Replica Watches Guide: Buying Your First Replica Watch

What To Expect From Replica Watches

If you're new to this whole replica watches world, industry, call it what you will, I'm sure you're baffled by all the options you have, from hundreds of online stores, to more watch brands than you ever thought existed. In this post, the emphasis won't be on reliable replica sites, rather on what a greenhorn should expect from his first replica watch.

I was introduced to replica watches about 13 years ago, by Theodore, a good friend of mine who was very much into Hip Hop and being in high school, you could only imagine how flashy my boy was. Baggy pants that I can't by this day understand how didn't fall off him, t-shirts that could easily fit three Mama Junes, Timberlands (keep in mind we were in Albuquerque) and lots of bling were always part of his daily ensemble.
He had a quite a few replica watches, the two most notable being a totally blinged-out Audemars Piguet replica and a Jacob & Co five time zone, the kind you would see in just about every Hip Hop video at that time. These Jacob & Co watches were heavily endorsed, I remember R. Kelly saying in one of his songs something like “I'm frozen thanks to Jacob the jeweler”.
But I digress… Since Theodore was always nagging me that I wasn't fly enough, he gave me a blinged-out Audemars Piguet replica for my birthday. That was my first replica. I had some basic knowledge about luxury watches at that time, I knew the bigger brands, but wasn't that knowledgeable about every collection and of course, about movements and what exactly makes a watch tick.
I'm not saying that I'm the ultimate replica watches guru, but I can say that I'm well acquainted to the replica industry and it took a lot of trial and error to get here. At times, it was very frustrating because it wasn't that easy to get your hands on a decent replica like it is today and a lot of money went down the drain.
Even though you can find more reliable replica sites than you could find back in the day ( read here how you recognize a good replica site), there are also a lot more shady dealers nowadays.

Introduction To Replica Watches

As you may already know, replica watches, like all genuine watches for that matter, are powered by an internal mechanism, called the movement. This can be either quartz or mechanical. Mechanical movements can be self-winding or manual wound (you have to wind them yourself, each couple of days or so, just like back in the day).
Quartz movements are a lot cheaper to produce than a mechanical movement, and are generally frowned upon by connoisseurs, despite the fact that they more accurate.
Of course, a mechanical movement is a lot more interesting from a horological point of view. High end watchmakers invest a lot of time in putting it together. The amount of work is, at most times, insane and the attention to detail is borderline obsessive.
When buying luxury watch, from Rolex, to Patek Philippe or any other brand you can think of, you're not paying only for the craftsmanship, you're also paying for the brand name.
Good replica watches offer you the image of a luxury watch, but there won't be any precious metals involved and they will be powered by different kind of movements, either Swiss or Asian made. Swiss movements are ETAs/Valjoux and Asian ones are mostly clones of the former. I'll write an in-depth article about movements in the future, but for now, let's leave it at.

What To Expect From Replica Watches

Replica watches come in all different shapes and sizes, quality varying from beautiful watches that can hardly be spotted as being a fake, to complete junk.
The best advice I can give you is to stick with better-known brands, because there is a high demand for them. Let's take Rolex for example, easily the most replicated watch around. Factories have gained a lot of experience over the years and nowadays, it isn't that hard to find a great looking Rolex replica, if you know where to look for it.
Besides choosing one of the popular luxury watch brands, you should go for simpler models (if you don't want your watch to be spotted as a fake, of course). Complications such as the tourbillon are called complications for a reason, they're difficult to make and also very costly, so you can't really expect from mass-manufactured replica watches to be exact copies of these haute horlogerie timepieces.
Basically, if you end up with a poor replica, and chances are you will at some point, you can't really expect much of it. You will feel the cheapness in it, without being a watch expert and of course, it will easily be spotted as a fake. I had cheap watches like this fall off my wrist while I was walking. One even ended up in the sewer.
From a true Grade A replica (like so many sellers love to call their replica watches), you can expect it to function for many years, provided you have it serviced from time to time, just like you should with ANY of your watches. If it's a Swiss ETA movement, the better. These are true work horses and will outlast you if properly taken care of. Keep in mind, genuine or fake, every wristwatch needs to be cleaned and oiled. Even quartz watches need a battery change once in a while.
You can also expect it to be extremely hard to identify as a fake. Here's a photo of two Breitling Superoceans, one real, one a replica. Which is which? I'll let you guess.

Breitling Superocean Replica Vs Real – Spot The Fake

Image Is Everything… Or Is It?

Another advice I want to give you regarding replica watches is to be careful about your image. Let's say you're a hardworking fellow, yet not very well paid, but you are passionate about watches. Obviously, you can't afford a rose gold Rolex watch, so no matter how great the Rolex replica on your wrist is, you can't really pass it as being the real deal. Replica watches are great alternatives for those who can somewhat afford the genuine model, but don't want to risk damaging it, getting mugged for it and so on. And of course, for those that love a certain watch, can't afford it and don't care about the image. A hat tip to them for their lack of hypocrisy!

Conclusions

Summing things up, with a little patience, you can expect from a replica watch to be a great timepiece. Again, do some research before buying, there are many sellers out there that are only after your money and I think my blog is one of the best proofs.
Oh, and please feel free to share your story about your first replica watch.

vedere di piu replica orologi e Rolex Daytona II