Wear and tear after a couple of years?

[Rayraj01]

Hey everyone,

I'm pretty new to buying replicas, but I finally put an order through for a VSF Submariner 126610 LV.
But for all of you out there who's had a replica for over a year or two, how's the wear and tear on the watches?
Anything that needs to be addressed after a certain number of years or what's you guy's accesment?

 

[Feefo]

Hi and welcome to RWI.
You've been here a couple of days, you already ordered a watch so I'll assume you did some reading already. If not please take some time to read the stickies in the New members area.
I can't answer your wear and tear question from firsthand experience, owned reps for less than a year, but since I haven't read much about it as an issue, I think you shouldn't worry. That is, excluding movements, which in relation to type and luck may serve you for short or long period of time.
Everything else, I mean, it's stainless steel we're talking about, nothing different than usual watches. Unless you have a more specific question, don't worry about it and enjoy the watch. The VSF sub should serve you for a long time.

 

[eBoy]

The problem is this: Nobody here has a crystal ball to tell you the future.

A new gen watch for 100,000 USD can break a day after you took it out of the boutique.

Those are delicate mechanical machines.

A rep could fall apart after a month, a year or 10 years. There are veterans on here who bought a simple rep 15 years ago, never serviced it, and it still runs fine.

Others have bought a new 800 USD rep and it arrived defective.

Reps of mechanical watches are unpredictable. Mechanical watches are unpredictable.

Look at it as part of the excitement and fascination. Don't obsess over the longevity of a 500 Dollar counterfeit item of a 10,000 Dollar original. Wear it, enjoy it... That's the spirit of this wonderful hobby!

 

[tdawggmayne]

wear and tear is mostly fixable
for gold plated reps you can always replate
for steel its generally good
the clone movements they aren't as reliable as the miyotas and servicing is more expensive
miyota movements aren't cloned but easier to service

good luck hunting

 

[dave180]

the crazy thing is, i got a shitty Rolex perpetual rep from china town in NYC 12 years ago, and that thing outlasted my
real Rolex that needed service after 10 years for $250

 

[zykan]

I’ve had a few over the years, from cheap DH gates initially which lasted as long as you think, my current panerai is from pure time, I’ve had it for 5 years and it’s going strong but I’d always go for a simple mechanism, nothing more than a date as the more complex they are the more likely to break. Unless you’ve got a good local watch smith who doesn’t mind servicing reps!

 

[eBoy]

We have a passion for a machines that are, very broadly speaking, based on 17th century tech with a modern innovation here and there, but the basic concept has been unchanged for several centuries...

A random shitter can last over a decade, while someone else's movement in their 5 million Dollar Richard Mille explodes after 3 days.

As annoying as it is, it's part of the beauty of an old, obselete and totally outdated technology still being appreciated today. If one day, we'll all drive almost maintenence-free but soulless vehicles, we will think back and miss our unreliable, but passionately admired V8 and V12 combustion engines. They'll be gone. Thank God mechanical watches do not have any emissions.

 

[John]

It can be a hit or miss with reps. But the VS3235 movement in your new VSF sub is as good as it gets. For extra peace of mind, you could probably get it serviced as well and pressure tested as well. If it's a hit, there's a good chance it'll last for years especially if you get it serviced right from the beginning and treat it like you would a gen.

 

[TESLA760]

I have AP reps that are over 10 years old and run great. A lot depends on you. If you take care of your watches and don't swing your arm around like a neanderthal, you can expect them to last. Of course there will be the occasional failure. But most are serviceable

 

[Rayraj01]

Thanks for all the great answers. Looking forward to receiving the watch any day now.