Dead Give Away......

[Bizzon]

I don't understand it. Perhaps some of you can enlighten me as to why so many reps have blue hands. It's a dead give away....I should just etch "REPLICA" into the crystal. Why do the rep houses spend so much time and money designing and replicating gens if they are going to ruin all their work by putting blue hands on the watch? They even replicate the movement, which very few people see. I don't understand it!

Or I could be totally wrong. Maybe it's just optics. Maybe the substandard AR mixed with a camera's flash just makes it seem like it's blue? Nope that's not it I got one in the mail recently. I generally make most of my purchases from the same dealer. Maybe its just this dealer?

To whom has the inside track, please enlighten me.

[freddy333]

Without knowing specifically which watches you are referring to, I can only answer your question in general terms. Many gen watches contain blued hands (& screws). This same process is often used to blue steel for use in firearms. This is an example of a vintage Rolex with a blued sweep seconds hand

This 'blue' is attained by a special process of alternately heating & cooling steel to specific temperatures for exact periods of time. The process leaves the steel with a uniquely blueish discoloration that adds to the finish of a fine timepiece. I happen to think it is a nice detail when used (sparingly) on a watch. However, the process is expensive as it is labor intensive, takes time & costs more than the spray paint used to mimic bluing on rep watches, which produces a different shade of blue on the metal (& leaves an altogether different impression on this viewer).

[plaifender]

I don't understand it. Perhaps some of you can enlighten me as to why so many reps have blue hands. It's a dead give away....I should just etch "REPLICA" into the crystal. Why do the rep houses spend so much time and money designing and replicating gens if they are going to ruin all their work by putting blue hands on the watch? They even replicate the movement, which very few people see. I don't understand it!

Or I could be totally wrong. Maybe it's just optics. Maybe the substandard AR mixed with a camera's flash just makes it seem like it's blue? Nope that's not it I got one in the mail recently. I generally make most of my purchases from the same dealer. Maybe its just this dealer?

To whom has the inside track, please enlighten me.

which watches are you talking about? My PAM253 has blue hands... as does the Gen :

[KB]

Omega BA gen has blue hands as does some Pateks, Breguets and Glashuttes

There are in fact many gen watches that come with blue hands and (as Freddy points out) blue screws, I would even go as far as say that if a rep was shown here that was accurate in every way except it had incorrect blue hands it would be labeled as a fantasy.

Ken

[slickdick]

The majority of the blue rep hands are painted, they indeed look fake most of the time.

[Fidestro]

It is a give away when people die they turn blue, one of the biggest "tells". Wait, what?

[Watchmeister]

There are a number of ways to do this. First, is to actually repaint the hands in a closer color. As a for instance, the blued hands on older Mullers can be much better colored with a very specific metal paint (I believe it is an automotive color - and no I don't remember what it is). Here is an example:

The hands above are a dead ringer for the gen hands but painted not blued. Second, bluing hands is not a particularly difficult process if you know what you are doing (I don't of course). The color of the blue will be dependant on the heat you use. You literally can pull out a small blow torch and play around with the hands (assuming they are steel). The level of heat and length of time will dictate what color you end up with. I will give you a hint though - if you end up with grey rather than blue you overdid it. By the way I have definitely detected a trend among manufacturers to swap blued hand for enameled ones (Muller on some of its lower end watches, PAM on some of their chrono's, etc.).

[hiker01]

Don't forget the IWC FA Jones:

[Bizzon]

Maybe I just didn't realize how many gen versions are available. When I see a rep I like, I then look to find a good picture of the gen to compare it to. Granted, I love mechanical watches but I still have a lot to learn. Small things really don't bother me right now. But the blue hands often stick out, as with the FM Crazy Hours, Chronoswiss Regulateur, and with the Cartier Pasha series. All these watches, I take it, have both versions available? If so I'm not as disappointed as I was.

I guess this means I am not a fan of this styling element.

Thanks for clearing this up for me.

[rogerthat]

While your OP was not specific enough to be labeled accurate, I do agree that on certain brands like Cartier which often use Blue hands, I have not yet seen a rep matching the gen color correctly IMO.

If anyone has any pictures of models that do, please post them or i anyone has repainted their's.

Mainly talking Women's Cartier, for the wife you know.

[Toadtorrent]

But the blue hands often stick out, as with the FM Crazy Hours, Chronoswiss Regulateur, and with the Cartier Pasha series. All these watches, I take it, have both versions available? If so I'm not as disappointed as I was.

The FM watches (gen) have blued hands...remember...that's "blued" hands and not BLUE hands. As others have said above...blueing is a metallurgical process...while blue is just paint. They don't blue the rep parts as it costs too much compared to slapping on paint. Usually...FM and the Cartiers use blued hands and whatever...depending on the design...sometimes gold, silver, black, blue.

[Richard Tracy]

Yet another ultra paranoid supposition,....

The vast majority of people don't know a Rolex from Timex,..

Some of us tend to give too much power to these outsiders,... most of which say, and I hear this all the time...

"why do you need so many watches ? A watch is just a watch"....

Keep in mind that 99% of people who know all about the various and ever changing aspects of replica watches are members of forums like this one.. thus have no room to make a disparaging comment because they are also sporting a replica...

[FxrAndy]

I havwe a couple of gen bregeut hands for unitas that cost trade price about

[freddy333]

I just picked up the April issue of Watchtime magazine &, as fate would have it, they have a feature called 'Red Hot & Blue', which describes the process of bluing screws (the same process is used to blue hands). So if you are interested, pick up a copy of that magazine.