So here it is, my first official review and my first official thread.
I know it is kind of tacky but before starting I would like to thank everybody in the community. From the gentlemen who helped my decide on where to buy, the guys for joking around with in the CB, the dealers who were all very helpful even if it would not benefit them maybe (but I will get back on that later on) and the community in general.
On to my rep history, the watch, the dealers, the waiting and everything else! (Its pretty long story, if you want you can just skip to the review but for myself I had to write it down)
Some years ago I bought two reps, without knowing RWI existed. So like many before me I just typed in something in Google like “IWC replica”, clicked on the first link started browsing for about 5 minutes, saw something I liked and bought it. Needless to say 3 weeks after I received my IWC Minute Repeater 524205 the supposed sapphire broke. Got it fixed and a couple of weeks later the watch started running slow and I stopped wearing it.
A year later I tried my luck again, same procedure, same site, bought a Big Pilot 5009 (not accurate at all as I know now). 4 months later it died on me. Sometime later I ordered another rep and got a letter from customs “your watch has been seized since we suspect it is a counterfeit. You can accept this and we will destroy it or you can take us to court, if you lose you will have a record and have to pay all the costs involved..”
Right then and there I decided not to buy reps anymore and started to buy some relative cheap gens like TW steel and a Michael Kors.
But after watching The Bourne Legacy and noticing the IWC Aaron Cross was wearing I was hooked again. I had to get my hands on another IWC rep but was determent to get my hands on a good rep this time so I did some more research and stumbled upon RWI.
After lurking and reading for some time I knew it was time to make a move.
‘The Bourne IWC’ was an IWC Pilot’s Watch Double Chronograph Edition TOP GUN Ref. IW 379901. After looking in to it more extensively I was not so sure about Double Chronograph or the price.
So I searched for something very much like it but different if you know what I mean. Ended up with the IWC Top Gun 388001. Looked very much a like but was different at the same time and I felt it would suit me better.
So I found my watch, all I had to do now was find a dealer.
Started to browse all the TD’s sites again looking for the watch and noticed they came in different cases and different movements, damn…
I made the decision for myself that this time I would focus on the looks just to see how RWI and the TD’s worked and because I was on a budget. So I started to message some of the TD’s if they could deliver the PVD with quartz, how much it would cost me and how they would ship it to The Netherlands, since the customs are very strict here.
Lucy straight up answered me saying; I got one, but I’m not selling it to you because of your customs, its to risky I’m sorry.
WBK might me able to get me one, but it was too expensive for me so I contacted Sead.
Sad was able to deliver it to me in 2 different ways, directly with HK mail or via The UK. Last method would cost me some 25$ more, but custom risk was lower and it would only take about 5 days extra. For me it was a no brainer.
So I ordered the Top Gun at 119$ + 40$ shipping via The UK to Holland. (Yes Holland is the same as The Netherlands)
According to the estimations the packaged would be delivered on the 17[SUP]th[/SUP] or 18[SUP]th[/SUP] of July just 14 to 15 days after I made the payment, but I was leaving for a couple of days to Paris on the 18[SUP]th[/SUP] so I was really hoping I could take it with me… Spoiler, I couldn’t. It arrived at our doorstep 3 hours after I left for Paris, so in Paris I was window-shopping for the watch that was already delivered back home. When I got back I found a note saying; Was unable to deliver, you can pick it up at the post office Monday after 13:00.
So in all my enthusiasm I went to the post office at 13:00 but the postman only arrived at 13:00. Longest 5 minutes of my life maybe.
Back home I unwrapped the watch, and it was exactly what I was hoping for. So thanks sead!
On to my not so professional review but hey, we all gotta start somewhere right
Like I mentioned earlier I was on a budget so the watch is a simple quartz with PVD case.
Case
At first sight it a great looking watch with the matt black touch. Never held the gen in store so can’t say anything about the weight proportioned to the gen but my rep weighs 131grams and feels pretty solid.
Dial
It’s a nice dark black; all numerals are crispy white as well as the date. The 3,6,9 and 12 appear to be a little more yellowish due to the lume I guess.
Hands
Thing you notice immediately is the fire-red airplane that really stands out. Seconds at 6 hand is slightly less red but looks like gen accept for the color. Big hands are less yellowish than 3,6,9,12 but not as crispy white as the numerals.
Crystal
Is very well done, fits like a glove and has the blue-ish glare like the gen.
Crown
Both the crown and the pushers feel really solid, pulling it out to adjust the time feels like it should. Although it seems like the crown could be closer to the case. But than again it’s a 100 times cheaper than the gen!
Strap
I knew when I ordered it that it would probably feel cheap and it does. It will do for now but I have already ordered another which will be delivered in about a week. Nevertheless, the Kevlar makes it look pretty kickass.
Deployant clasp
It is less titanium looking than I had anticipated, looks more grey, don’t know it the pictures really show it. IWC is not as deep, but you cant see that from more then 20cm.
Back case
This was really one of the aspect that made me choose this watch, the case back logo with Top Gun on it.
Looks very close to gen in my opinion even though it does not point straight up and the color is a bit off..
Logo is covered by plastic or glass layer not sure which one it is, but feels good.
Movement
Well like I mentioned before it is quartz so nothing special to report here.
All in all, a very good rep for a very nice price. I'm absolutely in love with the watch.
Everybody thank you for taking the time to read my review, any comments are welcome. Feedback is highly appreciated! (especially on the pictures because this was the first time I made pictures like this)
Thanks again everybody at RWI, I’m really happy with my watch and a special shout out goes out to Liam for helping me find my way around here the first days
(more pictures can be found here: https://imgur.com/a/0Ivef )
I know it is kind of tacky but before starting I would like to thank everybody in the community. From the gentlemen who helped my decide on where to buy, the guys for joking around with in the CB, the dealers who were all very helpful even if it would not benefit them maybe (but I will get back on that later on) and the community in general.
On to my rep history, the watch, the dealers, the waiting and everything else! (Its pretty long story, if you want you can just skip to the review but for myself I had to write it down)
Some years ago I bought two reps, without knowing RWI existed. So like many before me I just typed in something in Google like “IWC replica”, clicked on the first link started browsing for about 5 minutes, saw something I liked and bought it. Needless to say 3 weeks after I received my IWC Minute Repeater 524205 the supposed sapphire broke. Got it fixed and a couple of weeks later the watch started running slow and I stopped wearing it.
A year later I tried my luck again, same procedure, same site, bought a Big Pilot 5009 (not accurate at all as I know now). 4 months later it died on me. Sometime later I ordered another rep and got a letter from customs “your watch has been seized since we suspect it is a counterfeit. You can accept this and we will destroy it or you can take us to court, if you lose you will have a record and have to pay all the costs involved..”
Right then and there I decided not to buy reps anymore and started to buy some relative cheap gens like TW steel and a Michael Kors.
But after watching The Bourne Legacy and noticing the IWC Aaron Cross was wearing I was hooked again. I had to get my hands on another IWC rep but was determent to get my hands on a good rep this time so I did some more research and stumbled upon RWI.
After lurking and reading for some time I knew it was time to make a move.
‘The Bourne IWC’ was an IWC Pilot’s Watch Double Chronograph Edition TOP GUN Ref. IW 379901. After looking in to it more extensively I was not so sure about Double Chronograph or the price.
So I searched for something very much like it but different if you know what I mean. Ended up with the IWC Top Gun 388001. Looked very much a like but was different at the same time and I felt it would suit me better.
So I found my watch, all I had to do now was find a dealer.
Started to browse all the TD’s sites again looking for the watch and noticed they came in different cases and different movements, damn…
I made the decision for myself that this time I would focus on the looks just to see how RWI and the TD’s worked and because I was on a budget. So I started to message some of the TD’s if they could deliver the PVD with quartz, how much it would cost me and how they would ship it to The Netherlands, since the customs are very strict here.
Lucy straight up answered me saying; I got one, but I’m not selling it to you because of your customs, its to risky I’m sorry.
WBK might me able to get me one, but it was too expensive for me so I contacted Sead.
Sad was able to deliver it to me in 2 different ways, directly with HK mail or via The UK. Last method would cost me some 25$ more, but custom risk was lower and it would only take about 5 days extra. For me it was a no brainer.
So I ordered the Top Gun at 119$ + 40$ shipping via The UK to Holland. (Yes Holland is the same as The Netherlands)
According to the estimations the packaged would be delivered on the 17[SUP]th[/SUP] or 18[SUP]th[/SUP] of July just 14 to 15 days after I made the payment, but I was leaving for a couple of days to Paris on the 18[SUP]th[/SUP] so I was really hoping I could take it with me… Spoiler, I couldn’t. It arrived at our doorstep 3 hours after I left for Paris, so in Paris I was window-shopping for the watch that was already delivered back home. When I got back I found a note saying; Was unable to deliver, you can pick it up at the post office Monday after 13:00.
So in all my enthusiasm I went to the post office at 13:00 but the postman only arrived at 13:00. Longest 5 minutes of my life maybe.
Back home I unwrapped the watch, and it was exactly what I was hoping for. So thanks sead!
On to my not so professional review but hey, we all gotta start somewhere right
Like I mentioned earlier I was on a budget so the watch is a simple quartz with PVD case.
Case
At first sight it a great looking watch with the matt black touch. Never held the gen in store so can’t say anything about the weight proportioned to the gen but my rep weighs 131grams and feels pretty solid.
Dial
It’s a nice dark black; all numerals are crispy white as well as the date. The 3,6,9 and 12 appear to be a little more yellowish due to the lume I guess.
Hands
Thing you notice immediately is the fire-red airplane that really stands out. Seconds at 6 hand is slightly less red but looks like gen accept for the color. Big hands are less yellowish than 3,6,9,12 but not as crispy white as the numerals.
Crystal
Is very well done, fits like a glove and has the blue-ish glare like the gen.
Crown
Both the crown and the pushers feel really solid, pulling it out to adjust the time feels like it should. Although it seems like the crown could be closer to the case. But than again it’s a 100 times cheaper than the gen!
Strap
I knew when I ordered it that it would probably feel cheap and it does. It will do for now but I have already ordered another which will be delivered in about a week. Nevertheless, the Kevlar makes it look pretty kickass.
Deployant clasp
It is less titanium looking than I had anticipated, looks more grey, don’t know it the pictures really show it. IWC is not as deep, but you cant see that from more then 20cm.
Back case
This was really one of the aspect that made me choose this watch, the case back logo with Top Gun on it.
Looks very close to gen in my opinion even though it does not point straight up and the color is a bit off..
Logo is covered by plastic or glass layer not sure which one it is, but feels good.
Movement
Well like I mentioned before it is quartz so nothing special to report here.
All in all, a very good rep for a very nice price. I'm absolutely in love with the watch.
Everybody thank you for taking the time to read my review, any comments are welcome. Feedback is highly appreciated! (especially on the pictures because this was the first time I made pictures like this)
Thanks again everybody at RWI, I’m really happy with my watch and a special shout out goes out to Liam for helping me find my way around here the first days
(more pictures can be found here: https://imgur.com/a/0Ivef )
