Sorry to bump an 'old' thread, but I'm new to RWI and have also just discovered The Urban Gentry/ Archie Luxury.
Archie is just too much of a headache to watch for any length of time (agree that 'meds' are involved), and I can derive pleasure from death metal.
TGV I actually enjoy, even if I don't always agree with him.
I kinda take his point re reps 'don't you deserve the real thing?'. Yes I do, but I just don't have the earning power (yet) for eg. a gen ceramic Sub. I also don't come from 'aristocracy' or work as a freelance sound engineer- he may work hard and have talent but he is also fortunate.
Honestly, I looked down on replicas until very recently, purely because I was unaware that there were really good WATCHES available that happen to be accurate replicas for afew hundred £/$s.
Yes, there is some validity in the idea of buying a Seiko SKX/ Flightmaster etc. as its both 'good' and 'real'. What if I have some affordable 'good' watches (I do) AND some quality reps too? Is it really an issue? I'm interested in horology and will own gen luxury stuff when I can afford it, until then I don't see a major problem in getting my luxury fix from good quality reps.
RWI is invaluable to people like myself, as its a resource which educates those with an interest in watches to what constitutes a good replica, rather than wasting money on awful snide Rolexs/ Breitlings with bad movements. TGV is invaluable to people buying mid-high range gen watches, but it's slightly disappointing that he utterly writes off an area of 'horology' which is no doubt interesting/ valid to many of his fans/ subscribers. (I do recognise however that any positive/ neutral coverage of replica watches would likely be 'career suicide' with regards to his channel!).
I find both TGV and Archie to be snobs. They are average joes from what I have seen and they act like they "made it in life" (Archie maybe not anymore but he used to). I do not know how it is in CONUS but here in old Europe sound engineer is not a great job, freelance or not. I encourage you and others to buy reps and not fall into the same debt crisis Archie claims to be in. There is a time for gens but it is most likely not in your early twenties. There is nothing wrong with that. On the other hand horology does not really exist within budget watches - do not buy these lies.
I agree mostly with what everybody is saying, except for the "depreciation/investment" factor.
Example: I bought my first gen Rolex in 1991. Yeah, it's only a datejust, stainless. But I remember very well how much it cost, because at the time it was quite a bit of money... $1860. List price, full retail, at an AD.
I wore it every day for more than 15 years, I had other things to worry about paying for during that time (i.e. two kid) and buying, or even having another, watch wasn't high on my priority list. As the kids got older (some say I did too, but I don't feel like it....), only then was adding another gen even considered. But I'm fairly certain that I could get a bit more than $1860 for it now, right?
And I wore it for all those years, and I loved it. It's been 120 feet underwater pushing off sharks, it's climbed 17.000 ft mountains, been around the world a couple of times, I've hit it with a jackhammer, jammed my arm into a concrete pour with it on, crashed motorcycles with it on, it has withstood it all, it still looks nearly new, and I still love it. I don't wear it very much any more, but when I bust it out, it always puts a smile on my face, and still looks great. To me, that's a hell of a good investment.
Now, I like a bit more variety. Reps were crap back then anyway, one must consider, but now I enjoy both gens and reps almost equally. To each his own, yeah?
Don't dick around with invictas.f%$^ me dead haha well it does say that the RWI community is known. But I agree with DreadPirateRobert I love watches more than my wallet will allow. Maybe it's time to also start an Invicta collection.![]()
Its been said before, but basically we live in a world of the haves and the have nots.
The rich will always try to disassociate themselves from the masses. Hard working, honest folk always have less earning power but that does not mean they don't have aspirations.
When the well-to-do see something that puts us on an equal footing as them and a blurring of the lines between "them" and "us" , they naturally don't like it...
But at the end of the day, us folk here on RWI and similar, are in it for the watches - pure and simple. We LOVE our watches, and that's the long and the short of it. They are not trophy items to us but a measure or expression of mans fascination with intricate machinery and feats of engineering.
They are full of snobs. I was disappointed in The Urban Gentry for talking down on replicas. The whole thing is just ridiculous.
Anyone who thinks anything more of Archie than entertaining loudmouth should have a look here: https://forum.replica-watch.info/vb...on-this-channel/page7?highlight=archie+luxury
I can't even stick around for the intro he's so annoying.
This thread is positively GHASTLY- tgv