FAKE Watches

[Mikael]

Victorinox are the only manufacturer that can use the "Swiss Army" logo on their products. Yours may be a later one than the watch in the picture?

Could be, or earlier one, I googled to get the pic. I´m not worried though, I bought it from an irl shop in town. I thought Wenger also could use the term!?

 

[shrink]

The C40 is a bit out of my price range, but the Steinhart Ocean Black I like. What is the size inc the bezel? And do you have to order direct from the factory?
At the moment I am looking at a Swiss Army watch in the same price range (340 Euros plus P&P)

they also do a C60 diver (trident) which looks very very much like the steinhart ocean 1, but with a gorgeous wave pattern on the face, and a slightly nicer bezel. Its only about £50 more expensive than the steinhart.

 

[missingskin]

Victorinox are the only manufacturer that can use the "Swiss Army" logo on their products. Yours may be a later one than the watch in the picture?

Could be, or earlier one, I googled to get the pic. I´m not worried though, I bought it from an irl shop in town. I thought Wenger also could use the term!?

No, I have a Wenger and they use "Swiss Military" ...........still a good watch, my daily use watch......

 

[Arrowhead]

One European make which interests me is Archimede: does anyone have any experience of their watches? These two are based on an ETA 2824-2 and are about £350 and £300 respectively, and the styling is right up my street.

 

[Rev-O]

One European make which interests me is Archimede: does anyone have any experience of their watches? These two are based on an ETA 2824-2 and are about £350 and £300 respectively, and the styling is right up my street.

Thye get good reviews on tz-uk forum, so they must be pretty decent.

 

[Audiolab]

Some really nice watches in the last few pages, well impressed with some of them. Cracking value for money!!!

 

[sjedwardz]

I had a few replica watches a while ago but realised they would never really replace a real one. I also had quite a large collection of vintage watches - nothing too expensive ranging upto about £300 each.

Then I decided to get rid of most of them and get a really nice Omega as my "main" watch, something that my son could have when I'm gone

Eddie from Timefactors does some very good watches the pricing of which put the better known boys to shame. Omega, Rolex and Breitling do some very nice watches but no way are they worth what they charge - its just that they can get away with it.

 

[Audiolab]

I have both an Omega and a Rolex and while the law of diminishing returns comes into play, meaning the Rolex is not three times as good as the Omega and an Omega is not three times as good as a lesser known brand, there is a difference in finished product.

It is hard to compare directly because my Omega is a Sea Master (big chunky diver type watch) and the Rolex is a Date Just) more of a dress watch) so it is thinner and lighter than the Omega. The Rolex is nicer to look at, is finished to perfection and the detailing is exquisite. However my £100 Seiko tells the time just as well so there is no additional function for your money, I do not know of anyone who would be devastated without a rotating bezel.

So beyond £100 what are you actually getting for your money? Even with the £300 lesser known brands posted there there is no functional difference to a replica a lesser known brand or even a £50 Casio. Like it or not people are paying more for fit, finish and look, this is true for all of the watches posted. If telling the time was the only priority then I don't even need a watch for that, my phone does that, I have a clock in the car and my computer and the phone and the computer adjust themselves periodically.

It just comes down to how much you are prepared to pay and if you think it is value for money, for me it is. My car sits outside and depreciates every day while my Rolex is now worth more than I paid for it.

 

[Arrowhead]

Interesting post Audio. It strikes me that Vinny's the one with the ultimate practical watch here, and that any mechanical watch over, say, £50 is performing a function which has almost nothing to do with timekeeping and lots to do with image. Of my three modest watches, by far the best timekeeper is a £20 Lorus; it's also the most legible and you can use it to read in the dark (that's almost true). What it says about me is 1) if you ask me the time, you'll get an accurate answer, and 2) I shop at Argos. If I'd got that IWC Spitfire, the message would be completely different, about status, money, design and knowledge of watches. The accuracy would be almost irrelevant, not to mention inferior to any quartz watch. The kind of watches we've been talking about are more like jewellery, and if Ollie's content to wear paste, good for him.

The other interesting thing is that high end watches represent superb value if you pay enough for them, because they tend to appreciate. Buy a Rolex, Patek Philippe, Panerai or something of that order and given due care, it's essentially free, or better. Which was my train of thought with the IWC: a Sinn or Glycine would very likely lose value instantly, but the Spitfire most assuredly wouldn't. In a way the worst value is in the middle of the market, but that's where the watches which really appeal to me tend to be.

Enough musing: time for some watch porn. Grovana Coral Reef 2, 300m diver's watch (not my thing usually, but...). About £400.

 

[shrink]

FYI that grovana is identical to the steinhart ocean 1 (e.g. its the same watch with a different name on it) and should be a little cheaper than £400

 

[Rev-O]

Audio and Arrow full of good sense as usual.

Vintage watches are nice - the trouble is that as they are machines (with all the stresses, tensions, lubrication, moving parts, etc) there can be issues which can impair performance.

I'm still quite pleased with my £100 fake vintage Omega: a nice watch to look at, accurate (so far to within about 2 secs a day it seems), easy to read and all new insides (so shouldn't need servicing for a while).

Having said that some of the stuff posted up here has been very nice. And none of the ethical/moral issues of a fake.

Interesting points re residual value / appreciation / depreciation: some watches are very good investments, others will lose half their value or more as soon as you walk out of the jewellers' shop door. Nice to have an investment that is both useful and beautiful (and can be worn every day) - not many things can boast all that AND repay you handsomely should you wish to liquidate it.

If I has unlimited money I would buy a vintage Rolex or Omega and keep it properly serviced (not cheap). Alas, I don't.

I'd also put it on a toshi strap (the Chocolate one, please, fairygodmother) - here <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.toshi-straps.co.uk/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.toshi-straps.co.uk/</a><!-- m --> - as I hate bracelets with a passion (Jimmy Saville's rattling jewellery c.1978 anyone?) and have skinny wrist - the snug embrace of warm leather is so much more comfortable imho.

So . . . how about a whip-round for your favourite padre? I did say I was going to spend less time here (ha!) so maybe a parting gift of a watch would be a good idea? 1960's Rolex or Omega, nothing dressy, fsh, box and papers, toshi strap and a bottle of bubbly? Ta.

 

[Pig Cat]

So . . . how about a whip-round for your favourite padre? I did say I was going to spend less time here (ha!) so maybe a parting gift of a watch would be a good idea? 1960's Rolex or Omega, nothing dressy, fsh, box and papers, toshi strap and a bottle of bubbly? Ta.

Come on everyone, let's do it. If it means he finally buggers off it's a small price to pay. We've given £2.50 each to Mantic, how about £250 each for Ollie??

 

[Rev-O]

So . . . how about a whip-round for your favourite padre? I did say I was going to spend less time here (ha!) so maybe a parting gift of a watch would be a good idea? 1960's Rolex or Omega, nothing dressy, fsh, box and papers, toshi strap and a bottle of bubbly? Ta.

Come on everyone, let's do it. If it means he finally buggers off it's a small price to pay. We've given £2.50 each to Mantic, how about £250 each for Ollie??

Look out PC I'm retiring to Suffolk - the Yiddish Ghetto with the great restaurants and delicatessens, street-life, arts, political debate, pavement cafes: East Anglia: the original Lower East Side. And it don't get much Lower or more Easterly or much further to the Side. :lol:

Woody Allen here I come, with my TSR watch and pension. (Oh, I forgot to mention the pension.)

 

[Pig Cat]

pavement cafes

Er...you may be disappointed. Here's Stowmarket's answer to The Cafe Society:

:lol:

 

[antdad]

I have a couple of vintage Enicar's, not this actual one but almost identical and they can still be bought for reasonable money. Just as handsome if not more so than many vintage Omega's but without the reputation and associated price tag. Sorry can't stand hulking great chronographs, or "sports watches" designed to operated at 300m.

 

[shrink]

for anyone interested... theres a chap over on the CW forum selling a Debaufre Ocean 1 (same as steinhart and grovana) pretty good price too

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.christopherwardforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=46&t=5295" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.christopherwardforum.com/vie ... =46&t=5295</a><!-- m -->