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A bevvy of Brevets
- Thread starter Bonesey
- Start date
When these were on sale, I was actually one of the first to see them. But I was looking for a 5512/13 at that time. Regret much? :facepalm:
Only my 5 cents:
There are a lot of discussions here about Omega Happy Feet, He-Valves at wrong positions, hands or bezel markings which are 4 micrometer too thin or thick, date-windows a little to left on the dial, datefonts with the 6 rounded a little bit the wrong way, and, and, and ...
And we have discussions here if to say we are wearing not reps but authentic gens: Some people lie about this, others say the truth
And then I see Vintage reps artificially aged, scratched mit sand paper, broken pearls baked dials, delumed hands and I become very very sad.
I registered these days on an "expensive" watch website and these people are proud their vintage watches look very good after 50 or 60 years. They put them to the watchmaker to polish and repair, whatever is possible to make them look out of factory. These watches had not a burial in a safe, no these watches are worn every day or for special days.
I have built myself a James Bond Submariner and will never do some violence to my jewel. If aged by wearing, it´s okay, but never this way. And in this case I will say it is "only" a rep but a beauty one, because I don´t have the money and contacts to buy this authentic Vintage Submariner. Only my five cents!
There are a lot of discussions here about Omega Happy Feet, He-Valves at wrong positions, hands or bezel markings which are 4 micrometer too thin or thick, date-windows a little to left on the dial, datefonts with the 6 rounded a little bit the wrong way, and, and, and ...
And we have discussions here if to say we are wearing not reps but authentic gens: Some people lie about this, others say the truth
And then I see Vintage reps artificially aged, scratched mit sand paper, broken pearls baked dials, delumed hands and I become very very sad.
I registered these days on an "expensive" watch website and these people are proud their vintage watches look very good after 50 or 60 years. They put them to the watchmaker to polish and repair, whatever is possible to make them look out of factory. These watches had not a burial in a safe, no these watches are worn every day or for special days.
I have built myself a James Bond Submariner and will never do some violence to my jewel. If aged by wearing, it´s okay, but never this way. And in this case I will say it is "only" a rep but a beauty one, because I don´t have the money and contacts to buy this authentic Vintage Submariner. Only my five cents!
Haters gonna hate Bonesy. This is art. Congratulations on your work, you have certainly inspired me to have a crack at working on watches myself.
Phönix, lighten up. Whilst I'm sure there are some great vintage pieces out there, it is highly likely there are pieces that look just like this. Anyway, even if there isn't, it exemplifies the OP's skill and patience to achieve a desired result.
I'm liking the vintage look of these. The people on other sites keep their pieces polished up nice and pretty do nothing more than wear them as an accessory. Many other individuals out there utilize the watch as the tool it was intended to be, hence a more worn condition.
The bright shiny watch looks more generic, the aged/worsted one appears to have a personality and a story to tell.
The bright shiny watch looks more generic, the aged/worsted one appears to have a personality and a story to tell.
Show me a link of a real Rolex vintage looking like this and I will believe
Art is very different in the peoples view:
One artist put a messy bath-tub to the museum claiming it was art. People came and discussed which message to the world the artist wanted to give and the charwoman destroyed this piece of art by cleaning. Funny story, isn´t it?
Well, you can see Bonesy as a artist in aging watches ... he spends a lot of time with doing his art, but I don´t find any relations to his art. Other people like Technomusic or Heavy Metal - I do not!
Only for instance:
You made your son a new bike as gift and the first one he did was aging by scratching the color from it, breaking out spokes, put acid on it to speed up rust and claiming this is vintage art! Are you still impressed of the young artist?
Only my five cents:
Some people will see art in vintaged watches, others like me see only "violence"!
I can appreciate both points of view. But I think the perspective is skewed slightly in favour of safe queens and show pieces. The vast majority of these very rare and expensive watches are kept in pristine condition because they are worth a lot of money and not worn daily.
What happens when a watch gets used over a period of 40, 50 or even 60 years? Well it picks up dings and scrapes, perhaps damage from the sun or saltwater. Every time the case is polished the edges get softened a little bit more. Everytime it gets worn the skin polishes the parts it comes into contact with. It will gradually wear away at all the exterior parts. What happens if there is no more spare parts to replace with the damaged parts? Or the owner wants to retain original parts for authenticity. Well a missing pearl doesn't get replaced, the crown gets smoothed with time, the bezel insert picks up scratches and fades in the sunlight. The crown is left open on a swimming trip or the caseback seals degrade and it lets in some saltwater. But the owner doesn't want to replace the dial because it's the original one.
I want to show you some images of battered looking watches.
What happens when a watch gets used over a period of 40, 50 or even 60 years? Well it picks up dings and scrapes, perhaps damage from the sun or saltwater. Every time the case is polished the edges get softened a little bit more. Everytime it gets worn the skin polishes the parts it comes into contact with. It will gradually wear away at all the exterior parts. What happens if there is no more spare parts to replace with the damaged parts? Or the owner wants to retain original parts for authenticity. Well a missing pearl doesn't get replaced, the crown gets smoothed with time, the bezel insert picks up scratches and fades in the sunlight. The crown is left open on a swimming trip or the caseback seals degrade and it lets in some saltwater. But the owner doesn't want to replace the dial because it's the original one.
I want to show you some images of battered looking watches.
I agree with your sentiments entirely. I wear a replica Rolex because I like the look of the watch. I have a 1665 Sea Dweller on the way to me. The only mods I shall do will be to ensure its reasonably water resistant and make sure the bezel insert isn't going to fall off when it's been wet a few times.
I've been wearing an $89 Noob Sub for the past two years and I love it. I'm slowly starting to apreciate the vintage models, so I have dipped my toe in the water.
I bought a real 14060 Submariner and sold it after a month as I didn't like to wear it due to its high intrinsic value. I was also bitterly disapointed with it as it made me realize that modern Rolex watches are nothing special.
I buy my reps to wear and I enjoy them for what they are.
Cheers,
Ian
