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Hi All,
I want to start a debate concerning fake or replica watches. I want to discuss the topic as I am considering a replica watch, and am interested in the views of the community. The replica I am interested in is a Hublot Big Bang. I would not consider buying "the real thing" as for what it is, in my opinion, the cost is very high: I really like the appearance of the watch, but feel it is a very fashionable piece, and its appeal will not last, so I'm not about to go and spend £7K on one. By contrast I own a real Blancpain Flyback which is very classical piece in my opinion, and was well worth what I paid for it.
I think the debate concerning replica or fake watches is an interesting one: there are plenty of replica cars around: Porsche Speedsters, Porsche Spyders, AC Cobras, D-type Jaguars, Caterham Sevens and so forth, and there seems to be no stigma attached to owning and driving them. Is the issue that owners of fake or replica watches try to pass them off as the real thing, rather than owning up?
Part of the issue in my mind is also what it is which has been copied: my interest is in a Hublot, which has no value for me as a brand - previous incarnations have been bland in my opinion (apologies to other Hublot owners out there), so my interest is purely the look of the piece - if Seiko made it I would still buy it. Owning a replica Patek or Vacheron complication and trying to pass it off as real is another matter altogether though.
Anyway, I'd be interested to hear your thoughts and opinions.
Cheers,
dd
No further comment ;-)
I'm not as think as you drunk I am.
:shock: WTF are you on? Get back with the answer before 6.00pm as i would like some before I turn out, it will save me some money on beer. :roll:
F.T.F.A.
http://watches.infoniac.com/ten-reasons ... watch.html
See #9
Can you live with supporting organized crime?
Hmm... this does tend to come up now and then, doesn't it?Originally Posted by dunky dares
Have a search for 'fake' or 'replica' in the title of a thread, and you'll find most points of view expressed in the replies there. I'll chip in to say that there's a big difference between a 'homage' and a fake. The purpose of a fake is deception. IF the dial say Rolex, and it didn't come from Rolex, then it's a fake, and I'd much rather put the money into a genuine watch - maybe not a Rolex, for example, but you get the idea.
If you buy a 'fake' Porsche Speedster, does it come with 'box' and papers from Porsche confirming it's genuineness? Not if it comes from Chesil, for eg.!
i would never buy a fake(replica) watch. if you like the look but don't want to play the price, why not buy a non-fake watch from another brand that 'draws' from the BB's design.
These threads pop up from time to time but die off quickly... *yawn*
Fakes suck.
Simple.
If it says Hublot on the dial its a fake,simple. otherwise its just a design copy.
Cheers,
Ben
..... for I have become the Jedi of flippers
" an extravagance is anything you buy that is of no earthly use to your wife "
No need, as has already been said, it's been debated before - try here for example: http://www.tz-uk.com/forum/viewtopic...&t=55362&hilit
I don't think you'll find much support on here for fake watches.
R
Ignorance breeds Fear. Fear breeds Hatred. Hatred breeds Ignorance. Break the chain.
If its not the real deal
IT'S NOT THE REAL DEAL :roll:
Martin
I FEEL LIKE I'M DIAGONALLY PARKED IN A PARALLEL UNIVERSE
Buy the BEST watches you can afford
A great Seiko/Pulsar/Tissot whatever will be 100 times better than a fake Hublot or any other brand.
Yu have said yourself - u wouldn't buy the real thing - so why buy the copy - do you want other people to think it's real - or does the design really impress you - if it does consider why you won't pay up for ownership - if it doesn't way up - don't do it.
It's just a matter of time...
No debate.
A cheap fake is just a waste, easily spottable and just not worth wearing, but a decent enough one should have a half decent movement and almost identical appearance!
http://www.tswisswatch.com/swiss_hub...ica_watch.html
Well it is up to you, you are the one who PAYS for it, you are the one who WEARS it! So if you think you will feel inferior of it being a replica, then don't buy it. But if you think it is ok and you like it, buy it by all means! But just remember, YOU are responsible for your own decision.
Replica (as you use the term) = fake
a replica could also mean that a company re-issues a watch from their own history, like for instance Laco has done with their B-watch
Fakes are for fake people...
...and since you brought up the subject: I wouldn't buy a replica car either : it's not the real thing.
As mentioned either save up for the real thing or buy a cheaper watch......
There are many differing opinions on the whole 'fake/replica' situation. I think you can apply those same opinions to life in general. Why pretend to be something you're not?
A quote attributted to the great Budo master Abe Kenshiro says it all for me ''....no matter what your pretence , you are what you are and nothing more !''
regards
jeff
have to agree with the majority here - personally, i could never wear a fake (or replica). I'd much rather have a good honest watch at a price I could afford. I simply can't imagine trying to pass off a fake as the real thing, but that's just me - there seem to be a fair few that have no problem with it however.
Willie
The parallel with kit cars doesn't work as they do not try to use the original makers badge. A Caterham isn't a Lotus and a Dax isn't a Caterham (or an AC)
Some misguided owners try putting original badges on their car but there's no way they are a believable copy so just make them look sad.
Say's a lot about the owner.
Owning a fake is the act of a scoundrel :twisted:
When you look long into an abyss, the abyss looks long into you.........
It appears Dunky don't do debate :|
Fakes are wrong IMHO.
I dunno, i think sometimes you see a watch that you will never be able to afford, but it has the look you want in a watch, so a replical may be worth it to have something you want, but it will in no way be the original.
With all this talk it reminds me of a story a while back, where a guy was passing off his top of the range rolex as a fake as he was facing fraud charges and having about 20k on his wrist kind of gave it away :D
Or a lack of self esteem.....
Who are you trying to kid - yourself or other people. If other people, ask yourself why. If yourself, get a grip.
A fake will never give you any satisfaction and may make you look foolish.
Hi All,
Thanks for your contributions. Sorry for the radio silence - I've been away bathing my children and reading them bedtime stories! :D
I wasn't surprised by what I read: a mixture of righteous indignation (how could he even think of doing such a thing - gasp!) and some good, well argued points. You may or may not be interested to learn that I am not going to go ahead and investigate replica (I stand by the nomenclature) watches any further (note: Chesil may badge their Speedsters with their own name, but the shape/colour of the badge is soooo close to an old Porsche one its not true :wink: ), as the most compelling argument to me was the possibility that my purchase may support organised crime, and I'll have no truck with that.
Cheers all,
dd
The low end stuff are the ones being sold by dodgy guys who are into a load of stuff, the higher end replicas are done by companies who knock out a fair few of these, so i doubt they're into organised crime, just selling fake stuff.
I still think that the watch world is about the only area where fakes don't really hamper the real market, the hublot big bang is a watch i'd love to get as well but i'll have to save for a good while and those who buy it will buy it without thinking about the fakes, those who buy the fakes are usually not in the market for the originals so both crowds don't really mix.
In my old work up in Glasgow almost every watch was a fake, at that time i had a couple of Rolex bought from WoS and it never really bothered me, i bought the watches as i wanted them. The ones down the barras were £10-20 dodgy ones that looked terrible and worked for a month, the weirdest ones i've seen was a mate who is a millionaire, he went over to China for two months and came back with a dozen fakes for some reason and he wears them :shock:
But what if you realy liked the item (car or watch) and wanted the experience of ownership, but couldn`t possibly afford it? Do you go without or get the next-best thing... a replica?
I personally don`t own any replicas but I don`t have a big problem with folks buying them. Too much self-righteousness from people who are fortunate enough to own the real thing, IMO.
I don't think the car thing works when one is talking about Chesil/Tygan or whatever they are called, and Lancia stratos replicas for example. These are fibreglass kit car reproductions of cars that have not been made for a very long time and are very rare. OK you could probably find a Porsche 356 for less then 30 grand but no way will you get a speedster for anything other then silly money. I actually knew of a guy that had one and he took all the super rare expensive carrera gubbins out and put VW bettle mechanicals in so he could drive the car and keep all the good bits perfect.
Our local Porsche club (PCGB so officially sanctioned by Porsche) region for example are doing a day trip down to the Chesil/Tygan factory, they are certainly not frowned upon and if anything are helping to keep alive part of automotive history. If you turned up at a watch meet though with a load of fake subs and breitlings I don't think you would win many friends, but the latest G shocks or rare Seiko will get as much attention as the high end stuff.
BTW there is nothing self righteous or snobbish about saying buying illegal goods is not a good idea.
This is a joke post right :roll:
Plenty of good decent companies produce affordable genuine watches -
much rather have one of these than a fake watch pretending to be something
that it isn't - but is, at the end of the day, a fake.
TTPS
Unless one is talented at self-deception (or very forgetful), one doesn't get the experience of owning X by buying (and owning) Y, where X isn't Y. Consider the experience of being a certain person (e.g., being Napoleon or Being John Malkovich). One can deceive oneself into thinking one is Napoleon, but it takes effort. Such people sometimes wind up in nice quiet rooms, and don't get the whole Napoleon experience in any case. They probably don't know what it is like to lose an empire, etc. Similarly, one could deceive oneself into thinking the watch one is wearing is an X, when one knew it was a Y when one bought it. Probably not as bad as Being John Malkovich, but ....But what if you realy liked the item (car or watch) and wanted the experience of ownership, but couldn`t possibly afford it? Do you go without or get the next-best thing... a replica?
I personally don`t own any replicas but I don`t have a big problem with folks buying them. Too much self-righteousness from people who are fortunate enough to own the real thing, IMO.
Of course, the idea could be to deceive other people and have them treat you as owning X when you actually own Y. Just like it might be the case that one wants folks to think that one is Martin Guerre. This sort of deception isn't anything to write home about, probably.
Best wishes,
Bob
I appear to have stirred up something of a nest of vipers here :lol: Wow, didn't we take this just a little bit seriously? Some of the replies to the post astound me. I think I must be very different to a number of you gentlemen: you see, a watch is for me a piece of jewellery as well as a timepiece, so it has to look nice as well as do a job, and I need to enjoy looking at it, whether I want to know what the time is (or isn't, which is what a watch is really for - think about that one) or not.
It is not however - though it must be for some of you, judging by your replies - a status symbol of any kind, either to myself, or to the outside world. One of the (many) reasons I bought a Blancpain is because your average man in the street (including erstwhile muggers) doesn't know what a Blancpain is! In fact, a short story: I was in a jeweller's in Nottingham with my wife a few years ago, and the two guys working there stopped me to ask me what I was wearing, because they had never seen one before! And then one of them stated that it was a fake because he couldn't get the chronograph pushers to work (he forgot to unscrew them first - bless!) If someone notices the watch I am wearing, and compliments me on it, that's great, but I don't need that from anyone to feel good about it, and I'm not trying to get noticed: I'd like to think I am self-actualised enough already to not worry about that. But hey, that's only my opinion. :D
dd
PS I heard whilst visiting the US that girls in strip bars have done their homework and now size up their punters by looking at their watches. The more expensive the watch, the more attention the punter gets from the girls. Now if that isn't a strong argument for replica watches, I don't know what is. We should probably all rush off and buy Patek perpetual chronographs or something :lol:
Well if attracting strippers in a clip joint is your goal then rush away you lucky self-actualised person you....... :D
I cannot see any replies that appear to me to indicate the poster infers that a genuine watch is a status symbol, could you identify which ones you judge to be so?
Why would it be a strong argument for a replica?PS I heard whilst visiting the US that girls in strip bars have done their homework and now size up their punters by looking at their watches. The more expensive the watch, the more attention the punter gets from the girls. Now if that isn't a strong argument for replica watches, I don't know what is.
You're not LL revisiting are you, only your seem to have some similarity........... :wink:
R
Ignorance breeds Fear. Fear breeds Hatred. Hatred breeds Ignorance. Break the chain.
No further comment ;-)
No way Josey. Never on my wrist.
If you are a watch lover you rader have a £100 Omega then a £1000 Fake
How many times have we done this over the years? :roll:
With so many fine quality reasonably priced watches about why would you want a fake anything?
As Bob said a fake is not the same as the real thing even if it superficially looks like it.
...........And superficiality is what fake watches are all about.
Cheers,
Neil.
The low end stuff are the ones being sold by dodgy guys who are into a load of stuff, the higher end replicas are done by companies who knock out a fair few of these, so i doubt they're into organised crime, just selling fake stuff.
I still think that the watch world is about the only area where fakes don't really hamper the real market, the hublot big bang is a watch i'd love to get as well but i'll have to save for a good while and those who buy it will buy it without thinking about the fakes, those who buy the fakes are usually not in the market for the originals so both crowds don't really mix.
In my old work up in Glasgow almost every watch was a fake, at that time i had a couple of Rolex bought from WoS and it never really bothered me, i bought the watches as i wanted them. The ones down the barras were £10-20 dodgy ones that looked terrible and worked for a month, the weirdest ones i've seen was a mate who is a millionaire, he went over to China for two months and came back with a dozen fakes for some reason and he wears them
Thats one I've never believed myself.They try to tie fake watches into terrorism,Osama and his boys make their money in heroin from Afghanistan and guns from Pakistan not dodgy Rollies from Taiwan
Well said Dunky Dares. Especially since you had already said that you would not buy a fake/replica in your previous post.
We ( many of us anyway) dont like and buy fakes for our own different reasons. But any attempt to discuss it seems to get a bit heated around watch enthusiasts ( never did quite understood why!).
Ujjwal
P.S : your attempt at humour was missed, it would seem; inspite of your smiley face on the comment
I go without - I used to have a lot of homages in my early WIS days, but I sold them all, because I felt "cheap". Some of them I managed to exchange for the real thing (for instance a Stowa Flieger), others left the collection without replacement. Don't get me wrong: contrary to replicas or fakes, I don`t have anything against homages, yet they aren`t me.But what if you realy liked the item (car or watch) and wanted the experience of ownership, but couldn`t possibly afford it? Do you go without or get the next-best thing... a replica?
I`ve been lusting after a Panerai since my first days as a WIS, yet I still haven`t bought a homage and I don`t think I`ll ever will, but someday in the far, far future, I`ll buy myself a real one. :wink:
As for cars, I`d rather drive a Fiat Punto (which I did for many years) than driving something that is pretending to be something it isn`t.
Ignorance is bliss...
First link shows what Interpol says about fake watches:
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/10/ ... click=true
http://www.jckonline.com/article/CA6533140.html
http://joemygod.blogspot.com/2008/02/co ... atown.html
I was in Samui/Thailand recently, as others may have seen that the amount of traders on the streets selling fakes are very much in abundance. What I did notice was that there was many people looking but not many people buying. I also was having a good look and the quality especially in the subs and the panerais was outstanding.......but not selling.
I picked up a panerai black seal with view back, swan neck regulator, decorated movement.....all the markings. The guy wanted £80 for it, I asked him if he had any without panerai written on it and the response was astonishment. So I walked away. Dont these people realise that if they made these same watches without all the fake names on them and at the quality they are made, they would be knocking them out all day at that price. Other watches on this forum seem to sell easily enough such as the Alpha series PO and oyster watches with silly names printed on them rather than Rolex and they are blatent replicas of what they are trying to be but we still buy them. It all comes down to the name written on it. If it says Rolex and its a fake it gets slated.....If it says Alpha and is a blatent copy of a PO we say "Nice watch, great hommage." Its only a matter of time before the companys start doing this as well and the net will be flooded with these and this forum as well.....and they will sell.
Joe.
This is the lower end of the replicas, as far as i can see the better made, and quite expensive ones are done by what appears to be companies.
Edit: Pic doesn't work
Interesting observation, although I cannot see it catching on as the general public does't know what things are if they don’t have a name on them.
The me, the main difference between the homage market and the fakes is … in general homages are well made, sometimes they are even better constructed than the originals where the fakes are just rubbish.
I love fakes. They are a middle finger to the ones who can’t make watches that can’t be faked for pennies.
john
Costume jewellery. Ouch!!!
Move along. Nothing to see here. *yawn* :roll:
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