Timex with a straight up Black Bay homage

https://www.timex.ca/harborside-coas...3eHesEY7yltFlU

Re: Reps. I get the point from both sides and there are definitely snobs/attitudes on both sides. Rep people laugh at "stupid" gen owners for paying that much. Gen ppl laugh at the poseur rep owners

Best quote I've read in awhile and I think it applies to the types of watches I've owned over the years
"When you’re 20 you care what everyone thinks, when you're 40 you stop caring what everyone thinks, when you’re 60 you realize no one was ever thinking about you in the first place"

It just occurred to me the other day, some of my friends who have like 5 digit cost watches they said they took major major heat from their significant others when they bought them...

Why is it okay to blow $10-20k on an engagement ring ($10k is like the minimum spend now it seems) which is pretty much worthless after you buy it, at best like half price to sell it to someone... but watches basically hold their value or appreciate but it's stupid?

Don't make sense.

The only expensive watch that I own was given to me from my wife on our wedding day, kind of in return for the fancy engagement ring. Win-win.

Women dont make sense.

I think most people can't fathom 5 figure items in general because they never had them themselves

I know at least 1 fellow like this, got a Rolex on his wedding day from his wife... but her family is insanely wealthy lol

cuz equality...

A pervious whore of an ex wouldn't have worn the ring anyways so I told her I'd get her a white gold and diamond studded rolex instead :lol

I was on the Rolex site last night and I noticed that MonteCristo has been reinstated as an authorized dealer... as recently as a month ago they were not listed as one and were only a re-seller for used.

Wonder what changed??

I got them in China off Taobao direct from factory stores, they were 850rmb or so. The website is just some reseller selling for ridiculous markup. I wouldn't spend 300euro+ on these, the movement isn't good compared to modern standards and the QC on these are pretty bad.

The red star and the 21zuan are current remakes. If you want the true to original custom version you can get it from this site:

https://www.hkedwatches.com/

These ones look like the actual original air force seagulls. Still more expensive than getting the remakes from Taobao, but it's a closer rep of the original.

If you're going to get a Sea-Gull chrono, it is probably worth spending extra and getting it from someone who will service it if something goes wrong.. I hear they can get pretty bad.

Sure $150 or whatever is a much better deal, but if it ends up being a bracelet, that's not really worth $150

Being able to get a mechanical chrono for this price seems too good to be true.. and.. it pretty much is by the sounds of it.

IMO it is kind of lame to "flex" a watch whether it's rep or gen, but the reps are worse if the 'flexer' is lying about it being real. But like whatever

The only REALLY bad thing to do with reps is selling it as if it was genuine. Then you're actually stealing from people.

Yup. I totally agree. When I sold reps then, always made sure ppl were aware… if they didn’t know already because it was like 10% cost of the real thing. The regulars who bought then were of the lv/gucci man purse variety so they it was more of a shiny watch with a recognized logo that they were after

I didn't buy it for a seagull chrono, I bought it for the retro chinese airforce appeal. The whole point of getting these retro remakes is for the nostalgia and not really for the quality. The venus 175 is an old school chrono that's wasn't expensive to begin with, it was outdated tech bought by the Chinese decades ago at a discount and was used in the original airforce watch. $150 or $350, it's still the same piece and chrono inside, if 1 is to break, so will the other. It's not like the taobao version is fake and crap, while the reseller $350 version is "real". Every modern venus 175 movement is "fake" because there are many licensed factories with the same machinery churning out the movement. The official seagull1963 store most likely get their products from the same factories selling them for $150 on taobao. Not sure how they got their official store status but the registered owner of seagull1963.com is Vincent Bauwens with C&B holdings BV in Antwerp Beligum. Seagull is a Tianjin Chinese company... so that official store is for sure a reseller and not manufacturer. Maybe he purchased exclusive online reselling rights to sell the 1963 watch from Seagull, could be the reason why you can't find the 1963 being sold anyway under a seagull website aside from Taobao.

Also it's not that you can't service these pieces, it's just that servicing cost would far surpass replacement costs. The original venus 175 movement is so cheap to make, there's no point in tuning it. You can probably buy 2-3 watches for the cost of a complete teardown and service. Would you have a shop fix or mod your $40 timex weekender if it broke? Probably not.

Even if you pay 350euros from a reputable reseller, they're not going to service it for free if it breaks 5 years down the road. That being said, unless you fly to china or have an account to taobao to buy it for $150, you're only option is to buy it online from resellers or ebay. I was living in Shanghai at them time so it was easy for me to just buy off Taobao here.

I get it, but you still want a functional watch, right? And no you won't get 5 years of service, but maybe 2? Just to make sure it isn't completely garbage for a couple years? Even 1 year is worth it - probably a good percentage of the AliX ones are just duds

And yes, "service" would be merely replacing the movement. In which case you hope the next one works better.

If I was interested in an homage like that (I actually thought the German homage on that HK site you posted looked pretty nice), I would just want to make sure it will work for me. And yes, that includes actually using the chronograph function.

I think it's super impressive that they're able to sell a mechanical chrono for a couple bills. The replicas I've seen, most people say "they work but you better not use it or it will most likely break". So they are just using them as decorations (I guess if you can justify wearing a replica, the actual functions can be fake too, right?). So there's a reason they are normally expensive.

A mechanical chrono is something I really want to own one day, but not if I can't use it. That's why I listed a bunch of those German brands, including some with Selita movements (so a Swiss ETA/Valjoux replica) for like $1K. That seems like a "good deal" for what you get (and you'll get 2 years of warranty from most brands, if not more)

This is a really old thread; I wonder how many people posted pics of fake watches here, pretending they were genuine? :considered:

Probably some, but I still think most are real. Just looking at the money people are dumping into their cars, what’s 5-10k for a time piece.

From what I see from people who buy Rolex in their 20's and early 30's. Seems like people only care about the $ Value rather than looks.

I guess maybe it's a status symbol for people. Idc though cause i'm broke, why flex something you're not :awwyeah:

Definitely a status symbol for most people.. When I go to the replica subreddit, 98% of the watches people share are Rolex. I wonder why? Because they are huge fans of the history of the company, and the iconic designs you can't find elsewhere? Kappa

Hahah yes. They are all watch geeks for sure.

You ask them how they like their movement, they say stuff like well I have to shake it to charge the battery.

Cool. Very cool. Nice electric hybrid watch you got there.

I've been reading up on the (actual) history of Panerai. And man, the more I read, the more justifiable it is to never buy a genuine one (at least not new) LUL

The company is just soooooo full of shit. It started in the 90's when a dying company made up some crap and sold to Vendome who made up more shit, became Richemont, and kept making up shit. And then they started cheapening the parts being used, while the prices keep going up.

Meanwhile the actual history and connection to the Italian Navy from 1920-1959 or so, including Nazi occupation, is actually pretty fascinating. Of course all throughout this time, they were Rolex watches with a different dial. This is the main narrative they seem to want to not exist.

So Panerai is basically a Rolex homage company... So why not just buy a Panerai homage! Kappa

But I still love them man.. some of the traditional designs are just absolutely perfect to me. I would like to be able to get a 47mm Radiomir some time - the kind with the big ass domed crystal.

ive been looking at a rep for my 5711 and im too scared to buy one. I kept reading online that it'll get seized, you'll get fined, and sooner or later the CBSA will come knocking on your door asking why you're buying counterfeits.

yarrgh, no thanks. I have maritime security clearance and that would instantly be voided if they found me with anything like that.

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But skinny, plz go buy a decent Panerai rep and let us know how the build quality is.

Ask to ship by EMS or some sort of priority mail. You have a higher chance of it arriving imo. Some TD's also have guarantees if it goes missing.

Just buy a sterile dial Parnis homage and swap an ETA 6497 into it

Let me order for ya