Newbie Land - Questions for the person who is looking to buy their first rep

[dombehsman]

Hello all,

I have been a member for some time and enjoy reading as much as I can and learning about replica watches. I currently own a genuine Rolex 2-tone GMT II, and I had been itching to get another watch for some time but with covid and my annoyance at how hard it has been to get a GEN, I have decided to move over to the rep side and give it a chance at a few watches I would like to own. I had read reviews extensively and noticed a dealer named Lucy kept coming up as reputable. I emailed her on Feb 10th. I haven't heard back yet, so I've decided to try to find someone else who can assist. Today I messaged Jtime and I am waiting to hear back at the moment.

I have a few questions for the group to avoid being scammed.

1. Can you pay with a credit card? - Ideally, I would do this for protection against getting scammed or not receiving the item. I have read to not use Paypal Friends and Family, but I did not see if using a Credit Card is an option or what other methods are recommended.

2. I have read a lot about the noob factory which closed down and was the best Rolex replicas. Does anybody sell them on the secondary market? is there a way to verify if they are noob-made watches? and what would the going rate go typically for them on the secondary market at this time?

3. what is a realistic expected waiting time with your experience to receive your watch once you have made payment?

Ideally, I look for one dealer to help and assist me with purchasing watches for myself through a lifelong contact or connection. I need someone who is attentive, able to act as a consultant and does not have an ego. When I ask which factories make the best of different brands, I would like that dealer to answer truthfully and not self-fulfilling, and help me get the best rep's money could buy for me. If you have any recommendations or contacts that are able to handle a picky, OCD, attention-to-detail client/customer like me, please refer them to me. If they are able to assist me, teach me, and work with me, it would be a long-term match made in heaven.

 

[dave180]

1. jtime doesn't take credit card any more, but yes you can pay with credit card with many rep dealers, puretime & trustytime take credit card with no problem, ALSO i highly suggest you use a virtual credit card, most banks will give you one because when you pay in china the CC processing companies copy your credit card info / address and sell it.

2. BTF is just as good as old noob, they make very solid Daytona, also now you have new noob that i herd is even better at some Rolex

3. usually looking at about at 2 weeks to a month, i ordered a ZF Rolex Cellini with fully working monospace from trustytime (with a virtual CC) took about 2 half weeks to get.

the one problem with puretime & trustytime they only communicate by email i find it a little remote, my main dealer is Steve from theonewatches, he communicate via WhatsApp, responds pretty fast (faster after first purchase lol), always willing to help and give honest opinion, many times i asked him for the best of something and even though he had something he can get faster he told me the real differences and which factory is actually superiors at a specific watch, now the main problem with theonewatches is paying with CC, they do take CC but their CC system is horrible, it rejects payments all the time, so now i pay with crypto always on the website and you also get %5 off, and yes they always sent the watches

 

[dombehsman]

1. jtime doesn't take credit card any more, but yes you can pay with credit card with many rep dealers, puretime & trustytime take credit card with no problem, ALSO i highly suggest you use a virtual credit card, most banks will give you one because when you pay in china the CC processing companies copy your credit card info / address and sell it.

2. BTF is just as good as old noob, they make very solid Daytona, also now you have new noob that i herd is even better at some Rolex

3. usually looking at about at 2 weeks to a month, i ordered a ZF Rolex Cellini with fully working monospace from trustytime (with a virtual CC) took about 2 half weeks to get.

the one problem with puretime & trustytime they only communicate by email i find it a little remote, my main dealer is Steve from theonewatches, he communicate via WhatsApp, responds pretty fast (faster after first purchase lol), always willing to help and give honest opinion, many times i asked him for the best of something and even though he had something he can get faster he told me the real differences and which factory is actually superiors at a specific watch, now the main problem with theonewatches is paying with CC, they do take CC but their CC system is horrible, it rejects payments all the time, so now i pay with crypto always on the website and you also get %5 off, and yes they always sent the watches

dave180 thank you for such a quick response.

1. Great point on the credit card insight, I will definitely pay with a credit card using a virtual credit card (apple pay or google pay), I did not think of that. I have one better insight I am also looking into as well. AMEX platinum cards have purchase protection when buying goods, I am in the process of looking to see if it would protect against a purchase from China and have asked for the terms of service for additional protection.

2. I haven't heard of BTF before do you know a TD that can look into getting watches from them?, do you have more details to share on the new noob and what kind of watches they produce compared to BTF? or a contact that has access to the new noob factory?

3. 2 weeks to a month sounds doable. thank you for the expected time frame.

would you recommend working with Steven? I do not have a problem working with someone as long as they are professional and respectful and follow up on my requests in a timely manner.

 

[dave180]

So like you just recently decided to open an RWI account, i have an extensive rep and gen watch collection i built for many years (lol mostly rep)

1. trust me! whatever you do don't pay with a credit card you actually plan to use! they got smart, they charge a small amount every month for years like 5.99 and it gets swallowed by all your transactions, it happened to me, it was such a headache going over 2 years of CC statements, visa was grate they gave me all the money back, rep dealers usually wont use apple pay or google pay, PayPal is the only company left standing in Asia but most rep dealers wont take it because PayPal terms and services forbids it, if you have an iPhone you can get apple card and it let you generate a virtual credit card number for every transaction its grate, much better then AMEX even

2. Read this, from Steve from theonewatch, you can see how knowledgeable he is
https://forum.replica-watch.info/th...noob-clean-v2-bt-v2-full-comparison.10750721/

Steven is very good, but like i said, they only really take bitcoin, Revolut, TransferWise
if you want to pay with credit card they usually want an actual picture of the card and your ID, lol yeah no thank you!
with Revolut, TransferWise you pay with CC, but its very hard to get money back even with AMEX

this is all ROLEX they have from BTF:
https://www.theonewatches.io/index.php?route=product/category&path=431&fa148=
this is all ROLEX they have from NOOB:
https://www.theonewatches.io/index.php?route=product/category&path=431&fa60=

finally idk how close you want you watch to be to gen, but with china rep will always be some problems, this is where modders like AMF come into play, they will take a watch let say from BTF and correct any differences from gen, let me tell you i have a modded 5711 green dial went to a Patek Authorized dealer and they couldn't tell just by looking at it.

 

[Feefo]

Hi, welcome back to RWI!
@dave180 already gave you some good advice. I can just recommend a couple of other things. Please go through the stickies in the new members area, lots of useful information and forum rules you should be aware of, including more than one guide on before and after purchasing.
Second, please use only RWI's trusted dealers and do not trust any others (by following RWI's links, many copycat scam sites lurking if you just google them). Noob factory does not exist anymore and any website with "noob" in the name is 99,9% a scam site. As is a scam anyone advertising alleged "swiss" replicas.
JTime is very attentive and follows you quite thoroughly, as do others. You still need to be patient and just wait for feedback without hassling them too much with multiple messages a day. TDs tend to get back to you when and if they have something new to communicate. PAtience is key.
If you have any questions, feel free to ask, @eBoy and I are more than happy to assist.
Good luck!

 

[eddieo]

this is all ROLEX they have from NOOB:

I'm still doing all my noob due dilligence, reading thread after thread, but this is exactly the kind of "too good to be true" type of find that makes it really hard to be patient before pulling the trigger on a rep buy.....

 

[TESLA760]

What happens when something is too good to be true ?

 

[g00n]

What happens when something is too good to be true ?

 

[eddieo]

What happens when something is too good to be true ?

yeah, but from a "Trusted Dealer"??

 

[Feefo]

yeah, but from a "Trusted Dealer"??

You should do a bit of research before window shopping. That's a low-low tier old model. I don't even know which flaws it will have, never even heard of GD factory. Wonder if the td has that even on stock

 

[dave180]

I'm still doing all my noob due dilligence, reading thread after thread, but this is exactly the kind of "too good to be true" type of find that makes it really hard to be patient before pulling the trigger on a rep buy.....

From my experience (with some exceptions) if a rep is less then $300 it's not grate, easily spotted, I walked in with a modified $500 3KF with green Dial to a Patek authorized dealer and everyone complemented me, was able to get in a waiting list for a blue Dial 5726, now of course if I took it off or one of their watch technicians looked at it closely they would prob know immediately, but that's the power of a good replica, with the right car and clothes it can be a great power, can be used to make connections and open doors for you, invest a few hundreds on a good rep you won't regret it

 

[dave180]

I'm still doing all my noob due dilligence, reading thread after thread, but this is exactly the kind of "too good to be true" type of find that makes it really hard to be patient before pulling the trigger on a rep buy.....

From my experience (with some exceptions) if a rep is less then $300 it's not grate, easily spotted, I walked in with a modified $500 3KF with green Dial to a Patek authorized dealer and everyone complemented me, was able to get in a waiting list for a blue Dial 5726, now of course if I took it off or one of their watch technicians looked at it closely they would prob know immediately, but that's the power of a good replica, with the right car and clothes it can be a great power, can be used to make connections and open doors for you, invest a few hundreds on a good rep you won't regret it

 

[julius11]

Buy from a TD, use common sense and you’ll be fine.

 

[eddieo]

From my experience (with some exceptions) if a rep is less then $300 it's not [great], easily spotted,

What do you think about this one Dave? I swear I'm trying to be patient but it's sooooo haaaahhd! (Massachusetts accent, lol)

Submariner 116619 LB Blue Ceramic 316L Steel BP 1:1 Best Edition Blue Dial on SS Bracelet SA3135 V2 - InTimeWatch

Amazing discount offer, Price drop from $368 to $258 now , good chance to place your order now!

www.intime06.co

 

[Feefo]

BP factory, mid tier (at best, for some). And the movement inside may not be the best....

 

[Feefo]

But, if you're looking for an Explorer 1 or a Seadweller (i think it was...) then BP is as good as they get. That's why reading, reading and reading is the secret to happiness in the rep game.

 

[dave180]

I'm still doing all my noob due dilligence, reading thread after thread, but this is exactly the kind of "too good to be true" type of find that makes it really hard to be patient before pulling the trigger on a rep buy.....

So from far away it might seem like you have a Rolex, the problem starts with the metal they use, its usually 316L that i, and most watch guys can spot from about 10 feet away, Rolex uses 904L steel, i have a 2 friends with VSF Submariners, in my opinion its impossible to see its a fake even when holding it up close, they claim to use 904L, i think they use something very close

https://puretimewatch.io/submariner...c-904l-steel-vsf-1-1-best-edition-vs3135.html

you can see here a comparison with gen:
https://forum.replica-watch.info/threads/the-vsf-submariners-thread.10277057/

 

[eddieo]

So from far away it might seem like you have a Rolex, the problem starts with the metal they use, its usually 316L that i, and most watch guys can spot from about 10 feet away, Rolex uses 904L steel, i have a 2 friends with VSF Submariners, in my opinion its impossible to see its a fake even when holding it up close, they claim to use 904L, i think they use something very close

https://puretimewatch.io/submariner...c-904l-steel-vsf-1-1-best-edition-vs3135.html

you can see here a comparison with gen:
https://forum.replica-watch.info/threads/the-vsf-submariners-thread.10277057/

this is very helpful Dave, thanks. I got myself a little turned around over the weekend talking to a watch-collecting friend who has stated that the "holy trinity" of watches is the PP Nautilus, AP Royal Oak, and VC Overseas. after falling down those 3 rabbit holes I need to pump the brakes get back to focussing on MY preferences (though there's a Nautilus moon phase that refuses to STFU in the back of my mind). That smurf sub has been my dream for decades so that's really where I should begin.....

 

[Feefo]

this is very helpful Dave, thanks. I got myself a little turned around over the weekend talking to a watch-collecting friend who has stated that the "holy trinity" of watches is the PP Nautilus, AP Royal Oak, and VC Overseas. after falling down those 3 rabbit holes I need to pump the brakes get back to focussing on MY preferences (though there's a Nautilus moon phase that refuses to STFU in the back of my mind). That smurf sub has been my dream for decades so that's really where I should begin.....

Don't worry, if you go at my rate (which I understand is quite moderate) you'll have all 4 by July.

 

[dave180]

this is very helpful Dave, thanks. I got myself a little turned around over the weekend talking to a watch-collecting friend who has stated that the "holy trinity" of watches is the PP Nautilus, AP Royal Oak, and VC Overseas. after falling down those 3 rabbit holes I need to pump the brakes get back to focussing on MY preferences (though there's a Nautilus moon phase that refuses to STFU in the back of my mind). That smurf sub has been my dream for decades so that's really where I should begin.....

So I have 3KF 5711 Nautilus blue Dial & ZF Royal Oak rose gold blue Dial v2 super clone, both of those watches especially the 5711 are almost indistinctable from gen, the problem with Chinese reps is when you start having complications like moonphase and perpetual calendar you are either going to pay a lot of money for something that actually works or it's gonna look horrible and nothing will work, I would say keep it on the simple side.