Jump to content
When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.
  • Current Donation Goals

So, what bugs you the Most about reps?


anton

Recommended Posts

In the spirit of my other thread I posted a couple days ago about rep PAMs : What bugs you the MOST about rep PAMs?,

I decided to reach out to the non-fans (are there any?) of the PAMs and ask this question to everyone else.

So, what bugs you about reps, be it Breitling, IWC, Rolex, or everything in between? Is it that's it's made in Shitinerand? Is it the misspellings?

Dirt? Blotches? Hair under movements? The crap-tastic lume? What annoys you?

And also, what's the one flaw that keeps coming up in future revisions of the same rep model that you seem perplexed as to why they never fix it?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

To be honest, not much... I know I'm not buying a genuine item, so I don't expect perfection. However, things that would irritate me, if I purchassed such a watch, would be sloppy mistakes such as spelling errors or misaligned texts, as such things are a matter of workmanship/accuracy regardless of the watch being gen or rep. It would be nice if rep lume was better quality, but, it's normally serviceable :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The factories always make at least 1 blaring (and usually inexcusable) mistake.

The 'mistake' is probably on purpose so you keep looking for the perfect rep..

What is important to me is the outside look. The dial, crystal, case, bracelet, bezel and crown have to look like the gen. So bad lumes, misspellings on dials and poor bracelet quality is what bugs me.

I don't care about markings inside the watch - in fact they should write Shitnerbrand in there or the cases will end up as gen cases on ebay and it will be hard to tell from a picture. Once the watch is open, one look at the movement and everybody knows anyway - or?

I don't know why they can't use a better lume - its not that expensive.

Another thing that bugs me is cheap crystals pretending to be sapphire. Especially if they are curved they are poorly made and distort light. I can buy in the US a curved mineral crystal for $3 that has no distortion when looked through from the side. The rep company sells it to you as a 'sapphire crystal' and it is probably the cheapest piece of mineral crystal they can find. I had even one joker call it a sapphire when it was a plexiglass crystal.

If you believe there is a sapphire in a $50 retail watch you are dreaming.

There is not much differnece in hardness. Mineral crystal is not glass, it is almost as hard and only very slightly less scratch resistant then sapphire and is just as colorless. So it is very difficult to tell, but at least they could use a distortion free mineral crystal.

There - I guess that was one of the things that bug me the most. Thanks - its good to blow off some steam sometimes :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

One thing is the principals of it from a art form standpoint.

Gens are an art forum of detail and handmade craftsmanship. They celebrate attention to fine details and a passion for the highest quality possible at a given price point. (most being overpriced :) )

Reps while trying to look like this pretty much stand for the opposite. "How cheaply can we fool these guys into spending 398 dollars for something that cost us 36" is more like their passion.

Just wish there was a little more pride in detail and quality in the Chinese produced pieces.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thing that bugs me the most is the stuff that is wrong time after time. Crown guards anyone? Some watches are so simple you would think it would be a no-brainer, like the quartz movado. Can't get bad dial printing on that now, can we? But they don't make those anymore anyway.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Reliability.

I dont really care about the nth degree of perfection I can look at a photo of what i;m buying

two things bug me,

The fact the watch looks fantastic but the movement stops - why?... spend $5 more on the movement !

The straps they come with you cannot buy unless you get a new watch or spend almost as much - when my rubber tag carrera strap fails, with its TAG printing etc, where will I get another bearing in mind it cost them less than a few dollars to make?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I dont really care about the nth degree of perfection I can look at a photo of what i;m buying

two things bug me,

The fact the watch looks fantastic but the movement stops - why?... spend $5 more on the movement !

The straps they come with you cannot buy unless you get a new watch or spend almost as much - when my rubber tag carrera strap fails, with its TAG printing etc, where will I get another bearing in mind it cost them less than a few dollars to make?

I agree. To be honest, I'm not so WIS that the crown guards bug me so much that I actually work on modding the watch. Don't get me wrong, I know how to spot them...it just doesn't bug me that much.

However, dry, even rusty movements that fail...cheap, thin datewheels that fall off, sticker letters on rotors that fall off instead of engraving...crap like that bugs me. I can buy a cheap $50 Swatch and it will last for 10 years with 1 battery change. I buy a $450 "super rep" and the movement dies within a couple months???

I would like to see better movement options for the watches...maybe not Swiss ETA upgrades now that 7750s cost so much...but if there was higher end more cost effective option...that would be great.

THAT...and questionable water resistance. If a $50 Swatch without srewdown crown can be used for close to diving depth...why not a $400 rep with screw down crown and o-rings??

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What bugs me is misrepresentation of the movements, the most critical part of any watch. No matter how great the rest of the watch may look, what good is it with a crappy movement? The misrepresentation is not as bad as it was a couple of years ago, at least from the reputable dealers, but don't call something Swiss, Lamania, ETA,. when it isn't. Be honest and call it Asian or CN, etc.

And stop shipping dry, contaminated, or rusty movements. No excuse for this in my book.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The simple things that make the HUUUUGE different.

Like a good AR coating, and good Lume.

The fact that these can be done and if done in the first place, don't make that much difference in price whick I don't mind paying little more for these but they make huge difference.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...
Please Sign In or Sign Up