Hi, My Watch History & Help! :)

[bootlegger3000 1]

Hi all,

I hope you are all well! I’ve found this forum after searching the web for all information and general reliability around reps for about two-three year period!

Without diving into too much personal info, I’ve had a rollercoaster career with massive highs and huge lows. In the highs I owned some lovely time pieces but in the lows had to get rid of them all one by one for financial reasons sadly. These included a Submariner 2014 Gold & Blue (new at the time), Cartier Santos of roughly the same age new as well and a Yacht Master second hand.

I don’t have anywhere near the sort of disposable income I did back then today. And if I ever found myself in a position where I could afford a genuine time piece again I don’t think I would now. My life and living situation is drastically different in my 30s than it was in my 20s. And so are my priorities, life experience and everything that comes with age! I appreciate the value of money more and it’s harder to come by than it once was. Living in the U.K. is also harder than it ever has been. Affordability of high luxury items and the general class gaps is so exponential now that anyone that was previously working hard to lead a middle class life have all being relegated to the lower class! We’ve experience the death of the middle class over the last 10 years. And that leads to my desire for a nice reliable watch really.

I have only ever owned 1 x rep in my lifetime. A lockdown purchase off a random website without any prior knowledge of clone movements, steel grades, factory favourite and without any recommendations in general! It was a Batman GMT and all around, poor at best. It cost about £150 and I overpaid at that price considering the build quality. I since learned that the GMT hands & rep mechanisms were known as ‘a ticking time bomb’ back then and a problem waiting to happen. The GMT hand used to eventually make the movements fail, as it eventually becomes stuck and true to form, mine did after about 6 months.

A Batman GMT is still my dream watch today. I may look for a more traditional Submariner with a subtle Black face for better reliability and general accuracy! The only watch I own today is a Garmin fitness.

If anyone has any guidance (I’m sure they’ll be loads of info for me to pick up across the board) or just fancy a chat, please reach out and say hi! I’d love to speak to actual rep owners, people in this community and general watch lovers. It would be great to speak to people deeply immersed in this world, rather than the odd guy in a pub/bar that simply grabbed one while holidaying in Turkey. The rep world is one I have observed but never properly engaged in, until now! And I’m rather enthusiastic about it, despite my first purchase being a bad experience.  

Anyway, thank you to all who run and use this forum!  And to any other newbies, here’s a link to the RWG trusted dealer post last updated in April this year: 

 

Edited October 3, 2023 by bootlegger3000

[GenTLe 1,509]

Hi, IF you want a Rollie (kind of predictable choice if you ask me... A bit TOO predictable), just get a Clean factory 126610, like the first 2 here: https://trustytime888.io/index.php?main_page=advanced_search_result&search_in_description=1&keyword=CLEAN+Factory+Rolex+Ref.126610&x=42&y=12

Also a good choice is a VSF (got it for a colleague and it's very very good too): https://trustytime888.io/index.php?main_page=advanced_search_result&search_in_description=1&keyword=VSF+126610&x=0&y=0

But evaluate also Omega ones, 300 professional or the Planet Ocean line, they are great too.

[bootlegger3000 1]

On 25/09/2023 at 20:56, GenTLe said:

Hi, IF you want a Rollie (kind of predictable choice if you ask me... A bit TOO predictable), just get a Clean factory 126610, like the first 2 here: https://trustytime888.io/index.php?main_page=advanced_search_result&search_in_description=1&keyword=CLEAN+Factory+Rolex+Ref.126610&x=42&y=12

Also a good choice is a VSF (got it for a colleague and it's very very good too): https://trustytime888.io/index.php?main_page=advanced_search_result&search_in_description=1&keyword=VSF+126610&x=0&y=0

But evaluate also Omega ones, 300 professional or the Planet Ocean line, they are great too.

Thanks GenTLe. Have done a lot of research and have found that Clean Factory seem to be the best exterior and VSF slightly better on movement currently. I’m going to go for this as it’s one of the watches I had genuine about 6/7 years ago! I’m just waiting for Li to confirm availability and see whether they’ll do any improved pricing
https://jtime.io/us/submariner-41mm-126613-lb-blue-ceramic-904l-steel-clean-factory-1-1-best-edition-vr3235.html

[fatarms 7,777]

126710BLNO or the "Batgirl" (Basically the Batman on a Jubilee) with the DD3285 movement is what you want.  The DD3285 is an exact clone of  the true Rolex movement and from what I've read, possibly the best Rolex cloned movement available.

[bootlegger3000 1]

9 hours ago, fatarms said:

126710BLNO or the "Batgirl" (Basically the Batman on a Jubilee) with the DD3285 movement is what you want.  The DD3285 is an exact clone of  the true Rolex movement and from what I've read, possibly the best Rolex cloned movement available.

Hey fatarms. Great username for a watch forum by the way haha!

So I was going to go for the Batgirl but I’ve always thought the rep jubilee bracelets are a tell tale of a fake watch. The jubilee steel links are always either a bit too shiny or shows off the difference in steel grade quality between a rep and an authentic Rolex. Also based on watching YouTube comparison’s they’re still marginally off on the watch face compared to how close they are on Subs. I suspect this is because Subs are a lot more common and every factory has likely been making them a lot longer than any other model! 

For the GMT DD3285 were you looking at Clean Factory or VSF?

Edited October 3, 2023 by bootlegger3000

[GenTLe 1,509]

20 hours ago, bootlegger3000 said:

So I was going to go for the Batgirl but I’ve always thought the rep jubilee bracelets are a tell tale of a fake watch. The jubilee steel links are always either a bit too shiny or shows off the difference in steel grade quality between a rep and an authentic Rolex. Also based on watching YouTube comparison’s they’re still marginally off on the watch face compared to how close they are on Subs. I suspect this is because Subs are a lot more common and every factory has likely been making them a lot longer than any other model! 

Mate, you're nitpicking over these details and meantime getting a 2 tone sub with plated parts?

Do you realize that even a 350$ sub rep will not be discerned from the gen unless you have a gen and a good lens to compare?

[Intransit 2]

My first rep is going to be the original Batman. Feels as though it's been nailed execution-wise and it's a little more unique than the average sub. Though I have a feeling I'll be getting the latter later!

[bootlegger3000 1]

On 04/10/2023 at 08:18, GenTLe said:

Mate, you're nitpicking over these details and meantime getting a 2 tone sub with plated parts?

Do you realize that even a 350$ sub rep will not be discerned from the gen unless you have a gen and a good lens to compare?

I hear what you’re saying. You’ve actually made me go back to my original desire of a Bat GMT just based on the movement being the newest on the market. Seems stupid going for an outdated movement in hindsight so a genuine thank you for your replies to my post.
 

Regarding your comments on the plating and nit picking - my want for a sub isn’t to flash fake gold around! My love affair for blue submariner’s and blue Rolex’s as a whole in that matter dates back to being my first ever interest in hand pieces. A blue, steel & gold submariner was the first watch I ever saw on someone wrist in real life that made me go “Wow,  what watch is that?”. I scoured the internet to identify it for what was probably a week or two before finally the make and model. It was then my dream watch for some many years until I was lucky enough to buy one. The blue, steel & gold sub was the first time piece (and Rolex) I ever owned. I can no longer afford or justify buying the genuine thing. So maybe I am nitpicking. But isn’t the desire for a high standard of replica watch in terms of 1:1 the reason they are the best and closest to the real things than ever before?

My desire in owning something fake isn’t to pretend it’s real. My interest in buying a rep is simply because I love the look of these particular watches but couldn’t ever justify spending a mortgage deposit on my wrist again. We all agree when reps looked off/different to the real thing, they simply aren’t anywhere near as nice. I would continue with my Garmin quite happily otherwise.

Anyway, I’m going to order the CF Batman 3285 today from Li @ J Time and get a jubilee bracelet later down the line (maybe genuine if the rep I receive is good enough to deserve one ). I’ll post pictures here once received, and maybe post a separate QC post somewhere on the forum if allowed in the rules! Will check first.

 

Edited October 9, 2023 by bootlegger3000

[bootlegger3000 1]

14 hours ago, Intransit said:

My first rep is going to be the original Batman. Feels as though it's been nailed execution-wise and it's a little more unique than the average sub. Though I have a feeling I'll be getting the latter later!

Good choice. As I mentioned in a reply a moment ago, blue faced Rolex’s are the only Rolex’s I have an interest in owning. I simply love them! And I’ll be doing the same 

[bootlegger3000 1]

Sadly Li @ J Time can’t accept Credit Card at the moment. Can anyone else personally recommend a dealer for the GMT DD3285?

[BadPickle 2,748]

3 hours ago, bootlegger3000 said:

Sadly Li @ J Time can’t accept Credit Card at the moment. Can anyone else personally recommend a dealer for the GMT DD3285?

@Theonewatches 

 

ask Steve 

[bootlegger3000 1]

19 hours ago, pickledbeetroot said:

@Theonewatches 

 

ask Steve 

I’ve enquired with The One Watches since also and they too no longer accept Credit Card. On the FAQs and popular sticky Do’s & Don’t posts on the forum, it’s recommended to pay by credit card, probably for protection.

I wonder what is causing the change?

 

I’ll check the trusted dealers for Steve

[BadPickle 2,748]

6 hours ago, bootlegger3000 said:

I’ve enquired with The One Watches since also and they too no longer accept Credit Card. On the FAQs and popular sticky Do’s & Don’t posts on the forum, it’s recommended to pay by credit card, probably for protection.

I wonder what is causing the change?

 

I’ll check the trusted dealers for Steve

Steve = theonewatches 

 

Use a different method of payment, cc is a rip off anyway. 
 

speak to the dealer and just use their preferred method, it’s different depending which country you’re from 

[prov1kenobi 0]

Does anyone know which TD's accept credit/debit cards for payment? Do they exist? I'm having a hard time finding one! Ugh

[GenTLe 1,509]

19 hours ago, prov1kenobi said:

Does anyone know which TD's accept credit/debit cards for payment? Do they exist? I'm having a hard time finding one! Ugh

Did you (at least) read this thread or can't be bothered? Well, I'm not bothered to reply then.

PS: using CC with these transaction is the stupidest thing a human can do.

[FudgyDocker 3,504]

20 hours ago, prov1kenobi said:

Does anyone know which TD's accept credit/debit cards for payment? Do they exist?

I have to ask why you're insisting on using a credit/debit card.