How can this be?
Discussion
looking on the internet I came across this http://www.poshwatch.co.uk/home-1-0.html They are selling 'replica' of some famous makes, now forgive me for thinking that these are fakes by another name? Shirley the likes of Rolex and Chopard are not going to demean their brand by selling 'replicas' for £100
Yes, they are fakes. no they aren't anywhere near the quality of the real ones. No they aren't really exact replicas. No they won't pass for real when put up against a real one. yes, they may pass for real when showing off to your friends (assuming that they don't try it on and they aren't watch geeks like most on this site).
Fakes/Replicas, all fakes. "replica" supposed to sound better but only fools fools.
At £100 they will be CRAP.
Some fakes are better than others, however to make a fake that really is almost as good (and indistinguishable) as your Rolex/Omega/Chopard/etc. would mean they'd end up almost as expensive which defies the point somewhat.
There may be some some mileage in a really good fake based on a watch no longer made (e.g. like your Cobra cars type thing).
At £100 they will be CRAP.
Some fakes are better than others, however to make a fake that really is almost as good (and indistinguishable) as your Rolex/Omega/Chopard/etc. would mean they'd end up almost as expensive which defies the point somewhat.
There may be some some mileage in a really good fake based on a watch no longer made (e.g. like your Cobra cars type thing).
leginigel said:
Someone please post a pic of one of the better fakes,I have seen a rolex sub which was for sale at a over priced £300 could tell just by the feel it was a fake.
I have zero experience of fake watches. I've tried all manner of watches from cheap Chinese autos (which still feel like a quality watch on quite a nice leather strap (obviously no Toshi!)... weighty... what lets it down iss the placement of numerals but that's the look not the feel) to £3k Panerais and Rolexes. How would a fake feel?PS I hope this doesn't come across as argumentative. Genuinely intrigued.
Edited by ShadownINja on Saturday 23 May 18:07
ShadownINja said:
leginigel said:
Someone please post a pic of one of the better fakes,I have seen a rolex sub which was for sale at a over priced £300 could tell just by the feel it was a fake.
I have zero experience of fake watches. I've tried all manner of watches from cheap Chinese autos (which still feel like a quality watch on quite a nice leather strap (obviously no Toshi!)... weighty... what lets it down iss the placement of numerals but that's the look not the feel) to £3k Panerais and Rolexes. How would a fake feel?PS I hope this doesn't come across as argumentative. Genuinely intrigued.
Edited by ShadownINja on Saturday 23 May 18:07
They can add weight to a fake, but it's usually all in the wrong place...to me the easiest way to tell is the bracelet or strap. A quality bracelet feels like its swimming in oil, very little lateral movement, a joy to hold. a fake feels like a £50 watch from Ratners.
To answer your question in a car analogy; fake is like driving and old land Rover (all over the place) genuine is like driving a modern day Porsche (or other quality brand)
jules_s said:
ShadownINja said:
leginigel said:
Someone please post a pic of one of the better fakes,I have seen a rolex sub which was for sale at a over priced £300 could tell just by the feel it was a fake.
I have zero experience of fake watches. I've tried all manner of watches from cheap Chinese autos (which still feel like a quality watch on quite a nice leather strap (obviously no Toshi!)... weighty... what lets it down iss the placement of numerals but that's the look not the feel) to £3k Panerais and Rolexes. How would a fake feel?PS I hope this doesn't come across as argumentative. Genuinely intrigued.
Edited by ShadownINja on Saturday 23 May 18:07
They can add weight to a fake, but it's usually all in the wrong place...to me the easiest way to tell is the bracelet or strap. A quality bracelet feels like its swimming in oil, very little lateral movement, a joy to hold. a fake feels like a £50 watch from Ratners.
To answer your question in a car analogy; fake is like driving and old land Rover (all over the place) genuine is like driving a modern day Porsche (or other quality brand)
ShadownINja said:
I see. I would like to compare newer models. My real concern is buying a fake when you thought you were buying an original. I remember reading on one of the watch sites about a fake Breitling that fooled enthusiasts. Everything was perfect apart from one tiny marker.
The easiest way for peace of mind is buy from an AD or a reputable dealer with box and papers.I let my near dream watch (one of 300) pass the other day on e-bay because there was no way I could authenticise it.
It went for £2.4k without box and papers.
I've been to Canal St. in NYC and looked at the low end and "high end" fakes/replicas. NONE of them compare the originals. They all have minor issues in the dials or the crowns, or the size. Additionally, most have inferior movements and the quality of the steel in the cases is not anywhere near on par w/ the originals.
Even on the high end replica movements, you can see that they are different (I compared my real panerai to the fake and it took a whole 1.2 seconds to see the difference).
Still, if you want the flash and not pay the steep price for a real piece. The fakes will pass for the real thing for 99% of the world, but not the 1% that really knows watches. In the end, some will last several years, but they aren't anywhere close to the same league as the real watches.
Even on the high end replica movements, you can see that they are different (I compared my real panerai to the fake and it took a whole 1.2 seconds to see the difference).
Still, if you want the flash and not pay the steep price for a real piece. The fakes will pass for the real thing for 99% of the world, but not the 1% that really knows watches. In the end, some will last several years, but they aren't anywhere close to the same league as the real watches.
jules_s said:
ShadownINja said:
I see. I would like to compare newer models. My real concern is buying a fake when you thought you were buying an original. I remember reading on one of the watch sites about a fake Breitling that fooled enthusiasts. Everything was perfect apart from one tiny marker.
The easiest way for peace of mind is buy from an AD or a reputable dealer with box and papers.I let my near dream watch (one of 300) pass the other day on e-bay because there was no way I could authenticise it.
It went for £2.4k without box and papers.
deejuic said:
I've been to Canal St. in NYC and looked at the low end and "high end" fakes/replicas. NONE of them compare the originals. They all have minor issues in the dials or the crowns, or the size. Additionally, most have inferior movements and the quality of the steel in the cases is not anywhere near on par w/ the originals.
Even on the high end replica movements, you can see that they are different (I compared my real panerai to the fake and it took a whole 1.2 seconds to see the difference).
Still, if you want the flash and not pay the steep price for a real piece. The fakes will pass for the real thing for 99% of the world, but not the 1% that really knows watches. In the end, some will last several years, but they aren't anywhere close to the same league as the real watches.
I appreciate what you're saying but I do often read about high end watches having movement problems (unless you service them regularly Even on the high end replica movements, you can see that they are different (I compared my real panerai to the fake and it took a whole 1.2 seconds to see the difference).
Still, if you want the flash and not pay the steep price for a real piece. The fakes will pass for the real thing for 99% of the world, but not the 1% that really knows watches. In the end, some will last several years, but they aren't anywhere close to the same league as the real watches.
). Plus what's to stop them putting an ETA movement in a fake? They're not expensive movements.Dracoro said:
At £100 they will be CRAP.
Some fakes are better than others, however to make a fake that really is almost as good (and indistinguishable) as your Rolex/Omega/Chopard/etc. would mean they'd end up almost as expensive
At £100 they can have stainless steel cases, anti-reflective sapphire crystal, ETA movements...Some fakes are better than others, however to make a fake that really is almost as good (and indistinguishable) as your Rolex/Omega/Chopard/etc. would mean they'd end up almost as expensive
Unfortunately, a £2000 Omega doesn't cost a huge amount more to make than a Seiko, Christopher Ward, etc.
As much as it's nice to think we're getting something extra special with our premium brand watches, those that use ETA/ETA based movements aren't that different from the decent quality fakes.
We can talk about lug shapes, logo imperfections, crown horns, etc, but the reality is, we're talking about tiny differences here. If the watch is on a strap, then a fake becomes even harder to spot...
I'm not advocating fake watches at all, simply saying that whilst it may be easy to spot a fake on the internet comparing a pic of each side by side, in reality, and without a real one to compare it to at the same time, I think the majority of us could be fooled by a decent quality fake that cost a fraction of price of the real thing...
I'm sorry Rev's that is nonsense, fakes are fakes full stop! forget movement etc talk craftmanship, you could have a wonderful looking mr2 / replica ferrari with a wonderfull ferrari, but i don't think its hard to spot, it's the level of detail that goes into a omega or iwc etc that counts. Do you know it takes a year to make a iwc?. I live in Dubai and see "high end fakes" all the time and there is no comparing! apologies if this appears as a rant. Just winds me up 
rickybouy said:
I'm sorry Rev's that is nonsense, fakes are fakes full stop! forget movement etc talk craftmanship, you could have a wonderful looking mr2 / replica ferrari with a wonderfull ferrari, but i don't think its hard to spot, it's the level of detail that goes into a omega or iwc etc that counts. Do you know it takes a year to make a iwc?. I live in Dubai and see "high end fakes" all the time and there is no comparing! apologies if this appears as a rant. Just winds me up
Well let's agree to disagree! Of course a fake is a fake, I never said otherwise!
I hate fake watches, what they stand for, and the crime that they fund, but some of the ones I've seen have been shockingly similar to the real thing.
The fact that when you open them up, they use the same ETA movements as the entry level genuine watches makes it even worse.
Obviously the high end watches, using proprietary movements, and gold/platinum cases are a different matter, but the 'bread & butter' Tag/Breitling/Omega/Panerai/even IWC
use the same ETA based movements that you, I, or the manufacturers of these fakes, can buy off the net for peanuts.I'd FAR rather it be the case that the fakes are laughably bad and would never fool anybody, but the fact is that they're sometimes VERY hard to tell apart from the real things.
PS - Whoever told you that it takes IWC an entire year to make one of their ETA based watches is exaggerating somewhat!!
[quote]PS - Whoever told you that it takes IWC an entire year to make one of their ETA based watches is exaggerating somewhat!!
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Maybe it's one of those 'made up now gone to mythological folklore type of fact' alongside 'Bob Holness played sax on the song Baker St'
Maybe it started as taking a day to make as I can't see it taking much longer than that.
according to wikipedia IWC watches gain/lose around 4 seconds a day. My watch gains 1 second a month and cost £400 in 1982 and I would be well pissed off if I spent £kk's on any watch that wasn't accurate
[quote]Some modern movements in watches of IWC are based on movements supplied by ETA and heavily modified by IWC. This is common practice by many high end watch marques. In particular, the Caliber 30110 is a modified ETA 2892A2, and the Caliber 79230/79320/79350 is a modified ETA/Valjoux 7750. Like all high end automatic watches, IWC watches lose or gain approximately 4 seconds a day
[/quote]
[/quote]
Maybe it's one of those 'made up now gone to mythological folklore type of fact' alongside 'Bob Holness played sax on the song Baker St'
Maybe it started as taking a day to make as I can't see it taking much longer than that.
according to wikipedia IWC watches gain/lose around 4 seconds a day. My watch gains 1 second a month and cost £400 in 1982 and I would be well pissed off if I spent £kk's on any watch that wasn't accurate
[quote]Some modern movements in watches of IWC are based on movements supplied by ETA and heavily modified by IWC. This is common practice by many high end watch marques. In particular, the Caliber 30110 is a modified ETA 2892A2, and the Caliber 79230/79320/79350 is a modified ETA/Valjoux 7750. Like all high end automatic watches, IWC watches lose or gain approximately 4 seconds a day
[/quote]
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