Authentic watch vs Replica

Cheekykid · 4 Dec 2008 at 13:32

Why would you wanna buy an authetic watch(rolex) costing several tousands while a good replica appears exactly the same, lasts very long and would only set you back £100-£200? I would like to see some arguments from both sides as am in the process of buying a new watch for myself.

It is very common to see people spending crazy amounts of money on watches and I wonder if when buying a Rolex or Breitling you really buy quality or mostly pay for the name? Assuming there are no precious stones on it or being a very limited edition how the heck can a watch cost 20k-30k?

Cheekykid · 4 Dec 2008 at 14:11

Gilly said:
1. You can sell it on.
2. If you want to spend £1-200 on a watch then do so without hesitation, there's nothing wrong with it. Don't try to pretend it is something else though.
3. You have to be a big watch fan to spend thousands on a watch. Why would a big watch fan want a fake?
4. Replicas don't have the build quality.
5. Replicas don't have the same quality look/feel.

A cheapish Seiko shows the time the same way a Rolex does and probably equally accurately if not the difference would be negligible. Also unlike expensive cars with a watch you can't tell the difference between it and a good replica unless you really KNOW about watches.

A question for someone who knows about this subject. Does a watch with 20+ jewels etc. really costs thousands to be made? How can they justify the price?

Cheekykid · 4 Dec 2008 at 14:16

Psycho Sonny said:
seriously though, who cares how the parts inside are moving? as long as it looks good and tells the time, thats why i go for Rado and not Rolex, I do like the look of some breitlings though, might get one in a few years, its more of an older man's watch.

Exactly my point. It seems many people do care about whats inside much to my surprise

Cheekykid · 4 Dec 2008 at 14:19

Gilly said:
Our lass has no idea what is good and what is bad in the watch world, but I have a cheap Seiko (that I don't wear any more, granted) and an Omega Seamaster. It is easy to tell the difference. It's as clear as night and day.

when I say cheapish Seiko I dont really mean one with plastic bracelet etc.

Lets say a good £100 replica of yours. If you put it next to your Omega am not sure you can tell much of a difference just by looking at it. I have seen some replicas that have really surprised me.

Cheekykid · 4 Dec 2008 at 14:21

I can tell why they would spend a lot for a PATEK http://www.users.cloud9.net/~bradmcc/240/index.html but again you buy quality you can't see. If it's only about how a watch looks then a replica is a far better deal

Cheekykid · 4 Dec 2008 at 15:35

Another thing

They say that a saphire crystal cant be scratched unless you have a diamond? Is this true? Am positive I can scratch mine with a knife and a bit of force

Cheekykid · 4 Dec 2008 at 15:38

Gilly said:
Give it a go and report back.

That would ruin my precious tag :eek:

Cheekykid · 4 Dec 2008 at 15:56

Atrox Moris said:
I'm not a watch enthusiast, but I can completely understand those who spend so much money on such a trivial thing, like I do with computers and computer parts. And I'll pay for quality. Not rob it like a *****.

Many pay a lot because of the complexity of engineering, creativity and artistry in one small container. It's not only about how it looks and what it does. It is also about the ownership of a thing of wonder.

Cheekykid · 5 Dec 2008 at 13:41

Tefal said:
your 15k watch cost several hundred (at best)

How would you know? elaborate

Rotty said:
I wear a £8000 watch

Cheekykid · 5 Dec 2008 at 14:09

I dont believe that Jewellery shops make so much of a profit. If a watch goes for £1000 I doubt they make more than 10% profit. Bear in mind that a watch will sell for as much as the people are willing to pay otherwise nobody would buy them. Also many serious brands from TAG and upwards have some degree of human touch on them. They dont get massively produced by machines just like that with no human touch on them.

Cheekykid · 5 Dec 2008 at 14:17

A bit out of topic

Any idea why the TAG link series are always more expensive than the Aquaracer and other ones? Is it because they use jewels?

Cheekykid · 5 Dec 2008 at 14:49

Rotty said:
jeewllers margins on watches vary for 50% - 200%

most mid range watches are machine produced and even worse in some cases, Tag generally buy in reasdy made components , subcontract case manufacture, assemble in far east and then pack in Switzerland to allow them to be badged swiss made

if you want to see the work that goes into high end watches this is interesting

http://www.jaeger-lecoultre.com/eu/en/manufacture/professions

So you have a jaeger-lecoultre

So if I buy a watch for £1000, 500+ of it go to the person owning the shop? Hard to believe. Whats the source of your information?

Cheekykid · 5 Dec 2008 at 15:41

Rotty said:
the bracelet is a little more complicated ( and much the worse for it ) but mainly is is due to market positioning

So the link being automatic,bigger bezel and having jewels makes no difference to the price tag?

Rotty said:
Take a Tag costing £1000 , 20% discount will probably be given, £120 VAT , cost price about £350 , do dealer cut will be about £330

bear in mind volume of sales that is not that huge

at the higher end percentage margins become less

I bought a Gucci watch from a dealer at trade , retail was £1395 , I paid £500 and that was what he said was trade , may even have been less

Back then when the pound was stronger and the dollar weak I could get online the same tag watch for half the price in america compared to the highstreet shops so there is definetely a margin but this example isn't enough due to different market conditions, import/export taxes etc.

There are no discounts in famous high streets shops to normal unknown customers so the 20% is irrelevant as is the VAT which goes to the government.

Profit margin of 200% for the shop owner is surely overstated or it refers to scam shops.

Surely they are overpriced in shops but if you get your watch online the margin must be a lot smaller and it is in my experience. For example I bought my Tag from america £600 cheaper than Ernest Jones. That is £600 pure profit for "them" or there are other things we are missing?

Cheekykid · 5 Dec 2008 at 16:29

Rotty said:
bigger watcg/bezel would be negliible

re jewels depends on what you are comparing, do you have examples ?

Lets say a Tag aquaracer vs Tag Link 25 jewels. Do you want specific models?

Cheekykid · 5 Dec 2008 at 16:55

Rotty said:
if the Aquaracer is quartz then of course the auto Link would cost more and, for example, a better movement like the Calibre 36 more still

jewels on their own do not mean much, they are only synthetic bearings and while more complex ( and expensive ) movements often have more jewels the amount of jewels on it's own means little

Is calibre 7 better than 5 or the numbers mean nothing?

Cheekykid · 5 Dec 2008 at 18:09

We should note that the bracelet adds to the price quite a bit. Rolex is the only company that uses 904L steel and it costs 3 times as much as the 316L which is what many brands use.