How do you know the actual factory/manufacturer?

[gmiller667 0]

This might be a naive question, but I see many people discussing a particular replica manufacturer/factory.

How the heck do you know the manufacturer for a particular replica?  I'm guessing that you're being told the factory before purchase and that's the only practical way to know?

 

[gran 198]

Yes you should know in advance from the dealer or dealers site who the maker is if it is a high grade replica. If you know the different replica versions  well  (having seen pictures from the various dealers) you should be able to tell (if you have pictures of most aspects of the rep in question). This make take a lot of research.

[Rokerite 2,437]

Each "factory" has a number of miniscule "flaws" that are different to the genuine model, none are"perfect". The more you look at pictures of the different versions of a watch from the different manufacturers you will start to recognise these "tells". Rule of thumb is the more you pay, the less flaws. 

[BadPickle 2,738]

Obsessive behaviour is the only way to tell  

[onzenuub 304]

3 hours ago, gran said:

l  (having seen pictures from the various dealers).

I have never seen any pictures from various dealers, how do they look?

[gran 198]

11 minutes ago, onzenuub said:

I have never seen any pictures from various dealers, how do they look?

 

They all look the about the same but are slightly different....above images is and allegory  on this (like you will even know what that means, I've tried to use images that you are able to appreciate )

Edited August 2, 2022 by gran

[onzenuub 304]

1 minute ago, gran said:

 

They all look the about the same but are slightly different....above images is and allegory  on this (like you will even know what that means, I've tried to use images that you are able to appreciate )

Now that's no dealer, that's a nice watchwinder. She could wind my watchesssss   

[GenTLe 1,490]

16 hours ago, gmiller667 said:

This might be a naive question, but I see many people discussing a particular replica manufacturer/factory.

How the heck do you know the manufacturer for a particular replica?  I'm guessing that you're being told the factory before purchase and that's the only practical way to know?

 

In general it's written in the watch description.

For instance: https://trustytimewatch88.io/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=352&products_id=25187 the factory is "RMF" or RM Factory.

[Mystery Shopper 5,886]

14 hours ago, gran said:

They all look the about the same but are slightly different....above images is and allegory  on this (like you will even know what that means, I've tried to use images that you are able to appreciate )

Ahhh- Anna Causaboner. Apparently she could play tennis as well. 

[gmiller667 0]

In this vein, I have a 40mm sub rep that the seller insisted was from VSF.  I'm guessing that this is either VS Factory or the whole name of the factory is literally 'VSF'.

Is there any rough list for the 'major' factories?  [I.e., I'm guessing this is something that the regulars here can list off of the top of their heads, but someone like me would be clueless to.]

 

[fatarms 7,754]

20 minutes ago, gmiller667 said:

In this vein, I have a 40mm sub rep that the seller insisted was from VSF.  I'm guessing that this is either VS Factory or the whole name of the factory is literally 'VSF'.

Is there any rough list for the 'major' factories?  [I.e., I'm guessing this is something that the regulars here can list off of the top of their heads, but someone like me would be clueless to.]

 

You guessed right.  VSF is VS Factory.  Many of the makers end in F for factory.  ZF, ARF, CF, BTF, OMF, ORF, etc...

As for the list of factories, each of them are usually good at making a couple brands of watches.  VS for example is good for Rolex and Panerai.  The problem is that factories come and go, or even change names altogether.  The only way to keep up with them is to keep reading.  If you really want to get waist deep in the weeds, sign up over at RWI (replica-watch.info) and look through their brand sections.  The guys over there really dissect and pick apart the various factories and compare the same watch between different factories with a microscope.  I'm warning you though, once you go down that rabbit hole, you'll learn that each of the reps have their own flaws, and once pointed out you can't unsee them.  So you have to really pick the one that has flaws you can live with or go deep into your pockets and franken the shit out of them. 

[tribefan 6,768]

This is the rabbit hole for you!

https://jtime.io/us/shop-by/manufacturer.html

@gmiller667

[gmiller667 0]

That IS a rabbit hole.  I'll have to see how insane I am.

I can recognize blatantly goofy stuff on the unknown-brand-ultra-cheap stuff, like having a Sub dial that has 'SWISS <CROWN IMAGE> MADE' on something that's claimed to be a 40mm 116610.  Err, no.  It should just say 'SWISS MADE'.  Or a 41mm 'hulk'.   I have low expectations for that stuff, so it's more an amusement than anything else.

On the VSF sub, I've noticed a couple of very small details that aren't quite right, but I do see how this could feed someone's OCD.

Thanks for the feedback!

 

 

[fatarms 7,754]

2 hours ago, gmiller667 said:

That IS a rabbit hole.  I'll have to see how insane I am.

I can recognize blatantly goofy stuff on the unknown-brand-ultra-cheap stuff, like having a Sub dial that has 'SWISS <CROWN IMAGE> MADE' on something that's claimed to be a 40mm 116610.  Err, no.  It should just say 'SWISS MADE'.  Or a 41mm 'hulk'.   I have low expectations for that stuff, so it's more an amusement than anything else.

On the VSF sub, I've noticed a couple of very small details that aren't quite right, but I do see how this could feed someone's OCD.

Thanks for the feedback!

 

 

I have the VSF 126610LV and had a gen crystal installed.  The stock crystal had that blue hue to it (which some of the new gen crystals have as well) so I made sure the gen I purchased didn't have that.  Even though some new gen crystals have that blue hue, just about all rep crystals with the Cyclops AR have it.  Talk about OCD...