- 6/7/17
- 5,456
- 3,671
- 113
Why are "what's the best subs?", "best datejust?" "best AP?" etc. the wrong questions to ask
Hi
if you're landing on this post it is likely that you are a new member. If so then welcome to RWI!
If you found this post while looking into the new member section then you are doing the right thing and trying to understand how the forum works which can, let's be honest, be a little complex at first. If someone pointed you out to this post, then it's likely that you created a thread a little too early, without having that understanding of our habits and customs. But don't worry, this post is meant to provide you with the right guidance and context for you to fully enjoy RWI.
First of all you need to understand the dynamic between factories who produce reps, and TDs that sell you these reps. I won't get into too much details as there's other better threads covering this, but in a nutshell there is no point asking about the TD who's got the best watch, as they all source the same watches from the same factories such as ARF, Noob, ZF etc. (F stands for Factory in these acronyms). The question therefore is which is the best rep for you (i.e the one from which factory), not the TD.
Now as a new member looking for a nice Rolex, AP, Patek etc, it can be tempting to just ask to the community "which one is the best out there?". This is however not the right question to ask, and members who do this tend to be frowned upon by more senior members, even if they asked politely and with the best intentions in mind. This can create some frustration for everyone. Let me take a moment to explain why that is.
First of all, there is no such thing as a perfect rep. Every single rep has its flaws and if you compare a submariner from factory A to a submariner from factory B, they will both have strengths and weaknesses. This means that only the buyer can make the decision of which flaws they can live with, and which ones they can't. Therefore nobody else than you can make the decision of which one is the best for you. However, for you to make that decision requires that you spend the time to read, use the search engine and learn about the various models and their respective flaws. This takes time, but believe me, this is the best advice that you will receive. Educate yourself and really understand what you are about to spend 100's of dollars on.
Secondly, the issue with that kind of threads is that every single week we see new members showing up, asking the same question over and over again, and then are never heard of again. So while the initial behavior for members is to help each other, after repeating the same thing to many people, many of them who don't even come back to the forum again, it is natural to become less patient and understanding of such behaviors. Therefore, the expectation is that everyone should do their homework and, as explained above, takes the time to read and leverage the content that is already available before creating a thread on a question that has already been asked and answered a thousand times. It is also quite disrespectful to create a new thread and just disregard the content that is available, which members took the time to write to explain their perspectives to help others.
Finally, this ends up creating a lot of unnecessary threads, which pollute the forum and pulls the quality of the conversations down. You will see that there are watch amateurs and watch makers of outstanding caliber, knowledge and experience here, and you'll get the chance to benefit from their help. But that requires a little bit of respect and, which starts with doing one's homework.
All in all, it seems that it is just common courtesy and education to try to understand and respect every community that you just joined before you start talking. This is personally a principle that I apply both on internet and in real life. This community is very active and everyone tries to help everyone. But there should not be an expectation that someone else takes on their time to spoon feed someone else who doesn't want to take the time themselves.
So welcome again, I hope that this was useful. If you made one of the mistakes mentioned in this post don't worry, just learn from that mistake, move on and leverage the amazing content that is at your disposal. Once you have gone through it, and if you still have questions, everyone will be happy to help you, even if some seemed a little harsh a first for the reasons I explained
Hi
if you're landing on this post it is likely that you are a new member. If so then welcome to RWI!
If you found this post while looking into the new member section then you are doing the right thing and trying to understand how the forum works which can, let's be honest, be a little complex at first. If someone pointed you out to this post, then it's likely that you created a thread a little too early, without having that understanding of our habits and customs. But don't worry, this post is meant to provide you with the right guidance and context for you to fully enjoy RWI.
First of all you need to understand the dynamic between factories who produce reps, and TDs that sell you these reps. I won't get into too much details as there's other better threads covering this, but in a nutshell there is no point asking about the TD who's got the best watch, as they all source the same watches from the same factories such as ARF, Noob, ZF etc. (F stands for Factory in these acronyms). The question therefore is which is the best rep for you (i.e the one from which factory), not the TD.
Now as a new member looking for a nice Rolex, AP, Patek etc, it can be tempting to just ask to the community "which one is the best out there?". This is however not the right question to ask, and members who do this tend to be frowned upon by more senior members, even if they asked politely and with the best intentions in mind. This can create some frustration for everyone. Let me take a moment to explain why that is.
First of all, there is no such thing as a perfect rep. Every single rep has its flaws and if you compare a submariner from factory A to a submariner from factory B, they will both have strengths and weaknesses. This means that only the buyer can make the decision of which flaws they can live with, and which ones they can't. Therefore nobody else than you can make the decision of which one is the best for you. However, for you to make that decision requires that you spend the time to read, use the search engine and learn about the various models and their respective flaws. This takes time, but believe me, this is the best advice that you will receive. Educate yourself and really understand what you are about to spend 100's of dollars on.
Secondly, the issue with that kind of threads is that every single week we see new members showing up, asking the same question over and over again, and then are never heard of again. So while the initial behavior for members is to help each other, after repeating the same thing to many people, many of them who don't even come back to the forum again, it is natural to become less patient and understanding of such behaviors. Therefore, the expectation is that everyone should do their homework and, as explained above, takes the time to read and leverage the content that is already available before creating a thread on a question that has already been asked and answered a thousand times. It is also quite disrespectful to create a new thread and just disregard the content that is available, which members took the time to write to explain their perspectives to help others.
Finally, this ends up creating a lot of unnecessary threads, which pollute the forum and pulls the quality of the conversations down. You will see that there are watch amateurs and watch makers of outstanding caliber, knowledge and experience here, and you'll get the chance to benefit from their help. But that requires a little bit of respect and, which starts with doing one's homework.
All in all, it seems that it is just common courtesy and education to try to understand and respect every community that you just joined before you start talking. This is personally a principle that I apply both on internet and in real life. This community is very active and everyone tries to help everyone. But there should not be an expectation that someone else takes on their time to spoon feed someone else who doesn't want to take the time themselves.
So welcome again, I hope that this was useful. If you made one of the mistakes mentioned in this post don't worry, just learn from that mistake, move on and leverage the amazing content that is at your disposal. Once you have gone through it, and if you still have questions, everyone will be happy to help you, even if some seemed a little harsh a first for the reasons I explained
Last edited:
