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Items Tagged With ArticlesAre Fake Rolex Watches as Good as a Real Rolex?
Written By: Richard Brown 2006-05-25 11:30:03 No matter how good the quality of replica watches they still have an inherent fragility that isn't exhibited in the genuine watch they copy. Either subject to finicky movements, loose crown stems, or non-existent water-resistance; fake watches may look like their genuine counterparts, but rarely live up to their standards. Read More About Are Fake Rolex Watches As Good As A Real Rolex?... Basics 101
Written By: Ziggy Zumba 2005-11-25 23:24:44 Replica Watch Basics 101Just getting started collecting watches? Ziggy outlines some of the basic information on movements and their care and feeding. He details the different kinds of movements used in replica watches today and gives some basic information on how they function and their reliability. Read More About Basics 101... Basics 102
Written By: Ziggy Zumba 2005-11-25 23:27:30 Replica Watch Basics 102An expansion of Ziggy's earlier introduction to watches article, this time he focuses on answering frequently asked questions. Read More About Basics 102... Buying Watches Safely Online
Written By: Richard Brown 2005-11-23 22:29:13 Page 1 of 4 Online auction houses such as Ebay have a growing influence on the buying and selling of watches. Purchasing a watch online can be a fun experience if handled with care and awareness of the risks. Just like any transaction where you're unable to see the goods except through the eyes of the seller, buying online is a process fraught with danger for the unsuspecting.
Warranties
Many high end manufacturers do not honor warranties of watches purchased from dealers on the Internet. This is to prevent gray market sales and to keep their distribution channels under control. To this end, most manufacturers' web sites will warn you about purchasing watches from online sources. Existing warranties for some manufacturers are also not transferable.
The safest way to buy any watch is from a reputable dealer for that brand. This may mean a slightly higher price than from online dealers, but you get the peace of mind knowing your purchase and warranty is honored by the manufacturer. Also the risk of unknowingly buying a counterfeit is negligible.
Buying from an Auction
When you come across the watch of your dreams on an online auction site there are several things you need to do before getting too excited. Remember, all that you have to go by in evaluating the watch are:
Before you purchase any watch online make sure you are comfortable with each of these areas. Don't buy something with a wonderful description and pictures if the seller has a low feedback percentage. If you know the pictures of the watch are from the manufacturers' web site be very wary of the seller. Balance all the areas against common sense before you buy.
Your Knowledge
The purpose of this guide is to increase your general knowledge and awareness of the replicas on the market. But you should also research and learn as much as you can about the genuine watch before you buy. This means if possible visit your local dealer and get an opportunity to see the watch in person. There's no real substitute for seeing the genuine watch and getting an chance to handle it. Even if all you have to review are photographs your personal experiences with the watch will aid in your decision making process.
There are also many online resources to turn to in helping you evaluate a watch. Never abuse the privilege by excessively posting auction listings to forums. If you're sincere and request help many forums will provide you with their informal opinion on a listing. Web forums like Timezone ( www.timezone.com) and Paneristi (www.paneristi.com) are well known hang outs for experts on particular watch brands.
Be familiar with the manufacturer's web site. This means visit the site and dig into the information that's posted there. Most manufacturers are light on information they post online. They seem to feel its more important to have a flashy dynamic site than one that presents a list of features and data.
Still these sites are wonderful tools to get an idea of the varieties of each model and to get a feel for the look of each watch. Plus many pictures from the manufacturer's web site are stolen and reused as actual item pictures in auctions. By being familiar with the manufacturer photographs (for example, Rolex always has their watches set to 10:10 and 30 seconds) you'll know what to look for.
Frequently Asked Questions
Written By: Richard Brown 2005-11-27 22:10:55 Page 1 of 3 General Questions Q: What is a replica watch?A: A replica watch is a functional or partially functional copy of an original watch design created by a famous manufacturer. In my opinion a watch that doesn't function (is a prop) should be defined by the term "fake." Q: What are "Swiss" replicas? A: The term "Swiss" refers to the quality of the watch, usually indicating that the movement is made in Switzerland. This movement is typically made by ETA (http://www.eta.ch). "Swiss" quality replicas are some of the best in the industry, and tend to use similar materials that were used in the original watch. Note that "Swiss", "Japanese", and "Asian" in reference to replicas are broad terms covering a lot of ground. A "Swiss" watch may be of lower quality than a "Japanese" example; since there is no quality control in the manufacturing of replicas quality varies greatly from watch to watch. Q: What are "Japanese" replicas? A: The term "Japanese" replica refers to the quality and origin of the movement in the watch. "Japanese" movements are usually of lesser quality than the Swiss movements, but are also less expensive. This means the overall cost of the watch is less than Swiss replicas. "Japanese" replicas also typically use inferior materials in their construction compared to the original watch. "Japanese" replicas are more common, and are easier to spot because of the shortcuts taken in their construction. They will use sapphire or even mineral glass crystals, and typically a poorer attention to detail than the higher end models. Q: What are "Asian" replicas? A: "Asian" replicas are made of very inferior materials. They are easy to spot as replicas because they are lighter and flimsier than the original. "Asian" replicas are common items in Chinatown, and can be purchased for around $30. "Asian" replicas are what many people think of when the term replica watch is brought up in conversation. They are cheap imitations of the original mass produced for tourists. These watches will use cheap pot metal cases plated over to imitate stainless steel. Also glass and plastic crystals are common. Even plastic parts in the movement have been known. There's little difficulty in spotting a replica of this quality; they don't look like five thousand dollar watches. Q: What is "triple" and "single" wrapped gold? A: Solid gold is too expensive a material to make replicas from. Most "gold" replicas instead use some time of gold plating to emulate a real gold watch. Normal plating puts a single layer of about 2-4 microns of gold plating on a watch; this is enough to give a gold look to the watch, but the thin plating wears off over time. "Triple" wrapped watches simply means that this plating process is done three times, giving a very thick coating of gold to the watch. This coating is thick enough that watches with "triple" wrapped gold plating can pass for solid gold watches in tests. This coating also resists fading very well. Another theory is that this term is a marketing ploy developed by replica dealers online. There is no evidence that this multiple plating is done; the best guess is that a thicker coating of gold is used on the higher end watches than on cheaper models. Q: Is all stainless steel the same in replica construction? A: No, some cheaper Asian replicas actually use stainless steel plating over a pot metal core. This can wear off just like gold plating can. It tends to be very shiny and looks "fake." Some Japanese replicas use a cheaper quality of stainless steel in their manufacturing process. Most Swiss replicas use 440 Stainless, which is the same quality of metal that some of the original manufacturers use. Not using the proper materials can mean that the replica can feel light in comparison to the original. Some low-end replica manufacturers use weights inside the cast to try and match the original watch. Q: Should my metal watch band have pins or screws in it? A: It depends on the model, but most original watches with metal bands have screws in the last links of the band to allow it to be sized for the wearer. Some early Rolex models used rivets, but all of the current models have screws in the band. Cheaper replicas use pins in all cases because it's less expensive. Omega is a manufacturer that uses pins in their bands. There are 22 items tagged with Articles. You can view all our tags in the Tag Cloud
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