You should also buy a rep AP and look at it under a loop. You will also be amazed. Take the tapisserie on the dial for example.
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AP Gen owners- is it worth it? or rep is good enough (For what is worth)
- Thread starter kazn
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Hazza
I'm Pretty Popular
I'm selling all my Gens, they aren't worth the repair cycle- yes cycle, its not if they break or need service but when. Yeah I admit I'm a ham fisted lout..
Don't start me on repair costs... but if your budget is 20k how many times are you going to pay 3k for a service with that "extra" part they thought should be replaced?
I've been caught out not having my SS band on(away getting serviced) and gone swimming with my Calatrava and gator by accident.
Reps are so good now that you have to aesthetically marvel at them! Get a super rep (or two) with a custom band and they will be the center of your attention for a long long time!
Don't start me on repair costs... but if your budget is 20k how many times are you going to pay 3k for a service with that "extra" part they thought should be replaced?
I've been caught out not having my SS band on(away getting serviced) and gone swimming with my Calatrava and gator by accident.
Reps are so good now that you have to aesthetically marvel at them! Get a super rep (or two) with a custom band and they will be the center of your attention for a long long time!
Undervalued gen AP is the 39mm Chrono, which would be around $12k and a sound investment that will appreciate.
Thats exactly what i think so i Love AP but the gen ROOs are not worth it except a few exceptions.
I have owned around 20 reps and been to a lot of dealers and watch shows and what I have come down to is.
if you buy a gen then buy something that you truly love and will still wear in 5 years. And don't buy a new ROO at the boutique as it will loose value. All ROOs I have seen loose value. 39mm ROs do not. Good limited editions do not either.
for Hublot and PAM just stick to rep they are really good.
My absolute AP favorite was the AP diver. But the rep is so good it makes no sense to go gen here.
so what I did was get a gen AP 39mm Chrono Limited Edition which I love and is special to me a gen Rolex GMT master 2 BLNR as I travel a lot.
so the AP does it feel much different, yes and no. Some parts have better detailing but for the most part it's just the ownership and once in a while you meet the other watch nut that goes awwwww nice watch .
Rolex is a different story. I have a full Franken GMT master 2 and that got me to buy the gen. The rep is super comfortable but the gen is even better. The movement is awesome on the gen. Rolex is just amazing especially as gen. Not the detailing but comfort and durability. And the price for the gem and service is not that high but has amazing prestige and presence.
So I love my two gens but also all my reps. Especially going out not needing to worry to get a scratch on your rep.
if you buy a watch especially gen try to anticipate a value increase or decrease of the watch. Because with Rolex you basically make money while you wear it so there is less buyers remorse
The only gens that are attractive to me these days are from independent "nouvelle horlogerie" companies like Laurent Ferrier, or F.P. Journe, etc. At the moment, the Chinese super-reps and artisanal Frankens you see here at RWI offer a very attractive value proposition in the face of the inflated prices in the gen world in the last 6-8 years. While gen sports watches like AP, Panerai, Rolex, VC, LW and Patek are really not so attractive to me at the moment, that situation might change in a few years time. As the downturn in the global economy intensifies, the brands that dominate the prestige sector will probably start entering a revenue crisis, and the primary and secondary markets will probably offer some better value propositions. It is at that point that the difference in quality that a gen offers in "fit and finish" might be justified to me.
Hey people,
I am new at forum .
Wanna talk/get suggestions from you ( or should I open new topic?! ) , regard quality and durability of AP replicas compared to gen's .
Wanna grab this Bumblebee rep(that cost 700~$), compared to original one what I can expect? I am also to contact board member to put SWISS mechanism into it . Plan to invest bit money into it so I can get perfect copy . Cose I am out of budget for gen version .
So if I can get more details on this would appreciate that.
I want to know about durability and how hard I can wear it ( can I wear it during gym, or w/e ) and not to think that something will broke/scratch and so on?!
I have seen comparasion photos , but I cant find description and full comparation regard rep and gen .
if needed I can open new topic
cheers
I am new at forum .
Wanna talk/get suggestions from you ( or should I open new topic?! ) , regard quality and durability of AP replicas compared to gen's .
Wanna grab this Bumblebee rep(that cost 700~$), compared to original one what I can expect? I am also to contact board member to put SWISS mechanism into it . Plan to invest bit money into it so I can get perfect copy . Cose I am out of budget for gen version .
So if I can get more details on this would appreciate that.
I want to know about durability and how hard I can wear it ( can I wear it during gym, or w/e ) and not to think that something will broke/scratch and so on?!
I have seen comparasion photos , but I cant find description and full comparation regard rep and gen .
if needed I can open new topic
cheers
The biggest tell for Rep is the non sunken date wheel and wrong crown position.
It depends on how close you expect your rep to be. The best deal is to franken with gen dial, hands and tachy. Add double AR and lwo movement. But of course price is a factor besides difficult parts sourcing.
Except that AP gen watches don't have double AR - that could be tell.
JP crystal is closer to gen than double AR.
Double AR gives a watch an 'expensive air' about it, which makes it more gen like in the hands and eyes of a non expert. Most people's, including serious collectors, impression of rep are cheap quartz knock offs.
So unless your watch is frequently scrutinized by a WIS, i'd say save the 20k and buy something you can replace easily.
So unless your watch is frequently scrutinized by a WIS, i'd say save the 20k and buy something you can replace easily.
I would go with a 39 or 41mm royal oak than a FC diver. A gen AP is better in so many ways compared to a rep. But service does take a while and the chronos do fail.
I would have to say Gen when it comes to these watches, when you see a lot of reps you start to think they are really good, then when you actually compare to a gen the difference is massive not in any one thing but just looking at it you can tell straight away. Same with diamonds. Some time you think some crystals look amazing until you compare with high carat crystal clear diamond.
This comes down to the person, not really the watch. I am rough on watches and they are not important enough in my life to spend gen prices. I can afford some gen pieces that I like but even if you guaranteed me they would never get damaged or break, I wouldn't spend the money to put them on my wrist. But I don't knock people that will.
From what i have read here and elsewhere (and I am a babe in the woods on this stuff) the gap in quality between the $100 rep and $400-1000 rep is massive. The gap narrows very quickly after that. I have seen some of the franken watches with quite a few gen parts that cost 1/10th of a gen. Very difficult to tell the difference between gen and rep...except by some of these watch forum ninjas that blast reps as trash before the picture even uploads.
From what i have read here and elsewhere (and I am a babe in the woods on this stuff) the gap in quality between the $100 rep and $400-1000 rep is massive. The gap narrows very quickly after that. I have seen some of the franken watches with quite a few gen parts that cost 1/10th of a gen. Very difficult to tell the difference between gen and rep...except by some of these watch forum ninjas that blast reps as trash before the picture even uploads.
I dont believe you can tell in person straight away. Very good friends of mine have numerous APs. I love the 44 AP Novelty ones and holding the gold/ceramic 44mm ROO - its not worth $50k in any shape or form when you have great reps from JF for $550USD.
Its not like "WOW WOW WOW" when you see it in person - you know the feeling you get when you are legitimately impressed say the first time you drive and see a Lamborghini or something - It actually just looks and feels exactly like the rep except a tiny bit heavier.
Its not like "WOW WOW WOW" when you see it in person - you know the feeling you get when you are legitimately impressed say the first time you drive and see a Lamborghini or something - It actually just looks and feels exactly like the rep except a tiny bit heavier.
Have a relative working at ap quality control, well as mentioned here it does not justify the price for a gen ap, it costs like 1200 usd to make a simple ap, and for the rolex part the stainless steel versions of any kind of rolex it costs 500-600 usd to make.....so we are just getting ripped off, like they are telling well if you got money you are our precious customer.
1200 usd to make AP and 600 usd to make Rolex? Where are they made in China?
Sorry mate but you are way off.
There is more to it than you think.
Kind of answering my own question here but having recently bought a gen pam I would say there is absolutely no wow factors involved with real panerais. Reps are absolutely great as it is. I now stopped wearing all my pams and just rotate on the APs.
Let's hope this won't happen when I see a gen AP some day....
Sent from the RWI mobile app
Let's hope this won't happen when I see a gen AP some day....
Sent from the RWI mobile app
I recently bought a jf 15400 SS with white dial and SS Bracelet.
Also bought the leather clasp set to find out which one I like better.
A day after I got mine, I accidentally had a chance to wear a gen with black dial and couldnt feel
Or see a difference that was reasonable for over 13k euros.
Sure if you look close enough, you could see some differences but not that I would
be called out for on my wrist.
I would rather buy 3 jf 15400 wi white dials and put on a SS Bracelet, a black alligator strap and
something a little more causal (gray) strap (Since the white dial has the least difference on the dial)
but that s just me.
Of course gen is always better, but if it doesnt bother you the fact that yours is a rep,
15400 isnt the worst choice to have
Also bought the leather clasp set to find out which one I like better.
A day after I got mine, I accidentally had a chance to wear a gen with black dial and couldnt feel
Or see a difference that was reasonable for over 13k euros.
Sure if you look close enough, you could see some differences but not that I would
be called out for on my wrist.
I would rather buy 3 jf 15400 wi white dials and put on a SS Bracelet, a black alligator strap and
something a little more causal (gray) strap (Since the white dial has the least difference on the dial)
but that s just me.
Of course gen is always better, but if it doesnt bother you the fact that yours is a rep,
15400 isnt the worst choice to have
I've heard AP are having big problems with their movements lately? 3 of my gen dealers told me to avoid AP at the moment a lot of returns and warranty work happening on APs. One of my go to guys wears a 44mm Gold/Ceramic ROO and he said over 2 weeks its 5 mins fast. LOL - that is ridiculous for $50k. My gen Rolex's are all +3 and +4 seconds after an entire month.