Reps have gone a long way over last years

[Yellobird]

I was just browsing sales threads for some AP watches and I found a thread where a current 3126 forged carbon grand prix was listed.
And it got me thinking... wow! It is unbelievable how far reps have gone over last ten years. Is there a person here who was active in good old first rwg days around 2004 who would expect that we would be able to get reps made of full forged carbon fiber and with such deco plates? Crazy. I know there are still some flaws here and there but still, it is mind blowing! Good times for us rep buyers!

 

[mydnytrydr]

....and nearly ALL of the reps produced around 8 yrs ago had no water resistance at all....so the reps not only look better, they are respectable performers also!..

 

[Miguel Piguet]

....and nearly ALL of the reps produced around 8 yrs ago had no water resistance at all....so the reps not only look better, they are respectable performers also!..

Well most are still not water resistant as they claim just sprinkle or light rain. You would be risking if you went swimming with these reps. Yes they have improved overall in terms of quality of materials , some other decent improvements over the years.... But 8 years ago is a long time so I expect that to be honest haha

 

[Yellobird]

My experience is quite contrary. Since 2004 I had at least 60 reps and I did swim with most of them, first noob APs, panerai watches (luminors at least, I did not try daylights), even breitling chronomat evo proved to be waterproof. Oh I did not get HBBs wet either as they have no screw down crowns. But like I said, I never had any issue with water resistance of a rep with screw down crown.

 

[d4m.test]

Prices have gone a long way too.
The visual quality and some components used are indeed stunning nowadays. The assembly quality and consistency/ factory quality control still has to improve dramatically (without further price increases) to match the prices asked for.

 

[Yellobird]

But one has to remember that back in the days some new reps were also quite expensive. The first rose gold and ceramic big bangs with supposedly genuine kyocera bezels were over $1k and now you can get a better v6 version for around $400-500.

 

[umaxim]

and the quality of asian clone eta movements increased dramatically over the years... my V7 diver keeps impeccable timing after month break in out of the box, better than any gen I own! Of course, it's a luck of the draw with these movements, but you might get fortunate

 

[hub6152]

....and nearly ALL of the reps produced around 8 yrs ago had no water resistance at all....so the reps not only look better, they are respectable performers also!..

That's just not true. Nearly all the high end reps have very similar, if not identical construction, to their gen counterpart and always have. All xtals held in with nylon compression rings, case backs all have O rings, crowns all have O rings and chrono pushers are all O ringed etc. These are just standard watch company manufacturing techniques. Remember that the rep factories don't just make reps.

The biggest cause of water ingress is usually because the caseback isn't tight and the O rings are not lubricated. Sometimes an xtal might not be seating properly. Certain Panerai gens had over engineering in their crown seals and O rings that the reps didn't properly replicate so the rep might not be good for the same depths as the gen but given a proper service should be perfectly capable of respectable WR.

What has really changed is the use of decent luminous materials (and in some cases proper Super Luminova) and attention to small details like the Panerai Luminor cannon pinions. That was a common mod in the old days that's no longer needed now. And cyclops's that magnify properly (in some watches). Dial printing has also improved. Lots of little things and of course the techniques to manufacture carbon or ceramic cases as well as proper DLC coatings instead of the black chemical treatment that looked awful.

 

[mydnytrydr]

That's just not true. Nearly all the high end reps have very similar, if not identical construction, to their gen counterpart and always have. All xtals held in with nylon compression rings, case backs all have O rings, crowns all have O rings and chrono pushers are all O ringed etc. These are just standard watch company manufacturing techniques. Remember that the rep factories don't just make reps.

The biggest cause of water ingress is usually because the caseback isn't tight and the O rings are not lubricated. Sometimes an xtal might not be seating properly. Certain Panerai gens had over engineering in their crown seals and O rings that the reps didn't properly replicate so the rep might not be good for the same depths as the gen but given a proper service should be perfectly capable of respectable WR.

What has really changed is the use of decent luminous materials (and in some cases proper Super Luminova) and attention to small details like the Panerai Luminor cannon pinions. That was a common mod in the old days that's no longer needed now. And cyclops's that magnify properly (in some watches). Dial printing has also improved. Lots of little things and of course the techniques to manufacture carbon or ceramic cases as well as proper DLC coatings instead of the black chemical treatment that looked awful.

The reps I bought back in 2006 was a hit or miss with water resistance....I'm just relaying my experience. And chrono models were the most egregious offenders....I still have a lot of them in my collection.

 

[hub6152]

The reps I bought back in 2006 was a hit or miss with water resistance....I'm just relaying my experience. And chrono models were the most egregious offenders....I still have a lot of them in my collection.

And that's likely because things weren't tight, or classically caseback O rings pinched and damaged etc. Not because of poor design, just poor QC - as always.

And we didn't have the luxury of QC pics before hand back then either!! I laugh at the IWC threads where some folks have rejected 10 watches because the 1 in the 10 marker was a bit crooked. How to piss off a TD eh!!

 

[sleeper]

But one has to remember that back in the days some new reps were also quite expensive. The first rose gold and ceramic big bangs with supposedly genuine kyocera bezels were over $1k and now you can get a better v6 version for around $400-500.

Picked up a watch from eddie lee for $450.00 back in 04, 063 with that nice movement. Prices then were around $179-229.00 for a rep with a true eta on many, but flaws were abundant.

 

[hub6152]

And still use that shitty sintered steel that's soft!! At least my ROOD ceramic doesn't suffer scratching.

 

[hub6152]

Picked up a watch from eddie lee for $450.00 back in 04, 063 with that nice movement. Prices then were around $179-229.00 for a rep with a true eta on many, but flaws were abundant.

Didn't the 063 have an ETA 2892 proper GMT movt same as gen. Strap screws always crap and crowns never right. But a gorgeous watch despite that.

I think those sometimes were the good old days! Modding not needed nearly as much unless really anal or doing Frankenstein builds! Sort of takes the fun out of it.

 

[Yellobird]

Yup, the 063 and 029 were a big wow back then. 2892 and nice decoration, well apart from the spelling mistake on a rotor!

 

[Yellobird]

And do you guys remember a honpo 187? The first 187 available?

 

[ortho]

Yes they have come a long way, but there were some good watches back then too. My Eddie Lee BlackSeal is one of my nicer reps, better than H-fac etc.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[hub6152]

Oh the memories. The EL 127 - superb but those two studs on the movt bridge played a dead giveaway to those in the know!!

 

[Yellobird]

EL 127 was even a front loader I think.

Or do you guys remember the moment of excitement when Angus shared very first pics of the Offshore case being developed by Noob factory. That was something! I still remember those pics, no dials, no nothing, just steel cases but it looked great!

 

[slaughterer62]

Some of the older "Super Reps" (esp. vintage Rolex) are probably the best bases for Franken-builds--still.

 

[hub6152]

EL 127 was even a front loader I think.

Or do you guys remember the moment of excitement when Angus shared very first pics of the Offshore case being developed by Noob factory. That was something! I still remember those pics, no dials, no nothing, just steel cases but it looked great!

EL 127 was a front loader indeed as is the gen. But it wasn't exclusive to EL much as he'd like to make out it was. He was just a middleman dealer like our current TD's and just was the first to sell it, but I also remember when Angus nearly went bust with a lot of people's money. But he came through it ok in the end.