rolexwatchfan
Put Some Respect On My Name
- 17/8/13
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Sorry but I'm certain the MAJORITY of people would actually would NOT want this, nor utilize it....
For the hardcore franken builders here, and people who buy & have access to gen movements, yes it is great! (People with deep pockets for this hobby.)
But, for the average guy (who complains about the price of a franken AP, mind you) - he's not going to want to spend thousands on movements, hundreds each on crowns and pushers, track down VERY-elusive real-gold Rotors, etc.... And keep in mind, if you have the money and desire to even do this - you have to contend with FINDING/SOURCING the parts/movements - which are NOT sold on the open market very often as they are only on an EXCHANGE basis from AP. Meaning the customer doesn't get their old parts back. Sure, back door sales happen, BUT it's a whole nother world from the inexpensive and readily available Rolex crowns, bezels, crystals, movement parts...!!
It's not entirely true, thus its sounds like the AP crowd is more "forgiving" to the flaws of their reps. We are not, but of course the only alternative for AP lovers is to "franken" our watches at great logistic effort and expense. Lets imagine for a second now - lets say that cloned 3126 will hit the AP market with ROO's correct DW, crown position and thin case set. Gen interchangeable dials, hands and other components but it will be in the $1.5k price range. There will be 80% buyers that will be happy with their new watches being 1:1 with GEN and won't touch it and the rest will still "franken" their replicas installing aforementioned parts just for the love of the hobby. They doing it now tweaking 7750's, they will do it to their $1500 models as well.
Market sets the standards according to the expectations and crowd willing to pay for the "upgrade". We got used to $600-$800 flawed models, we will be happy to spend twice as much for gen-like watches as well. Exactly the same way you paid for ARF Daytona pig with the lipstick on $450 and with new 904 Noob Daytona coming out soon (predicted $800-$1K price range) you will be more than happy to get 1:1 fully functioning watch for fraction of the gen price tag. And you'll still be able to make it even closer to GEN adding genuine dial, hands, bezel or whatever you desire to impress RWI with your "how I did it" pictorials.
Unfortunately all progress is painful and costly, whether we like it or not. New standards will dictate price increases related to the new developments. Remember that "the best sub" is often the most expensive one.