[trasz2]

Technically a Rolex, however expensive, will always be much worse as a watch than a 20$ Casio. But recently there's another aspect to this: there are now watches that are technically (mechanically) identical to rolexes. Same design, same mechanics, virtually impossible to tell the difference when you tear it apart. Rolex has always been more about marketing (artificial scarcity, waiting list etc) than mechanics, but now it's pretty much exclusively about marketing, since you can get the same engineering orders of magnitude cheaper. It's like DeBeers' diamonds.

[steveBK123]

Correct, a G-shock would get the job done better.

I always viewed watches as the only mainstream sociable acceptable form of male jewelry.

And regardless of which model, generally no more expensive than a woman's engagement or wedding ring, and actually usually cheaper.

Plus it does something other than look pretty - tells time & date!

[TheOtherHobbes]

Prestige cars, mega yachts, private jets, and corporations that make rockets and satellites are also male jewellery.

But the article: it's repetitive and slightly rambling and reads like it was written by some variant of GPT.

The point is fair, but it's also well known to class watchers. In the UK nouveau means a gigantic new build mansion full of chrome and glass, a private gym, and plastic and dental surgery. Old means a small country estate, a Georgian pied-à-terre somewhere near the City, tweedy clothing, and perhaps some pedigree dogs. And horses.

Old money tends to underdress - sometimes sloppily - and on casual acquaintance is indistinguishable from the merely middle class.

It's not until you get an invite to the manor house that you discover the ridiculously impractical and expensive Aga stove, the collection of wildly expensive antiques whose prices are never mentioned [1], the relaxed air of charming quizzical bafflement. (Very few of these people are unusually bright or talented. But socially polished - yes.)

The visuals are not the point. Anyone can tweed, but not everyone can tweed like they've been doing it their entire lives and really mean it.

[1] A 17th century silver spoon for £5000? How fascinating!

[notinfuriated]

> Prestige cars, mega yachts, private jets, and corporations that make rockets and satellites are also male jewellery.

If we're going down this line, why stop here? You forgot the 'trophy wife' which is definitely more prevalent than the dig at Musk/Bezos.

[papandada]

Watches, pens, pocket knives, flashlights, seem to be a cluster of male jewelry. Fidget spinners too, at one time.

[thaumasiotes]

> I always viewed watches as the only mainstream sociable acceptable form of male jewelry.

Cufflinks are a big deal, in certain circles.

[Animats]

> I always viewed watches as the only mainstream sociable acceptable form of male jewelry.

Now we have iDweebs, those Apple ear things.

[vba616]

Somewhere I read that a Rolex has a very practical purpose - a real one is a commodity that can fairly easily be turned into cash or a bribe in an emergency, but as a watch, it's not susceptible to being seized by authorities in many circumstances where cash or gold might be.

I don't know if this is true, but it makes a good story.

[hammock]

Applies to jewelry in general, however Rolex tends to hold its value better than most jewelry (vs price paid)

[neilknowsbest]

Along this vein, I've heard somewhere that pimps wear lots of jewelry because they can pawn it for bail money. Apparently cash can be seized on arrest, but jewelry is classified as some sort of personal property and thus won't be taken.

[astrange]

That is the reason women used to own jewelry and you were supposed to give them expensive wedding rings. They couldn’t have bank accounts!

[ROTMetro]

I have a more obscure watch, but one that those that care recognize. It has signaled me as part of the 'correct' crowd more than once and definitely done it's purpose.

[depressedpanda]

What purpose is this? What happens when your watch signals that you belong to the correct crowd?

[MacsHeadroom]

People with money and power respect you more and are more likely to drop their guard in some ways. This applies to in-group signaling generally. In this case the in-group is the rich and powerful.

[moneywoes]

Where can one get those similar Rolex’s? For science

[bri3d]

The search term you want is just "Replica." RWI, RWG, RepTime on Reddit, and other private forums will analyze the quality and details of these clones in ridiculous detail. They also have reviews of each reseller and each factory.

I don't even own any fake watches at this point and I've found these forums highly addictive/interesting - honestly, the average skill/knowledge level is quite high compared to most "watch enthusiast" forums.

[maigret]

Thanks for the hints. About the replicas: Yes but usually you’ll find a few challenges with those. First, pure replicas are illegal, so what you can find legally are called hommages with another logo. That doesn’t make them worst by itself, but here are the drawbacks:

First the maintenance. What is the probability those watches will still be serviceable in 50 years? I own a watch that’s more than 50 years and wear it regularly because it is still maintained by the company who made it.

Second the value holding. Sure you can sink your money in any gear. The special value of great mechanical watches is that they maintain their used value well on the second hand market for decades. An hommage will have little reputation of its own to maintain.

Of course this is all subject to special cases, but, etc because the watch world is very complex. For example many brands copy each other, some replica brand make great quality, and some great brands barely hold their value (which is a good thing for passionate collectors).

No doubt there is a great skilled and passionate community around reproduction, like in music or art. To build a replica you need way more skill than the average watch enthusiast. They rarely outskill the examples they copy still.

[rowanG077]

> They rarely outskill the examples they copy still.

Sure, that's why you have to find the ones that do. The forums linked make this a trivial task.

[rosnd]

>First the maintenance. What is the probability those watches will still be serviceable in 50 years

Extremely high, given that they tend to run on clones of incredibly popular movements like the ETA2824.

[rwmj]

Have a look at this guy's AliExpress watch reviews: https://www.youtube.com/c/JustOneMoreWatch/videos You should be able to get a reasonable Rolex hommage well under $500.

(Not a Rolex immitation, but I'm wearing a JDM Casio Oceanus S100 which is all the watch that anyone would ever need.)

[vba616]

Invicta has made some watches that are pretty similar for a long time. They aren't "high quality" replicas or counterfeits, but if you just like the look of a Submariner they seem to have similar watches for well under $100.

[fnbr]

What’s an example of a watch that’s mechanically identical to a Rolex?

[coredog64]

A Seiko SKX (or a spiritual successor) with a regulated NH35 will fall into the same “100m water resistance, accurate to within 10 seconds per day” category as a Rolex for about a 10th of the price.

[fbdab103]

>...accurate to within 10 seconds per day

That is hilarious to me. A quick search is showing one can expect a POS Casio to be +/- 15 seconds per month.

[Macha]

But then you don't get as many excuses to display your watch from needing to adjust the time

[AussieWog93]

It's pretty common now to find "Super Fakes" of designer brands, that are very difficult to tell apart from the real thing. They'll be expensive but not as expensive as the real thing.

[jjtheblunt]

Tudor, but it is a different division of Rolex