Hi!
I'm a newbie. Make no mistake, I joined here knowing little about watches other than knowing that I was a fan of a couple of watches that I had longingly looked at when wandering around Jewellers. I knew precisely nothing at all about the Replica scene and, like many, I presumed that all fakes were rubbish, cost £5 and were only sold from "that bloke down the pub".
I was put in touch with this place by a gentleman who collects only the genuine article but bears no bad blood for the rep sceme, signed up and then read like hell... Wow, what a lot to take in!
I knew that I wanted a Breitling and I knew it had to be a Navitimer, but there definitely isn't as much information on these as there is on other reps out there. I did my best to learn the "big" faults with these and set about finding a dealer that sold a watch with as few of these as possible. I was personally recommended one dealer but for reasons of comfort I ended up going with another dealer for this particular watch - PureTime International.
So, on the 15th of this month I placed an order for my black Navitimer World. A true leap of faith and my heart was beating hard as I handed over my money to someone a million miles away on the other side of the world with nothing other than this forum to convince me that I was going to ever see anything out of it!
At that point, I had done everything I could do to ensure that I was going to be happy, but I am going to stick this information in for anyone as green as me that comes along and reads this at a later date:
A rep might *look* stunning from a foot away or more, and even hold up under close scrutiny (even in close up pictures) - but what does a replica *feel* like?
Obviously, there is only so much you can discuss on this matter but as the days passed I started to wonder if I would be let down by a visually excellent but extremely cheap-feeling watch. At this point, I had only ever handled the real deal of a few gen watches and of course how they feel doesn't even come up, they feel excellent and you don't even question it!
All I had in my hand that was even remotely close was a £150ish Accurist which is actually a really nice watch. This feels like a watch that costs 10x the humble price tag which is largely why I went for this over a cheaper but similar looking watch. Would the rep feel like this? Would it be better? Would it feel like the absolutely horrendous Sekonda that I had the misfortune of handling a few weeks back?
Well, to try and answer this now I have the watch in my hands: It doesn't feel gen-like at all to me, but it doesn't feel like something you would get in a Christmas cracker either. Does it feel as good as this Accurist? In my opinion, no it doesn't. Am I disappointed? NO!
Why? The overall watch is of an exceptional quality and a bracelet can always be changed later!
So, breaking things down...
AR:
There is nothing at all anti reflective about the crystal of this watch and taking photos of it was a pain, so much so that I have binned almost every single one that I took. I have a plan to make this a bit easier but I need to buy some bits and pieces. I will update this with better pics when I have them.
Bezel:
Turns nicely, stiff enough not to move too easily but not too stiff that you are fighting it. Importantly, the markings go right to the edge just like the gen - a glaringly obvious tell on the "lesser"/older reps.
Face:
Lovely! Recessed datewheel... They all have this, there is no getting away from it and IMO it doesn't look so bad that I can't live with it - it really is a very minor thing for such a big tell. That aside, wow. To my eye this is superb.
Caseback:
Engraving is good, very deep and crisp. Other than that, I believe the gen to have a different finish. I've got myself a little confused thinking about this whilst typing so I will go and confirm and edit here!
Bracelet:
IMO this is the weak point of this rep overall. It really does feel quite cheap, it is a bit sharp in places and the links don't move through each other well in some areas. The clasp is very slightly twisted (not so much that you would notice unless you were looking for it) and some of the engraving is sub-par but none of this makes it feel like you wouldn't want to wear it. I am considering my options to replace it, though.
Anyway, enough typing for now!
And a wrist shot, ofc (please excuse the fingerprint!)
Hope this helps anyone looking at these in the future
DRZ
I'm a newbie. Make no mistake, I joined here knowing little about watches other than knowing that I was a fan of a couple of watches that I had longingly looked at when wandering around Jewellers. I knew precisely nothing at all about the Replica scene and, like many, I presumed that all fakes were rubbish, cost £5 and were only sold from "that bloke down the pub".
I was put in touch with this place by a gentleman who collects only the genuine article but bears no bad blood for the rep sceme, signed up and then read like hell... Wow, what a lot to take in!
I knew that I wanted a Breitling and I knew it had to be a Navitimer, but there definitely isn't as much information on these as there is on other reps out there. I did my best to learn the "big" faults with these and set about finding a dealer that sold a watch with as few of these as possible. I was personally recommended one dealer but for reasons of comfort I ended up going with another dealer for this particular watch - PureTime International.
So, on the 15th of this month I placed an order for my black Navitimer World. A true leap of faith and my heart was beating hard as I handed over my money to someone a million miles away on the other side of the world with nothing other than this forum to convince me that I was going to ever see anything out of it!
At that point, I had done everything I could do to ensure that I was going to be happy, but I am going to stick this information in for anyone as green as me that comes along and reads this at a later date:
A rep might *look* stunning from a foot away or more, and even hold up under close scrutiny (even in close up pictures) - but what does a replica *feel* like?
Obviously, there is only so much you can discuss on this matter but as the days passed I started to wonder if I would be let down by a visually excellent but extremely cheap-feeling watch. At this point, I had only ever handled the real deal of a few gen watches and of course how they feel doesn't even come up, they feel excellent and you don't even question it!
All I had in my hand that was even remotely close was a £150ish Accurist which is actually a really nice watch. This feels like a watch that costs 10x the humble price tag which is largely why I went for this over a cheaper but similar looking watch. Would the rep feel like this? Would it be better? Would it feel like the absolutely horrendous Sekonda that I had the misfortune of handling a few weeks back?
Well, to try and answer this now I have the watch in my hands: It doesn't feel gen-like at all to me, but it doesn't feel like something you would get in a Christmas cracker either. Does it feel as good as this Accurist? In my opinion, no it doesn't. Am I disappointed? NO!
Why? The overall watch is of an exceptional quality and a bracelet can always be changed later!
So, breaking things down...
AR:
There is nothing at all anti reflective about the crystal of this watch and taking photos of it was a pain, so much so that I have binned almost every single one that I took. I have a plan to make this a bit easier but I need to buy some bits and pieces. I will update this with better pics when I have them.
Bezel:
Turns nicely, stiff enough not to move too easily but not too stiff that you are fighting it. Importantly, the markings go right to the edge just like the gen - a glaringly obvious tell on the "lesser"/older reps.
Face:
Lovely! Recessed datewheel... They all have this, there is no getting away from it and IMO it doesn't look so bad that I can't live with it - it really is a very minor thing for such a big tell. That aside, wow. To my eye this is superb.
Caseback:
Engraving is good, very deep and crisp. Other than that, I believe the gen to have a different finish. I've got myself a little confused thinking about this whilst typing so I will go and confirm and edit here!
Bracelet:
IMO this is the weak point of this rep overall. It really does feel quite cheap, it is a bit sharp in places and the links don't move through each other well in some areas. The clasp is very slightly twisted (not so much that you would notice unless you were looking for it) and some of the engraving is sub-par but none of this makes it feel like you wouldn't want to wear it. I am considering my options to replace it, though.
Anyway, enough typing for now!
And a wrist shot, ofc (please excuse the fingerprint!)
Hope this helps anyone looking at these in the future
DRZ
