Social Status and Rep Watches

[Conex 0]

For me it's very basic:

 

I love the look of a DSSD or a Graham Oversize, whatever, but I simply do not have £5000+ to lay out for one, so why shouldn't I buy a replica. When I collected militaria for re-enactments when I was younger I had a replica German Fallschirmjaeger helmet that I paid £125 for because I was not willing to pay over £1000 for a genuine one just to roll around in the mud in it. Ok not the best analogy but you see what I mean. I have a gen GMTII that I have had for years, but if I lost it and had to buy another one I have to say I would buy a rep.

[1_klean_watch 0]

Yep, Del, watch and shoes tell more about your taste than any other thing.

I mean, you can wear a suit to try conformity in some situation, but these will tell your real taste and status, because it is more likely that this reflect your personality.

On the other hand, I think BirghtLight is very true. It might be as serious as trying to fool anyone else pretending to be rich or just as innocuous as dying your hair, because you like it better that way.

I think that being too obvious on any of them is uncomfortable…

 

 

This is very true and I had experience like that in department store in SF.

[Baldrick 1]

Hardly anybody ever notices what watch I'm wearing and who the fuck outside of these forums and a handful of WIS knows what the hell a Panerai is anyhow?

 

So, why is it so important to have raised cannon pinions, L swiss L, and so on and so forth, why are there so many modders..

 

Does that mean I only buy reps for the brand name on the watch?..Not really because I actually just really like the watches themselves

 

Understood, BUT if it said ROLECKS OR OMAYGA on the dial, would they suddenly lose a small degree of attraction, or a large degree, I mean you still like the watch design and overall look....NO ?

 

Take off your ermine cloaks, EVERBODY on these forums came here looking for a Submariner or ( insert luxury brand and model here ), or else we'd all be on Ebay buying a nicely designed watch and posting on the PMWF, if you say otherwise, you're kidding only yourself, I ain't swallowing your guff B)

[speedzmaster 0]

Wear what you like.

[greg_r 81]

Hardly anybody ever notices what watch I'm wearing and who the fuck outside of these forums and a handful of WIS knows what the hell a Panerai is anyhow?

 

So, why is it so important to have raised cannon pinions, L swiss L, and so on and so forth, why are there so many modders.. B)

 

 

Beats the hell outta me. I'm not that anal about my watches... So long as the watch feels like quality (oddly, it's that more than appearance that makes the difference of whether I will keep a watch or sell it on), the nth degree of accuracy to the gen has little effect on my enjoyment of a watch.

 

I'm not saying that some people don't buy for 'status' reasons, I'm just saying that doesn't necessarily apply for everyone.

 

Don't give a damn whether you 'swallow my guff' (oo-err missus! ) or not. You buy for your reasons, I'll buy for mine. I just dislike lazy generalisations...

[sconehead 5]

...attention to detail...whether it be a rep or anything else in life...maybe I have OCD...

[PGL 0]

BL: sorry mate, but that's a hopeless generalisation. I'm sure it's true for some folks, but it certainly ain't the case for everybody.

 

I buy watches to please myself - not for some soggy perception of 'status'. Hardly anybody ever notices what watch I'm wearing and who the fuck outside of these forums and a handful of WIS knows what the hell a Panerai is anyhow?

 

So why not buy hommages? Cheaper and just as good Can you honestly say it's not the Panerai name that swings it for you?

 

I know it's a generalisation but I do feel we kid ourselves about our motives. For example, I buy Mercs because I believe they are generally well put together and I've been a fan for donkey's years, but I can't say that three pointed star is meaningless.

 

I own many homages (but there are some specific watches that have no good looking hommages). I just bought two reps. of the Rolex Milgauss because the homages I had seen months ago were not really as nice. They didn't have the green glass and the number 12 at the top looked weird (for my taste), but I do not own any other PANERAI or Rolex homages, I have Marina Militare (a bunch of them) and clean dial subs that look like Rolex.

 

Of course if someone asks me I would say my Milgauss are fake or not authentic, I don't have to lie, what I love most about watches is their designs (I am weird that way) and people who know me they are aware of it. I don't care if they are homages, reps or authentic. As long as I like them (and have money) I will buy them.

 

I have three Orient MAKOs, Invictas, Swatches, Seikos, Ikes, Storms, Philippe Starks, Fossils, etc... Like I said, if I like the watch, I will end up buying it sooner or later... but some watches don't have homages or similar designs with clean dials.

 

Since I joined this forum I have seen so many watches I like that probably won't have good homages... I would prefer a good rep over a bad homage any day. But we all buy watches for many different reasons, to each their own. B)

[Conex 0]

Hardly anybody ever notices what watch I'm wearing and who the fuck outside of these forums and a handful of WIS knows what the hell a Panerai is anyhow?

 

So, why is it so important to have raised cannon pinions, L swiss L, and so on and so forth, why are there so many modders.. B)

 

 

Beats the hell outta me. I'm not that anal about my watches... So long as the watch feels like quality (oddly, it's that more than appearance that makes the difference of whether I will keep a watch or sell it on), the nth degree of accuracy to the gen has little effect on my enjoyment of a watch.

 

I'm not saying that some people don't buy for 'status' reasons, I'm just saying that doesn't necessarily apply for everyone.

 

Don't give a damn whether you 'swallow my guff' (oo-err missus! ) or not. You buy for your reasons, I'll buy for mine. I just dislike lazy generalisations...

 

 

Totally agree.

[Gerabit 0]

Hello 1 klean watch and fellow members,

 

I agree with most of you, when you state wear what you like, want and can afford but...

 

We have to take into account that we are worldwide and that all countries have their own culture and unfortunatly (or not) diferent ways as society looks at individuals...

 

So what's true for ones can or not be true for others!

 

I'm in Portugal and I can say that in some aspects it's a damn good country , sun, beach, low levels of crime, no terrorism, and so on... big crises

... but people keep spending money to maintain their status or pretend they have that status! And everybody who "want" to be in that "level" has to wear the so called top brands B) ... pretending what, in generally, what they are not

 

My opinion his that we have to be genuine ourselves and don't give a f**k for what others think about us, ... but if you work on a shop selling whatever probably you will never earn enought to buy a Rolex, Omega, Panerai whatever and you will be excluded because you will be seen as a "rep also" and this is the truth!

The damn society (people) don't allow us to behave as individuals! Because in these days the society was build upon these culture of brands, look at the example of the Apple in the computers, people buy for the status of what that particular brand brings and don't even talk with them about quality off course they are good companies but aren't there some good offers for the same level of specs and cheaper? Marketing it's great making us want something that we don't need and cannot "aford?" but everybody else have it...

 

Enought with bullshit....

 

I have a hand full of gen's only quartz movement's, till some time a go didn't even knew what did mean an automatic movement , all my life liked whatches and one of my favorite shops in the mall it's always the watch shop, for some years i tought when i get the money i will buy a Rolex and a Omega, didn't even knew the models, thanks to RWG now I know, Rolex Submariner and Omega Seamaster 300m Professional.

 

Well shortening, most of the watches that I have I don't even wear them for more than twice they are as new in the boxes with all papers, just change the battery when they need and i have the time for it, in generally i use a very common Swatch! Only in special ocasions i take one of the better ones to use because i don't want to damage them...

 

The rep that i bought and the next ones that i will buy (if i can) probably will buy them for the same reason - because i like them, just because i like watches! Not to pretend to be what i'm not! And if buy any change i will wear them it's because i feal ok with my self!

 

Don't buy a watch just to pretend what you are not, buy a watch because you like the watch and as usually they say here:

 

Wear it in good health!!!

[Baldrick 1]

Don't give a damn whether you 'swallow my guff' (oo-err missus! ) or not.

 

I don't give a damn. whether you give a damn or not

 

I'm not saying that some people don't buy for 'status' reasons,

 

The majority do, s'why as soon as the majority hit the streets of Bangkok, HK, NYC etc, the first question asked is 'where can I get some good quality fakes', not 'where can I buy a solidly built attractive watch', that applies not just to watches, but handbags, fashion clothes etc etc, the only difference is that we have rather an elitist attitude towards our particular bent, we live in a label driven society that places emphasis on material wealth, if it weren't the case, your shell suit wouldn't say Burberry / Armani / LV on the outside B)

 

I just dislike lazy generalisations...

 

It's not a lazy generalisation, it's actually a very accurate one

[gtwc 1]

Well, alot has been written here overnight. This must be a sensitive topic and lots of opinions have been expressed.

 

I got myself the PAM's because I can see the dial and read the time. I can't see the words on the face...and Damnit Brightlight, now I am disappointed...you mean the bears aren't going to be impressed by my lovely rep watches??? Well, now that I am hooked, I would like to get some more watches, but any would need to be a men's watch I can see. Too bad about the bears though. I thought I might be more accepted in their circles with nice watches.

 

By the way fellas I would like to share some things with you. Mik is correct about wealth perception and the shoes. I will share with you some secrets. These secrets are for dealing with the very rich and are taught in law schools, so if interested, or if you have no choice but to be with, or interact with wealthy people, pay careful attention:

 

There are 2 rules for financial dealings with the very rich:

 

1) Don't invade the corpus (body) of an asset. (That is... it is ok to use the interest just not the principal)

2) NEVER, EVER wear brown shoes after 5 PM

 

 

 

There are three rules for entertaining the very rich:

 

1) No children at the dinner table.

2) No match making, and

3) NEVER, EVER...show slides

 

 

So guys, if you are with a bunch of rich snobs...learn these rules...otherwise, just be yourself and be happy with who you are and what you have. ::

 

In these shoes?....I don't think so....

I doubt you'd survive

 

Brown shoes - always !!!

Our beloved ex-King Edward VIII (he of the yankee parvenu Wallis Simpson) ALWAYS wore brown shoes (including suede) and he certainly

had style, panache (apart from choosing women).

 

I only ever wear brown.

I wish I was mega-rich !!!

[Baldrick 1]

+1

 

Brown is for gentlemen, black is for ninja / gangsters / chavs and generally all round thoroughly bad eggs. ( perhaps even ninja gangster chavs )

 

Besides what would a woman ( not least a Vermontian ) know about style, fashion perhaps, but style hmmm...she prolly thinks Holland and Holland are cheese-makers and Purdey means "purty" and Turnbull and Asser are solicitors B)

[sfa437 0]

I've bought gen watches but came to the realization that a rep is 95% of the way there for 10% of the price.

 

Fiscal responsibility gents

 

In all seriousness I LOVE the look of the branded watches to include dial markings. I simply cannot justify spending 20K on a PAM 194 when I can get a damn good facsimilie of it for 250 bucks though. What it comes down to, in reality, is I have better uses for my money and the rep world has allowed me to own watches I would never be able to afford otherwise. Whether or not someone recognizes what I am wearing has no bearing on the pleasure I get from owning something I'd never be able to otherwise.

[Del 4,463]

Does that mean I only buy reps for the brand name on the watch?..Not really because I actually just really like the watches themselves

 

Understood, BUT if it said ROLECKS OR OMAYGA on the dial, would they suddenly lose a small degree of attraction, or a large degree, I mean you still like the watch design and overall look....NO ?

 

I agree with you - I wouldn't buy them if they didn't have the brand name on them, but that's what makes them look so good because they ARE like the gen . What I meant (but didn't explain very well ) was that I don't buy them to give me status or to intentionally pass them off as gens, I buy them because I like how they look, i.e. like the real thing. Although, as I also admitted, I do get a thrill when folk think they are gens - icing on the cake B) .

 

I'm certainly not anal when it comes to the little flaws on reps either - what the fuck does it matter if your cannon pinion is too low unless you are trying to pass your rep off as a gen to someone that actually gives a damn .

[Aren 27]

Well...

 

ex-King Edward VIII certainly had taste...too bad it was only in his mouth.

 

He was slumming! No offense intended.

 

Rich is overrated...and I personally find nothing wrong with brown shoes! You are safe if you wear them in NYC...you won't be mugged south of Canal Street.

 

I heartily agree...where what you like.

[Silverspeed 10]

Jezus....I never analysed why I buy reps, other then the reason that it looks good for a few $

and no I've never bought homage watches, or knowingly tried to pass a fake watch as a gen

 

And why should I.....practically no one ever asked me or made a comment on my watch, not even a Rose Gold Daytona!

It's just an entertaining hobby about fake watches, not something one should take seriously

[Baldrick 1]

He was slumming!

He was slumming with the American, Wallis Simpson, no offense taken, we've all fallen from grace at one point or another, however fraternising with the Colonials, that won't do, ungentlemanly conduct

 

Jezus....I never analysed why I buy reps, other then the reason that it looks good for a few $

and no I've never bought homage watches, or knowingly tried to pass a fake watch as a gen

 

And why should I.....practically no one ever asked me or made a comment on my watch, not even a Rose Gold Daytona!

It's just an entertaining hobby about fake watches, not something one should take seriously

 

You're right SS, I'm not suggesting anything otherwise, just that MOST ( if not all of us ), found our way here by browsing the net looking for a fake, we shouldn't pretend otherwise, it doesn't make any of us bad people, but let's not gild the lily, when we wear a rep, if someone compliments us upon it, our chests swell, if only a little bit, ALL OF US.

[gtwc 1]

+1

 

Brown is for gentlemen, black is for ninja / gangsters / chavs and generally all round thoroughly bad eggs. ( perhaps even ninja gangster chavs )

 

Besides what would a woman ( not least a Vermontian ) know about style, fashion perhaps, but style hmmm...she prolly thinks Holland and Holland are cheese-makers and Purdey means "purty" and Turnbull and Asser are solicitors

 

+100

[Silverspeed 10]

when we wear a rep, if someone compliments us upon it, our chests swell, if only a little bit, ALL OF US.

 

 

sure....but if that's the reason to buy reps I could have saved a whole lot of €'s ....I could have bought a GEN RG Daytona of the savings

in the 4 years of buying god knows how many reps....the compliments I've gotten are about a handful

[sfa437 0]

+1

 

Brown is for gentlemen, black is for ninja / gangsters / chavs and generally all round thoroughly bad eggs. ( perhaps even ninja gangster chavs )

 

Besides what would a woman ( not least a Vermontian ) know about style, fashion perhaps, but style hmmm...she prolly thinks Holland and Holland are cheese-makers and Purdey means "purty" and Turnbull and Asser are solicitors

 

+100

 

Baldrick- AMAZING post!!! I'm gonna steal the hell out of that quote!

[Fiddo 0]

Yep, Del, watch and shoes tell more about your taste than any other thing.

Does that mean I have to start wearing shoes???

[KBH 7]

When I buy a watch I do care how close it is to a gen. I want offset pushers on my vintage Daytonas. I want the HE valve in the right place on my Omega PO. I want a correct pearl on my Rolexes and I'll pay big bucks for my franken DJ's and even buy them gen bracelets. I strive for reps that are so close to gen that no one but me will ever know they are fake, even if I take them off and hand them to the other person.

 

The ones that are easy to spot as fakes either get sold or sit in my watch box. So call me vain, hypocritical or whatever you want. If I'm going fake it's going to be the best available. Plus I really enjoy modding, from sanding and polishing cases to changing dials and movements. To me that's the most fun part of the hobby. It's building the ultimate homage.

 

I've only had someone ask one time if my watch was genuine. It was a friend of mine and I said, "of course it is" and handed it too him. He looked it over for a while and said "nice watch". I smiled and said "thank you" and never did tell him the truth. (Am I a bad person?)

 

Truth is that 99.999% of the people really don't care, though.

[Aren 27]

Baldrick, you already know what my style is...you are the one who posted my pink dress picture, PM'd me, apologized to me...sang those charming songs to me to woo me, and revealed my personal secrets here and arranged for a GTG with me. Were these just some kind of sordid pranks to make mock of me? To take advantage of me.??? You won't be giving any blow by blows here on Sunday and if you are, they won't have anything to do with me. Now you don't want what you asked me for?

 

Now my style is beneath you???.......no pun boyz.

 

Does this mean no GTG??? Because as of right now, you have stiffed me...I mean...stood me up. After all you have done, I am now wondering if you are the gen gentleman you pretended to be. You tried to lure me with your charms and invited me to come over and see your magnificent...watches! KBH even helped me to locate the local wedding gown shop where I already placed the down payment. Shame...shame on you Baldrick. You are a scoundrel who deceived me into believing you were a gen gentlemen. I bet your watches are fake too.

 

I think you should revisit this post by edil because this is how our conversation is going to go:

 

 

I am leaving Baldrick...I have arranged a GTG with a real (genuine) man.

[sconehead 5]

...well Aren, as you may have just found out...

 

 

''all men are pigs...but some are swines as well...''

 

 

 

[Aren 27]

...well Aren, as you may have just found out...

 

 

''all men are pigs...but some are swines as well...''

 

 

 

 

You are so right Scone...I think for all young women it should be mandatory that they watch the movie

 

"The Ugly Truth"

 

again and again!