Pros/Cons of focusing on One Single rep?

[mezzanine]

How do you tell when you've hit the point of diminishing returns with modding an individual rep?

The question is more complicated, as it also includes a secondary question of how one tries to balance the money invested in an individual 'project' watch, vs. the rest of one's collection. At what point does it become ridiculous to put money into one watch when we're collecting reps, not gens?

I'm looking at the idea of buying a used Rolex bracelet for my 1680. The problem is that the cost of the bracelet is going to be in the $400-500 range. That's enough money to buy a really nice modded rep or a "super rep". Buying reps is all about getting bang-for-the-buck, and to go too far overboard with any rep strikes me as potentially losing perspective on the whole point.

At the same time, the 1680 is my 'best' watch and daily beater. It's the watch that I have the most $$ in anyways. But it's still a rep. I don't mind modding parts that need to be modded to pull off the effect of the genuine because the rep part is insufficient. I don't like the idea of modding a watch for the sake of modding it, on the basis that it's still a rep at the end of the day. I have no interest in installing a gen rolex movement on that basis.

I know that there are situations like this that arise with the high end reps of Panerai, as well. There was a thread talking about a 112e that was modded with Jimmy Fu and palp parts (and some gen parts), and it was going for $1000. I thought that the gen went for around $4000 used, but maybe I'm wrong... but paying that much when the gen is a sub-$5000 watch seems to be flirting with the type of irrationality that I'm talking about.

The rolex bracelet strikes me as a borderline case. It does impact aesthetically on the appearance of the watch, and qualifies on that basis- but isn't a focal point part that justifies that expenditure like the dial. There are some interesting potential solutions in the form of a high quality rep bracelet, gen endlinks, and a gen clasp.

The nice thing about having a franken with gen parts is that the gen parts are actually quite stable in the marketplace, in terms of value. If anything, they actually increase if they're vintage parts in good condition. That goes into the 'pros' column, because it's way easier and more secure to have the ability to sell genuine parts in the marketplace.

I'm sure others have ran into this type of problem, where you're weighing the pros/cons of putting a disproportionate amount of $$ into a single watch in your collection, and debating the merits of that decision. What is the guiding philosophy used for these types of decisions?

[By-Tor]

I think there's no "one philosophy", or "correct" philosophy. It's always up to the individual himself.

Personally, I wouldn't invest a lot of money on a rep/franken myself. But then again, collecting many watches (reps or gens) doesn't make any sense, either.

I guess it's all about what makes you happy.

[doc savage]

I was thinking about this lately; you can only really wear one watch at a time. I think I would be happier with fewer watches if they had fewer flaws; I find myself wondering which fake I would be comfortable wearing around which friends. Like they would ever notice a dagger shape or a datefont!

[tech]

I think there's no "one philosophy", or "correct" philosophy. It's always up to the individual himself.

Personally, I wouldn't invest a lot of money on a rep/franken myself. But then again, collecting many watches (reps or gens) doesn't make any sense, either.

I guess it's all about what makes you happy.

I will second what ByTor has stated...its really what makes you happy....I too have "wrestled" with the $1k modded rep...when a used 16610/111/112 can be had in the mid $3k range....

Personally, $500 for a gen bracelet for my MBW 1680 ain't gonna happen as I am quite content with it, 'cept for the crystal, crown and CG mods...YMMV

[mezzanine]

I was thinking about this lately; you can only really wear one watch at a time. I think I would be happier with fewer watches if they had fewer flaws; I find myself wondering which fake I would be comfortable wearing around which friends. Like they would ever notice a dagger shape or a datefont!

These echo my thoughts, too. Not so much the aspect of wearing particular watches around certain people, but more the idea of investing disproportionately in a single watch that gets 50% of the total wrist time in my collection-

By-Tor, you're right that it's a personal philosophy issue...it's a grey-area question that comes down to the individual's own decision. I'm leaning towards not over doing it with the one watch...

[dvn]

These echo my thoughts, too. Not so much the aspect of wearing particular watches around certain people, but more the idea of investing disproportionately in a single watch that gets 50% of the total wrist time in my collection-

By-Tor, you're right that it's a personal philosophy issue...it's a grey-area question that comes down to the individual's own decision. I'm leaning towards not over doing it with the one watch...

I am totally agreed with By-tor but i would like to add some of my personal opion:

For me a rep is always a rep no matter how much mods and money spent on it. At the later time down

the road and maybe you are no longer thinking highly of it anymore due to your changes of style and thinking.

At that point you want to be able to sell it at good price or get as much money back as posible your invested money.

So Who did the modding is also important in my opion.

Anyone who has enought tools can mod a watch but the end result differed from one modder to the other and the nicer the mods done to it the better resale value the rep is. I have never puchased one modded rep before and i don't think i will later neither. I don't belive in spending over $500 or more on modding the watch and when buying rep, i am looking at the rep to gen cost ratio and i am staying below 10%. Rigth now i am only buying replica watches that i think i would never be able to afford or never to pay for the retail price. If a replica costs about 1/5 of the used gen, then i buy gen instead but i am willing to wait longer. Therefore, my collection up to now only have a few (1 super SD as my daily beater, 1 rolex daydate, 1 rolex daytona, 2 HBB and 1 Dewitt is comming) and i rotate my rep very often. I have 2 gen (1 gmt master II and 1 po 42mm) and i don't wear them often anymore.

Well that is my 2 cents.

[freddy333]

How do you tell when you've hit the point of diminishing returns with modding an individual rep?

The question is more complicated, as it also includes a secondary question of how one tries to balance the money invested in an individual 'project' watch, vs. the rest of one's collection. At what point does it become ridiculous to put money into one watch when we're collecting reps, not gens?

My rep-buying philosophy has generally been guided by The Rule of Fifths - Never spend more on a rep than one-fifth the cost of the (used) gen. So if the gen object of my affection generally sells for $2,500, I would not spend more than $500 (total) on a rep (that includes mods/frankens) of the same watch. There was a time when I would never have even considered spending more than $500 any any non-gen watch. But if you happen to be one of us unlucky souls who have been bitten by the vintage Daytona bug, that particular baby gets quickly thrown out with yesterday's bath water since the prices for these watches are stratospheric & heading for ever-higher record-breaking heights. Unfortunately, at this lofty range, there are no rules, only emotions.

Abandon hope, all ye who enter here............

[yellomen]

Amen.. Prais the lord... Helleluja!!!

Nice speach Freddy

[TeeJay]

I'd agree with By-Tor, that at the end of the day, it's down to personal preference, and what makes you as an individual happy, but I'll happily share my personal feelings on the issue.

Personally, I would not mod a watch just to get it to 'look gen'. I don't buy them to pass of as genuine when I wear them, I buy them as reasonably priced alternatives to artificially inflated brandnames. For that reduced price, I am prepared to accept less than 1:1 replication, and not too concerned about the individual minutiae, prefering to focus on the 'overall appearance' (although I would not tolerate incorrect spellings or wonky printing. But, that is because those are due to poor manufacturing/research, not because it makes the watch look 'less authentic)

Bearing that in mind, I would quite happily modify a watch if it improved the functionality for me. For example, I've put a second keeper on my 26mm PAM dive strap, as I didn't like the 'tail' being 'loose'. I have plans to send the watch for re-luming, so it will be more visible to me at night and in dark conditions, but, that's because I spend much time 'in dark conditions', so ease of visibility is a key requirement, and the cannon pinnion fix is included in the price of that work. That said, I would not have specifically asked someone to replace the cannon pinnion, as I'm not too concerned about it being level with the hands or not, it certainly won't affect the functionality of the watch...

I'm not sure if the color of the dial printing is bang on to the gen 127, but, I don't really care. I like it, and that's all I'm concerned about. I'm certainly not going to worry about swapping a dial just because of a shade or two difference in ink color...

In terms of one watch vs the rest of the collection, I'd just ask is it a watch you wear regularly? If it's your beater, and it could be functionally improved (ie with a re-lume) then why not treat yourself to it. If it's a watch which only ever sees wrist time when you wear your lucky shoes, then does that short amount of time wearing the watch really justify the cost of the mods?

So that's my opinion. Do it for you, not anyone else. Do it to improve functionality, but purely cosmetic mods I'd consider as secondary or even unnecessary, and overall, is it a watch which you would wear enough to actually benefit from the mod.