I personally like this advice. The boundaries between gen and rep is always clear and distinct and it’s one or the other. Frankens are not gen and hence rep.
It’s the same reason my APs are all gen down to the last screw, that’s the only way for me to stop picking on them but guess what, I’ve discovered and live with the facts that even gens have defects and are sometimes not 1:1 to the pics AP puts out to tell the world what the watch is supposed to look like. :hehehe:
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I could not agree more with your comment, legend.
I do not have a trained eye for technical details and the worst idea I could come up with, would probably be to attempt to open up watch, but I can distinguish little flaws and inconsistencies between iterations of the same gen model, at least visually. These inconsistencies will be less visible in gens, but they are there, regardless. These are hand made mechanical machineries and humans are not robots. That is probably one of the reasons why watches are all unique and I mean this literally.
Maybe one more comment, related to Don5665's post above. I think I can understand his angle. People wear reps for different reasons:
Some seem to be fascinated by the effort that has been put into reps by the rep manufacturers. Sometimes these reps look strikingly similar to gens and sell for just a fraction of a gen. There seems to be a disconnect in the ratio built quality : price rep vs. gen, but I think this topic has been exhaustively covered before. Rep manufacturers, to a certain extent, might very well be the driving force behind gen manufacturers' continous efforts to improve their models and their technical sophistication.
I guess these rep owners are guys with a propensity and admiration for fine mechanical craftsmanship. Nothing wrong with that, right? I truly respect this approach.
Others appear to wear them with the intention of dissimulating the replica status and would crumble in shame if they were to be called out on wearing a rep. I venture to say that this is the less "advisable" approach, but justifiable, nonetheless. I hope these people make out the lesser percenteage of us all, but hey, to each its own. I am not here to criticise them and I would reiterate that every watch afficionado is entitled to his own justification for wearing a rep. Less justifiable and in fact rather deceiptful would be if these were used to induce the appearance of wearing a gen, while pursuing less decent purposes, to put it euphemistically.
The vast majority of these guys would just simply love to have their reps look as genlike as possible and I respect that too, even it sometimes may be bordering compulsion and overreactions. A gen is a gen and rep is a rep, as you very well said earlier. As long as wearing a rep does not become a vector for active dissimulation and deceptiveness, this is perfectly justifiable as well, in my book.
Lastly, another category would be people wearing them in lieu of the same iteration in gen, while the latter are tucked away, for too many reasons to be listed here. I could not venture to prognosticate a percentage, but I think it is substantial among us.
This is not supposed to be a comprehensive enumeration of all the reasons why people are attracted to reps, but in my humble opinion, I think it covers at least 75% of the spectrum, or maybe more, correct me if I am wrong.
One thing seems to be common among us all. We are all attracted to these fine pieces of "haute horlogerie". Whether or not they are genuine, it should be for each and every one of us to decide for ourselves. Stay happy and healthy guys, enjoy life and the weekend ahead! Peace and may you be guided by good and altruistic thoughts.
