Simply put, I found and later joined RWI to spy on the enemy.
One evening I was doing my then-daily routine of reading the traditional watch forums. Surfing led me to a thread that piqued my interest and made my stomach turn at the same time. "I have to open this thread!," I say to myself.
It was a discussion of the "corrupt culture" of the replica watch scene. More particularly, it was narratives of members accounts of being ripped off by rep scams.
I smugly laughed to myself; the initial thoughts inside my twisted little brain were not those of empathy, but instead were those of contempt. "Hahaha, how stupid do you have to be to pay full ticket for a fake flea market watch?!!" You guys deserve it.
Reading on, a user commented that buyers were easily defrauded bc two factories made ultra high end reps that were nearly indistinguishable from the genuine article.
I furrowed my brow with skepticism. "There is no such thing as ultra high end reps." My curiosity defeated my skepticism and I ran a google search which, in turn, led me here.
To my dismay, the claims of beautifully crafted replica watches was truth. I found dozens of watches so fine tuned that I couldn't tell. The empathy set in, "I now see how you poor bastards were duped."
I began reading, alot. I was on a mission from God to expose this home-base of crooks. I had a disposition that all of you were out to scam (sorry guys!!). With my skewed view, I began filling gaps in what I was reading.
"Waterproofing; what is that?!" I kept reading about this obscure idea. I convinced myself that this was a transparent code to obtain boxes, papers, and other false identification to scam folks. Hahaha. Boy, was I wrong.
Over the course of time I found nothing of what I was originally looking for. I was searching for evil scammers but found honest hobbyists. I found a tight knit group of passionate guys ready to share a wealth of knowledge. I found a new hobby. I found one of the biggest assets to the watch community in the members you have that religiously report suspected fraud. I found a new home.
