If I wanted a watch with a blue/purple dial, I'd've chosen one with one. When I was unwrapping the watch, my very first time setting eyes on it, it had a case protector on it, and it caught the light so the dial appeared blue/purple, and my heart sank. I thought I'd been sent a watch with a blue dial. It wasn't until I got it unwrapped (and now significantly disheartened) that I realized it was just AR coating. I've come to appreciate it, but, nothing will take back that initial shock, and, as mentioned, the glaze can irritate me. I believe my 127 has some kind of AR coating, as there will occasionally be a blue/purple 'ghost reflection' of a light point (visible in the photos I've taken of it) If there is an AR coating, it is way more subtle than on the 111g, and never gives the blue/purple glaze, so that doesn't bother me.

Fidelity of replication depends on the detail in question. I don't mind that my Planet Ocean is on a Seamaster strap, nor that the hour batons are a hair too thin. I would mind, however, if the spelling was wrong, font not properly centered or oriented correctly (one end of the text higher than the other)

I don't wear rep watches to try and convince people I'm some high-roller with a fancy collection, I wear them because I like watches and am not prepared to pay artificially inflated retail prices. $20'000 for a 127?? [censored] that [censored]! I could put a deposit on a mortgage or buy a car for that money. I don't demand the same level of fidelity in replication that some do, because I don't want to pass the watches off as their genuine counterparts. As long as they are reasonably close in appearance to how the original looks, that is good enough to satisfy my collecting requirements. Accuracy of spelling is something I want for my appreciation, not someone else's, and, at the end of the day, is simply a matter of a product being made properly, rather than sloppily, and with no attention to detail.

[FxrAndy]

Very smilar thoughts to TJ realy, I like to have a screw down crown and sapphire as pre-requisits and was in some way glad when i found that the speedy had sapphire and not plexy, shame not to have a rare rep but not a set back. A fair representation of the original watch is what i am looking for with a few quality touches.

[Bazz]

TJ I have had rep's with the purple coat on the crystal you have described and it is not AR just a purple coat, true AR stops reflections much better and is a must for textured dials.

[dylan]

It just depends...

For me if its a PAM I just can't wear it unless it at least has the pin fix & vaclume...not that I need things to glow in the dark but I hate the

yellowish/greenish color of some of the PAM reps...so when looking for a new PAM rep I look for these qualities..

Then I ask is there something special about it...for instance...should i get this 217 because i don't have any PAMs with the CG on the other side....should I get this 212 because I don't have a PAM chrono and have never owned a seagull mvmt...

When it comes to other brands I have to agree with Sub and I lean towards the 'super reps'

Its really tough for me to wear another breitling when I have a my BCE ultimate....and now that I have the HBB ceramic...you got

to look at reps in a whole different way...I put mine side by side at a friend's jewelry shop in the diamond district...the only

difference was i have a white date background and his gen had a black...

Although...no watch has been calling to me of late...I've been busy with several watch projects so I'm out of the loop in terms of

the brand new stuff...

[Xyphis]

Honestly?

OK, this is what I do, not what I recommend:

1) I scan through the forums and dealer sites until my mind comes upon something that says "cool"

2) I go to the Manufacturer Site and see how it compares to the replica my mind thought was "cool"

3) If it's not too off, I'll recheck other dealer sites/"use the search function" to find out if there is some great deal I had missed or some scary problem that will haunt me until the watch dies in my hands.

4) I see how close my wallet and credit cards are to the computer. If they are 1 floor away, I am safe to think about it for a day before I purchase. If they accept PayPal or if it's right next to me----> I AM DOOMED!

5) I wait for 5-14 days, all the while worrying about imaginary evil dealers/customs agents/and mail monsters that devour replicas on their way home to Grandmas house

6) I spend 15 minutes trying to attack the tape on the box trying to figure out how to open it

That's my STANDARD method of obtaining a replica.

Your mileage may vary

[stevie7s]

I have a little different approach to collecting reps.

If I see it and like it, I buy it. If I get it and I don' like the way it looks on my wrist, I sell it.

Simple

[scoobs1971]

I'm weak on character and broke about every standard I've ever had But some of my current standards:

- no quartz

- no faux functions

- not too much obvious flaws (wrong colors, wrong fonts, mis-spellings, mis-allignments)

- no reps of watches that I possibly never ever could afford

- no gold

- sapphire over mineral

- ETA over 21j

- no old generation 7750

Lately, I try to buy watches that better match my clothing style.

edit: I've tried to limit my collection by not buying more watches than would fit in my watchbox (= 6 pieces). When it was full I allowed myself to have an extra watch on the wrist. Recently I bought a new box with room for 10 watches......

[freddy333]

how do you decide what new reps to buy?

For me, there are a couple of necessary (but not sufficient) conditions - it must be a super-rep or close to it.

What to buy is easy -- I buy what I like.

I have 3 requirements for reps that I wear

1. keeps good time
   
2. fits my style of dress (classic & understated)
   
3. looks/functions like the gen when viewed from this distance (about an arm's length)
   
   

[steppen]

i use this formula:

- could i afford the Gen

- can i mod it to 99.9%

- will it look good/ sit well on my wrist

if the answer is yes to all three: I go for it

so far I have a

- seamaster chrono fully modded awaiting gen bezel installation

- Planet ocean, Gen dial, AR, awaiting Bezel insert (from gen bezel) installation

- IWC 3717 AR, DD wheels, Re-Lumed

actually double AR'd the crystal on my seamaster chrono, absolutely not true to the gen, but when you see the results, you realised they should have had it on the gen, really takes the watch to a new level

[mezzanine]

I buy based on my perceived value of the rep, not only as a convincing copy of the original, but in terms of being actual watches.

I'd rather have a few really good watches that get reasonable wrist time, then a bunch of random watches that are really good copies of watches I probably would not otherwise choose if I were going for a gen.

Another big factor for me is the price of the gen. I just sold my SFSO that, whille a beautiful watch, I could the gen watch if I wanted due to the price.

For the most part, my reps are of $10,000 watches.

My magic number is 5.

This allows me to have two sports chronographs- a ceramic/SS HBB and a MBK AP ROO to satisfy my passion for Genta inspired chronos.

This allows me to have two vintage Rolex's- a SeaDweller and a Submariner, for daily beater duty- these are fully modded pieces and have genuine dials.

The coolest thing available to us is the MBK rollies ability to take gen parts, IMO. They're relatively well-guarded from even the more ambitious collectors often because of their price, which is a good thing- but that says nothing about their value. I consider the ability to have a genuine watch, minus the case and movement, for 10% of the cost of the real thing to be a good value.

I don't even like the modern Rolex's. But the vintages are something else entirely.

The last spot is for my Pam. I give him his own category in my collection. No explanation should be needed.

The idea with my collection ideal is to get the 'essentials'.

[TeeJay]

TJ I have had rep's with the purple coat on the crystal you have described and it is not AR just a purple coat, true AR stops reflections much better and is a must for textured dials.

Bazz, sorry I couldn't reply properly to your post sooner. I've read about these 'colored coatings' on crystals before, but, I really do not believe that that is what is on my 111g (and certainly not my 127) Such coatings would surely be visible at all times (even if only faintly) The coating on my 111g is only visible under certain reflective conditions, and, on my 127, only appears as a displaced reflection of a light-source, never as a total 'covering' (although the different qualities of the 127, I attribute to the refractive differences of the differently shaped crystal) I would have thought that the 'purple coats' would be visible at all times, and as total coverage, rather than just points of reflection (under normal lighting conditions) or a total 'wipe out' under specially created lighting conditions.

The anti-reflective coats on our watch crystals are (to the best of my knowledge) no different to the anti-reflective coats on spectacle lenses. Do you wear glasses yourself? And, if so, do you have AR coating on the lenses? (or know anyone who does?) If you hold them to face a light-source (like a bulb, rather than a more diffused lighting) there will still be a reflection on the lens, it will just be a greenish color, and less visible than it would be on an un-coated lens. AR coatings do not totally eliminate reflections, they just greatly reduce them...

[Bazz]

No worries TJ, I have a pannie with the purple coat and I have reps that are supposed to have very good AR. The best way to describe it is that the crystals I have had recoated (Chieftang) the dials look black as if the crystal is not there.

If you look at the above photo the two in the middle have been recoated and the one on the left (063) has no AR and the one on the right (PO) has what is said to be one of the better AR coats.

I understand what you are saying about the AR greatly reducing reflections and a light source directly reflected will always be there and no I don't wear glasses but I'll be buggered if I would choose the purple coat on them if I did.

[TeeJay]

No worries TJ, I have a pannie with the purple coat and I have reps that are supposed to have very good AR. The best way to describe it is that the crystals I have had recoated (Chieftang) the dials look black as if the crystal is not there.

If you look at the above photo the two in the middle have been recoated and the one on the left (063) has no AR and the one on the right (PO) has what is said to be one of the better AR coats.

There really is a considerable difference between the IWC, PAM and the Omega... Are the other two double-coats and the PO single-sided? Or, is the difference just a different quality of application?

I understand what you are saying about the AR greatly reducing reflections and a light source directly reflected will always be there and no I don't wear glasses but I'll be buggered if I would choose the purple coat on them if I did.

To be honest, I'm not sure where the color choice in the coats comes in. All the lenses I've seen in glasses, all have a greenish reflection, where the AR in watches varies incredibly from yellows, all the way through to purples. The only reason I asked if you wore glasses with AR, was that it is the easiest way of demonstrating AR's performance, in both it's qualities and limitations.

[Bazz]

TJ it is down to the quality of the application technique, I was just trying to illustrate the differences, if it makes the dial look blue/purple it is not a true AR coat.

To bring it back on topic I am pretty forgiving of minor faults, half the fun of this hobby is trying to correct them but I cant stand faux chrono's!

[TeeJay]

TJ it is down to the quality of the application technique, I was just trying to illustrate the differences, if it makes the dial look blue/purple it is not a true AR coat.

To bring it back on topic I am pretty forgiving of minor faults, half the fun of this hobby is trying to correct them but I cant stand faux chrono's!

I understand that there could be differences in quality of the application technique, but, even optical-grade applications (glasses) are not entirely without reflection of some kind... I have to admit, given the quality of lume applications done by Ziggy (smooth as silk), compared to what has been seen on some gen PAMs (pretty bumpy) I have to wonder (and this isn't directed at you at all) if sometimes people have unreasonably high expectations from watches... I remember reading on a gen forum where someone was complaining that the hands of their Submariner didn't always line up 100% to the thousandth of an inch with the markings each time, but it was a Real Rolex ( ) They were pretty much laughed off the forum for such an unreasonably high expectation...

On the topic, I'd agree with the faux chronos. I'd point out that I don't mind if they perform afunction (ie date counter), but frozen dials just bug me

Edited January 6, 2008 by TeeJay

[Corgi]

So I have chosen a rep that I like..

Most important question:

"Can I afford this watch?"

Follow up questions:

"What do I like about this watch?" (There should be many things)

"Is this a watch that I will want to put on in the morning, or am I just curious to see how it feels?" <Yes=keep going

"Does the watch contain a reliable and robust movement?" <No=stop.

"What do RWGers say about this timepiece?" <If other users report issues or problems with the watch, I will be cautious. But here I often make up my own mind.

"How accurate is the watch and do I care?" <Often, I don't very much. I like it to be close to the gen but I hardly care of the case size is 0.03cm off from the gen like some folks here do..

"Is this watch unique enough from the others in my collection to justify a purchase?" (I have a very small but diverse collection. I like to give each watch the time it deserves, and as such I do not want any repetitions.)

My next step is mailing Narikaa and asking him when his next departure is and giving the details and there ya go... Corgi buys a new watch!

Sometimes, albeit rarely, I buy something even when I'm still unsure.... like the MBK Nautilus, I bought it solely on the opinions of others but it ended up a tremendous success.

[hambone]

On the topic, I'd agree with the faux chronos. I'd point out that I don't mind if they perform afunction (ie date counter), but frozen dials just bug me

Freeloaders with over 2000 posts who have taken advantage of the fantastic information in this great website without contributing one red cent bug me. Just my personal point of view which can easily change when cheapskates pony up the dough.

When it comes to buying rep watches, I buy what I like the most as long as it it is not under $200.00. The more the price in a rep from a reputable dealer, the better the quality. Seems to be that way in general as you get what you pay for.

[TwoTone]

@Hambone

One should never assume how members choose to contribute...

Some choose Supporter Membership...

And some simply choose to Donate...

Our community is setup to receive both...

Please don't let an icon under a Avatar imply an individuals choice to support or not to support...

TT

[TeeJay]

Freeloaders with over 2000 posts who have taken advantage of the fantastic information in this great website without contributing one red cent bug me. Just my personal point of view which can easily change when cheapskates pony up the dough.

Passive/aggressive people who assume the role of forum jester bug me, but that has nothing to do with reps. Nor does your post.

Note to self:

Thanks Double T, much appreciated.

[Xyphis]

Note to self: