Straight to the Source - Guangzhou Tips anyone?

[keeter]

Well I'm new here!

Long story short: I have a friend who's in Guangzhou right now, that is his home so he's a local. However, he doesn't know anything about how to tell a good replica from a bad replica.

I want to ask him to bring me back a watch but I'm not sure how to go about it -- I'm looking for

1. a good PAM Radiomir

2. an Omega seamaster pro

3. concord c1

4. No Rolexes!

however these models are irrelevant - does anyone know the actual market prices for GOOD versions of these?

thanks in advance!

Edited December 25, 2008 by keeter

[promotersf]

Stick with our dealers, I've wasted dozens and dozens of hours looking at hundreds and hundreds of "AAAAA", the best, etc reps...and they're 99% garbage. You're better bet is to contact Angus, and take his ass out for dim sum lunch, or a Starbucks Frap which he seems to like...I've done the shopping in HK, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, and Beijing...and we pretty much get the cream of the crop from our dealers here.

My girlfriend has made me promise not to waste ANY more vacation time looking at reps...but she will let me poke around the many ADs in Hong Kong

dave

[keeter]

hey dave thanks for your reply!

that's actually solid advice there...and I was thinking there are gems to be found in those markets. I guess this kind of justifies the whole ordering online business...I grew up in Hong Kong myself and was conditioned not to spend more than 300$ on pirated goods of any kind. Unfortunately, I don't live there anymore so I don't have access to all that business--and yes I miss the dim sum!

[Dizzy]

even the most experienced members have gone there and even they have a hard time sorting through the mass amounts of watches and dealers.... If you dont know exactly what you are looking for and how to find it. I would for sure stick with the dealers here as mentioned before.

[dropbear2008]

The only thing worth looking at the GZ market are parts and tools, if you know what you are looking for. Prices for high end watches should you find them will be very similar to what you pay with our dealers. Having said that it is always an experience to take a few hours and stroll through the market.

[laurencejk]

Well, going to places like Lo Wu in Shen Zhen etc is hit and miss man, you can find some good pieces there but sometimes it can go really south, just need to do quite a bit of leg work if you want to save money on buying reps of similar quality to ones online. I went to Lo Wu last week and got a Frank Muller Crazy hour for 200 HKD, better than the ones sold by dealers on here, proper case back etc. but then other things like the Skyland were impossible to find of the same quality on here, stuck on dials, painted on pearls, looked like a toy watch. So yeah, you can find good stuff in the markets, you just need to really know what your looking for and be lucky

[Trevor52]

From personal experience with no help in GZ I spent several hours and got only a couple cheap Pannys $100 type watches. The next time I contacted Hont prior to going he sourced the watches met me at the market and I picked up dealer quality without having to search. I believe it is poor form on the boards to discuss pricing but general marketing would suggest that if you go to the source and purchase in quantity should should get a slight discount.

Last trip I purchase - Tag Auqaracer chrono, 3717, Pam Ferrari Red chrono I do not remember the number, UPO with orange numerals, two BCE's - all great quality and I had pics to review prior to purchasing.

I highly recommend Hont as he did a great job and he is in the watch market. So if you have extra time you can do some browsing - I would equate to a flea market after some work you might find some nice watches. But then again maybe not.

[laurencejk]

Hmmm, I agree that at times that its not good form to say reveal base prices when we have our respected dealers and the premium we pay is as a direct result of them sourcing the gen watches for 1:1's, sourcing high quality reps and generally cutting through all the leg work that we would otherwise have to do to find these reps for ourselves.

The dealers prices should reflect the level of service and QC we have (although there may be some concerns that these are slipping) , but I believe that occasionally people need to be reminded what the retail price is in China. This way, it grounds people and stops people from paying excessive prices, which then leads to rep prices inflating etc etc as people become more deluded as to the value of these reps. By occassionally reminding them we might be able to make these people reevaluate their worth and slow this upward trend

[Corgi]

If you're in GZ, concentrate not on watches but rather other replica items we have a hard time getting here. Mont Blanc pens, high end fashion accessories, clothing, jewelery...

[Guest Carl]

Please don't stick your friend with the responsibility of finding the perfect rep watch for you in Guangzhou.

It's not like finding a good beer in Munich.

Stick with known dealers here and you will keep your friend AND get a good rep watch!

Carl