There is a huge marketing effort put forth by a variety of replica watch dealers on the Internet. This effort is geared towards providing misinformation in order to give a sense of authority and exclusivity. In reality it's all related to selling snake oil...
For years ETA, the leading manufacturer of Swiss watch movements, has been selling their stock to OEM vendors. These high quality movements have found their way into most of the "Swiss" replicas on the market. The vast majority of these movements have 25 jewels in their design.
Jewels are small synthetic sapphires used at pivot points within the movement. They provide a low-friction surface for two metallic pieces to connect and move against. The typical movement needs at least 17 jewels in its design to minimize this friction of moving parts. Additional jewels are used when watches add complications such as date wheels and chronograph functions.
The number of jewels has nothing to do with watch accuracy or reliability. Jewels are there to provide a low-friction surface at key points in the design. Having more jewels in a movement doesn't make it inherently better than a movement with a lower jewel count.
Many replica dealers try to entice watch buyers by stating their "2006" models don't use 25 jewel ETA movements, but instead more accurate 27 jewel movements. This is pure fantasy. ETA doesn't make automatic movements that have 27 jewels. All of the primary ETA automatic movements have in the past and currently have 25 jewels. This bit of chicanery is designed to prod buyers into paying for more expensive "2006" models, when in reality they're paying for the same watch they'd get if they got the supposed inferior previous year's watch.
Many of the "big" Internet replica watch dealers are selling as much misinformation as they're selling product. There is no reason why anyone should pay $1,100 for a fake watch; they simply do not cost that much to manufacture. There is no magic bullet that makes any particular replica watch that much better than another. It definately pays to have done your homework.
Articles 
ETA 
Replica Watch 
| 
