"Replicas"

[PoshTwit]

jshell said:

PoshTwit said:

I found a genuine "Rolex SS Daytona Limited Edition Winner 24" on the ground a fortnight ago whilst working outside.

I think it must have been made on a Friday afternoon because there's something just not quite right about it.......

Good for doing the weeding in though!

I paid $5 for one of those! It still runs...

In the spirit of the above quoted from another topic I hi-jacked - what "replica" watches do various own, why and are any of them any good.

My current Grail Watch would be an Hublot Aero-Bang Morgan but know I will never afford one and would settle for a decent replica just because I like the look of it - but can I find one??!!!!!

[Shaw Tarse]

Generally the watch people of PH frown on replicas!

[PoshTwit]

I agree, and would not generally even contemplate it. However, I am sure people must have their own stories about bad ones, good ones and indifferent ones.

Personally, the only reason the obvious fake that I found was kept was because it is perfectly functionable and saves me spoiling my Tag SLR!

[ReaperCushions]

I bought a 'Breitling' in Thailand about 8 years ago, the market trader convinced me it was real, and these were customer returns from the factory.... hmmmm yes mate, of course they are.

Anyway, I parted with about £12 and the beauty was mine... it looked the part for sure.

Day 3, one of the buttons had fallen off and it was loosing about 20 seconds a day.

Never again.

[kazste]

I used to have a fake tag which managed to stand up to many dips in the sea. Bought a getat copy of a panarai and going against other people's findings I thought it to be a poorly made hunk of junk.
Keep thinking about getting a fake muller crazy hours as would like to make a watch for myself and seems the cheapest means of getting the movement, eta won't sell me one.

Only other fake I would consider is the copy of the Jacob and co Quentin as its the movement which interests me and whilst not up to the same spec even the fake version is some pretty decent engineering , if the site can be trusted!

[thetapeworm]

I'd love a Breitling, I can't afford one, I have a Rotary Chronospeed that looks a bit like one, does that count?

[michael gould]

Replica watches are worn my no marks who don’t have the ability to earn the money to wear the real thing......don’t ever buy one unless you wish to be a member of the losers club.

If you can’t afford to buy a Rolex or JLC or PP or whatever floats your boat then buy something you can afford and have some dignity

[PoshTwit]

thetapeworm said:

I'd love a Breitling, I can't afford one, I have a Rotary Chronospeed that looks a bit like one, does that count?

That opens an interesting can of worms. Surely it does count if another, cheaper (and please note I do not necessarily mean to imply inferior!) manufacturer "borrows" the design of another premium product with a few minor changes...?

[Shaw Tarse]

PoshTwit said:

thetapeworm said:

I'd love a Breitling, I can't afford one, I have a Rotary Chronospeed that looks a bit like one, does that count?

That opens an interesting can of worms. Surely it does count if another, cheaper (and please note I do not necessarily mean to imply inferior!) manufacturer "borrows" the design of another premium product with a few minor changes...?

Have look at the £50 watch thread, there are quite a few watches on there that look similar to "prestige" brands, I'd say the problem starts when replica or fakes have a brand name printed on them?

[michael gould]

PoshTwit said:

thetapeworm said:

I'd love a Breitling, I can't afford one, I have a Rotary Chronospeed that looks a bit like one, does that count?

That opens an interesting can of worms. Surely it does count if another, cheaper (and please note I do not necessarily mean to imply inferior!) manufacturer "borrows" the design of another premium product with a few minor changes...?

It’s not purporting to be a Breitling it’s a Rotary (which by the way are good solid watches)

[PoshTwit]

michael gould said:

Replica watches are worn my no marks who don’t have the ability to earn the money to wear the real thing......don’t ever buy one unless you wish to be a member of the losers club.

If you can’t afford to buy a Rolex or JLC or PP or whatever floats your boat then buy something you can afford and have some dignity

Or alternatively by those who are interested in the inner workings or for different reasons - case in point - kaszte.

On the other hand, a friend of mine owns a Big Bang, Breitling Navitime and Tag Carrera among others, which are all kept in their boxes with papers as an investment and he wears fake versions of those exact watches from day-to-day because he likes the look of them. In much the same way as he keeps his Ferrari and Desmosedici in the garage and uses his non-descript Audi on a daily basis.

Horses - Courses?

[RichTT]

I'm going to open the can of worms further. Although this thread will probably be locked/edited/deleted sometime soon. I've had fakes, and replicas.

I currently own:

Breitling Superocean Abyss
Panerai 111m
Panerai 127
Panerai 390
16600 - Rolex Sea Dweller
16570 - Polar Explorer II
116610 LN black ceramic submariner
Tudor Blue Snowflake No-date
Breitling Avenger Code Yellow
JLC Master Compressor Navy Seals Diver
116610 LV - Hulk
42mm Omega Planet Ocean.

Plus another 4-5 that I'm in the process of building or gathering parts for.

All of these cost in the region of $200 USD up to around $500+ for the ones I've built myself. All the movements are Asian clones of the 2836 movement, genuine swiss ETA 2836/2824, asian 7750 clones or 6497 clones. Sapphire crystals (or plexi for the vintage pieces), waterproofed, keeping within COSC time.

Not to mention the ones that I've owned previously:

Rolex Full Gold Black Sub - 16618
Rolex Two Tone Blue Sub - 16613
Rolex Vintage Single Red Sub - 1680
Rolex LV Sub - 16610 LV
Rolex Milgauss GV - 116400 GV
Rolex Ceramic blue Sub - 116619 LB
Rolex Explorer I - 114270
Rolex DSSD - 116660
Tag Heuer Cal 12
Audemar Piquet Royal Oak Offshore
Hublot Big Bang Black Magic
Ulysse Nardin Maxi Marine
Rolex Vintage GMT 'Coke' Bezel - 1675
IWC Ingeniuer 7 Days
Tag Heuer Aquaracer 500m Chrono
Sinn 6100 Klassik Blau
Panerai 292k
Panerai 386
Panerai 312
Panerai 243
Panerai 112
Panerai 359
Panerai 367

[BS75]

michael gould said:

PoshTwit said:

thetapeworm said:

I'd love a Breitling, I can't afford one, I have a Rotary Chronospeed that looks a bit like one, does that count?

That opens an interesting can of worms. Surely it does count if another, cheaper (and please note I do not necessarily mean to imply inferior!) manufacturer "borrows" the design of another premium product with a few minor changes...?

It’s not purporting to be a Breitling it’s a Rotary (which by the way are good solid watches)

I have one of those too, and have to confess as a watch newbie that I had no idea for a while it was a (pretty shameless) ripoff of a Breitling Navtimer. That said, as a birthday present from my mum I'd have had a heart attack if she'd spent £5500 on a watch for me - £100 was plenty.

I do think some replicas are horrid nasty things which have no place in the world...£3.99 bits of shiny st with the 'correct' logo on them and bits that rapidly fall off; but I don't see a problem (other than pissing off watch-snobs) with a cheap version of something that is unattainable to many. For example I'd love an IWC Portugese Chronograph more than anything, but no matter how hard I work or how much money I make I'd struggle to justify to myself spending the better part of a year's mortgage payments on a timepiece.
I'd also be terrified of wearing the thing incase I scratched/dropped/bashed/lost it or got mugged.

But a Parnis for £55 which looks more or less the same and would give me the same pleasure? Not seeing an issue there.

As far as dignity goes when being spotted with a replica on your wrist, I don't think it's any worse than driving a Westfield, a Dax Cobra or a Chesil Speedster. (And frankly, I think they're pretty cool too).

[mrmr96]

PoshTwit said:

In much the same way as he keeps his Ferrari and Desmosedici in the garage and uses his non-descript Audi on a daily basis.

Horses - Courses?

A more accurate analogy would be him owning an F430 and driving around in an MR2 with a bodykit and Ferarri [sic] badges.

[michael gould]

PoshTwit said:

michael gould said:

Replica watches are worn my no marks who don’t have the ability to earn the money to wear the real thing......don’t ever buy one unless you wish to be a member of the losers club.

If you can’t afford to buy a Rolex or JLC or PP or whatever floats your boat then buy something you can afford and have some dignity

Or alternatively by those who are interested in the inner workings or for different reasons - case in point - kaszte.

On the other hand, a friend of mine owns a Big Bang, Breitling Navitime and Tag Carrera among others, which are all kept in their boxes with papers as an investment and he wears fake versions of those exact watches from day-to-day because he likes the look of them. In much the same way as he keeps his Ferrari and Desmosedici in the garage and uses his non-descript Audi on a daily basis.

Horses - Courses?

Nope, I’m afraid your friend is just as bad......cant he afford to wear his Breitling or Tag......they are both a little second division anyway and hardly great investments.......and people who drive Ferrari's are just plain vulgar or footballers (which are both the same) The Duc is quite posh

[PoshTwit]

I'm interested why you feel this thread will be edited/locked/deleted?

Surely a Forum is a place for a stimulating debate and this seems to be one. Unlike many other threads I have seen there are no personal attacks, just general opinion sharing from both sides.

I take it RichTT that you are building all these watches yourself? Other than the movements, do you use genuine parts and still bring them in at the mentioned cost? Thats a skill I would be interested to learn!

[PoshTwit]

michael gould said:

Nope, I’m afraid your friend is just as bad......cant he afford to wear his Breitling or Tag......they are both a little second division anyway and hardly great investments.......and people who drive Ferrari's are just plain vulgar or footballers (which are both the same) The Duc is quite posh

Interesting...

I agree that things should be used and not stored away for "best".

As for the Ferrari - I must admit that I would have spent the money on something a little more unique and historic.

The Duc is lovely - and LOUD!!!

[RichTT]

PoshTwit said:

I'm interested why you feel this thread will be edited/locked/deleted?

Surely a Forum is a place for a stimulating debate and this seems to be one. Unlike many other threads I have seen there are no personal attacks, just general opinion sharing from both sides.

I take it RichTT that you are building all these watches yourself? Other than the movements, do you use genuine parts and still bring them in at the mentioned cost? Thats a skill I would be interested to learn!

The discussion of fakes/replicas is wholly frowned upon in general and considered by most watch collectors / officionados as equal to funding terrorism or ruining the Swiss watch industry. So usually end up being heavily moderated as a result. Especially as the forum has a duty not to promote dubious / illegal activities. ie software / dvd / music pirating in the other respective sub-forums.

I build a lot myself, usually for other people as well. I also buy a lot that are straight out of the box. I now have more money invested in watchmaking equipment than it would cost to buy the original watch I was looking for, the classic rolex sub. Then I realised that the genuine owners forums tend to be an ever repeating circle jerk of vacuousness. I much prefer to tinker with things than to just buy them.

Most of those in that list are bought in. I've built over 50+ watches in this past year and a half for other people. Some with genuine parts, some just replica parts you can buy straight off.

[sneijder]

mrmr96 said:

A more accurate analogy would be him owning an F430 and driving around in an MR2 with a bodykit and Ferarri [sic] badges.

It's not to be fair, the world of fakes is intriguing. The amount of 1:1 is increasing.

When these threads appear, folk jump on the band wagon and start spouting wild inaccuracies.

There are absolute crap fakes, and another level.

If you take the time to join one of the forums dedicated to this, you'll learn all about the industry. There are folk who take the time to source parts, build thier own pieces, and have a genuine interest in horology, despite not being able to afford the real thing.

Do they wear the watches outside the house ? No.

I haven't bought one, I just find the whole shadowy process of factories moving around, and which dealers are the big players etc.

Have a think about where all the umbrella brands, Parnis is a good example, are coming from.

Obviously there are some folk who like to pass it off as the real thing, and that's that. However to have an interest in watches is another thing, I would compare the niche of folk collecting these to folk collecting model cars. You like the real thing, you can't afford 20 of them, so you buy something to look at.

Carry on.

[obob]

michael gould said:

Replica watches are worn my no marks who don’t have the ability to earn the money to wear the real thing......don’t ever buy one unless you wish to be a member of the losers club.

If you can’t afford to buy a Rolex or JLC or PP or whatever floats your boat then buy something you can afford and have some dignity

So if you buy a rotary are you still a no mark because you don't have the ability to earn enough money to buy the real thing? I don't have any replica or expensive watches and I don't really care but you come across as a bit of a dick.