I have made reviews of (almost) all reps I have owned so why not make something good out of this (already traded) watch, too? So let's get on with it...

One of the most frequent newbie questions in this community is:

"Is there a solid gold Rolex Submariner available?"

or

"Are the middle links t ripple wrapped, plated, or solid 14K gold?"

or

"Two-tone reps, are they worth it?"

We see these same questions popping up almost every week in the rep forums. Frankly, they make me crazy. I think it's time to put an end to this madness. Next time you'll see the same question asked, kindly guide the noob to this thread.

There are real 14K solid gold replicas, but you have to be careful where you buy from. I don't think it's fair and reasonable to shamelessly promote any dealers (even the good ones) in my reviews but Precious Time has verified and proved that the bracelets in his TT Rolexes are indeed solid 14K gold (as advertised). You can read his testimonial here.

Problem with the gold plated brass Oyster band is the weight. The genuine steel/18K bracelet is surprisingly light but it still feels much more convincing, "metallic" and solid. Unfortunately the plated brass rep band is featherweight and feels like a toy.

My TT Submariner (from Joshua) was visually very, very beautiful. It had most excellent dial, deep rehaut, good gold-tone date mag and reasonable (but not excellent) crown guards. It looked fantastic on the wrist although the 14K gold tone wasn't as rich as the genuine 18K gold. I've seen the new rep models having richer gold tone though.



Another problem with the rep TT Oyster bracelet is the last middle link which connects the bracelet to the SEL. It should look "solid" but in the rep bracelets you'll see the thin layer of plated brass over the steel.



Apparently the rep factories have finally fixed this problem as THIS Watcher's pictorial demonstrates. (picture borrowed from Watcher). As you can see from his pictorial the rep has improved in other aspects, too. Crown guards are much better and very much acceptable. That wasn't the issue year ago.