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Rep vs gen….am I the only one?

XpanzerX

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To me, no rolex SS model is worth 18k heck not even 15k a SS sub or like watch should be 5-10k depending on year and model 16610 116610 126610 etc, that and Rolex’s stupid games they play have totally made me embrace reps. And the new era of reps are so good I just can’t and won’t justify playing the stupid AD game.


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Bill_C

Active Member
21/10/19
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North of Mexico, South of Canada
I don't know what your personal finances are like but if you want a gen and can afford it without regret, buy the gen.

On the other hand, if you have the money but worry you'll regret spending it on a gen when you could have had a rep then, and please don't take this wrong, but I would say that you can't afford the gen. I know that last sentence makes me look like an a-hole but hear me out. It's not an attack on you or anyone else, it's a personal philosophy that I live by.

For example, I can technically afford my dream car. I have the money and it would hardly put a dent in my bank account... but I would always regret spending that kind of money on a car. I'm just weird like that. In this sense I would say that I can't afford it. Sometimes you can have plenty of money but still not be able to afford something mentally or emotionally. How you'd feel after making any purchase is yours and yours alone to justify.

If you can afford the gen and you wouldn't bat an eye at the expense then go gen. If you would love having the gen on wrist and it would bring you real joy, buy gen. If either of the above are not true, buy rep.

Last point, I own a mix of gen and rep. I am a try before you buy guy. I have kept some reps because they are so good that I no longer wanted the gen. I have some because I liked them enough to spend a few hundred but didn't like them enough to spend several thousand. Others I have kicked down the road for the real deal and I have no regrets about any of them.

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Dragonfan

Active Member
9/8/19
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I don't know what your personal finances are like but if you want a gen and can afford it without regret, buy the gen.

On the other hand, if you have the money but worry you'll regret spending it on a gen when you could have had a rep then, and please don't take this wrong, but I would say that you can't afford the gen. I know that last sentence makes me look like an a-hole but hear me out. It's not an attack on you or anyone else, it's a personal philosophy that I live by.

For example, I can technically afford my dream car. I have the money and it would hardly put a dent in my bank account... but I would always regret spending that kind of money on a car. I'm just weird like that. In this sense I would say that I can't afford it. Sometimes you can have plenty of money but still not be able to afford something mentally or emotionally. How you'd feel after making any purchase is yours and yours alone to justify.

If you can afford the gen and you wouldn't bat an eye at the expense then go gen. If you would love having the gen on wrist and it would bring you real joy, buy gen. If either of the above are not true, buy rep.

Last point, I own a mix of gen and rep. I am a try before you buy guy. I have kept some reps because they are so good that I no longer wanted the gen. I have some because I liked them enough to spend a few hundred but didn't like them enough to spend several thousand. Others I have kicked down the road for the real deal and I have no regrets about any of them.

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This comment really hit home for me. I have felt this way many times in the past. I go through phases where I think certain things will make me happy and in the long run they simply don’t. I have been through this same situation literally dozens of times….and you would think I would know better by now….but I keep fooling myself.

This is not an attempt at a humble brag, but I convinced myself that all would be right with the world if only I could get a Range Rover Sport. I got one. It was everything I had hoped it would be….for about 2 months. Now I find myself more and more often wishing I had just gotten a Jeep Grand Cherokee….but in the build up to getting the RRS you could not have convinced me of that no matter how hard you tried.
 

peterpl

Put Some Respect On My Name
24/7/11
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Gen is always gen however for models like the PAM000 or 111 I wouldn't not buy the gen when the reps are 99% there. For models of gens that can be had in the secondary market for like $3.5k-$4k buying reps at $500 doesnt make much sense to me and in this case I'd just buy the gen and fully enjoy the craftsmanship of it. It will last you your entire life.

I usually buy reps to try the model out or in some cases super reps where I see the rep being 99% there. The only reps I would never buy are gold reps. Gold or precious metals have a long long long way to go in the rep world.
 

leo6929

I'm Pretty Popular
2/5/16
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Something funny happens with me in this sense. When I see a watch I like on Trusty or on the forum it makes me go nuts until I get my hands on it... when I receive it, I wear it daily, non stop. Then another dream watch comes along...

You guessed it, the last one goes to my watch box and the cycle starts again. It is not that I would sell or disregard the previous one, but the excitement of wearing the new is gold...

As I think this is a never-ending game, I will eventually (maybe after some months or years), get rid of the ones I like the least. I have even modded some with gen accessories (straps, clasps) that I got at ridiculous prices, you know, being leather, rubber or a piece of metal...

In the end, life changes and tastes change, too...

By this logic, getting a gen would be a bad idea, other than being an investment and keeping it in the safe for increasing value.
 

Siesta Shrink

Known Member
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Thanks for starting this thread, I love shit like this. It normalized my pathology, and reminded me of the first sentence of Anna Karenina:

"Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way."

Perhaps our corollary should be, "Gen buyers are all alike; every Rep buyer is crazy in his own way."

I was thinking we could start Replica Anonymous, but maybe we already have. :eek:hwell:
 

p0pperini

patr0n h0arder
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For me it became far harder to justify buying gen when I fell badly down the rabbit hole of Franken collecting and building. I’m just not sure that wearing a gen Sub would feel superior to wearing a good Franken. Although I am pretty good at deluding myself.

However, it still doesn’t stop me constantly agonising over whether I ought to own just one gen Sub (or sell all the reps and use the money to buy, say, 3 or 4 gen Rolies). So that a) I might lose that constant niggling little voice in my head that reminds me all my Rolexes are fakes, and b) I have one (or more) Rolies that are actually worth something… so when I suddenly keel over, rather than my family inheriting a room full of worthless Chinese fake tat, they’ll have something worth a bit more.

Because, as my grandchildren are always asking, looking up at me with their little, pleading faces… “Popsie, who makes the best Sub?”


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Hazing

And So It Begins... Again
9/5/19
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The more I think about it, I guess it really doesn’t matter. 99.7% of people don’t care about your watch. However, that 0.03% of people who will notice and do care about your watch will know it’s fugazi.


That’s so not true. So not true. If you’re handing it to everyone who asks about it maybe .003% of that .003% can tell it’s a rep in hand. But if you have it on your wrist and wear it, no one can tell.

If you’re on trf, there are threads that pop up once a month where someone was Wearing a Rolex they had for 3 to 8 years and then they sent it RSC only to learn it was a rep. And that means multiple sales associates and sales personnel at the least all handled it and couldn’t tell.


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KOT1917

Put Some Respect On My Name
26/7/19
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If you discuss the philosophical question of what others think they know and understand about your watch, then you need to understand that there is no specific answer.

The fact of the location is important, as already mentioned, there are cities where in some areas every second person wears a luxurious watch, and every tenth person in them understands something, and there are places where a person with a mechanical clock is a rarity.

Even at one location there is a question of the circle of communication and socialization in general, here I will not even give examples, everything is clear.

The next aspect is the brand and the quality of the replica. People have been wearing PAM111 or PAM005 for years, and they find out that it is fake when they try to sell it (as it was also said above). There are models where even factual errors are of little importance, because no one knows only about their existence, well, or at least the specifics or special details.

In the end, all of this depends on the "contact" factor. Here I can say by my example that holding the watch in my hands, I can determine, perhaps, any rep pam, but on the wrist of a passer-by I see only PAM / not PAM, 3-5 bright models of other brands, and even then without understanding specific REF., and almost everything else on the bracelet: "Something like Rolex".

I know great guys who used only gen before, they wear rep for a long time, and even when I explain how the PAM312 VSF differs from GEN, no one sees any difference at all.

They often like to say that the best tell is you yourself, here I will agree, in some variable range of prices for gen, after all, the watch is for 5 or 500k $.
But again, if someone recognizes PANERAI on your wrist, then asking to look will see GEN 201A, he will most likely think that this is a Chinese fake PAM000 at best.
 

Dragonfan

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Sounds far fetched to me, but I guess anything is possible. I think my example is closer to the universal truth and yours is a description of the exception to the rule.
 

Hesekiel

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But again, if someone recognizes PANERAI on your wrist, then asking to look will see GEN 201A, he will most likely think that this is a Chinese fake PAM000 at best.

That's why it's good to always carry a PAM case opener, box and paperwork, as well as a brief history of Panerai with you when wearing your pre-V PAM, yes?
 
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papabear244

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...

But again, if someone recognizes PANERAI on your wrist, then asking to look will see GEN 201A, he will most likely think that this is a Chinese fake PAM000 at best.

That's the saddest part, just because the preV dials look a bit funky and the crystal is not all clear, people will think its fake. So either way, it's the same whether you wear a gen or a rep.
 

Frankit

Banned member, the goat does not approve
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Actually what you mentioned is very logical! Personally I agree with you, at a price point of 3,500 it’s better to go gen. Though, the things about reps, it’s not about Panerai or other companies like Hublot, etc … it is more emphasized on the higher watch maker like Rolex, Ap, PP, etc … watches which have a price tag over 10k, and have a huge waiting list.

That said, when it comes to these watches like Panerai, I would personally go for a gen. Now example for an Hublot, I went for a WWF rep, when I was offered a classic fusion gen base model for 2,800, yet I went for the rep. U know why? Because they used the same material and finishing is exactttt! And even the movement, Hublot uses an eta but says its modified! And by saying modified it means they added their logo to the rotor lol.

so again it depends on each watch. Though in my humble opinion, when it comes to pam. Better to go with a gen. PS we are talking base models, not the carbon or any other editions.


QUOTE=Dragonfan;n10210283]I appreciate all the input. I guess I was hoping for someone to convince me to buy the $3500 PAM000. Seems that most people here wouldn’t go that route.[/QUOTE]
 

Marbe78

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I have been lucky to have many Panerai gens on hand, and yes, gen is better but the price difference is not justified.
VSF had incredible models, that with a maintenance, gen strap and little else you had 95% of the watch for the rest of the mortals
 
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Watch fanatic

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I think the biggest consideration if you can afford either is resale. You can sell a gen watch in a hundred places, the market is more or less aligned (+/- how fast you want to sell). When I buy reps, the nagging thought is how difficult it will be move it on.
 
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superspark69

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I think the biggest consideration if you can afford either is resale. You can sell a gen watch in a hundred places, the market is more or less aligned (+/- how fast you want to sell). When I buy reps, the nagging thought is how difficult it will be move it on.

Judging by how fast things get snapped up on here and the demise of most of the good factories I’m guessing you won’t have any problem moving the reps on....
 

CurioLeo

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I think the biggest consideration if you can afford either is resale. You can sell a gen watch in a hundred places, the market is more or less aligned (+/- how fast you want to sell). When I buy reps, the nagging thought is how difficult it will be move it on.

I think you can sell a quality rep quicker here than most gens elsewhere and with virtually no loss. Even if you hypothetically gave it away for free, your loss would be a theoretical maximum of a few hundred bucks. With most gens, the pleasure of wearing it will set you back thousands. That aside, I have plenty of gens and reps. If I was to acquire all of them in gen, I would need an outlay in the hundreds of thousands range. I could actually consolidate the collection down to 4 or 5 gen watches and each would be worth around 40-50k but what's the fun in that ? I love design aspect of watches and culling the list down to 5 watches would mean I would have to make a lot of decisions on the basis of function over form as I doubt I could pick the perfect combination of form AND function AND price AND value retention AND availability for each piece. Reps allow me to try out a lot of options and help somewhat with distilling the list. For me (speaking personally only - not belittling in any way), your example figure of $3,500 would be meaningless - $3.5k replica of a $6k watch doesn't make any sense to me unless it is genuinely a 99% replication. $3.5k replica of a $30k watch makes plenty of sense if it offers a gen wearing experience - don't know exactly what percentage that equates to but it will be different for every watch and no, it won't be 99%.