After 2 months it’s time I speak out. Puretime!

[Tigerdragon]

You see i think that's a big problem.
We shouldn't expect the kind of QC like you would get from the original manufacturer for example i get it.
But at 500$+ USD that's still a good chunk of money for most and it should be looked at..
Just my 2c

Then you should never look at Gen Submariners. Rolex is now delivering cylcops with blue hue because they cutting down costs or they just "print" the writing on the inner case of the new Deep Sea Blue Dial (not even engraved anymore).

And misaligned rehaut + misaligned cyclops + misalinged ceramic insert ist es common issue and don't believe everything get "fixxed" from Rolex most of the time the rolex service say "Its in our tolerance policy and thats not a problem" lol Thats why i will never buy a Gen Submariner. Quality goes down the hill.

 

[C5000]

There is a false correlation that comes up here, being as the price goes up we are "owed" some extra service/care, etc. At $300, it's an ok gamble. At some higher price it becomes a matter of "principle". I don't think the principle changes no matter what the price. It is an illegal product, sold by people who are breaking the law and at some personal risk in doing so. We pay our money to cheat, and we gamble a little in doing so. We get to have cool watches and pretend they are real and look at ourselves in the mirror and reflections in window as we walk by with our little treasures. This is true at any price. And we get to have them fall apart in frustrating and embarrassing ways, like when my omega fell on the floor because a pin fell out of the clasp. I'm entitled when there is an overt guarantee or expectation, but with these reps this is only in your head, because at the end of the day, especially if you have been around the game that long...you already knew the shipping would suck, they wouldn't answer emails quickly or if at all. You already knew you might have one seized, it could arrive DOA or with a screw stuck in the gears, or with the minute hand fallen off. You already knew that it might stop running in a week or work great for 7 years.

I just accept life as it is, this way I'm not disappointed when shit like this happens. You have a great $800 story!

 

[youyou]

Then you should never look at Gen Submariners. Rolex is now delivering cylcops with blue hue because they cutting down costs or they just "print" the writing on the inner case of the new Deep Sea Blue Dial (not even engraved anymore).

And misaligned rehaut + misaligned cyclops + misalinged ceramic insert ist es common issue and don't believe everything get "fixxed" from Rolex most of the time the rolex service say "Its in our tolerance policy and thats not a problem" lol Thats why i will never buy a Gen Submariner. Quality goes down the hill.

Thanks for sharing!
I didn't know that.
Initially for my 40th i was looking at a Sub but i think now i'm leaning more towards a steel and gold Datejust

 

[youyou]

There is a false correlation that comes up here, being as the price goes up we are "owed" some extra service/care, etc. At $300, it's an ok gamble. At some higher price it becomes a matter of "principle". I don't think the principle changes no matter what the price. It is an illegal product, sold by people who are breaking the law and at some personal risk in doing so. We pay our money to cheat, and we gamble a little in doing so. We get to have cool watches and pretend they are real and look at ourselves in the mirror and reflections in window as we walk by with our little treasures. This is true at any price. And we get to have them fall apart in frustrating and embarrassing ways, like when my omega fell on the floor because a pin fell out of the clasp. I'm entitled when there is an overt guarantee or expectation, but with these reps this is only in your head, because at the end of the day, especially if you have been around the game that long...you already knew the shipping would suck, they wouldn't answer emails quickly or if at all. You already knew you might have one seized, it could arrive DOA or with a screw stuck in the gears, or with the minute hand fallen off. You already knew that it might stop running in a week or work great for 7 years.

I just accept life as it is, this way I'm not disappointed when shit like this happens. You have a great $800 story!

Very well said..
At the end of the day you're right. It's just stronger then me sometimes.
Very well said my friend.

 

[JDM180]

Then you should never look at Gen Submariners. Rolex is now delivering cylcops with blue hue because they cutting down costs or they just "print" the writing on the inner case of the new Deep Sea Blue Dial (not even engraved anymore).

And misaligned rehaut + misaligned cyclops + misalinged ceramic insert ist es common issue and don't believe everything get "fixxed" from Rolex most of the time the rolex service say "Its in our tolerance policy and thats not a problem" lol Thats why i will never buy a Gen Submariner. Quality goes down the hill.

I know this too well , And have battled with Rolex over those very issues jusr to be told it's within manufacturing tolerances...

They have changed dial print recently as well so no longer has the nice raised text but a flat one that looks cheaper than the latest sub reps

 

[preppyr6]

At the end of the day, yes that really sucks BUT its the risk you take on by buying an illegal product made in a sweatshop with little/no formalized QC standards. Yes, its not cheap at $500 or $800, but thats supply and demand for you.

If you want to avoid this scenario, or rather do not want to own the risk of it happening, then your options are very clear. You can buy a gen, as is always the go-to recommendation on this forum, OR you can buy from a legitimate manufacturer that prices their watches in this price range. You can easily get a very nice Hamilton with a solid ETA movement, complete with warranty and post-sale support, etc. for the prices you're paying for a replica.

But if you want the R stamp without the price, then unfortunately the market dictates you own the risk of these scenarios as after-sale support is kind of meh.

 

[Cicero]

There is a false correlation that comes up here, being as the price goes up we are "owed" some extra service/care, etc. At $300, it's an ok gamble. At some higher price it becomes a matter of "principle". I don't think the principle changes no matter what the price. It is an illegal product, sold by people who are breaking the law and at some personal risk in doing so. We pay our money to cheat, and we gamble a little in doing so. We get to have cool watches and pretend they are real and look at ourselves in the mirror and reflections in window as we walk by with our little treasures. This is true at any price. And we get to have them fall apart in frustrating and embarrassing ways, like when my omega fell on the floor because a pin fell out of the clasp. I'm entitled when there is an overt guarantee or expectation, but with these reps this is only in your head, because at the end of the day, especially if you have been around the game that long...you already knew the shipping would suck, they wouldn't answer emails quickly or if at all. You already knew you might have one seized, it could arrive DOA or with a screw stuck in the gears, or with the minute hand fallen off. You already knew that it might stop running in a week or work great for 7 years.

I just accept life as it is, this way I'm not disappointed when shit like this happens. You have a great $800 story!

I love this. The only thing I would change is your statement that the TDs selling these reps place themselves “at some personal risk in doing so.” They actually place themselves in jeopardy of being jailed. They place themselves at great risk. Read up on Chinese prisons. https://www.prisonlegalnews.org/news/2014/jun/22/inside-chinese-prison-americans-perspective/

 

[preppyr6]

I love this. The only thing I would change is your statement that the TDs selling these reps place themselves “at some personal risk in doing so.” They actually place themselves in jeopardy of being jailed. They place themselves at great risk. Read up on Chinese prisons. https://www.prisonlegalnews.org/news...s-perspective/

Perhaps, but its of their own volition. No one's holding a gun to Lucy's or Angus's head and telling them to run an illicit operation to make some westerners happy. Yes, the personal risk is significant, but if it weren't worth it to the dealers then this little hobby of ours wouldn't really exist. Opportunity is opportunity, and with reward comes risk.

 

[Tucker]

Perhaps, but its of their own volition. No one's holding a gun to Lucy's or Angus's head and telling them to run an illicit operation to make some westerners happy. Yes, the personal risk is significant, but if it weren't worth it to the dealers then this little hobby of ours wouldn't really exist. Opportunity is opportunity, and with reward comes risk.

Obviously. They’re not selling us watches out of the goodness of their hearts.

 

[Tigerdragon]

I know this too well , And have battled with Rolex over those very issues jusr to be told it's within manufacturing tolerances...

They have changed dial print recently as well so no longer has the nice raised text but a flat one that looks cheaper than the latest sub reps

Wow i saw that on the 60k platona and was like "wtf" now they switched on the subs too? lol

 

[RepPossessed]

Aren't we all chasing the cosmetically perfect watch?

Yes and no..

Yes the knowledgeable forum members are.. That's a tiny percentage of the rep watch business

 

[JDM180]

Wow i saw that on the 60k platona and was like "wtf" now they switched on the subs too? lol

Yup , Looks like crap now. I actually had one of the decent ones but the dial and a massive lume defect. Returned the watch and got another and found they had made the change to the print

 

[Tigerdragon]

how much did you pay?

 

[jasemh]

I blame Puretime because they’re the ones that sold me the watch.
They sold me the watch then they are the ones representing the “brand” product they are selling.
I paid Puretime. Not ARF.

Second, I couldn’t care less about the 15$. If I spent 780$ on a watch, surely the 15$ won’t break the bank.
It’s the principal that matters most to me.
I have a business of my own and If i sell a defective product you can be sure I’ll take care of fixing the issue for my customer. Especially a repeat customer.

I work 14 hours a day so trying to source out a jewel locally would be more time consuming then anything.
Many people on these forums are much more knowledgeable then I am and this is more of a passion to them.
I come here to get informed as much as I can but to start fiddling around with watches etc is just not up my alley.
I pay top $ to get the product and call it a day.

Now its been 2 months and i now and only now took some time out of my Friday evening to share my frustration.
After all these forums are meant to discuss things.
Get opinions and help.

If i owned Puretime I would have shipped the replacement part right away the day after I was contacted. Used the fastest possible shipping method and apologize.
I would then deal with ARF to resolve this issue on the back end. It’s not the customers responsibility.

I agree

 

[slashdotcom1]

sometimes you just need to have luck. I hope you how the factories work. It also depends from which batch is your watch. Different time, different quality. It's the same with NOOB. I saw amazing SUBs from ARF and also pretty shitty watches. By the way the recent watches are ok(2824)

 

[youyou]

At the end of the day, yes that really sucks BUT its the risk you take on by buying an illegal product made in a sweatshop with little/no formalized QC standards. Yes, its not cheap at $500 or $800, but thats supply and demand for you.

If you want to avoid this scenario, or rather do not want to own the risk of it happening, then your options are very clear. You can buy a gen, as is always the go-to recommendation on this forum, OR you can buy from a legitimate manufacturer that prices their watches in this price range. You can easily get a very nice Hamilton with a solid ETA movement, complete with warranty and post-sale support, etc. for the prices you're paying for a replica.

But if you want the R stamp without the price, then unfortunately the market dictates you own the risk of these scenarios as after-sale support is kind of meh.

With all the Reps i've purchased i could have definitely bought a couple of nice high end Gen's.
I'll treat myself to a nice R for my 40th and also look into getting a Gen Panerai.
Will I never get another Rep?
I don't think so because to me the beauty of Reps is the variety of watches you can own. But if they break down every single time it's just not worth it.
Now if i win the lottery tomorrow i'm done with Reps lol

 

[Ams55557]

I don’t think that posts like this ever get the OP what they want. Everyone rushes to defend the TD and attack the OP. Kind of interesting.

 

[youyou]

I don’t think that posts like this ever get the OP what they want. Everyone rushes to defend the TD and attack the OP. Kind of interesting.

I totally agree.
I feel that If everyone got together and stood their ground maybe these TD’s would deliver better quality and service.

Though I might add this thread hasn’t completely gone to Shit. There’s been some insightful comments.

 

[Eagl3]

With all the Reps i've purchased i could have definitely bought a couple of nice high end Gen's.
I'll treat myself to a nice R for my 40th and also look into getting a Gen Panerai.
Will I never get another Rep?
I don't think so because to me the beauty of Reps is the variety of watches you can own. But if they break down every single time it's just not worth it.
Now if i win the lottery tomorrow i'm done with Reps lol

Nothing stopping you from flipping your problematic watches on the buy/sell/trade forums. I normally see that working watches get 80-100% of their value back, defective ones about 25-60% depending on the issue. That has to be some of the best return rates on non-appreciating assets out there.

Even if you spent 10k on rep watches I feel that getting ~7k back is pretty dang good assuming a good number of them are broken. Try that with a broken 10k gen, and I doubt you'll be getting anywhere close to 7k back unless you lucked out on an especially sought after model. Hell, servicing it alone might run you in the thousands over the +/-150 the forum techs charge for our reps.

 

[Tigerdragon]

Thats completely true rwi was always a good place to make a return of investment (even its less than 100%)