Rep Cliff Notes

[jkent83]

Since joining RWI, I have struggled to balance the RWI culture of aggressively (sometimes rudely) instructing newcomers on their need to read thousands of forum posts to educate themselves on reps, factories, and what is in fact the best Submariner with a desire to provide some simple shortcuts for people who just want to buy a nice replica watch without indoctrinating themselves in the hobby.

On the one hand, reading thousands of forum posts provides an incredible depth of knowledge that is both invaluable and for me at least extremely enjoyable. However, I also believe that dedicating an entire forum to the discussion of what reps are the best/closest to genuine while at the same time chastising anyone who dares to ask what the best rep is might be logically inconsistent and a touch elitist.

So, to address this internal conflict, I have put together my personal advice and guidance to anyone who wants to skip to the end of the book and get the answers for free.

DISCLAIMER

These are my personal opinions formed after reading, reading, and more reading. This post is standing on the shoulders of giants and all credit should go to the many dedicated members of RWI who share this passion. Many reasonable and similarly informed people may disagree with some or all of what follows. That’s ok!

BUT…I’ve done a lot of work for you here so I will have zero patience or interest in providing explanations for my choices or answering additional questions. If you have or want to form your own personal opinions, go post/read in the forum. I hope someone finds this useful and maybe this might reduce, even by a small degree, the number of “best rep” questions cluttering up other sections of RWI. Onto the info.

REP BASICS

1) Replica watches vary in quality depending on type of watch, the particular factory that makes the replica, the version of the replica, and cost.

2) A best in existence replica typically costs between $400-$800 depending on the watch you want and the factory that makes it. Lower cost reps are widely available, but remember that the age old adage, “you get what you pay for” almost never fails.

3) The most popular and available reps seem to be Rolex reps. Specifically Submariners, Oyster Perpetuals, Datejusts, and Daytonas. These are also some of the best replicas in terms of accuracy to genuine because they have been creating, refining, and improving them for many years. The downside to a Rolex rep is that many people know Rolex watches are widely replicated and this creates greater skepticism and an increased likelihood of someone asking you if your watch is “real.”

Side note: Don’t worry about people asking if your rep watch is real. 99% of people do not care about your watch and of the 1% who might, they either won’t know or will be too polite to ask. It really is true that the greatest tell on a replica watch is you.


4) Despite the popularity of Rolex, good replicas exist for most luxury watch brands with varying quality depending on the watch you want.

5) Please note: No matter how good your replica is, it will not fool an expert who has a chance to examine the watch. The best replicas will be able to pass as genuine to 95% of people assuming they are not holding a genuine watch to compare it to. However, the internal movement is never going to fool an expert if they take the case back off the watch and look at it.

6) Expect difficulty getting a rep serviced as most watch-smiths will not work on them. Also, the cost to service some of these reps can be so high that some people just replace the watch with a new one or replace the movement altogether if service becomes necessary.

7) Unless you have a replica watch professionally water-proofed and pressure-tested, do not expect it to survive submersion in water for any length of time.

8) Different factories often specialize in different replica watches. Typically, there is a consensus as to which factory makes the best replica for a particular watch or brand (even if no one on RWI will tell you what that consensus is).

9) In addition to varying quality between rep factories, there are also variances in quality control at the individual factories, meaning that not every watch from a particular factory is exactly the same and some have flaws from being assembled poorly (many genuine watches also have flaws).

10) Keep in mind that these factories and our trusted dealers are engaging in an illegal activity that you are benefitting from. Be reasonable, patient, and understanding with our trusted dealers.

11) Reps are not ordered directly from the factory that makes the rep. They are ordered from a trusted dealer who coordinates your order with the factory and ships you your rep.

12) USE A TRUSTED DEALER. RWI works hard to vet and monitor their trusted dealers to protect us from shady actors of which there are many. If you choose not to take advantage of this effort and something goes wrong with your order, no one will or should feel sorry for you.

13) DO NOT RETURN a rep. Returns are not an option even if the watches that arrive are incorrect, damaged, or incorrectly assembled. RWI has a process for addressing these types of problems, assuming you used a trusted dealer. As stated above, this is an activity of questionable legality not an Amazon order. (This is a risk you should be willing to accept or you should stick to buying reps second hand, where you can see pictures of the actual watch you are trying to buy).

14) The Good News: There are reps widely considered to be “super reps.” These are reps considered good enough to pass as genuine assuming inspection by a non-expert and without a side by side comparison to the gen. Many people only collect super reps and if you are only getting one replica watch I would recommend getting a super rep or a close to super rep from the list I compiled below.

*Super Reps (some of these are hard to find because the factories that made them have been raided and shut down. Noob and VSF are examples of factories that were raided. Some stock from these factories still exists but is becoming more and more scarce)(initials such as ARF, ZF, JF, CF refer to the factory that makes the best replica of the watch):

Rolex Oyster Perpetual, 39mm, Grape and Grey dial ARF
Rolex 116900 AIR-KING GMF & BP (last versions)
*Rolex Submariners - VSF (CF also very good as VSF is very hard to find)
Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Diver JF v10
Blancpain Fifty Fathoms (black) ZF
Breitling Avenger II GMT GF
Breitling SuperOcean Abyss GF
Breitling SuperOcean Abyss Chrono GF
Breitling SuperOcean Heritage Black GF
Breitling SuperOcean Steelfish H-factory v2 (arrow second hand version)
Breitling SuperOcean II 44mm GF
Breitling Navitimer 1 41mm - V7F (blue is best, then black/white)
Cartier Santos XL V6
Cartier, Ballon Bleu 42mm, V6F V4
Cartier, Ballon Bleu Pink Dial 33m, AF (CAL.076)
Cartier Tank Solo W5200025 RG AF
Franck Muller Casablanca Automatique 8880 - GF
Hublot Big Bang V6(F) "V6.5" SS (not the carbon fiber ones)
IWC 3777-01 ZF
IWC 3878 Spitfire V6F
IWC Da Vinci by TW
IWC Portofino AF
Tag Heuer Aquaracer Calibre 5 SS on Rubber - SW200
Tag Heuer Carrera calibre 1887 V6F - Ceramic Bezel Black Dial on SS
Tudor Black Bay Red 2016 ZF (last shield version)
Tudor Black Pelagos XF
Tudor Blue Pelagos XF

*Excellent Reps (maybe not quite super reps, but close enough for my taste):

Rolex DateJust 41 by VSF/ARF/Clean
Rolex Explorer (214270) SH3135 V2 JF
Rolex Day Date 18239 TW Best/WM9
*Rolex Daytona 116500 (Asia 4130 Mod) White dial - CF
Rolex Sea Dweller 4000 (116660) ARF 904L Steel SH3135
Rolex Sea Dweller 4000 (116600) Noob V2/ARF
Rolex Sea Dweller 2017 Baselworld 126600 904L ARF (latest versions)
Rolex Yacht-Master Rhodium Noob 904L Steel SA3135/VR3135
*Rolex Sea Dweller Deepsea (DBlue) Noob v7/ARF
Rolex Date-Just 116234 ARF
Rolex Celini MKF
Rolex Explorer II 42mm 216570 Noob
*Audemars Piguet Royal Oak 15500 ZF
Audemars Piguet - XF V2 FC Diver 15706
Patek Philippe Calatrava 5296R RG/LE ZF with MY9015 Mod
Patek Philippe Calatrava 5296G SS ZF White Sector Dial/Blue Hands
Patek Philippe Nautilus 5711 3KF v2.1 (with corrected bracelet links, case beveling, and crown protrusion)
Cartier, Ballon Bleu 28 and 33mm, V6F
Cartier Santos 100 V6F (Black Dial, Titanium Ultimate Swiss SW)
Cartier Ronde Croisiere WSRN0002 GP
Cartier Tank Solo W5200025 ZF
IWC 501902 Top Gun Miramar ZF
IWC IW388002 V6F
IWC IW327010 MARK XVIII by V7 Factory
IWC Big Pilot IW502001 Real Ceramic ZF V2/3
IWC Portofino White Dial V5 MKF
IWC Portofino "150 years anniversary" white dial MKF
IWC Mark XVII Le Petit Prince MKF
IWC Mark XVII MKF
IWC Portuguese 7 days ZF (last version)
IWC Black 3714 - ZF V3 (slim movement)
IWC Big Pilot 5009-12 ZF
IWC Big Pilot 5009-16 ZF
IWC 5009-08 LPP ZF V2
Longines, La Grande Classique SS 37mm JF
Longines Avigation Bigeye ZX
Zenith Pilot Extra Special 20 - Black dial (V6F > ZF)
Breitling Navitimer World 46mm GMT (black only) BP
Breitling Avenger Blackbird GF v2
Franck Muller Master Square GF
Jaeger-LeCoultre Master-Ultrathin Moonphase ZF
Montblanc Heritage Spirit M Factory
Omega Aqua Terra 8500 Clone - VSF
Omega AT Master Co-Axial 8900 - VSF
Omega De Ville SS RXW A2892
Omega De Ville SS GPF V2
Omega Seamaster 300 Spectre VSF
Omega Seamaster Diver 300M 2018 VSF V2
Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean 600m 42 and 45mm (CrPO) Noob
Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean (45.5 / 42mm) CrPO (8500 Super Clone) VSF
Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean GMT 600m
Omega De Ville SS MKS
Omega Planet Ocean 600m GMT (Black/Orange) VSF 8605
Tudor LHD Pelagos - XF
Tudor Black Pelagos - ZF V2/V3
Tudor Heritage Black Bay Bronze Blue XF
Tudor Black Bay GMT Baselworld 2018 ZF
Tudor Blue Heritage Black Bay (Bucherer) XF
Vacheron Constantin Overseas White JF MY9015 Mod

* Denotes a rep I personally own and love.

Many thanks to the Consensus NWBIG list which served as a starting point for my research and this list.

Good luck everybody. May your crowns wind smooth and your rehauts align perfectly.

 

[Vineetd23]

I like that you talk about RWI being elitist with its aggressiveness due to all of the information being out there, and then in basically the next sentence you say here’s all the information, don’t ask any questions I will have zero patience because all the info is here …


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[jkent83]

Hence, the internal conflict :thumbsup:

 

[Vineetd23]

I guess no one else gave a shit about this but me


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[Vineetd23]

I do think it’s a quality summary with lots of good info for a newbie


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[Neptune22]

great post. thanks for taking from your time to share this!

 

[philwongnz]

I do think it’s a quality summary with lots of good info for a newbie


Sent from my iPhone using RWI

Is a great post but ironically I wonder newbies would even bother even reading one posts as a lot of them like to be spoon fed (you just need to look at reddit). My suggestion before was simple, only allow users to have say X amount of comments on a threads before they can start a thread. Or limit where they can post on the forum until they have some comments or history, etc. (like intro). IMHO is not about being "eliteness" is simple data/forum hygiene when we do get a lot of "I want the best Sub" or tell me "where I can buy a 1:1/AAA+ watch“, etc. With number of comments as a guard rail, it should force a lot of members to read things or force them to find threads to comment.

Sent from my SM-N976B using Tapatalk

 

[LuckyluckM]

Thank you for sharing your experience! Can i ask f you have any view/experience of the following: [h=1]Heritage 2016 Black Bay Shield 41mm ZF on SS Bracelet A2824 (Blue)[/h]

 

[RJay]

New member here. Great post and more readable than the Consensus NWBIG list. I've been lurking for a while now, but figure it's time to dive in now that i have some pocket money

 

[jlctznwrld]

Thanks for sharing. I found this a good summary of a few things I've picked up in the last year. While I did indeed keep reading and learning, this would've been a great jump start!

 

[Jasonp]

Thanks for sharing OP,,,,

 

[Anaanis]

Good post, hope newbies are able to find it. Thanks OP

 

[Feefo]

Nice job! Thanks for the work and your thoughts. For me it could even be worth a sticky in the noob section...

 

[JoSha]

Anyone here old enough to remember 9/11, how people ripped Rumsfeld's statement about "unknown unknowns"?

What you have to remember is people in the know in any topic KNOW the things a noob needs to know first, the savvy can spot the holes in his knowledge as soon as he opens his mouth, because they already possess the big picture.

The noob on the other hand (and I am one here, but very much not in my own line of work) doesn't know what he's lacking, he's got no feel for the parameters, the "ballpark" he's playing in, the things that look common sense to the experienced.

Unknown unknowns - he doesn't know the EXACT things he doesn't know, not at first, and usually doesn't even know where to look for deficits in his knowledge. Pointing those areas out is more helpful than spoonfeeding specifics because then he (or she of course) can start to get a feel for the overall picture.

 

[DjPresident]

For me as a complete noob this is pure gold, thank you very much...

 

[Landrol]

I'm honestly curious, because every forum is the same.. You have noobs and then you have those that have been deemed "experts".

If the "experts" are not helping out Noobs and answering questions, what are else are they doing?

 

[Thatwatchguy]

I'm honestly curious, because every forum is the same.. You have noobs and then you have those that have been deemed "experts".

If the "experts" are not helping out Noobs and answering questions, what are else are they doing?

Maybe they are just enjoying the forum?

 

[Thatwatchguy]

Hats off to the OP, but the list is not accurate with some models and factory not correct, other model names not correct for the ones I am familiar with.

 

[Grapeshot]

I'm honestly curious, because every forum is the same.. You have noobs and then you have those that have been deemed "experts".

If the "experts" are not helping out Noobs and answering questions, what are else are they doing?

Everyone was a noobie once, whether that is to do with rep watches, learning to drive a car or training to be a brain surgeon. It is a failing of the human evolution that while genes are passed on, intelligence and accumulation of knowledge is not. What an advanced culture we would be if we had inherited the knowledge of our parents and they theirs. The brutal fact is we didn’t.
So we all have to learn pretty much everything from scratch.

What would learning be like if a school teacher or lecturer in a university went into a rage because the new intake of students asked him the same questions he had been asked only the term before. Is it likely that the students would be encouraged by reposts such as ‘Another moron asking about whether Einstein completed work on his Unified Field Theory.’

The irony is that someone does always answer the inevitable rep question ‘Who makes the best sub?’, so why not make it a response that doesn’t make him/her (other pronouns available) feel a complete idiot and an unwanted member of this community.

 

[brycrob]

Thanks for sharing. I do like your list of reps manf to model. I'm surprised there's no panerai on the list but maybe you're just not a fan.