*Yawn ~ Let's Stir Up Some Controversy ! Question For Vet's...

[Richard Tracy]

You know me, I like to stir the pot & see what scents rise...

Here is a question that I hope will bring up some interesting conversations.

Are you happy that you stumbled into the rep world or do you regret it from a financial stand point ?

Before we begin, can we keep the sober-minded rhetoric out of this debate ?

None of this, "I have learned so much about watches" or "The friendship here is why I'm here. " or such boring

goody two shoes dribble...

Let's keep it to "My Wife Left Me because I blew the Rent on that New Big Bang."

For me, I honestly regret the money I've wasted. In the beginning it was that old standard rationale,

comparing the cost of reps to gen, which gave me the green light to burn through 150+ replicas at

light speed,....

Am I alone ? How many people really have that robotic, vulcan like control, which allows them to

purchase one or two reps a year ?

What I learned from all this is that I would be more than happy with a Genuine Omega SMP Pro, for the rest

of my life.....

Problem is, I really don't think I have the control any longer, because this stuff is worse than Crack !

RWG I wish I never met you !

If you were a Woman I would have left you the moment you pulled up your dress

and pulled your pantaloons to the side giving me that view and whiff of paradise...

[flex]

my thoughts - if I don't spend the money on watch, i am sure i would have spent it on something else, builing vintage cars, cigar, whatever etc

[xelorrolex]

Wel , mmmh,

I took the plunge in the reps world in 2003

Spend obviously toooo much money

And, I must confess ..... you're absolutely RIGHT

But who's gonna blame me ... i'm looking for a good psychiatrist specialised in addiction !

Well done, Richard

Xel

Edited July 22, 2008 by xelorrolex

[eunomians]

Cheers R.T. for posting this topic!

As a long time veteran WIS, I can say that I've always been impulsive when it comes to picking up a watch. I've managed to make profits on genuine watches that I was lucky enough to scoop up 20+ years ago for pennies on the dollar. But those days are over and if you're in it to make $, forget it nowadays.

Reps are a different tale. They are a waste of money for me at this point. I still buy them because I'm a watchoholic maniac. Their inherent resale value is next to nil. Shoddy QC makes for an unreliable timepiece; and as such, a wholly useless investement. They are a waste that surely highlights that a rep collector is nothing but an ingrate who seeks material items to fulfill his/her eternal emptiness

Let's put it this way, I have too many money-draining hobbies:

- Sexy women

- Vintage cars

- LPs & hifi gear

- Cameras

- 1st edition books

Collecting reps only adds fuel to the fire!

Will I keep buying them?

My answer is: within reason. I don't need every watch out there. In fact, I have very particular tastes, so 99% of what I see remains utter aesthetic garbage to me. There are occasionally some reps that I would buy. And, for the most part, they're made by the evil axis. So I buy the reps. My reasoning is that these big companies (Richemeont, LVMH, etc...) are scandalous ripoff artists--and that NONE of their produced items deserve the price point(s) bracket(s) in which they are placed. Is it childish to take on such a rebellious stance? Who cares is what I say. That's just the way I am. Long story short, most of these models are just a passing phase. They are not worth the big $ that they are priced at. A keen example is Panerai. Would I pay big $ for a genuine one? Hell no. And look at old PAM now. She's nothing but a fashion trend that is so last season homie!

Now if you'll excuse me, I've got to get back to searching for some Maserati Ghibli car parts (waste!!!)

[Corgi]

I couldn't be happier that I ventured into the world of reps. I feel as though I have saved a tremendous amount of money.

I am careful with my spending and rarely buy new watches on impulse. My collection is small but to me purely magnificent - a perfect exemplification of the best this underground world has to offer. Just looking at it every day gives me great pleasure, and that my friend, is worth more than you can count!

[freddy333]

Let's put it this way, I have too many money-draining hobbies:

- LPs & hifi gear

I know the feeling, but sometimes you just have to fit them all in

[DemonSlayer]

I agree with Richard on this. I personally would be happy with one really nice watch for the rest of my life, but these damn reps have got me pulled in.

Fortunately, my collecting/spending habits have changed drastically since getting into reps. At first it was all quantity and volume, now I'm learning my tastes and have really narrowed down my collection. I still have spent far too much money than I would have liked to. I'm also one of the very few people here who don't own a business and have more money than they could spend in their lifetime. Being a 22 year old university student who has funded all his reps via loans, I can't really afford to buy all the nice watches that are coming out.

My current favourite without a doubt is the PP Nautilus, this is one watch I would be happy with for the rest of my life

[b16a2]

If rep collecting has led to a wife leaving you, or causing your payments on a house to cause you to become tight for cash, I think you need to take a step back for a while and evaluate things

[FxrAndy]

I would not say i have bought a lot of reps maybe 20 on the last 2 1/2 years and i have about 11 left but i did spend 5k euros on a gen so yes i have spent alot, i dont regret it, new things make me happy so it was worth it on that stand point alown, giving makes me happy and i have given quite a few away to friends and family. I think i have sent a lot of time here that i could of spent with my family though. Over all i am happy, every time i look at my ingy or the wife lets me have the SOSF for a day even more so. Oh and on a friday when i wear the fiddy, never mind happy you have to laugh when you look at that huge thing!

[hiker01]

I wanna respond to these without reading what other people had said ( I don't want my answer influenced by what I might read.....I'll read the rest when I get done!) , but wether I stumbled on RWG or RWI or any replica website, I would still be buying watches! See, I always loved watches! My Dad gave me my first watch when I graduated from High school (it was a Hamilton) and since then, I was always fascinated with watches......I used to drool on quartz watches when they first came out! Then I graduated from college, got a good job and bought my first watch.....a Seiko Divers, and believe it or not, I still have it (I bought it in 1979)! Since then, I've bought Citizens, Gucci, more Seikos, 2 Tags, 2 Breitlings, and finally, the Holy Grail.....it was 1992 and my Uncle was getting rid of his TT Rolex GMT Master with Brown Bezel/Dial and Jubilee bracelet.....I bought it from him. I hated the Plexi-platic on it (had it resurfaced by an AD) several times that I finally traded it for a Blue TT Sub Circa 1996, but got it in 2000! So, you see......I love watches and the replica just made it more affordable for me to collect! If not, I would still be buying GENS (Istill have all my GENs, BTW).

What RWI/RWG did for me is educate me - RWG mainly! This is where I learned about movements (thanks to Bytor, The Zigmeister, CarlsBadRolex, Giormani, SirLance, etc) and Vintage Rolex (thanks to freddy333) and PAMS (thanks to all PAM experts) and what makes a good REP.....their unique characters and flaws, about the dealers, and about the trade~!

Thanks RWG! You did not make me broke....you educated me~!

Hike

[Ztech]

After my initial flurry of rep buying I've learned my lesson. That about 90% of the time I have a difficult time being satisfied with a rep's quality and craftmanship. Yeah I'm anal like that I guess. I sometimes have a difficult time being satisfied by some gens. So... I've learned to curtail my purchases to only those "super" (I know I know) reps out there. I now carefully hold off on the trigger till the true experts do a review. I've been satisfied enough with my Graham CF to keep her. Other than the Graham I've pretty much flipped every rep I've purchased. Till those "super" reps come out I just rely on my gens to keep me occupied.

If you're into this hobby to a point where you're having financial problems I might suggest getting into gun collecting and turning one on yourself . Sure I have impluse buys, but they're usually gens that I have more confindence that I'll like, but... those 1:1 reps now turning out in the market has peeked my curiosity enough that I'm spending more and more time purusing the vendor sites.

Hey everybody needs a vice or two right???

[hiker01]

There's the difference between me and ztech and the other folks who are so anal about their Reps that they almost want it to be a Gen......me I accept all their Flaws and don't even bother with MODS.....if I want it perfect, I'll buy a GEN!

That's why I'm on this board and read a lot so that I could make my decision on which Rep to buy and at the same time, when I make my decision, I aleady accepted the flaws and live with it......except when the movement dies or the case sucks water.....then it goes back to the dealer!

[anton]

I suffer from OCD. And I like buying things on impulse. And I'm always very secretive to my wife when I buy watches and seriously DEFLATE the price of them.

I used to buy gens like mad (once I bought three $4000+ gens in 2 days) because like shoes, you can't own just one.

Now because of RWG, I find myself with the same habits. Except I don't spend that much and I don't need to lie to my wife about how much it costs.

But I do have a small regret that with the money I've spent buying reps could have bought me a good gen on the TZ Showcase. But the OCD in me doesn't care. I just HAD to have it, and I had to have it as soon as it clears customs!

[jeff g]

Spent a lot of dough like many here, but I do not regret it.

What reps have taught me is to go for quality (even in a rep) as opposed to quantity.

That being said, the first few years I bought over 30 watches. Sold a few, kept most that are unworn, to lazy to sell them.

Best part of the deal is that I have purchased only 3 pieces in the last 18 months. So the addiction has been curbed a bit.

As far as purchasing gens, I feel like if I had not tried 30 different watches I still would not know which I liked and which I didn't.

I know one thing for sure now, and that is....the only watch I really wear on a daily basis is my MBK PP Nautilus. I COULD NEVER AFFORD 25,000.00 FOR THE 5711, that's for sure.

[Ztech]

I think it's evident that other than the love of watches, preferably as many as we can get our little fingers on, we all have our own personal reasons for being on this forum. Presonally, I think I'm addicted to the chase. Yes, I love the research and the search for that "almost" perfect rep. Like Hike said he and I might not have the same reason for liking watches and reps, but that doesn't really matter as we all share the same love/interest/obsession/etc. for watches. That's what I think makes this place great.

[Spy]

Unfortunately, rep collecting is too additcive.

Since I started collecting, my wife has left me, my kids are on crack cocaine, the bank has repossesed/foreclosed my house, the finance company has repossessed my car and the bailiffs have taken all my belongings.

I am still happy though, as long as I have my park bench, blanket and watch box full of my beloved reps

[eunomians]

Wow Freddy333, I always knew that we had similar tastes, but now it has been confirmed!

Cheers

[phaedo]

I guess for me this hobby has led to more expensive tastes - I am careful about not buying too much, as although I don't have house payments to make, I have not had enough income to actually buy a lot. But when I first arrived here, I was looking at getting a Tag aquaracer (date only), and could pick one up for around $2,000. Now having spent a similar amount on reps that I won't be able to sell outside the forums, I could have had that Tag. But I no longer want it. I now want the $10,000 Breitlings, or even the $4,000 Omega PO. And have got a Pam hommage on the way as we speak (see avitar). Another $600. Still, at least all my credit cards are below their limits (although some only just).

[Dani]

The money i use on reps many of my friends use on smoke,beer,drugs and other useless stuff..What em i saying i also do that man i em lost

If i did not have this community to shear my passion i woud not keep buying reps..

I do wish i never found an int for watches because its expenice hobby and much headake.

[cornerstone]

Definitely don't regret the reps, although I don't buy many.

This to-scale chart of my annual expenditure explains why:

[freddy333]

Wow Freddy333, I always knew that we had similar tastes, but now it has been confirmed!

Cheers

I thought this had been confirmed long ago. But glad to see that I am not alone.

[StormTooper4]

I don't think I understand the question

and that I guess is called denial

F%&k its not even been a year for me yet and I dread to think how much on watches and then there the straps, its crazy that I dont even blink now at the $100+ straps, WTF!!!!

Good job the wife does not know about the secret stash HAHAHAHAHAHA

Seriously health warning is required, Damn I need to blame someone

make it stop.

My Rep's dont even keep me warm AAGGGHHHHHHHHH

I'm a repaholic HURRAH there I've said it

I think I just heard the Wife shut the door and leave with her bags

At least Ive still go my Pammys my lovely Pammys

agggghhhhhh the BEIAATTCHH has taken them

there wiil be blood

[robertk]

For me it's been a boon. I've sold my house and bought a bigger one. I was able to trade in a Honda for a Maserati. bought a new airplane and am now able to travel at will.

...........all because of buying reps.

............whose calling? oh, that's the attendant. Time for my meds. Later.

[TeeJay]

Although I have spent a fair amount of money since finding the forum, I don't regret it, as I've never gone 'spend crazy', and only bought pieces I really wanted for my collection, or needed for a certain occasion.

As with anything, it's just a matter of self-restraint.

Live long and prosper

[jkerouac]

Reps have allowed me to wear stylish watches that I would never have allowed myself if they were gens. $2000 or more for a watch?? I would have said it was a waste. But double that amount (or more) for 10 or 20 really nice watches, spread over a period of a few years, that I can live with.

My taste has evolved ... a lot ... since I bought my first rep. Who in this hobby can say that their taste has not been changed, and generally for the better.?

Everybody needs at least one hobby, so this is one of mine. It's not the least expensive hobby I could have picked up, but it certainly isn't the most expensive either.

My biggest regret is that I don't have the perfect collection. As I said, my taste has evolved over time, and if I started out now my collection would probably not include a number of watches I have now, or I would have the same watch but with a different dial. But I've only been able to bring myself to sell a very small number of watches that really did not fit my taste.

The problem, as I see it, is that buying too many watches (or anything else, for that matter) too quickly doesn't allow you to fully appreciate your purchases. If anything, you have to move them out of the way to get to the next purchase, and on and on. So for now I am content with all the watches that I currently own. I may buy one or two more watches this year... or perhaps not. Beyond that, I can't even say.