Aren 27 Posted January 16, 2019 I plan to put together a poll, but haven't had time yet. I end up chatting in the SB and looking at threads/watches and trying to catch up on reps and with members. So many great reps around now, and sadly some great reps which aren't in production any longer. Gens have changed too, and some reps appear to have declined in quality. I have been wondering as I look through the threads if/why the quality of some reps has declined. With so many small rep manufacturing shops, has the quality of some reps declined??? I don't think this is my imagination. I have seen Miligauss without polished mid-links or totally polished bracelets, and VC Geneve dials without the accent mark, and in other watches, dials in which the 12 is not true to top dead centre and crowns not true at 3, misspellings, etc. I noticed that VC gens in some cases have also dropped the accent mark, but it jumps out to my eyes in watches I have known to have it. Is this due to the advent of direct sales to the public.? Our TDs compare reps to gens, but it seems direct sale manufacturer's market is the uninformed and they are less concerned with QC. This makes DHG an unreliable place to purchase and referred to as "hit or miss". Caveat emptor! I know if you make a photocopy of an original document you can get pretty close if not exact to the original, yet a photocopy of a photocopy of a photocopy, etc. loses the detail and visual integrity of the original in the process. It can be seen in art too. Look at an old copy of van Gogh's Starry Night compared to most newer copies. The details care muted and the colours are off. Is this true of reps in the current market? I don't know. I know our TD's here at RWG eliminate watches with obvious flaws with their skills and trained eyes. Many of us can also do this, and rule out dial, bracelet and case back errors, but these are the member few, not the many. Reps have changed so much just in the past few years. I keep looking. I can only evaluate the appearance of watches I know well, and still don't trust my eyes. Just wondering about reps in general. Have a great day all. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GingerApple 7,285 Posted January 16, 2019 12 minutes ago, deju said: best technical achievement of 2018 by a rep factory other than the introduction of the 904l steal In that case, I nominate it for second place in the Best Technical Achievement 2018 award. Behind 904l steal (sic). Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
deju 1,874 Posted January 16, 2019 4 minutes ago, Aren said: I plan to put together a poll, but haven't had time yet. I end up chatting in the SB and looking at threads/watches and trying to catch up on reps and with members. So many great reps around now, and sadly some great reps which aren't in production any longer. Gens have changed too, and some reps appear to have declined in quality. I have been wondering as I look through the threads if/why the quality of some reps has declined. With so many small rep manufacturing shops, has the quality of some reps declined??? I don't think this is my imagination. I have seen Miligauss without polished mid-links or totally polished bracelets, and VC Geneve dials without the accent mark, and in other watches, dials in which the 12 is not true to top dead centre and crowns not true at 3, misspellings, etc. I noticed that VC gens in some cases have also dropped the accent mark, but it jumps out to my eyes in watches I have known to have it. Is this due to the advent of direct sales to the public.? Our TDs compare reps to gens, but it seems direct sale manufacturer's market is the uninformed and they are less concerned with QC. This makes DHG an unreliable place to purchase and referred to as "hit or miss". Caveat emptor! I know if you make a photocopy of an original document you can get pretty close if not exact to the original, yet a photocopy of a photocopy of a photocopy, etc. loses the detail and visual integrity of the original in the process. It can be seen in art too. Look at an old copy of van Gogh's Starry Night compared to most newer copies. The details care muted and the colours are off. Is this true of reps in the current market? I don't know. I know our TD's here at RWG eliminate watches with obvious flaws with their skills and trained eyes. Many of us can also do this, and rule out dial, bracelet and case back errors, but these are the member few, not the many. Reps have changed so much just in the past few years. I keep looking. I can only evaluate the appearance of watches I know well, and still don't trust my eyes. Just wondering about reps in general. Have a great day all. I bet we can list more great no longer produced replicas than we can great new releases. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
NCRich 13,748 Posted January 16, 2019 I have absolutely no faith in any rep factory claim. And I don't believe movement claims.........So you know mates I don't order 904s or 3xxxx anythings. And therefore, I am happy most of the time. Ya'll go ahead and spend your money. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
deju 1,874 Posted January 16, 2019 3 minutes ago, AskGinger said: In that case, I nominate it for second place in the Best Technical Achievement 2018 award. Behind 904l steal (sic). Actually you're onto something we should have categories. !!!!!!! ARF for best newcomer, they really raised the game on internal factory qc for finish and presentation. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cleebeauregard 2 Posted January 16, 2019 On 02/01/2019 at 14:30, NCRich said: I personally would not own any of the ones that @Luxuracer has posted. So I would say it would depend upon what you actually like. rich On reflection god those are ugly watches. Thankfully someone loves them. LOL Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cleebeauregard 2 Posted January 16, 2019 Breguet La Tradition 7057. Not because it's a super rep, but simply because the maker made such a distinct effort to replicate a very "non-rep" movement. I think that's another milestone for this hobby. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Chavezzito 121 Posted January 17, 2019 My noob Daytona has 904L and the super-duper movement...where does that take it in the list? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
onzenuub 307 Posted January 17, 2019 Aren you want my photos? Again? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites