To those that were waiting for this post, and for the rest that may not have a Gen Santos, here is my Santos Large 3K version side by side with the Santos Large Gen with gold . Honestly there are very small differences on the outside. I am very happy (so far) with my Rep. Time will only tell.
Differences:
- Smell of the stainless steel material (funny but true. It does not stink but comparing the rep to the gen they do not smell the same. LMAO).
- Case (The case have slight differences, Rep is a bit wider and larger than the Gen, not very visible to those that do not know about Cartier watches. The Crown guards are slightly different as well, but it does not bother me. Again, without having a Gen side by side people won't be able to tell, unless your friend is a Cartier watch maker or a member of this forum. lol).
- Movement (The rep movement, at least on my rep is louder than the gen).
- Bracelet (Tightness of the bracelet on the Gen is second to none. Very solid and without any noise. Honestly the rep holds it very good, but if you can get a Gen bracelet will be way better, in my case I will keep the Rep the way it is). Also I tried the Gen brown leather bracelet on my Rep and it fits like a glove. No issues at all, on my watch, do not know about other Reps).
- My rep changes the date at 1130 PM (do not care about that).
- Time (I do not care if the Rep is accurate or off two seconds, I have a casio for that. lol). Power reserve is very good, at least on my rep, is more than 24 hours. If you always wear your rep you wont have to set the time Vs. if you stop wearing your rep for days or weeks.
- Dial color it is a bit off, Rep vs Gen but not significantly off. I went to the store to get a new leather bracelet and I had the rep on my wrist and the store people could not tell.
- Crown (The blue stone is brighter on the Gen vs Rep. Again, not a big deal for me).
- Dial Fonts (very small differences that only a person that knows about Cartier watches will tell, the regular Joe would not be able to tell. However, my guess is that under magnification things will be way different. But I do not care about that either).
- Date Window (This will never be the same, I do not know what the heck Cartier does, but the date window is unique, very difficult to replicate).
- Other (You guys may see more differences but honestly, they do not bother me at all. Also, I would not do a water testing on a Rep, so talking about water resistance is out of the question. lol).
I see the trends here in this forums, and I was a victim of it as well. " The search for the perfect Rep." sorry to burst your bubble, there is none. Let's us be honest, unless you are a hard-core RWI member, or into mods, most of this Reps are good for most people. Maybe this side by side match up is directed to those like me, with no so much rep knowledge. I have learned what I know by investing 100s of hours of my time reading this wonderful forum (almost five years to be exact). Many thanks to the Staff, Vendors, and members of this big rep-wiki power-house for educating me on this great hobby. I digressed. Anyway!
I have been to many gatherings since then and people are not able to tell which is my Gen Vs Rep. They do know it is a different watch because one is all steel and the other had gold, that's it. So guys, as long as it is a good rep, enjoy it, and do not let perfection get in the way of "Good enough." Just my two cents.
See Pics below and Enjoy: