To those that own GEN's, why?

[Paul Newman]

As much as I love this world and enjoy frankens and projects, having a lot of reps and several gens too, there are watches that can’t just be repped to a certain extent either as an acomplishement in life or the feeling on wrist, from a Speedmaster to this which was a grail for me



I’d say that is the reason to enjoy the best of both worlds.

 

[Got20Mate]

I have been eyeing that Thorn

Also I agree. I just bought a VSF 126610LN.
The watch is fine but I got no excitement out of it. I will probably wear it a few months and resell it at a discount. We will see.

Now I wonder that if I dish out the price for a gen Sub, that I will be disappointed though I will not have « lost » any money due to resell value.

On the other hand, I enjoy wearing my own vintage builds.

To add to the confusion, I barely wear my Cartier gen anymore, but the BTF Panda is a regular (that did give me some excitement)

It's exactly this and more. It's more than just a piece to look at on your wrist. There's back story with a gen piece for me, the search for it, the saving, the trying it the closest rep on wrist for a few months until I know I really wanted it. All of that comes with the "soul search" of a gen piece and it's that story and process that makes the gen special.

I've done the owning of dozens of reps to rotate and although I enjoy them, they're easy to sell on to fund the next toy. Gens tend to stay

Reps are bloody great fun though

 

[Phan.tom]

@Karbon74 , you may find that the 1803 offers good value and wearability if you want to give a DD a chance. I wore mine on a strap and found it less flashy and way more comfortable. Not to mention that the price tag is still approachable.

As much as I love this world and enjoy frankens and projects, having a lot of reps and several gens too, there are watches that can’t just be repped to a certain extent either as an acomplishement in life or the feeling on wrist, from a Speedmaster to this which was a grail for me



I’d say that is the reason to enjoy the best of both worlds.

This is spot on for me. There are a few, especially uniqueness or precious metals, that just cannot be replicated.

The agreement I made with myself is its fair to own a 2-4 gens of true prizes for my personal taste. Stone, precious metals, complex combinations, etc. just never have that "just right" feeling for me.

All of the steel, what I refer to as more generic watches: simple complications, no PM, stones, unique dials, etc, is where I love the rep world.

I just recently received my KW+ titanium 42mm Yacht Master and I couldn't be happier with the product. It quick turned into my daily and so light that I can actually sleep with it on comfortably.

The investment perspective is a tough one. Vehicles immediately depreciate day one and continue to quickly decline in value annually (with few collector exceptions). While a Rolex does have some of the best value retention, it definitely is still considered as a pure expense for me since I could have had the same money in an index fund gaining 7-10% annually.

I have a love for both and you all have mentioned most of those reasons. Honestly, I wish I would have had a rep Daytona before I bought my gen. Amazing piece, but not my dream watch anymore. Thank you all for your thoughts.

 

[caloyzki]

Last Saturday. Went to my local Ad for the first time! No history or on waiting list! Asked the sales lady if I can try the submariner no date and explorer 1 40mm. Just to compared it to my cf sub124060 and explorer 1 40.. as soon as fitting test done. She asked me if which one I like and I said both. She said if you want I can give you the explorer 1 right away! She got the watch and showed it to me. And I gladly told her thank you and I'm not paying for 8k before taxes just for a watch! Lol I am happy with my Gen.

 

[TerryRobot]

This is spot on for me. There are a few, especially uniqueness or precious metals, that just cannot be replicated.

The agreement I made with myself is its fair to own a 2-4 gens of true prizes for my personal taste. Stone, precious metals, complex combinations, etc. just never have that "just right" feeling for me.

All of the steel, what I refer to as more generic watches: simple complications, no PM, stones, unique dials, etc, is where I love the rep world.

I just recently received my KW+ titanium 42mm Yacht Master and I couldn't be happier with the product. It quick turned into my daily and so light that I can actually sleep with it on comfortably.

The investment perspective is a tough one. Vehicles immediately depreciate day one and continue to quickly decline in value annually (with few collector exceptions). While a Rolex does have some of the best value retention, it definitely is still considered as a pure expense for me since I could have had the same money in an index fund gaining 7-10% annually.

I have a love for both and you all have mentioned most of those reasons. Honestly, I wish I would have had a rep Daytona before I bought my gen. Amazing piece, but not my dream watch anymore. Thank you all for your thoughts.

Vehicles do drop like a stone the trick is picking the cool once models when they hit rock bottom and nobody really wants them, MK1 Audi TT 220 will be one, now they are peanuts as they came out in 98 but they are at that price that people dont want to spend money on them but can afford to buy them! Grab a nice one and hold onto and in 5-10 yrs it will be double as a modern daiily driver retro classic, you just need to pick the cool cars of their day. Rolex does increase to a degree but the biggest parts is they dont lose all that much most of the gens ive had I bought ages ago and then kept them and only recently just traded them and whilst they did very well most of the increase was due to the market craziness, but that said it did mean I could purchase and over priced item for very little out of my pocket on the grey market. PM modles with rare looks often increase but as the value is higher to start with the increase is much less.

I agree though the PM models have a special place as they are the pinnacle and I still tink as much as I dont think i could pull it off the YG gold daydate is a classic, I luv the WG model 36mm but its somewhat less impressive as its still looks like a stainless model, that said a white roman dial on white gold just ooooooooozes class for me and one day I will have to take the plunge!

 

[MeasurementCraft]

 

[en002k]

Good arguments all round and I get it too, The reps are all really very good these days and as much as we all pick minor faults in them against the gen we are a select few who pay any notice and then there are few who need to know because its part of their trade and the rest that might know some minor differences only do so, to "call out" that dude in the bar being Mr big bollocks.

As far as watches go the Reps are for all intents and purposes good watches in their own rights and many are re labelled and sold as Pagani or the likes as legitimate homage brands and its those same watches that are customized for the reps, in all fairness Im sure the Parnis and Pagani watches are only for sale as it legitimate "homage" brands for factories to "hold stock of basic parts until the lazer etchers get to work.

The 2 distinct differences between a Rep and Gen is one has value the other as good as it is, is still just a copy with no real value outside of our community. That is fine if all you want it for is the look.

A gen has value and as such means more to the buyer as they had to blow a whole wad of cash on it often more than some peoples cars in the process. This means it has more than just the cash value its been attained. We could all run over the line at finish of a marathon but if we only just jumped out of the bushes towards the end when really we drove round its cheating ourselves as well as others.

Gens are pricey for sure but only certain brands Breitling and Omega are all not so hard to buy second and and nor are Rollies (just the last 10 years has been crazy) but its leveling back out.

I dont see the point in owning a gen just to have it in a safe an not wear it, it defeats the purpose of it. if its speculative for investment sure it will in crease a bit and is unlikely to drop all that much but you be better off buying a 15-20yr old cool in its day car in good condition and then holding onto that as it will increase way more and cost far less, think the likes of a 1985 VW Golf GTI, or a 1980's Mercedes SL if you bought them when they hit about 15 yrs old they are cheap as they are not vintage yet and are just old an cost too much to run, but if you grab them and look after it they creep up form the £3000 you paid to £12000 in a few years as they start to become retro cool.

Owing a gen puts you in an exclusive club and you can always sell it if you need too, it allows you to wear it not care if someone thinks its a rep cos you know it isnt!

Reps are great as a tester for a gen or just for a model you wouldn't really wanna spend a huge amount on if you are not sure.

Here is another thought though Frankens are often really very good and some very expensive but are they worth that kind of money in reality when they are still a rep, sure the sum of all those gen parts fitted is wear the cost comes from but you still cant sell it to a dealer for anything, they might give you something and part it out perhaps but unlikley, the only places a super franken or genstein has value is within the rep community it cant be insured either for that matter. I get frankens that do the dial, bezel and crystal as these are all very visual but many reps this is a hard tell unless under a loupe

So why does anyone pay 5k or more for a rep that whilst it looks gen is still not gen? That money would be better put towards a gen in the future.

Here's something we are all guilty off and is a terrible thought but!!!! Just think how much money we have all spent on various reps over the years that have failed and we just buy another and then just kept buying different ones if you add all of that up and add on some interest after being invested a gen would be an easy purchase!

Still its more of a hobby for a lot of us and at the same time almost getting one over on the big brands at the same time!

To be honest its far easier to get a rep than it is some gens these days anyway perhaps my white dial daytona will be in my AD any moment soon!

This is a great take on the subject. Essentially my thoughts on the 3- Rep, Franken, GEN.

I'm recently ventured into the Franken aspect (haven't taken anything apart yet), but being a car guy I'm not timid about doing it yet. I just don't have the time to commit to another hobby. You can buy GEN parts, install, and if needed part out without much of a financial loss. I have

Franken Datejust 126334 with GEN Blue dial, hands, DW, Crystal that fits it's purpose for me.



I have the 3 Versions of a 124060 GEN, CF, VSF. The VSF gets the most use daily but I keep telling myself the GEN should be used daily, and the VSF for travel. Thoughts?

 

[Reaps]

This is a great take on the subject. Essentially my thoughts on the 3- Rep, Franken, GEN.

I'm recently ventured into the Franken aspect (haven't taken anything apart yet), but being a car guy I'm not timid about doing it yet. I just don't have the time to commit to another hobby. You can buy GEN parts, install, and if needed part out without much of a financial loss. I have

Franken Datejust 126334 with GEN Blue dial, hands, DW, Crystal that fits it's purpose for me.



I have the 3 Versions of a 124060 GEN, CF, VSF. The VSF gets the most use daily but I keep telling myself the GEN should be used daily, and the VSF for travel. Thoughts?

Well... it depends on the type of person you are.

If it was me, I'd wear the gen everyday and only wear rep in times I know I'll be in slightly more unsafe places, travelling, night life, etc

But also, there are people who keep the gen in the safe and only bring it out on special occasions. Keep the condition nice and clean for resale. And then wear the rep everyday and abuse the shit out of it. After all. Depending on the damage, a servicing at Rolex could cost 2x the replica lol.

 

[aHero]

Moving forward, I will never purchase a gen if a good rep exists. I will reserve my Gen money for gens that don’t have a decent rep counterpart.

I’ve contemplated selling my gen 116500LN and 116710BLNR (both acquired before my introduction to current level of reps and before the clone movements were available) and put that money towards a larger gen purchase. But I should have done so at the height of the market. Oh well.

 

[aHero]

I figure I might be able to get 17k for the Daytona and 10k for the Batman in the current market (no market research, pure guesses).

What can I get in gen world for around 30k?

 

[asusundevils1971]

What can I get in gen world for around 30k?

You can get my 100% unconditional friendship .

Can get a 36mm DayDate, Explorer 2 as there is sooo many options for the $30K range.

 

[aHero]

You can get my 100% unconditional friendship .

SOLD

 

[aHero]

I would avoid Rolex for my next gen purchase, despite a YG DD36 looking mighty tasty.

 

[Autobús]

Precious metals, complications, skeletonizing, and certain dials are my gen “sweet spot” so to speak. Although, that is a moving goal post and moving toward rep more and more often.

 

[TheWatchGuy2]

Many comments to make here. Tbh I hate these Why Gen?, Why Reps? posts.....your struggle, your epiphany, whatever you want to call it has been the topic of endless posts. It's nothing new. Everyone is of a different mindset and has their own reasons none of which you will likely change. People are people and what's good for one won't work for someone else and that's ok. You got to do what feels right for you.

I have have both gens and reps. For me.....I've come to the realization it's just a watch. Don't get me wrong I do like watches a lot. If I had unlimited funds I'd have all the gens mainly for quality and longevity purposes. But such is life and I have to choose. I wear my reps more than the gens because I get enjoyment from wearing all the different ones I have. I don't nit pick on the flaws, nobody cares. I'm not dressing to impress, nobody cares. It really comes down to a mindset. You can convince yourself that Gen gives you status, is an heirloom to pass down, doesn't make you feel fake, is an investment, or it has some great history or whatever bullshit you need to make yourself feel better. But maybe just enjoy the watch for what is and maybe the rest won't matter. At the end of the day people don't care about what's on your wrist and you shouldn't either. People care about the person wearing it. So if you are an asshat wearing a $30k watch, the watch isn't going to change that. I sold several of my gens because the rep was perfectly good enough. If you really want to buy a gen, make it something that isn't rep'd. All of us here went down the rep rabbit hole and no going back to what we didn't know. So I've kept gens that there is no good rep for. Apollo 8 Dark Side of the Moon and Moonwatch for example. I think if you can just enjoy a watch for what it is and let go of all of the rest, you will find greater joy in watch wearing. I'm not saying don't buy gen, just buy it with the right mindset and I think you will be far happier.

I would agree with a previous post that the rep is excellent way to see if the watch is something you bond with. We've all bought watches that we ended up selling because we didn't love it as much as we thought. I'd rather realize this with a rep than a $10k gen.

 

[dewieduck]

Well... it depends on the type of person you are.

If it was me, I'd wear the gen everyday and only wear rep in times I know I'll be in slightly more unsafe places, travelling, night life, etc

But also, there are people who keep the gen in the safe and only bring it out on special occasions. Keep the condition nice and clean for resale. And then wear the rep everyday and abuse the shit out of it. After all. Depending on the damage, a servicing at Rolex could cost 2x the replica lol.

You hit the nail on the head.

Before I got into reps, I owned a Rolex Sub. I babied that watch and only wore it during special occasions, finding the wearing experience to be extremely stressful. Walls, corners, and tables became my enemy. Unlike me, a coworker wore his Rolex OP to work daily. His confidence and nonchalance in wearing and acquiring scratches and scars on that watch were impressive. I simply couldn't do the same. I wore a Pagani homage as my daily.

I eventually sold my Sub. The sale of the Sub was the fuel for my reps collection.

The wearing experience of my first rep was completely stress-free. I had a watch that looked nearly identical to gen that I no longer needed to baby around walls, corners, and tables. I was comfortable wearing the watch beyond 4 days a year and took it to work. If people ask, I would tell them the watch was a rep. No one has ever asked.

Now, I have a full watch box of reps. I can't ever see myself going back to gen. I'd rather wait for models to develop into a rep than buy a gen that sits in a box. Watches should be worn.

 

[aHero]

You hit the nail on the head.

Before I got into reps, I owned a Rolex Sub. I babied that watch and only wore it during special occasions, finding the wearing experience to be extremely stressful. Walls, corners, and tables became my enemy. Unlike me, a coworker wore his Rolex OP to work daily. His confidence and nonchalance in wearing and acquiring scratches and scars on that watch were impressive. I simply couldn't do the same. I wore a Pagani homage as my daily.

I eventually sold my Sub. The sale of the Sub was the fuel for my reps collection.

The wearing experience of my first rep was completely stress-free. I had a watch that looked nearly identical to gen that I no longer needed to baby around walls, corners, and tables. I was comfortable wearing the watch beyond 4 days a year and took it to work. If people ask, I would tell them the watch was a rep. No one has ever asked.

Now, I have a full watch box of reps. I can't ever see myself going back to gen. I'd rather wait for models to develop into a rep than buy a gen that sits in a box. Watches should be worn.

The irony is that some people treat reps like gens (only want them in pristine condition).

 

[Got20Mate]

Tale as old as time this, and it's part of the reason that I only really collect at the Franken level because out of the box reps lacks that special something. Gen dial for example, always makes a rep pop.

Helps if you've been around the "scene" for a while and have seen just how far the quality has come, really can't complain these days.

For me, gen really means more than the watch itself. Reps are so much fun, chasing, sampling, trying loads at once, binge buying. The ones that really "sit well" I end up chasing gen.

Can't beat gen

 

[Autobús]

I respect everything I own. From the cheapest piece of plastic way on up. Always been that way always will. Whoever buys a car from me is always on the better side of the deal.

Yes reps are reps and gen are gen. The Apollo 8 is a great one for my taste. Ill never sell it.

 

[joshhb8282]

I figure I might be able to get 17k for the Daytona and 10k for the Batman in the current market (no market research, pure guesses).

What can I get in gen world for around 30k?

Full gold Speedmaster with some change left over, such an underappreciated baller watch.