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An open post to all.

legend

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Dear Gentlemen,

It has been brought to my attention by the good staff in the admin team, that a good number of you feel that the AP section is hostile, unwelcoming, perhaps elitist, and insular in nature. I have also consulted with the admin team trailboss99 daytona4me C Master Steelfish and fellow staff member and friend QueTip before posting this so please bear with me.

I acknowledge that while being fixated on the watches and details, I have inadvertently trampled on the feelings on some of you during the process. For this, I do apologize sincerely. It has never been my intention to hurt any one of your feelings, or to disparage your builds. My focus has always been on the watch details and their description, and never the owners who present them. I have hence overlooked a lot of your feelings, and left some of you, especially the franken owners, sour. Just a little background of my knowledge source: I am a gen watch collector, and currently have in my collection over 70 APs. The ownership, along with my relationship with the brand, forms the primary source of my knowledge and experience. On the other hand, I am also a modder who have worked on a lot of AP reps, and combining the two, I am painfully aware of the differences between the gen and rep APs too many a time. So even when there is "consensus" or mass agreement that a certain detail is "accurate to gen" or "1:1", I sometimes see the need to correct it.

I am going to say sorry for the hurt I have caused to some of you (especially the AP franken owners), but I will not retract my statements I made as being false. So this is how it will work moving forward for this section:

1. Everyone and anyone is welcome to post and share his/her modded piece and frankens. I will no longer make any academic or potentially upsetting comment on the modded/franken builds (this excludes courtesy comments) unless I am tagged by the OP or the watch owner and asked for my opinion specifically. If approached this way, I will learn to be more gentle in my reply.

2. I will no longer offer participate in debates pertaining to the accuracy of details, unless tagged by the OP, or a respondent. This will exclude courtesy, straight-forward yes/no replies, comments which will not upset anyone or banter-style comments.

3. If anyone needs help, please PM me direct.

So yes, I have learnt that there can be such thing as too much information. But yes, I need to remember that this is a replica AP sub-section and not a gen one. I shall keep the worlds separate and distinct from now, and will ask each of you to do your best as well to do so, and try to remember that these are AP reps, and avoid terms like "1:1" or "gen-like" because when these terms are used and left unchecked, they do not become the truth, but can lead to a community being misled by a certain fallacy or inaccuracy of detail. Nevertheless, I shall comply with the forum owners and admins wishes to put the big picture first, and create a diverse and integrative environment for AP rep enthusiasts, and be more welcoming to the noobs and the departed veterans alike.
My intention is never to hurt anyone and my focus has always been on the watch. This will need to be balanced out more optimally, to allow for everyone to participate more openly, without feelings of being marginalized, scorned or excluded.

Thank you for your patience, and kindness in allowing this transition to happen. Like many of you, I will be looking forward to this new chapter and what it brings. Will it be challenging for me personally? Naturally so. But I guess I have to learn to put aside what I know for what is good for the community. Thank you for your graciousness in helping me to make this happen in a positive way.
Now if anyone has an AP franken you will like me to put down, you will have to PM me direct from now. :legend: (Just joking).


Peace be with you all. And thank you for your patience.

Legend
 
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fall1n1

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A, I’m sure I can speak for all of us here when I say that your contribution to the general knowledge of us collectors is greatly appreciated. It takes maturity and courage to publicly recognise past mistakes and commit to be better and I’m excited to be part of our more welcoming AP section. After all, we’re all here because we love the brand whether we are gen, franken or rep collectors, often a mix of all three. :thumbsup:
 

Erinoush

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In which category are we if we do have gens which doesn't look exactly gen due to color variation of the dial, but still 1:1 gen, but, not as accurate as a franken which is 1:1 for the owner but not to your eye ?
:picard2:
Have fun, enjoy all watches and do not create unnecessary headaches, it s gonna be fine ....:sFun_mischieviousbi
 

Vineetd23

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Sad you had to post this, can’t believe how sensitive the world is becoming.


Sent from my iPhone using RWI
 

C Master

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A,

​​​​​What you have written demonstrates to me your level of personal integrity. From the years of getting to know you, you are certainly a man of your word and I look forward to a bigger, brighter, faster AP section in the future.

You have done a great job managing the AP section. Indeed as far as I can see it is one of the best moderated brand sub fora we have. Moderating from my experience is far from an easy task and remaining unbiased is even more difficult.

As mentioned by A already some members reported that they felt disenfranchised from a section they love. When legend was appraised of this he took immediate responsibly. He understood the members situation and made no excuses. Having trailboss99 in a PM with you can be a nerve racking experience at the best of times lol. Legend addressed this situation admirably.

I have been on most rep fora. In my biased opinion the AP sub forum on RWI is streets ahead of any other discussion group. Long may it prosper and remain the greatest wealth of information on AP reps. I know my quartz cheapie AP reps very well so if anyone needs guidance on what an AP does not look like feel free to PM me lol.

Sincerely best of luck with the AP section A.
 

Spitfire63

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As you know you’ve been upsetting me for years, having 70 gens is a bit greedy so I’m willing to accept one as compensation for all the hurt and mental torment that you’ve caused me, I’ll leave it up to you which one, but golds my favourite colour
 

Vineetd23

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Yes the amount of knowledge, pragmatism, realism, and straight talk you provided is just uncouth. I will also accept a gen as compensation for all the pain and suffering you have caused (not to mention the incredible modding services you have provided)


Sent from my iPhone using RWI
 
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mskwatch

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No thanks, I wanna know the sad truth, I wanna try to push it to a higher level which I will never achieve. You're a sort of AP evangelist here and please never limit yourself, always speak out and feel free to comment on issues. Your wisdom and experience is one of the assets of this community and I always enjoy reading your comparisons and reviews of new models. Thank you for all Legend!
 

Nono92

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It is not the truth but an opinion, based on years of experience. It is always interesting to have it but its sanctification is inappropriate.
If people don't accept criticism of their mods, it's a pity. legend gives a lot of time to inform everyone and make them aware of what can be expected of a rep.
 
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grillbrill

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In any hobby ignorance isn't happiness. We all need facts. Opinions based on real experiences should always be welcomed, too. Reps are always reps regardless if they are gensteins, frankens or mods. Nevertheless, everybody has their right to feel their rep as gen. However, feelings and opinions cannot alter facts. If they do then that fact is not real.

legend, please keep bringing the facts and your experience based opinions about the watches for us. Whoever else should do it if not you as a gen owner, watchsmith and rep modder.
 

Nono92

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There are many facts given in the description and the problems encountered by many people here ;) But it would be interesting to know how often gen owners have problems too. I spent a long time on a gen forum and it is far from perfect ! For example, what is the accuracy of a gen ? No information about it with many brands. Rolex, the Swatch group certify their movements. It would be at least expected from other brands.
 
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legend

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Thank you for the response guys. It’s heartwarming to say the least.

I guess when guys spend a certain money and time and effort on a build, they are entitled to a certain amount of pride on the watch. It isn’t my place to put them down, no matter what flaws I see. If guys want to believe that their frankens are the epitome of the hobby, let them be so. Everyone is entitled to their dreams and fantasies. I will not be commenting on them anymore I guess.
Gen AP owners like Erinoush, Tobel etc will understand that gen AP ownership is a lot more than just the watch. It is a relationship and journey experience with the brand which is progressive and meaningful (as long as you have the money to spend) and this is something no franken can replicate. My approach was that AP is a premier brand even among luxury watches. The standards we hold also ought to be higher even compared with other rep sub forums. I know innately what an ROO or RO should be like and I want the reps built by others to be as close to that as possible. But I get it that the space at any pinnacle is very limited and I do not expect to find a large crowd agreeing with me and supporting my sentiments where I stand. A lot of guys want to be told and assured that spending $5k will get you a watch indistinguishable from the gen, but AP is one of the toughest brands to replicate well. There are a lot of details to take care of and it’s just a lot of work for subtleties which won’t be understood by most. It is just an unfortunate fact of the hobby, beloved as the brand may be.

Having said all that, I do acknowledge after speaking with the admin team that it is important also that everyone gets their voices and opinions heard. And that anyone who wants to share his build should be able to do so freely without fear of any reprisal. I am a man of my word and I have committed myself to this adjustment, and will see it all the way through. I will preclude myself from any potentially upsetting posts on frankens and I’m thankful for you guys with the knowledge and experience to take up the mantle and continue to contribute, albeit with more refinement and tact than I can ever muster.

I can go on all day about why someone’s $6k “superfranken” doesn’t match my standards but it won’t achieve anything except upset the fella who built it. This is afterall a hobby involving replica AP watches rather than gen ones. I need to be mindful that we are a sub-forum within a larger forum which is privately owned. As such, the desires and intentions of the owners and the management team need to be taken into account. They have implicitly asked us as a section to be more inclusive, more accommodating and more welcoming and less hostile and I have reflected and agreed to do so. Something has to give, and I am giving it willingly.
It has to be enough for me that I know my APs. If anyone of you wants me to share my opinion about any franken or modded piece or factory piece please feel free to PM me.

Guys the facts and truth will never change no matter who says what or whether anyone mentions it at all. Let’s work toward a more inclusive environment. Thank you very much for all your continued support. There is no community without y’all and heading forward we need to show them all why we are the best sub section there is in terms of knowledge and experience but also in terms of who we are as individuals. Let’s continue to help one another and give a chance for the newbies to learn too.

But please do maintain that measure of bad-assery and pomp: we all know it is needed to carry off this specific brand well.

Thank you for each of your comments. They mean a lot to me and I will take time to reply the numerous PMs I received individually. Collectively you guys are what make the section what it is. Do continue to do so. Don’t be afraid to disagree and state your views. It’s how we learn, so never stop learning.
 

asanibal

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I always read all your comments legend , don’t see the need of this post but as stated you are a truly gentleman.
And yes we want to see your AP collection :p !!
 
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mech500

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legend Thanks for that.

Some probably know that I’m not the biggest fan of Frankens (or even most modding jobs) these days.

I think stock reps are good enough in 2022. And that's my opinion. Opinions are neither right or wrong, they're just opinions.

But, we all have to remember that this is a rep forum, and therefore, whilst some members can/do purchase GENs, others don't, either by choice or circumstance. We need to be cognizant that we all don't have 70 GEN APs.

So to be inclusive, we need to respect all members watches - even @C Masters quartz reps.

Lastly, don't be afraid to share your collection with us A, we won't be overly critical, it's a new world after all. Am sure if you zoomed out you'd fit all 70 in ;-)Thanks for that
 

legend

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As you know you’ve been upsetting me for years, having 70 gens is a bit greedy so I’m willing to accept one as compensation for all the hurt and mental torment that you’ve caused me, I’ll leave it up to you which one, but golds my favourite colour

And I love you too. Send my very best to her, you old curmudgeon.