Newb Questions about Replica Quality & Movement Types

[atxguy24 0]

Greetings all:

 

I've been shopping around for my first replica, and naturally, I have been trying to absorb as much knowledge from these forums as possible.

 

My first question is regarding the movement types. I've read the summary of movement types for newbs (http://www.rwg.bz/bo...?showtopic=6930), but a few items are still unclear to me. What are the key differences between "Chronos" and "Non-Chronos" movement types in replicas? Is the introduction to movements for newbs implying that the "Chronos" are superior?

 

Which of the movement types are most accurate/true to original? At points, this list looks like it is in order of quality, but on the other hand it does not look so at times, and I am guessing that some of these movement types would only be appropriate appearing in certain watches.

 

What is the "Sea Gull" movement type mentioned, and where does it fit into things?

 

Also, can each of the listed movement types be classified as battery powered, wind-up, or automatic/kinetic? Or, can each variety be any of the three depending on the specific implementation/individual watch?

 

In shopping around, I've noticed that the watches fall into a sort of tiered system (in fact, Silix Prime explicitly organizes watches into lower and higher quality replicas). The tiers seem to correlate with the movement type. Is this the biggest difference between the tiers? Or are there other factors in play (materials, accuracy of replication, craftsmanship/quality) that also impact the pricing?

 

Do the various sites carry the same watches (akin to a Foot Locker and Champs carrying footwear from the same manufacturers, albeit with different stock/selection) or does each source watches from distinct manufacturers and thus carry distinct watches?

 

Lastly, I've seen comments in these forums that pretty much any watch design can be found some place. Is this true? Can I basically just peruse actual watch catalogs and expect a good chance of sourcing a replica? If so, with whom would I inquire for a specific watch?

 

Thanks for any input/advice!

 

-John

Edited July 27, 2012 by atxguy24

[myaz 3]

Welcome, sounds like you will enjoy it here. You ask many questions and here's a few quick random answers.

 

-All movements in the topic you quote are mechanical. No quartz.

-They can make the outsides of a watch look good but the movement's the giveaway. However, there's a Panerai model that ran into controversy a while back when they used a commonly available movement for a short run, but that's not the norm.

-The "tier" systems are just what that particular TD decides for his/her purposes. Cheaper watches will be quartz or have 21J movements. Read more about movements to get an appreciation of the better ones.

-Not all watches are repped. I would peruse a site like Silix or Marvellous replicas to see what's out there. if not sure, send a pic of your fave to them or WatchInternational and they'll tell you if it exists.

 

Enjoy

[HeavyKrush 16]

I'll take a shot at the first two questions...

 

Pretty much straight from Wikipedia: "A chronograph is a specific type of watch that is used as a stopwatch combined with a display watch. A basic chronograph has an independent sweep second hand; it can be started, stopped, and returned to zero by successive pressure on the stem."

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chronograph.

 

A Non-chrono is a standard watch without the stopwatch feature.

 

Seems like your next question on qulity is pretty much answered in the article. Might want to re-read that.

 

Welcome and have fun.

[Luthier 1]

The best answers on all your questions is - read our thread for a few weeks, then you'll know a lot about movements, dealers, watches, and all this hobby.

Please, don't expect somebody will spend an hour or who to write essay for you, everything was already written 100 times per every topic. Another words - educate yourself, here's plenty of information.

And welcome to the forum!

[jeffw69 0]

Welcome.

Read, read, and read.

[LMPAZ 0]

Great site! Thanks for the noobie advice.