Examining my options

[jjw1610]

Hi all,

I'm pretty new to the forum and the rep watch community in general, and I have just green lit my first order! Pretty exciting, right?

Well, unfortunately, this has been a lesson in being attentive to the details, even those things that you would really think that the factory wouldn't miss. I initially gave a RL to the first sample due to a misaligned bezel and dials (about 0.5-1 seconds off), and the second sample was much better. Unfortunately, one thing that I really didn't notice is that some text on the inner barrel of the movement decoration was missing (it is an OMF omega speedmaster '57, and I am referring to the red text visible through the cut out in the counterweight).

I have come to terms with the fact that I made a careless mistake, and I can live with the fact that it is missing this detail for a while, but I am looking to eventually get it remedied. Here are my options as I see them,

1. Sell it and get a different sample.

This is probably the most straightforward method, but I feel that I will lose a decent amount of money trying to sell a watch that is so clearly flawed, if I can manage to sell it at all.

2. Send it in to TD for repair

This method would definitely allow the issue to be fixed, but this is crazy expensive, being nearly $90 without shipping. Not a huge fan of this idea..

3. Attempt to source rep parts and do self repair

I feel pretty comfortable with the idea of doing the repair myself since it is so simple, but I suspect that it will be nigh impossible to source the decorative piece that I need. I know some folks have had success sourcing rep parts before, but I am getting mixed messages about how likely this is to work for me. This is my preferred option (if possible), but I think it might be a challenge.

Has anybody been in a similar predicament? Are there any other options that I am not considering? What do yall think the best course of action would be?

Any and all insight would be greatly appreciated!

 

[p0pperini]

My suggestion would be to wear the watch. You’ll soon realise that this flaw is invisible while you’re wearing it. It’s therefore completely irrelevant - unless you ever intended to try and convince someone who was a world-class expert on the details of the Speedmaster ‘57 that it’s a gen. And they’d probably spot it’s a rep from other details.

 

[parklanephil]

There are way bigger tells on these so unless you are trying to pass it off as gen then don’t sweat it. It’s not visible while wearing it, I bet if you take it off and say to someone who isn’t an expert or owner of a ‘57- “ this is a rep find the flaws” then they won’t.
Just enjoy it.

 

[Stops]

No one can see it and you cant see it while it's on your hand. The only way I see this being a "problem" is if you are trying to pass this as a gen watch to your watchmaker friend. If you were to list it here for sale it would sell very fast and 99% of people wouldn't care for that, trust me.

 

[hurk]

Like the other two members said.


ALL REPS will have flaws.
ALL.

If these small differences are that much of a bother to you then probably better buy gen.

Oh wait.
Gens have flaws too.



Just enjoy it man.

 

[jjw1610]

Thanks for all of your thoughtful responses guys! I really appreciate the thoughts.

I agree that the flaw is invisible when worn, and doesn't really matter much since I am not trying to pass it off as a genuine. Im sure the biggest tell is probably the fact that I am a broke college student haha.

All that said, I do appreciate the movement decorations for my own sake (I just think it's neat), so I think I will attempt to sell at a discount and reorder at some point in the future.

It's funny that somebody mentioned that even gens have flaws, as this is something I have come to realize when I was scrutinizing the bezel-dial alignment and noticed that even on the pictures used for advertisement this alignment still seems to be some fractions of a second off. Funny how getting into replica watches can make one hypersensitive even to tiny errors in the real deal!