First I would like to say this site is invaluable as it gives a lot of information to manage expectation. It really is about expectation when dealing with purchases.
Ok was looking for a luxury watch for my wife who is really a practical person. I convinced her to get a replica watch as she would never want to spend on a gen even if we can afford.
So I wanted to pick a model that was spot on 1:1. I settled on a Cartier ballon bleu 33mm with the seiko NH05A movement.
I actually wanted to buy 3 watches but there was so much trouble trying to order and only was able to get 1 watch through. Paying with a credit card is struggle and I supposed bitcoin is the best option but to me it’s just not worth the trouble.
Had the usual higher charge to be expected which was 45usd higher after all the conversion or bank fees or whatever happens in the background. If I didn’t read the forum beforehand I probably would be frustrated but I expected.
The usual QC pics which I thought there was some screw finish problems. Seems not the case when receiving it. The pics is much clearer than your eye can see. Had an amplitude of 258 which I thought was on the low side but they assure me it’s ok. On a side note, I recently I took a watch making class and fully disassemble and reassemble a hand wind seagull movement. It’s where I learned where 280 is a better range for a movement. Let me add I have much respect for people who modify their rep trying to achieve a closer 1:1. It’s not easy to work on movements. The parts are insanely small. So sorry to digress , I approved and they shipped it.
The shipping is very fast and I received the watch.
The quality was pretty good except for a pretty big blemish on the bracelet. I wish they would have caught that in the QC pics. I’m actually used refinishing my own watches myself so I was able to fix it.
The movement had a major problem. It gained 30 min from the time my wife went to work and return which was a 6-7 hour timeframe. I tested that night the watch in stationary position in 4 positions. All were accurate. I was able to pick up a quirk in the movement though. The second hand would jump at random times when the watch is moving. Yikes. I thought a seiko would be a reliable movement. Perhaps when modifying for cosmetic additions, they have changed the reliability. I looked up the movement and it supposed to have a hacking feature but it doesn’t. Something is different.
Anyway of course I checked for magnetism and for hands that may be bumping. Neither problems.
My brother is actually a watch maker and well of course he cannot diagnose without it in his hand. He speculated the problem may be a brake spring problem causing the jerk in the second hand. Who knows and I’m not gonna spend 2000usd to fly him out to service a 430 dollar watch lol.
So puretime CS is pretty good. They are very responsive. Not knowing a local watchmaker that services reps will make this an one option affair. Will have to ship the watch back at my own cost. I had some expectation of this worse case scenario. Even now I don’t know the cost to ship but in my head I have to times by 2 because there is no guarantee it’s fixed the first time around.
So I post this about managing expectations for newbies.
Who is this rep world for? it’s not for impatient people. It’s not for cheap people as their are hidden costs. Maybe add a 100usd to the listed cost.
QC will not catch everything cosmetic and mechanical. It’s good to have a watch maker in your back pocket to develop a relationship with. It’s good to have a basic knowledge of watches as well. I recommend people to take a class. It’s also good to practice basic cosmetic refinishing on your old watches in case your rep needs work from the start. No sense in shipping back on a minor problem.
Best edition doesn’t really mean anything in terms of quality and paying more doesn’t guarantee better quality as well. There are risks to be taken when in this world and I realize at any point in the shipping of back and forth, the watch may be confiscated. Also the risk of I told you so from your “better half” haha. Of course she’s livid. Oh well. Cannot sell it. Cannot return it. Move forward.
I’m sure puretime is not happy as well as it eats into their profit as well. They are just a middleman.
And some missed opportunity. I know my watch friends don’t travel with their luxury watches. I know they are not snobby enough to stick their noses up about reps but my original intent of showing off the quality of a rep in a watch meet will not happen. I guess they are stuck with their throwaway seikos as they have no patience.
Would I get another ? Not sure for now. Let’s see how this ends.
I wasn’t sure if I wanted to post but I felt obligated to help others as others who has posted and contributed as well.
Ok was looking for a luxury watch for my wife who is really a practical person. I convinced her to get a replica watch as she would never want to spend on a gen even if we can afford.
So I wanted to pick a model that was spot on 1:1. I settled on a Cartier ballon bleu 33mm with the seiko NH05A movement.
I actually wanted to buy 3 watches but there was so much trouble trying to order and only was able to get 1 watch through. Paying with a credit card is struggle and I supposed bitcoin is the best option but to me it’s just not worth the trouble.
Had the usual higher charge to be expected which was 45usd higher after all the conversion or bank fees or whatever happens in the background. If I didn’t read the forum beforehand I probably would be frustrated but I expected.
The usual QC pics which I thought there was some screw finish problems. Seems not the case when receiving it. The pics is much clearer than your eye can see. Had an amplitude of 258 which I thought was on the low side but they assure me it’s ok. On a side note, I recently I took a watch making class and fully disassemble and reassemble a hand wind seagull movement. It’s where I learned where 280 is a better range for a movement. Let me add I have much respect for people who modify their rep trying to achieve a closer 1:1. It’s not easy to work on movements. The parts are insanely small. So sorry to digress , I approved and they shipped it.
The shipping is very fast and I received the watch.
The quality was pretty good except for a pretty big blemish on the bracelet. I wish they would have caught that in the QC pics. I’m actually used refinishing my own watches myself so I was able to fix it.
The movement had a major problem. It gained 30 min from the time my wife went to work and return which was a 6-7 hour timeframe. I tested that night the watch in stationary position in 4 positions. All were accurate. I was able to pick up a quirk in the movement though. The second hand would jump at random times when the watch is moving. Yikes. I thought a seiko would be a reliable movement. Perhaps when modifying for cosmetic additions, they have changed the reliability. I looked up the movement and it supposed to have a hacking feature but it doesn’t. Something is different.
Anyway of course I checked for magnetism and for hands that may be bumping. Neither problems.
My brother is actually a watch maker and well of course he cannot diagnose without it in his hand. He speculated the problem may be a brake spring problem causing the jerk in the second hand. Who knows and I’m not gonna spend 2000usd to fly him out to service a 430 dollar watch lol.
So puretime CS is pretty good. They are very responsive. Not knowing a local watchmaker that services reps will make this an one option affair. Will have to ship the watch back at my own cost. I had some expectation of this worse case scenario. Even now I don’t know the cost to ship but in my head I have to times by 2 because there is no guarantee it’s fixed the first time around.
So I post this about managing expectations for newbies.
Who is this rep world for? it’s not for impatient people. It’s not for cheap people as their are hidden costs. Maybe add a 100usd to the listed cost.
QC will not catch everything cosmetic and mechanical. It’s good to have a watch maker in your back pocket to develop a relationship with. It’s good to have a basic knowledge of watches as well. I recommend people to take a class. It’s also good to practice basic cosmetic refinishing on your old watches in case your rep needs work from the start. No sense in shipping back on a minor problem.
Best edition doesn’t really mean anything in terms of quality and paying more doesn’t guarantee better quality as well. There are risks to be taken when in this world and I realize at any point in the shipping of back and forth, the watch may be confiscated. Also the risk of I told you so from your “better half” haha. Of course she’s livid. Oh well. Cannot sell it. Cannot return it. Move forward.
I’m sure puretime is not happy as well as it eats into their profit as well. They are just a middleman.
And some missed opportunity. I know my watch friends don’t travel with their luxury watches. I know they are not snobby enough to stick their noses up about reps but my original intent of showing off the quality of a rep in a watch meet will not happen. I guess they are stuck with their throwaway seikos as they have no patience.
Would I get another ? Not sure for now. Let’s see how this ends.
I wasn’t sure if I wanted to post but I felt obligated to help others as others who has posted and contributed as well.
