I have never read any topics about watches on reddit.
But I owned a $400-$600 rep of BigBang from 2020 and it had that crystal issue. I had no idea about reps at that time, so dont even know which factory it was produced on.
-
Tired of adverts on RWI? - Subscribe by clicking HERE and PMing Trailboss for instructions and they will magically go away!
The day my rep got called out in public
- Thread starter eBoy
- Start date
But I owned a $400-$600 rep of BigBang from 2020 and it had that crystal issue. I had no idea about reps at that time, so dont even know which factory it was produced on.
- 25/9/22
- 8,322
- 23,190
- 113
You should be fine. Modern Rolex, specially VS, crystal is fine. Only model maybe should have cloudy crystal is Clean 116xx generation Daytona.
There are manys of gen vs rep comparison for Rolex. So do research on your model to see if it's satisfactory for you.
I am few years on forum ( I would say spent 3 month of active readings during the last 3 years ).
Still it's not enough to make any normal decision. I got confusion and inability to descide due to lack of information, on each step.
example,
1) I check what I can back up. I open chrono24, check what I can get: OP, Explorer, Milgaus (year of production 2008, 2009), DJ41 mm smooth.
2) I like a Milgaus. Is it enough? no. Because I cannot find a comparison of milgaus on this forum. Which I cannot find. And I feel it's important as it has some green on the glass. Will rep has it?
3) I read what is the status of Milgaus: it calls its discontinued. Ok, so as a noob I am in freeze/confusion again: is it easier or more complicated to wear discontinued watch in the office ( will I have more or fewer questions from those 0.01% watch enthusiasts in the office (there is always be 1-2 who are nerdy good at different watches and might know its discontinued. ). Maybe it's good, because they will not know exactly how it looks like, or opposite: discontinued might be more expensive and fall of my price range?
- 25/9/22
- 8,322
- 23,190
- 113
idk man. I search on google and find one comparison reddit and it shows the rep is shit.
Milgauss crystal has never been repped, it is very difficult to make, Rolex is so arrogant that they never put the patent on the process because they dare other manufacturers to make a green crystal - to this day, noone has done it. So rep factories won't do that.
But the rest of the watches... Oyster Perpetual... Explorer 36, 39, 40... all have comparisons on the forum....
Where do you work? Hodinkee Office? You work for Tudor or something? I doubt anyone can ever tell on wrist, just don't hand people your watch, smile and say you bough the watch on Chrono24... easy
I can find comparison, but for some reason - no matter how hard I look - all reps seems almost the same to gen for me.
You can say "if you dont see the difference - take any of them". but I am afraid that if you guys see the difference there might be the same guy somewhere who will also see, even if I dont see
I personally can see only 1 flaw: the blue color of the cyclop on all VSF crystals. But guys say its ok. When I see on gen - I see different colors of this tint on the cyclop and usually its not blue. So the only "flaw" which I see - I got feedback, its not a flaw, but version of norma
Well, I like mine, IDGAF what anyone else thinks, and I don't ever get called out on watches, last time was around 20 years ago and I was wearing a Gen. If you are worried about the mythical "call out" then really you are only fooling yourself, if someone is polite I always tell them the truth, if they are rude and bolshy types they will be told to fuck off
today I was walking and thinking exactly the same.Well, I like mine, IDGAF what anyone else thinks, and I don't ever get called out on watches, last time was around 20 years ago and I was wearing a Gen. If you are worried about the mythical "call out" then really you are only fooling yourself, if someone is polite I always tell them the truth, if they are rude and bolshy types they will be told to fuck off
people dont care about you, mostly. They are also not negative, usually, they are positive or neutral, but dont care specifically about you deeply in their heart.
so who cares what they think.
ericselz
Do not accept unsolicited offers
Great story..
For me, about 15 years ago, a buddy and I went to the country just south of Florida, thinking if I ever got into a real bad jam, I could use my Gen GMT Master as a "here take this let us go" kinda thing. The ONLY time I got an eye on my watch was when we were leaving the country. The customs guy saw my watch we started a conversation. Since we were on our way out without issues, I told him it was a fake and played it off as nothing. I even took it off for him to see. Picked a few places on it and said "here's where the flaws are". I had no clue, but had to act cool. He just sheepishly laughed and sent me on my way. I did sweat a little when he had it, but that was kinda the plan. Never again, as my GMT is more precious to me than ever.
For me, about 15 years ago, a buddy and I went to the country just south of Florida, thinking if I ever got into a real bad jam, I could use my Gen GMT Master as a "here take this let us go" kinda thing. The ONLY time I got an eye on my watch was when we were leaving the country. The customs guy saw my watch we started a conversation. Since we were on our way out without issues, I told him it was a fake and played it off as nothing. I even took it off for him to see. Picked a few places on it and said "here's where the flaws are". I had no clue, but had to act cool. He just sheepishly laughed and sent me on my way. I did sweat a little when he had it, but that was kinda the plan. Never again, as my GMT is more precious to me than ever.
You seem to be hyper focusing on getting away with wearing a rep watch in the office and passing as gen vs. coworkers, and whether they’ll believe you are able to afford such a watch. With respect, I think you’re going about it wrong. Choosing a watch based on that criteria feels a bit like the tail wagging the dog. You should get the watch that you like, within reason (just rule out the $100k+ Patek or AP hype watches or a vintage Daytona).
I’d suggest you change your focus a bit and try on and buy a few rep watches, wearing them at home without taking them to the office. Wear them around your home and on the weekends around strangers in public to decide which rep speaks to you, which watch that you like the most when wearing it for a week. You will be surprised that 99% do not give two shits about the watch you have on your wrist, and nobody is noticing or even glancing at your wrist, let alone staring at it intently. So why don’t you figure out which watch you actually like the best first, rather than an arbitrary price criteria?
Once you decide what you like, whether it’s in the price of a no-date-sub or it’s closer to a GMT Master II Pepsi, or it’s closer to a stretch price of a Daytona, you can choose ONE watch to take to the office for a few months. Even if it’s more expensive, it’s likely believable that you might have been able to splurge for a special occasion for one watch.
We obsess here over how close to gen the reps are, which admittedly is part of the fun of it, but don’t forget that most of the imperfections vs. gen are not perceivable on your wrist from three feet away. Just do not take the watch off of your wrist and I bet that in addition to any of the well known super clone watches in the “NWBIG” list (not worth buying in gen), most $250+ reps are more that close enough to Gen. from a couple of feet away if you do the research here (yes, you can find the info here, keep looking). good luck on your journey.
Last edited:
All this being said, if you’re known as the cheap guy in the office who won’t spend more than $6 on lunch, then maybe just choose to not wear the rep to the office at all, and get a G-shock or modded Seiko 