Duration of Replica Production

[user197a]

Hello. I have a few questions regarding the production of replicas:

1) How long does the production of a specific fake last? E.g. the Hublot Big Bang Lite or the Ultimate Planet Ocean

2) How often, if ever, are productions upgraded? For example, when will a better Ultimate Planet Ocean be made? One year from now? Two? Never?

I realize the replica watch business is unpredictable, so I'm not looking for specific numbers; rather, I'm looking for rough estimates.

Thank you.

user197a

Edited March 16, 2008 by user197a

[Victoria]

An excellent introductory question post!

I've meant to ask these kinds of questions myself. I hope one of our collectors can answer them.

My guesses:

1- 6 months from version to version

2- More difficult to answer, I fancy, because some watches are FLAWLESS (Swiss SFSO, Breitling Heritage). But the Rolexes, etc. -- maybe 1 year. We'll see with the SSD, perhaps. The uPo is on its 5th incarnation, yes?

[mezzanine]

I lost post to this [censored]ing laptop again, but most of the reps that are released will not be upgraded or revised at a later point in time.

The exception are watches that are highly popular, such as the Omega Planet Ocean, or the Rolex submariner, etc...

These are sold in enough volume and have enough universal appeal to warrant the type of 'draft revision' process that you're describing. Ironically, it's not because those watches are "less perfect" than the other 'super-reps' when they're released...but people are so highly tuned to the differences between the rep and gen because of the popularity of the watch, that they tend to microanalyze to a greater degree.

That's why I freak about the datefont on my 1680, while the stickers on the rotor of my HBB or the wrong sub-dial function on my MBK AP ROO doesn't bother me in the least.

[mezzanine]

Pass the bottle this direction, when you're done....

I need to get some sleep, too. I can't even remember the last time my sleep cycle was so messed.

As far as the point about people continuing to buy the more popular ones- that's a good point that I'd left out in my earlier post. The reps like the PO and the sub tend to function more in line with the technology sector, in terms of what motivates the factories to make new generations. They can re-release the same best selling watch and claim that the new one is a step above. You'll end up with a bunch of people who have bought multiple generations of the same watch.

When you consider that 90% of sales are probably made up of a half dozen watches, and each of those watches are probably going to fall into the category of reps that get 'refreshed' for a spike in the sales curve. The masses are what dictates the production process and values.