New Member[hopefully] New Question

[Hakuho]

Hello people:

I have been going crazy trying to decide what watch to purchase ever since I found out that there were replicas above the $20 off the street category.
I first learned of this when a Japanese friend told me that if you can get a reference, a guy - triad, or yakuza afilliated - will come to your hotel with a breifcase and a pretty good choice of popular autos and quartz for about $120 USD. This was about 15 years ago, and even though I was told by several people that these were pretty much identical to the AD watches on the outside as well as size and weight - especially if you stayed away from gold and diamond embellishments - and pretty good on the inside, I still chickened out.
Now we have the internet and lovely sights like this. Excuse my wordiness, but I just want to say thanks for having me.
And by the way, if anyone is interested in how one does this kind of business in most of the major Asian cities, I have some interesting stories and some surprising insights into how these items are viewed in the Tokyo, Hong Kong underworld.
Finally, my question is: if I want an automatic Breitling chronograph and the seller advertises a Japanese made automatic movement, can I trust even a reputable dealer with good feedback. I ask this because I was told the Japanese made autos are made almost as wall as the Swiss, at least as far as polish and workmanship.
Also, should the large minute hand sweep smoothly on an auto as opposed to the normal "ticking" movement of a quartz.
Thanks in advance to anyone who can put up with all my preamble - it IS my first post - and answer my question.
Hakuho
Sorry I have no pics as of yet.

 

[frigpig]

You won't find a "Japanese auto" in a rep. It's just not done. They are Chinese.

As for a near perfect rep for $120.......me thinks not.

Take your time and read threads here for a good couple of weeks before you make up your mind on anything.

Welcome!

As for a Brietling automatic chronograph, ANY dealer on this site will be able to get you exactly what your looking for. The movement in the watch will be a ASIAN (Chinese) 7750 ETA clone without exeption.

 

[Hakuho]

Frigpig:

Thanks for the reply.
$120 was 15 years ago so I didn't expect that now.
So the Japanese auto is a myth? I'm so sorry to hear that.
Would you say a quartz is the way to go, or are there some makers in China that do good work on autos?

 

[co-axial]

I have some interesting stories and some surprising insights into how these items are viewed in the Tokyo, Hong Kong underworld.

Warm welcom here!

I love Gangster Stories.Let´s hear...:lol:

 

[Hakuho]

OK:

So the thing that surprised me at first was what an ex-yakuza friend said of the street status of having a good replica. Anyone could go to a high end shopping centre and lay out thousands for the real thing. Japan - mind you - is still a very cash based society, and these guys walk around with 100 000's of yen in these yellow envelopes. These shops in Tokyo, Yokohama or Osaka are VERY high end, and they don't even blink when someone pays $10,000 US with a pile of yen.
So when the guys see you with a real Rolex or Tag they grab your wrist, examine it for a minute and say something like, "nazi desuka ? BAKKA![why? you're stupid!] in front of all the others. I even heard a story of a guy who lied to the boss when he asked where he got a new Omega, I think it was. It was a lame lie as the boss didn't know the merchant and he fessed up that his wife bought it from a store. The boss said ,"let's see", and he smashed it. He said why do you not go to this guy or that - who sell the replicas, and also pay protection which also makes it offensive as it is a breach of networking etiquette.
It's just another part of their code. In a very orderly and conformist society, they are the one group which goes against that and stands out.
Buying a real Rolex - or a really bad fake - shows you don't have the contacts or the street cred. If you do own a real one it had better be stolen, won in gambling, or a gift from a higher up, and you had better have witnesses.
Thanks for your interest. By the way, love the avatar.

 

[levelmanroger]

Glad to have you here!
If you buy a Breitling quartz chrono it will be an obvious fake due to the tic-tic-tic of the second hands. Both the watch seconds and the chrono seconds.
Any auto in a rep with chronos will be a Chinese A7750. If you are told differently then just walk away.
The A7750 has been a dodgy movement but is getting better. You may want to budget for a good servicing after you buy it.
Both the watch seconds and large chrono seconds hands will sweep, not tic, with an auto chrono.
The third option is to see if you can get one with a hand-wind movement. Smooth sweep and quite reliable, but often the subdials are not in the proper spacing so you may not find this movement available in the watch you want.
Good luck!

 

[Hakuho]

Thanks Levelmanroger:

My subsequent research brought up the issue that if I want an auto chrono it will be an Asian 7750 movement.
I saw some non chrono Seamasters (Omega) that advertised Swiss automatic 2836-2 movement. Also on this sight were some other ETA Swiss made and even a Swiss quartz although all chronos were 7750 Asian auto.
The sight was Marvellous Replica.
Is it possible that there is any truth to these Swiss claims. Others said the sight was good, and the prices and selection - not TOO many watches, and prices that were not so low as to give one pause.
Thanks again for your input. This sight really is friendly and helpful.
Hakuho

 

[Hakuho]

Thanks again to levelmanroger.
His advice on how to find a watch smith was really helpful.
This is an issue I considered almost immediately after deciding that I had to buy a self winding rep.
I actually went into a small shop, but was sent away as I must have scared him by being too open about my intentions.
I know I'm new to this, but why is there that 'beating a dead horse' icon above this excellent advice.
To me this is going to be one of my foremost concerns in owning an auto. It's that or buy a new one whenever something goes wrong, buy a real one, or learn to do it myself - which would now only take time, but info, parts and more money.
I think once I have the watch, I will carefully phone some places and find one who will do a cleaning and maybe even polish some of the rough work I hear about being one of the concerns in having a Chinese movement.
Again this proves my stereotype that drummers are all decent people.

 

[trksh-bzr]

regarding the swiss statement being true, I'll say, that though there has been a lot of discussion about the eta movements being swiss or a chinese copy, there is a chance it actually is a swiss eta, slight, but possible! again there's a bigger chance that is is a very good clone of a swiss movement.-there are lots of good threads and posts about this.

buying a breitling chrono rep with a Asian 7750, is absolutely the way to go, and in most cases you'll have a great rep with a mvt that works just fine.

welcome to rwi.

 

[jrodshibuya]

Hakuho - just out of interest, are you in Tokyo? If so, I'd be grateful for your experiences/advice with Japanese customs, and if you find a local watchmaker that will deal with replicas.

 

[J.Prime]

Welcome, I look forward to the stories and insight!!

 

[slimslim]

the a7750 is said to be good after a servicing. you can run it with out the service and fix it down the road too... any of the dealers here should be able to help you out. some guys put gen dials on the breitlings and WOW they look great. side by side with a gen some people could tell the it was not real but on the wrist; or to - lets say 98% of the population in the hand they would think it was real. if they knew what a breitling was to begin with welcome

 

[Matt Watch]

Welcome to RWI, thanks for the story.

 

[Dr.Verylong]

Looking forward to the stories, too. I never had any problems in Tokyo, carrying lots of cash even at night. Japan is one of the safest places I have seen (as long as you are a long nose and/or not affiliated with yakuza etc., that is ).

My recommendation is to read up as much as possible. You'll find that the preference here lies on automatic movements, but there are quartz reps of auto gens and also quartz reps of quartz gens (e.g. this extremely expensive B&R thingie with a gen ETA).

Enjoy.