rek001 Posted August 2, 2008 Report Share Posted August 2, 2008 Hi all, I was just browsing the etayahonpo website, one of the new offers is the modern Milgauss, 40 mm case with what appears to be a greenish cast around the crystal edge. I'm no expert but it looks pretty good to me, and it's certainly unique to this collector, our collectors use the standard DJ case. I know this has been discussed before, I know about the limited runs of the Pams, but please indulge me -why can't our collectors get some of Honpo's unique offers? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Watchmeister Posted August 2, 2008 Report Share Posted August 2, 2008 One reason is that they have their own limited manufacturing capability. They will also occasionally go out and source something specifically from a non-rep vendor. In spite of selling into the Japanese market almost exclusively (they do some wildly expensive Middle Eastern stuff which is never shown on their web site) they shifted their base of operations to China. But the number of things that don't ultimately hit the larger markets is ever-shrinking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slay Posted August 2, 2008 Report Share Posted August 2, 2008 can you tell me more about the middle eastern stuff, kruzer?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Watchmeister Posted August 2, 2008 Report Share Posted August 2, 2008 Slay- Unfortunately I can't. I used to have a contact there (pre-Ken at ETA swiss) who occasionally sold outside the Honpo system. I bought a few items from him but he offered more than 1 solid gold of this or that for thousands. He even showed me a couple of pics which I can't find now. I asked him why they were not on the website and was told that I was being offered a spare piece or two from dedicated orders for specific customers. This is actually fairly common. We just don't see this as none of us are contacting these folks to do 20-50 pieces for six figure type numbers. It used to be predominantly Middle Eastern. I always wondered if it expanded to Russian and Chinese market. Actually, I always wondered if what was really going on was the rich person's assistant was scamming his boss. Buying 20 for him to give to friends and business associates (a common occurence in the Middle East) and then telling his boss they were real. You know - buy solid gold for $4,000 (at the time) claim it was gen for $9,000 and keep the difference (x 20) And you know what, if I were a betting man I would guess some of our long-time dealers still do it. But we will never know about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rek001 Posted August 2, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 2, 2008 Fascinating, thanks for the info Kruzer. You say they have their own limited manufacturing capabilities? That sounds quite expensive, I wonder then, how can they sell this Milgauss, for instance, for, I think, about $300 USD? Anyway, it's too bad really, I guess I'm just being greedy but occasionally Honpo shows some unique watches and I wish we had access to them. Also, I wonder what the penalty is for the rich person's assistant getting caught doing this? It would be a huge embarrassment for the rich guy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Watchmeister Posted August 2, 2008 Report Share Posted August 2, 2008 Make no mistake, that last point is just my speculation. Who would pony up $100,000 for 29 rep 18k watches rather than $200k for the real mccoy. If you had the $100k for the entourage you probably have the $200k for the real thing. On the manufacturing I had noticed that there were a number of watches where even when they were more widely offered there were significant differences. Take a look at the 28 Power reserve. Their original dials were spot on with the gen. The later versions are of the same quality of the 222. On the movements the original engraving on the 283/2's it was never matched in subsequent offerings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rek001 Posted August 2, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 2, 2008 I just looked at the site some more, they have the 2008 DateJust in the larger 40mm case, looks very, very nice. Waaah, I want one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fotoman Posted August 2, 2008 Report Share Posted August 2, 2008 interesting that their prices are closer to silix than the cartel - starts to make you really [censored] off about what the cartel does to us- i wish someone created a ready made business for me, for basically free, and not care if i jacked up pricing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rek001 Posted August 2, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 2, 2008 Well their 2008 Milgauss I'm lusting after is $148 USD in asian 21j vs. Joshua's at $98, so I don't see the Silix pricing. But I'd be willing to pay the $50 difference for a much more accurate watch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
By-Tor Posted August 2, 2008 Report Share Posted August 2, 2008 What was the URL to this Honpo site again? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rek001 Posted August 2, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 2, 2008 Here you go, BT: www.etayahonpo.jp 95% of their offers one can get from our collectors, but the 5% exclusive I find very tantalizing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomhighway Posted August 2, 2008 Report Share Posted August 2, 2008 (edited) I dont think it will be too long before the MilgaussGv model is available from most of the dealers . Although looking at the example on Honpo I dont know for the life of me why they have stamped the case with a K-serial number and stuck a datejust sticker on the case back !! ALso the writing on the underside is wrong!! Shame.. TomH Here you go, BT: www.etayahonpo.jp 95% of their offers one can get from our collectors, but the 5% exclusive I find very tantalizing. Edited August 2, 2008 by Tomhighway Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rek001 Posted August 2, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 2, 2008 I can live with those flaws but the etched coronet on the crystal is too heavy-handed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
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 accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now