24hrs with the VSF 126610LN

[roromush]

This is going to be a bit of a wall of text about my story about my first rep purchase.



I have my name down at my local AD for a 126610LN for almost a year now, it's been heavily implied that I'll need to buy some jewelry in order to “move up the list”. And frankly I have no desire to do that, this led me down the rabbit hole to looking at replica purchases to tide me over, until the market cooled, and I could get one from the AD. I went with Geektime, sent him the funds and he shipped it off. Got it about 3 weeks later.



Today I have the VSF submariner in my hand, I have a GEN Omega and my old gen Yacht-Master I inherited to compare to. Visually there is no difference both the VSF and GEN look the part. The hands, the dial even the movement and sweep of the second hands looks identical. The bezel action is also near identical, if you didn't have a GEN next to it there's no way that you would be able to tell.



The ceramic bezel and 904 L stainless steel are fantastic, and I don’t see any signs of bad machining on the case. The lapping polishing is scary accurate.



Some other observations:



When I start to manipulate the crown that's when it becomes immediately apparent that something is wrong, it feels like there is coarse sand in the movement. Winding the watch fully it almost feels like I'm going to damage the movement somehow. Also, I'm not sure but it seems like my crown sits out a bit more than other VSF models I've seen online someone can probably confirm if that's the case or not. From what I understand the rotor should also be quite noisy however I don't really hear mine hopefully it's not stuck, time will tell.



As expected, the bracelet is quite squeaky and noisy, so I'll be remedying this today with some dry lube chain. Apparently, this is a problem on some newer GEN Rolex’s as well. Go figure. The watch is +12 seconds a day currently, which is not too bad in the grand scheme of things, I’m going to wait for the movement to “settle” before making any decisions about servicing it. I’ll have to do more research on that and see how much a “clean + oil” will run me.



In conclusion, even if today I got the call from my sales associate telling me my watch was ready, I don't think I'd be able to justify purchasing a GEN watch anymore. In my opinion and looking at the quality of what China is producing, its not worth the spend. I'm considering now investing that money into the market or using it to treat my family to a nice vacation.



Here are some pics, interested to hear if anyone else has had the same journey as I have.

 

[mrsullivan]

Many will share your feelings regarding the benefits and losses of both reps and gens.

Reps get you a sampling of the gens : the look, sometimes the feel. They're real watches and asia improved a lot their standards of production, but they're still reps.
Never will they come from the brand itself, nevers will they carry the history, the quality and financial, sentimental or historical value of the gens.

Gens are gens, with all the above. Reps are just a glimpse at it but they became so good, with so much possibilities to be upgraded, that buying a gen is a real question... To each is own.

 

[Zeta7]

The vsf no date sub 124060 is even better. To buy gen is an individual decision. However this individual made the decision to never buy a Rolex. They didn’t want my money a few years ago and they won’t get it now. Just saying.

 

[roromush]

I find it baffaling that AD's never have any stock, the grey market is flooded with watches and folks have to beg for a basic steel sports watch. I can't imagine this is good for Rolex in the long run, just like you I had cash in hand and was ready to buy, only to be told that I need to "build a relationship" i.e. buy a bunch of junk I don't want.

But I digress, I got some dry lubricant and gave it a once over on the bracelet. Now its completly silent and makes no noise whatsoever

 

[WatchEnthusiast12]

That’s bs that your AD tried to pull that buy more from us to move up the line trick. Best place I experienced buying Gen Rolex is in the island of Guam. I waited 3 months after placing my name down for a Kermit and 6 months later I made another purchase of Sub.

 

[roromush]

That’s bs that your AD tried to pull that buy more from us to move up the line trick. Best place I experienced buying Gen Rolex is in the island of Guam. I waited 3 months after placing my name down for a Kermit and 6 months later I made another purchase of Sub.

I think the market is healing, the free covid money is long gone and most of the hype and FOMO is dying down. Layoffs are happening everyday in pretty much all sectors, I think most folks now see a bleaker future and are adjusting their spending accordingly

 

[TESLA760]

All your observations are things that most of us have experienced. Remember that you paid pennies on the dollar versus a gen. For those of us that have been around for a while, we appreciate how good the current offerings are

 

[roromush]

All your observations are things that most of us have experienced. Remember that you paid pennies on the dollar versus a gen. For those of us that have been around for a while, we appreciate how good the current offerings are

Its funny, if the AD sold me a Sub I would have never even considered a rep. More than likely I would have given them alot more business as well. Instead I'm tired of playing their games and will likely look at purchasing either more reps or Gens from Microbrands.

 

[Karbon74]

Its funny, if the AD sold me a Sub I would have never even considered a rep. More than likely I would have given them alot more business as well. Instead I'm tired of playing their games and will likely look at purchasing either more reps or Gens from Microbrands.

same story here...

 

[HomeRye]

same story here...

And another one here too. Can't ever see myself buying a gen Rolex now (4 years on the waiting list) . Watch money is now going on quality micro brands.

 

[madj22]

My clean v4 submariner vs 3135 is amazing feel and quality no reason to buy gen when you can't tell them apart save your money only reason you would buy gen is for investment purposes and at that you will never wear it in public it will be stored away for no one to see but yourself and also they both scratch very easily you'll be more forgiving with the rep but gen will give you sleepless nights

 

[roromush]

My clean v4 submariner vs 3135 is amazing feel and quality no reason to buy gen when you can't tell them apart save your money only reason you would buy gen is for investment purposes and at that you will never wear it in public it will be stored away for no one to see but yourself and also they both scratch very easily you'll be more forgiving with the rep but gen will give you sleepless nights

Great looking timepiece, that's a interesting point actually. I wear the VSF all the time now, I don't worry about putting a scratch or a nick on the bracelet. Whereas the Yacht-Master sits in the safety deposit box at the bank, I have probably worn it a total of 3 times.

I don't need to worry about having $11,000 strapped to my wrist, if its stolen or lost I'm not losing any sleep over it

 

[Karbon74]

My expensive gens only come out of the box when I am going to the office or a function where I move from home to destination in my car.

No reason to take them downtown or in public/hired transport.

If I do have to do so, they stay in a travel pouch in my pocket while I transit with a rep or a Vostok

Mid tier gens like Tag get a bit more flex

 

[kiasunkiasi]

Its funny, if the AD sold me a Sub I would have never even considered a rep. More than likely I would have given them alot more business as well. Instead I'm tired of playing their games and will likely look at purchasing either more reps or Gens from Microbrands.

my thought as well... bullcrap with no stock need to build relationship etc. kinda story