kingkitesurf Posted July 7, 2006 Report Share Posted July 7, 2006 (edited) Can anyone here tell me if this Swiss ETA rep is of any visible quality. I think it's a replica of a early 90s Rolex Sub... What looks good and what is not like the genuine...? In short: - No solid end links - Diver extension - Screws in the bracelet sink in a little bit (not flat) - Open 6 and 9 with - Swiss >25 or something instead of swiss made - No 6oclock engraved crown Edited July 7, 2006 by kingkitesurf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pugwash Posted July 7, 2006 Report Share Posted July 7, 2006 Can anyone here tell me if this Swiss ETA rep is of any visible quality. I think it's a replica of a early 90s Rolex Sub... What looks good and what is not like the genuine...? Where is this one from? I don't want to be caught in the "ha ha, fooled you, it's real" trap that seems to be popular amongst newbies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edge Posted July 7, 2006 Report Share Posted July 7, 2006 Croen guards seen a little to big and the datemag looks a touch too weak, apart from that looks good, and these faults may just be due to lighting/pics. I say good rep. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingkitesurf Posted July 7, 2006 Author Report Share Posted July 7, 2006 (edited) No this is not a noob gag...I got it 1 year ago over the Internet... Way to expensive via Idealwatches/Replica center (the much disputed party here). Was a dangerous and stupid Western Union tranfer and held my fingers crossed for a while... Ended up with this and was really amazed. Went to a local Rolex dealer and asked him to open it up. His first visual impression was that it was real. His instruments showed the thickness of the sapphire (like genuine), magnification (2,5X) the 28.800 beats and the right engravings. The dealer was amazed to find an ETA movemnet in it and discover its a rep. It is a daily wearer and I am very happy with it. It stays very clean. Of course I only find out about this forum just a few weeks ago... so I bought it way to expensive.... I now also have a Latest version Explorer2 from Andrew and am very glad with it too. Edited July 7, 2006 by kingkitesurf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crystalcranium Posted July 7, 2006 Report Share Posted July 7, 2006 Can anyone here tell me if this Swiss ETA rep is of any visible quality. I think it's a replica of a early 90s Rolex Sub... What looks good and what is not like the genuine...? In short: - No solid end links - Diver extension - Screws in the bracelet sink in a little bit (not flat) - Open 6 and 9 with - Swiss >25 or something instead of swiss made - No 6oclock engraved crown I'm certainly not anything close to an expert here but isn't that crown kind of poorly machined? I think genuines and higher end reps are crisper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
By-Tor Posted July 7, 2006 Report Share Posted July 7, 2006 The case, pearl, crystal/mag and crown guards look very good, but the bad dial print gives it away. I hate to give any praise to Idealwatches but this is a good replica, definitely. Better than most. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pugwash Posted July 7, 2006 Report Share Posted July 7, 2006 No this is not a noob gag...I got it 1 year ago over the Internet... Way to expensive via Idealwatches/Replica center (the much disputed party here). Was a dangerous and stupid Western Union tranfer and held my fingers crossed for a while... Ended up with this and was really amazed. Ok, that's not bad at all. Shocking that they sold you a decent one and not a lemon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubiquitous Posted July 7, 2006 Report Share Posted July 7, 2006 I had one of these 16610's from Idealwatches, and I have got to say that it's really not that bad. Overpriced? Yeah... But overall, it's pretty nice; about on par with a TW Classic. So, with that said, might as well just buy a TW Cliassic! But anyways... The good: -Great case dimensions. -Deep rehaut. -Nice thick crystal. -Decent CG's. The bad: -Dial print is no good. Wrong color and the alignment of the text is off. -The crown is incorrect, and the tube comes without the outer gasket. -mediocre bezel insert and pearl -Lug holes need to be drilled for genuine lug bars Does your watch have the W860168 serial between the lugs with a 16613 ref? All in all, these are surprisingly good watches, considering that they come from a rather dubious source. What I find amazing is that Idealwatches continues to operate WITHIN the US, and has done so for a very long time. I would have figured they'd have been shut down a long time ago... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingkitesurf Posted July 7, 2006 Author Report Share Posted July 7, 2006 (edited) @ By-Tor - In what way does the dial give it away? @ ubiquites - What is CG, The color of the dial is very deep black and I had a friend with a genuine 2002 model with the exact deep black color. Or do you mean the markers (who are pretty brilliant at night). what do you mean with the crown 'bad's' do you have an example of the genuine. The pearl is indeed bad. Serials are there.... or are those the 'yeah you have definitely fake stuff serial numbers' I googles the ref number and only found TT blue subs... This must be the big give away.... The main question remains was there ever a model with the full text on the dial together with the lswiss T>25 stuff, lug holes and no solid end links and no 6 o'clock laser etching. In my opinion this must have been in the 90s??? Anyone know this? Cheers Edited July 7, 2006 by kingkitesurf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubiquitous Posted July 7, 2006 Report Share Posted July 7, 2006 @ ubiquites - What is CG, The color of the dial is very deep black and I had a friend with a genuine 2002 model with the exact deep black color. Or do you mean the markers (who are pretty brilliant at night). what do you mean with the crown 'bad's' do you have an example of the genuine. The pearl is indeed bad. CG = crown guards. These are the pointy protrusions that raise up on either side of the crown. On genuine, they carry a very distinct shape; the reps are only finally getting around to replicating the shape correctly. With regards to dial... It's not the dial color itself, but the color of the font printed on the dial. The genuine font is white, whereas the Idealwatches font is silver. In addition, some of the text is not lined up correctly. As for the crown- Here is what a genuine crown looks like: And here is a genuine crown and tube installed on my MBW vintage 1665: Note that the genuine crown carries a much larger I.D., the tube carries a much larger O.D., and the crown itself has very sharp teeth/ridges with a short profile. With regards to the pearl... Here is an OEM insert and pearl: Hope this helps1 Best, R Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingkitesurf Posted July 7, 2006 Author Report Share Posted July 7, 2006 (edited) Super... This is really interesting!! My pearl looks flat compared to the real ones... But you need a freak to recognize it it think . Edited July 7, 2006 by kingkitesurf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
d44hvj Posted July 7, 2006 Report Share Posted July 7, 2006 Super... This is really interesting!! My pearl looks flat compared to the real ones... But you need a freak to recognize it it think . That makes alot of us freaks then!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingkitesurf Posted July 7, 2006 Author Report Share Posted July 7, 2006 I guess I am becoming one to huh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubiquitous Posted July 7, 2006 Report Share Posted July 7, 2006 Yes- The ref is incorrect for a ss Sub. 16610 = All stainless 16613 = SS/18k Two Tone 16618 = Full 18k Solid Gold The 'W' serial places this model to be in the 1994/1995 production year, so the non-SEL bracelet, springbar holes in the lugs and T<25 signed dial are all correct for this model. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubiquitous Posted July 7, 2006 Report Share Posted July 7, 2006 Oh yeah... This watch (as should all Rolex watches save for all full gold watches, YM's and 1165xx Daytonas) should have hollow mid links on the bracelet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingkitesurf Posted July 7, 2006 Author Report Share Posted July 7, 2006 Oh yeah... This watch (as should all Rolex watches save for all full gold watches, YM's and 1165xx Daytonas) should have hollow mid links on the bracelet. Aha another give away... Funny thing is that I am happy with the fact that 1995 models had this t25 dial and non-sel. Thanks for knowing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubiquitous Posted July 7, 2006 Report Share Posted July 7, 2006 It's very easy to change to the hollow link... Nice thing is that all the flaws are correctable with genuine parts (and in some cases, slight modification). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
By-Tor Posted July 7, 2006 Report Share Posted July 7, 2006 (edited) @ By-Tor - In what way does the dial give it away? Everything. The genuine dial print is exact, smooth and the SUBMARINER font is different and thicker... hour markers are different too, not so "raised". And "M" and "m" alignment (see the 300m and CHRONOMETER). I can spot a rep TW classic dial when I see one. Genuine: Edited July 7, 2006 by By-Tor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingkitesurf Posted July 8, 2006 Author Report Share Posted July 8, 2006 Everything. The genuine dial print is exact, smooth and the SUBMARINER font is different and thicker... hour markers are different too, not so "raised". And "M" and "m" alignment (see the 300m and CHRONOMETER). I can spot a rep TW classic dial when I see one. Genuine: By-Thor thanks... do I see correctly that the bezel print is also white and not silver like mine.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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