F Y I

Every week we hear from customers that have purchased a Replica Watches from other companies and they all tell their story:

• I paid lots of money for a Swiss Watch and they sent me a cheap Chinese Watch
• They said it was 100% exact and I find many things wrong with it
• My jeweler said its not a Swiss Movement, its a Chinese movement
• They said they would send it COD and I could see it before I paid but I had to pay Fedx first before they would give me the package.  I paid and opened it and it was a cheap watch. I contacted their customer service and they wont answer me now. I then looked them up on Google and found 100's of compalints against this company with almost all of them having the same experience. I should have checked before ordered.

We hear these things over and over again......

Here are some Facts that you need to know !

There are NO REPLICA WATCHES that are 100% Exact.  In every replica watch you will find something if you look close.  These are copies of High Dollar Watches and the original had lots of time and money put into their production and they use only the best componets.  Replica Watches are manufactured in small rooms sometimes only 10' x 10' and they are not large mfgs as many might think.  Usually the people that put together the replicas are kids just out of school and they are paid per watch and they try to make as many as they can per day. Their average monthly pay is about $120 USD. 

In every Replica you will find something that is not exact.  We have heard from people saying the etched crown is not like the real one or there is no etched crown on my face (Not all Rolex faces have the etched crown), there is no Hologram Sticker on the back on my watch (Rolex stopped using Hologram Stickers almost 2 yrs ago) , the space between the letter in Rolex are too close or the color of the face is a little different then the real one.  YES  - There will be something with EVERY REPLICA including SWISS GRADE if you look close enough.   If you want a 100% Exact Watch, the best bet is to buy the real thing, but one thing for sure, the money you pay for a Replica, its pretty darn close to the real thing and 99% of the people will never know its a copy.

• SWISS Eta Movement - MOST SELLERS PUT IN CHINESE COPIES of the Swiss Eta movement. Our supplier of Swiss told us last week " We are the Only ones that order REAL SWISS MOVEMENT, everyone else orders the copy movements" We were a little surprised to hear this because she is the largest supplier of Real Swiss Movement Watches
• There is NO 18K Solid Gold Replicas - Some sites tell you Solid 18k - Hog Wash - ( We actually can buy a SOLID GOLD Case and Band but the cost is Very High ($3,000 USD plus) and no one is going to put that in a replica watch and sell it for $1,000  haha
• QUALITY - There are many different qualities of replicas - to one seller, it may be the best available even if its the cheap one.  If the seller does not know the replicas inside and out, he doest know the quality he is selling.  I can remember when I thought the Non-Stainless Steel Rolex ( I was told it was SS ) was a high quality watch ... I learned by buying and selling and dealing with lots of vendors all saying they had the best.  After 7 yrs in the business, I now know quality better then most sellers of replica watches.
• Who has the best quality Swiss ?  -  Many sites tell you they have the best and prices range from $300 - over $1,000.00   -  If I pay more, isn't that a sign of a better Swiss Grade watch.  NO!   The fact is:  Most Swiss Rolex come from the same place, most are drop shipped and never toughed buy the seller.  The Chinese are tricky, they will sell you a Swiss Grade Watch, tell you its a real eta movement ( there is a Chinese movement company and all their movements start with ETA ... No its NOT SWISS but a copy Swiss .. when the buyer asks for a Real Eta Movement,  sure, its a Real Eta from the Chinese Movement Company and a Chinese Movement.   The wholesale buyer only hears Swiss  Eta and the price, they like the lower price.   ie   Most all Grade 1's come from the same place but there are many options that can change the quality, most choose the lowest price model  with copy  movement.
• What we do different !  - Since we are located in China and we have direct contact with the watch makers daily and most important, we can see and teat the watches we sell to you. We run in every watch for 24 hours before shipping to help avoid problems. ( do we sometings have a problem with watches ?  YES  sometimes, we never ship a watch that we feel will give a problem ... but if it happens, we replace your watch with no problem.
• Does anyone have a Better Swiss Eta ?   -  We sell the Highest Quality Swiss Grade you can buy period.  No matter how much you pay, you will not get a better one !  and our movement are REAL not fake !    Even on our High Quality Rolex, you will not find a better one without going Swiss Grade. 
• STAINLESS STEEL -  440 or What ?   No one is using 440 but they tell you they are .. FACT -  NO 440  , its 316L on all the replicas.  Somestimes the site owners put that on their sites and they just dont know .. they were told its 440 and they believed what they were told. Most sites copy their specs from other sites so its a big chain effect of bad information.
• ETA Movement - Is there a better ETA- 2836 movemt?  NO   This is it !  Its the same movement that is used in Tudor Watches. 
• Japanese Movement -  Italian Movement -  My Replica has some real Rolex parts in it (haha) Made in Switzerland (Maybe the Real One but not the Replica)  99.99% of all Replicas are made in China right in the town where we are located.   Japan Grade - they tell you that to make you think its not Chinese.  No Replicas are made in Japan.  Made in thailand - all Thailand watches come from China.  I see several boxes daily going to Thailand and most are the really cheap quality ones.

We will update this information often for you.

What we are trying to say is, we will always sell you the Highest Qualtiy Replica Available.  At times some mfgs make a High Quality watch and the next time they make it, its junk because they tried to make it cheaper ( its all about profit to the Chinese )   We we buy watches, we dont buy the cheapest, we buy the best possible and we dont care about the price.  Quality First and we pay what we must to get it.

WHY DO PRICES GO UP AND DOWN -   Sometimes the mfg need cash and they will lower pries to raise the cash they need. (Their display booth are expensive  and if they dont pay the rent on the 1st they are closed down. If they get a fine from Customs Police, they fine can be as much as $5.000 USD and they must pay or goto jail,  they pay and are bak in business the next day.  Sometimes REAL Eta movement are hard to get .. copies are easy.  The Real movement prices go up and down. Right now they are at their lowest  because many are in stick. The eta copy movement has taken over.

If you have questions about quality, email us with you phone number.  We would love to talk with you.  YES  we are one of the few sellers you can actually talk with on the phone.

We are often asked , what is the best Replica available ... The Best Replica's we have found are :

#1    Rolex Deepsea  ( either Swiss or High Quality)  Its the BEST! Perfect in every detail.    +  The 42 mm Subs are really nice !!

#2    Panerai Replicas   -  Very High Quality

#3    Rado Replicas  - Beautiful, solid proven Japanese & Swiss Quartz movement

How about the Worst

Its hard to say because the quality changes with every production. Chinese never make anything the same the second time

#1 - Carier Watches used to be good and now most models are junk. The movement fall apart even before we get them to the office. Some are OK in quality but most are now  - We list some Cartier on our site, there are the better ones, the bad we took off

#2  - Breitling -  They really look good but most are NOT STAINLESS STEEL - They shine and look good but they dont last.  Very Few Breitling models are SS -  but  there are some that are VERY VERY HIGH QUALITY -  This is why we dont offer a large selection of Breitling on our site ... we only list the best and sell the best. If your going to buy a Breitling, buy one with a Quartz movement, the standard automatic movement in the Breitling Replicas are very poor

#3  -  Movado - They used to be one of the Highest Quality available but the past couple years, they have not been good.  Sometimes we find some New Old stock back from when they were good and we will list them on our site.

MUST READ INFORMATION

The hands or bezel markings do not line up perfectly - can this be fixed?

Don't panic. A barely perceptible misalignment is not unusual and normally is not a sign of a defect or problem.

Certain moving or movable parts of a watch, particularly the second hand and the rotating calibrated bezels on sports models, have their exact stopping positions controlled by mechanical components (springs, gears, and rachets). So the exact precision of the stopping points for these elements can change slightly over time as the new mechanisms settle in and gradually wear over time from use.

The unaided human eye can perceive detail down to about 1/100th of an inch (0.25 millimeters), so it is possible to barely see these normal alignment differences of 1 or 2 hundredths of an inch. The few places where these might be noticed are:

• The markings on a rotating bezel compared to the corresponding marks on the dial.
• The second hand of a quartz watch, where it stops every second.
• The second hand of any watch when the watch is stopped.

These are not defects or imperfections. They are minor differences within normal tolerances of precision and wear for such mechanisms. In some cases, the watch manufacturer may intentionally set components a small fraction of an inch off to compensate for how the mechanism is expected to settle in from use.

Certain parts, like rotating bezels, hands, and dials are at different heights relative to each other. Depending on the exact angle you look at the watch, the parallax of three-dimensional perspective can cause them to appear misaligned by small fractions. This is simply an aspect of human perception that no product can force itself to look correct under all circumstances.

It is not unusual for a new luxury watch owner to scrutinize their watch to extremes and stress over any perceptible inconsistency they can find. Omega is committed to delivering extremely fine watches and will address any real problems with their products. But some buyers go to the level of observing details that are below the threshold of reasonable expectation of perfection in a consumer wristwatch. A surprising number of watches get returned and many customers are unhappy over staggeringly trivial details. Relax. It is just a wristwatch. Do not behave like someone that never owned anything expensive before by demanding a return or exchange over nearly imperceptible trivialities. If you do, then YOU are the one ruining your enjoyment over your purchase.

Why are my minute and second hands are not hitting their marks at the exact same time?

No watches are geared to force the minute and second hands to exactly their marks simultaneously. Think about it: for a watch to do that, the minute hand would have to jump in 1-minute increments when you set the watch to stay in sync with the current position of the second hand. That's just too impractical to accomplish with a mechanical watch.

Instead, the minute hand on mechanical watches stays in whatever alignment relative to the second hand that you leave it in when you set the watch. So all you have to do is set the watch correctly and it will stay perfect. If your minute and second hands are not currently in sync, your watch is perfectly fine and is suffering only from the watch manufacturer's typical negligence in providing adequate instructions describing the best procedure to set your watch.

Here is the correct and simple procedure to ensure the alignment is right. It works on any mechanical watch with a 'hack' feature--meaning the second hand stops when you pull the crown all the way out to set the time.

1. Stop the second hand exactly at 12.
2. Set the time, positioning the minute hand *exactly* on the appropriate minute mark.
3. Restart the watch.

That's all you have to do. When set the watch this way, the hands start off in the correct alignment and will stay that way. The only conditions that could likely change the alignment are if the watch is set again without this attention to detail or the watch receives a physical shock significant enough to bump the alignment off.

Why does my automatic watch keep losing time? Does it need repair or adjustment?

If your automatic watch seems to be running slow, the answer may be that it is 'power starved.'

Simply put, you might not be wearing it enough active hours of the day to keep it properly wound. Without enough power stored in the spring, the mechanism of the watch runs slightly slower then needed to keep accurate time. In fact, it may even briefly be stopping without you noticing!

So before you get frustrated at the apparent poor performance of your fine watch or take it in for a probably totally unneeded repair, read the section that follows about Power Reserve to better understand your automatic watch's needs.

Why does my automatic watch stop at night or otherwise run down in less time than the stated Power Reserve?

'Power Reserve' means the number of hours the watch should run from being fully wound up. But a common mistake with automatic watches is to wear them only a few hours a day, or every few days, and think that is enough movement to keep it wound. Automatic watches need to be worn regularly and for more than just a few hours a day with you moving normally (more than watching TV or napping). Even then, the watch may be far from fully wound at the point you take it off at the end of the day, so may not continue to run overnight or over a full weekend. How much you wear the watch over weekends is important too, as people's behavior is frequently different them, often leaving the watch much more or much less wound by Monday.

An automatic watch uses its stored power constantly by running continiously. But it only gains more power if you manually wind it or from the automatic winding that occurs from your motion while you are active while wearing it. The net effect is that if you are not wearing it enough, it uses more power during a day than it gains from the number of hours of active motion it receives.

Since almost all automatic watches lack an indicator of how 'full' their power reserves are, here are some usage guidelines to help you keep your reserves up:

• If your automatic watch stops, manually wind it about 20-30 turns when you put it on. Don't depend on the automatic winding to get your watch back up to power--that can take too long and still leave your watch low on reserves by the end of the day.
• In general, an average watch wearer's motion is enough to power an automatic watch for 2-3 times as many hours as it is actively worn.
• If you wear your automatic watch at least 10-12 active hours 7 days a week, you should maintain 50% (about 20 hours) of power reserve by the end of the day when you take it off.
• It does not hurt an automatic watch to manually wind it every once in a while to make sure its power reserve is 'topped off.'
• And finally, automatic watches are not the right solution for everybody. That is why battery-operated quartz watches are popular too. Some people really need watches that run for days or months without attention or need to wear. Although some owners and salepeople might lead you to think otherwise, there is nothing wrong with selecting a quartz watch over an automatic if it better fits your needs or lifestyle.

How can I tell if I'm getting the stated Power Reserve on my automatic watch?

To test to see if your watch is really getting its full power reserve, try this: manually wind your watch at least 40 turns and make sure the time is correct. Then leave it on the dresser for two to three days and see what time it stops. If it runs for close to the stated power reserve (usually 20-44 hours for many modern mechanical watches), then your watch is perfectly fine. If it runs significantly less than that, it may need cleaning or an adjustment.

If your power reserve is functioning correctly, then you may need to simply manually wind the watch when you take it off to ensure it is sufficiently wound. Or you may choose to change your wearing habits to keep the watch on your wrist for more active time. And finally, you can always consider getting a watch winder to keep your automatic watch ready to wear even when you do not use it regularly. 

Why does my date not change right at midnight?

There are two major ways a mechanical date window changes on a watch. So the answer to this question depends on which type you have. This applies to any watch, mechanical, automatic or quartz, where the date window is implemented as a mechanical function instead of an electronic display.

Watches with slow date change have the date roll over very slowly. Sometimes these watches may take one to four hours for the date to completely roll over. This is perfectly normal for many watches. Though it can be confusing if you are awake between 11:00 PM and 3:00 AM and want to be certain what date it is.

Watches with rapid change date have the date window rollover very fast--often within a fraction of a second. This is a more precise way of displaying the date, but requires a more complicated mechanism. Having the precise time that this rapid change occurs be off from midnight is a common issue. Rapid date change watches usually come from the factory set for the date change to within 10 minutes of midnight. But it is not unusual for this to get further out of adjustment over time from one of several causes.

It is possible that a shock to the watch right around the date change can throw the mechanism off. The more common causes are from the owner manually changing the date within three or four hours either side of midnight, or setting the time backwards across midnight. The frequency that this problem occurs makes it disconcerting that few watch makers provide warnings about this in their instruction manuals. What happens is that if you alter the date setting while the date change gear is near to pushing the date forward, you may push the mechanism slightly out of alignment. This seldom causes any real damage, though it can. Most often, it will shift the time that the date change occurs--usually further from midnight.

The good news is that this is easily corrected when the watch is being serviced. Simply mention the date change is off when you send the watch in for its routine cleaning or other service.

Why does my date change at noon instead of midnight?

Most mechanical calendar watches are not AM/PM aware--they simply advance the date every other time the hands pass forward across 12:00. Where people get confused with this is because they assume it is more complicated than that.

When setting a watch that has run down, make sure you roll the hands forward past 12:00 at least once so you can see when the date changes. Then set the time accordingly so the next date change will occur at midnight, not noon.

Digital watches do not have this confusion, because you have to explicitly tell them whether it is AM or PM. Watches that display 24-hour or military time also are clear on where in the 24 hour day the time is. But most watches display a simple 12-hour representation of the time--leaving it up to the wearer to understand which half of the day thay are in.

Why does the date sometimes drop 1, 2, or 3 days behind or show the 31st when it is actually the 1st?

As mentioned above, most mechanical calendar watches take a very simplistic approach to handling the date. This is because the modern Gregorian-based calendar follows somewhat complex rules. While the rules are simple for a digital watch to handle, they get very complex to execute in a tiny mechanical device. Most particularly complicated is that correct computation of the number of days in each month requires the watch to keep track of not only the current date, but also the month and year.

A conventional calendar watch is mechanically very simple--it takes the elementary approach that ALL months are 31 days. The watch simply rolls the date forward by one every other time the hands pass forward across 12:00. The date goes up to 31 then restarts at 1. They are not aware of any concepts of month, year, decade or century.

The only down side to this greatly simplified approach is that five times a year, you have to manually roll the date forward to correct for this. In addition to the normally short month of February, there are four months of the year that have only 30 days: April, June, September and November. So on the 1st day of the following months, you will have to advance the date by one so your watch will correctly display the 1st.

The "perpetual calendar" watches that do handle this are much more cumbersome to set. They have to understand not only the day but also the month and the year. Making a mechanism that can not only do that but can be changed and reset when needed is pretty intricate. Since it is FAR simpler to merely correct the date five times a year, few manufacturers bother to add the expense of such a feature to their watches.

Digital watches have no problem with the number of days in a month because they can easily set and track both the month and day.

Why is my "sweep second hand" actually moving in small jumps?

That is the way is it supposed to work. The 'sweep' motion of a mechanical watch movement's second hand is not like the sweep of the second hand on an electric clock. Depending on the 'beat' rate of the mechanical watch movement, the second hand typically moves 5 or 8 times in a second. That is considered 'sweep' in a mechanical watch movement.

Due to the "persistence of vision," the limit of human perception is about 18 movements per second. That's why early movies from around 1900-1920 which were shot at 16 frames-per-second look jumpy, but modern film (24 frames/sec) and TV (30 unique frames/sec in the NTSC format used USA & Japan) give the appearance of continious motion.

So the 'sweep' action of 5 to 8 movements/second looks somewhat, but not perfectly smooth and continious.

My mechanical or automatic watch is off a few seconds per day, how can get better accuracy?

Keep in mind that because of gravity, a mechanical watch runs a little differently in different positions. Also remember that each time you open a diver's watch or other watch with water-resistance, you have to have the whole thing pressure tested again to make sure the water-resistant seals were put back right. So it is best to avoid unnecessary opening of the case to have a watchmaker regulate the watch!

If your watch is a Chronometer and is off by over 10 seconds per day, it may be is worth having a watchmaker adjust it. But if your watch is only off by a few seconds per day, try the following method of compensating for it.

Before you go to bed, check the accuracy of your watch against a reliable time source. Write the information down, then place your watch on the nightstand and go to sleep. When you wake up, measure the accuracy again, write it down, and put the watch on. For the next several days, keep doing the same thing except put the watch in a different position each night. Try face up, face down, crown up, crown down, 12 o'clock high, and 6 o'clock high.

After you have tried all the positions, you will have a list showing exactly how much your watch gets off during the day AND how much it gains or loses in each possible position at night. Find the position to keep it at night that does the most to cancel out the variation the watch experiences during the day.

For example: If your watch loses 5 seconds while being worn during the day, try to find a position in which the watch gains about 5 seconds overnight. That way, by simply knowing which position to put your watch in on the nightstand while you sleep--you may be able to cancel out the daily variations and have a very accurate watch!

Why don't identical watches/movements run exactly the same?

Given two identical mechanical watches, or watches with the exact same mechanical watch movement inside, it would seem that the accuracy and performance under different positions should be the same--but they will not be. Each may be noticably different in their performance.

These are mechanical devices, built to exacting tolerances finer than 1/100ths of an inch. Even virtually imperceptible variations in alignment in such tiny parts can make a difference. That plus exact levels of lubrication and wear patterns as the movement settles in are enough to make the exact operation of each 'identical' movement slightly different.

Consider, each mechanical movement is counting out 672,000 beats per day. If one or more miniscule variations in wear, alignment or lubrication makes a 0.00001 (one hundredth of a percent) difference, that will throw the watch off by 8 beats a day--or a difference of 1 second. So over relatively short periods of time, even miniscule variations are amplified into discernable variations in the accuracy.

That's why all movements have what is effectively a universal compensator--the big regulation screw that adjusts the base speed of the movement. That single feature allows the overall regulation to compensate for a multitude of these extremely minor variances in tolerances and performance, allowing you to have a coin-sized mechanical device on your wrist that can even attempt to compare decently to the accuracy of million-dollar atomic clocks!