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Replica Policy

C
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Full disclosure: I hate the replica watch industry. It's criminal to the core, often uses exploited labor, and is centered in parts of the world with repressive governments who are looking for western dollars. By stealing design and simply cranking out replicas, they get it.

That said, what is the accepted etiquette here when someone posts replicas? I don't want to change the culture here, I like it, and I'm biting my tongue. I'm just curious what others think.

I'm a guy who would praise a vintage or brand new Timex or Casio all day long, but looks with derision on even the highest "quality' replica anything. Do people call out the reps or will be remain gentlemen and just look the other way?

I may have answered my own question...
 
Shabbaz
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C ChiefMark
That said, what is the accepted etiquette here when someone posts replicas?
We throw stones through his window.
 
C
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image-asset.jpeg
 
Leviathan
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It’s unacceptable and a silly waste of money. Period.

There’s no reason to spend any money on a replica when there are genuine counterparts across the $ spectrum that are both functionally and aesthetically superior.

With regards to your question on the “policy” towards those who wear reps in real life or post them on this forum… I’ll probably spot it, given how vigilant I am through years of watch-collecting (minus those crazy $500+ clone or Frankenstein watches of course). Once I spot it, the person wearing that watch instantly loses all credibility and respect—because ultimately, that is a reflection of how this person thinks/acts in life.

This doesn’t apply to those who have been scammed, obviously.
 
NGO1
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Reps and homages are a slap in the faces of designers and engineers.
 
C
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Scarecrow Boat Scarecrow Boat
Curious if you are asking because of the WMT thread that popped up yesterday?
Nope. Unless I'm 100% I won't start publicly calling someone out... and I'm torn on doing that even if I was; unless it was being offered for sale.
 
Leviathan
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NGO1 ngo516
Reps and homages are a slap in the faces of designers and engineers.
Homage watches are often overlooked in conversations like these.

What do people think of them? A low-cost and good-faith alternative to the real deal, or a flat out fake?
 
SkunkPrince
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Leviathan Leviathan
What do people think of them? A low-cost and good-faith alternative to the real deal, or a flat out fake?
It amuses me how many inexpensive quartz watches are styled like a Rolex. I had a CItizen mechanical like that.
 
efauser
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Leviathan Leviathan
Homage watches are often overlooked in conversations like these.

What do people think of them? A low-cost and good-faith alternative to the real deal, or a flat out fake?
A flat-out fake (replica) would have the name of the watch it was made to look like. "Homages" may look similar but aren't trying to be passed off as the real thing.
 
JwRosenthal
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Hey @ChiefMark - just want to clarify the question as it has been debated here before. Are we talking about watches that are branded as another brand and intended to fool (like many of the mod watches with R?&EX on the dials but are anything but), or “homage” watches like Steinhart’s and the like?
 
sonicosa
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Leviathan Leviathan
Homage watches are often overlooked in conversations like these.

What do people think of them? A low-cost and good-faith alternative to the real deal, or a flat out fake?

I don't have any interest in homage watches, but I wouldn't call them flat out fake.
 
NGO1
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efauser efauser
Homages" may look similar but aren't trying to be passed off as the real thing.

Homage rides on the blood, sweat and tears or designers and engineers. Who spent hundreds and thousands of hours finessing their life work. Homages do try to pass off as the real thing. Until someone looks closely at the fine print.

“Stunning vintage Blancpain you have there!”
“Wait, it’s not a Blancpain. It’s a WTF!”
Edited:
 
efauser
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NGO1 ngo516
Homage rides on the blood, sweat and tears or designers and engineers. Who spent hundreds and thousands of hours finessing their life work.

Homages do try to pass off as the real thing. Until someone looks closely at the fine print.

“Stunning vintage Blancpain you have there!”
“Wait, it’s not a Blancpain. It’s a WTF!”
Allow me to insert an eye roll here. Damn near every watch manufacturer makes a watch that looks similar to another manufacturer's. Wouldn't a Tudor Sub technically be an homage to a Rolex?
 
C
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JwRosenthal JwRosenthal
Hey @ChiefMark - just want to clarify the question as it has been debated here before. Are we talking about watches that are branded as another brand and intended to fool (like many of the mod watches with R?&EX on the dials but are anything but), or “homage” watches like Steinhart’s and the like?
Clarifying that I mean fakes intended to fool. They make a fool of rather than fool; but still.

Homages… are another story. There are so many different types of homages; some more acceptable than others. I’m actually looking at an homage now. When the brand stands on its own and the homage isn’t a copy; but a nod to the past, it doesn’t bother me as much. A homage made to duplicate a current model in all but name… not so much.
It’s easy to see that all watches bear some resemblance to others; because there’s only so much you can do with a dial and three hands. Eventually there is some similarity.

Like I said though, homages and fakes may have a sliver of overlap in a Venn diagram, but I think they’re separate issues.
 
C
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Also, glad to report that my suspicion leading to this thread was incorrect. Artifacts from a phone camera’s digital image processor caused the error on my part.
This is still a good discussion though.
 
Leviathan
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NGO1 ngo516
Homage rides on the blood, sweat and tears or designers and engineers. Who spent hundreds and thousands of hours finessing their life work.

Homages do try to pass off as the real thing. Until someone looks closely at the fine print.

“Stunning vintage Blancpain you have there!”
“Wait, it’s not a Blancpain. It’s a WTF!”
I belong to this school of thought as well.

A homage is still intellectual property theft (minus the logo). It’s less blasphemous than a flat out fake, but it still rides off of the creative property of the mother watch/brand. Unacceptable in my book, but obviously, to each their own.
 
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