Thank you RWI! Been following the site for some time now, but haven't been much of a writer. Always been on the sidelines, much like my affinity to watches. This site has brought my love and understanding of this hobby to a new level. I'm a noob once again! Whatever your passions, go for it, never give up, and it'll be yours! It's only a matter of TIME!
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Noob to Noob: welcome and getting to know the rep culture...
- Thread starter kitersoze
- Start date
Hand claps and congrats Kiterzoze that was healthy reading fo a noob...brilliant bit of info/guide.
Hi, I have made the decision of buying a noob sea dweller deep sea. After my research I have narrowed it down to two watches.
http://www.tswatchshop.com/15459-ro...1-a3135_b0084ead88fe146ddfa33d9ad643257c.html
and this one
http://www.tswatchshop.com/18349-ro...-sa3135_ec9b295f3ea03c6f68afbabca1b66fdb.html
I have been unable to find many differences in these two watches, could someone please help me as to what each watch offers and what the differences are. In the Noob V6s i was leaning towards the swiss ETA movement.
http://www.tswatchshop.com/15459-ro...1-a3135_b0084ead88fe146ddfa33d9ad643257c.html
and this one
http://www.tswatchshop.com/18349-ro...-sa3135_ec9b295f3ea03c6f68afbabca1b66fdb.html
I have been unable to find many differences in these two watches, could someone please help me as to what each watch offers and what the differences are. In the Noob V6s i was leaning towards the swiss ETA movement.
OK so I had a question and any help would be appreciated. If there is a problem with a rep down the line and I need to get it repaired locally, will I be attracting trouble (legal) taking my watch to a local watchsmith? Anyone with a recommendation in the GTA (Greater Toronto Area)?
Great stuff, I purchased my first rep Rolex from Eddie Lee, the guy went overboard to insure it was right. Still wearing it today, identical to my original Rolex.
Excellent job, cheers.
Excellent job, cheers.
Hi Guys I am a noob so far as reps go but I finally parted with my 50 year old submariner and bought a beautiful replica from a reputable dealer. It probably worth mentioning that I am an expatriate living in Malaysia. I sold my old Sub when I learned that the local service agent replaced the dial with a fake dial at the last servicing, which lopped a lot off the value - Not that I am a collector or a snob but I was very partial to that watch after wearing it for 50 years while it faithfully kept on ticking right on time despite the fact that I did not baby it, so the appearance was getting dull.
The new rep is a work of art, so good in fact that when I took in to the local Rolex dealer to have the band adjusted, he asked why I had not bought from him! Six months down the road, I am experiencing problems with the watch stopping every now and then even though I wear it 24/7.
I have discussed this with the seller, and his attitude is sort of like - What did you expect for $600? Is this a common problem with replicas?
The new rep is a work of art, so good in fact that when I took in to the local Rolex dealer to have the band adjusted, he asked why I had not bought from him! Six months down the road, I am experiencing problems with the watch stopping every now and then even though I wear it 24/7.
I have discussed this with the seller, and his attitude is sort of like - What did you expect for $600? Is this a common problem with replicas?
The worse case scenario here is you can replace the movement cheaply. Asian movements are not expensive. Some will last for years some not so long. It depends on the quality control of the day (same as gens tbh, some watches just have issues, gens just less so than reps). It could be a very simple issue that is making the movement stop every now and them. Find a rep friendly watchmaker and get him to service it. This will cost you a lot lot less than servicing a gen Rolex.
Great points there, now if I may I'd like to add 2 more:
When you have a rep in your hands, be logical, don't be an ass taking your rep to an AD for servicing expecting them to fall for it. Find a good independent watchsmith instead, he/she will most likely 1. charge you a lot less than AD, and 2. not confiscate your rep when found out (yes, when, not if).
And last, if you have an OCD towards detail, please stay off reps. I've skimmed some of the threads and found plenty of insane nitpicking like "the case is 1mm too thick", holy hell....
When you have a rep in your hands, be logical, don't be an ass taking your rep to an AD for servicing expecting them to fall for it. Find a good independent watchsmith instead, he/she will most likely 1. charge you a lot less than AD, and 2. not confiscate your rep when found out (yes, when, not if).
And last, if you have an OCD towards detail, please stay off reps. I've skimmed some of the threads and found plenty of insane nitpicking like "the case is 1mm too thick", holy hell....
:nerd:Thanks for the responses guys, while I am a watch noob I have managed to pick up a bit of smarts knocking around the world for 60 years. The rep I bought is a work of art and I doubt the average Rolex dealer would pick is as a rep without opening the case, so I have no problems at all with the appearance,materials etc. What I am talking about is having to wind the watch every other day in order to keep it running. The movement is supposed to be one of the better ones but I have no idea where to find a better movement or if I can even find a watchmaker locally who can replace the movement. Bit disappointing at this stage of the game - Wish now I had kept the gen as even though it had a few scratches it kept perfect time 
Perhaps I should mention that my original Sub was serviced locally by a supposedly good watchmaker here who swapped the dial with a copy.
I worked for a Rolex authorized dealer in the States and when there purchased a vintage 5513. Years later I sent it off to Geneva through Rolex NYC for reconditioning because it was running poorly. It came back with all traces of its history erased - despite my specific written instructions that the watch not be touched cosmetically, they'd replaced the bezel and dial and hands and crown with "service" components. To my eye, the watch never looked "right" again. I was furious and wrote them asking why oh why would they do that against my specific instructions.
They replied saying, basically, "sorry but we know better than you do - the lume was crumbling and might get into the works - so we did it anyway and BTW we don't stock old parts from the 1970's so you got what we had in the drawer"
Given I could buy two or three reps for what that disappointing factory service cost me, I started to buy fakes for daily wear and have never looked back.
It sounds like you had a similar experience.
My advice would be to enjoy your rep for what it is - a fun fake you don't need to worry about - and when the movement craps out, get a local guy to slap a new one in there. When that time comes, maybe ask your watchmaker to give it a good clean and oil first because typically the rep "factories" (a few guys sitting around a kitchen table) leave them improperly lubricated and relatively dirty. Chances are that if your $650 rep isn't keeping time anymore its because it needs a cleaning/lube.
Or... you could just buy a new one that might be "better". Remember, for what it costs to service a gen you can buy more than one rep. This is especially the case if you buy from one of our Trusted Dealers. For what you paid, an RWI regular would expect to get a Sub that had a lot of personal attention paid to it. Something like this:
https://forum.replica-watch.info/vb...fering-Noobfactory-Hulk-v7-w-Swiss-ETA-2836-2
Spend wisely, find a local watchmaker who will treat your rep with some care, enjoy the freedom and care-free attitude reps permit, and have fun!
Actually I had more freedom with less care required for my gen, so reps do not seem to be worth it to me. OK I paid ten times more for my gen but I wore it for 50 years and never had to do more than have it cleaned and oiled, whereas with what is supposed to be one of the best reps it stopped working after four months.
Don't expect a warranty after six months of use when it comes to reps. That's just how it is in the rep game.
toma_marco
Horology Curious
- 22/9/16
- 12
- 0
- 1
There are many "pitfalls" I've avoided thanks to threads such as this. There is much wisdom to be gained here.
Thank you all !
Gearhead
Thank you all !
Gearhead