Watches

I have recently purchased a Gucci from the web site www.aatime.com. The
service was very good, but i was wondering how i can tell if it is a
real piece or not. It does seem to have the origanal serial number on
the back.

On Tue, 08 Nov 2005 07:58:54 -0800, in àõ "james"
wrote:

I have recently purchased a Gucci from the web site www.aatime.com. The
service was very good, but i was wondering how i can tell if it is a
real piece or not. It does seem to have the origanal serial number on
the back.


the best REAL way is to let an experienced watchmaker look at it. They'll know
the detailed quality aspects to inspect. Some fakes are easy to spot. Others
are rather close copies, more difficult for a beginner to judge.

But the web site you mention seems failry honest looking. For one, they
identify who they are and where, making illegal counterfeit sales less likely.
they offer a decent looking guarantee, and the clearly state that the watches
are genuine, but that they are not authorized dealers. That means these
discounts are because they are out of the normal direct distribution route, and
may mean these are so-called "grey market", which in some instances, affects
your manufacturer's warranty coverage (check to see. This varies depending on
where you are, and the exact nature of the seller's source.)

Peter

james wrote:
I have recently purchased a Gucci from the web site www.aatime.com. The
service was very good, but i was wondering how i can tell if it is a
real piece or not. It does seem to have the origanal serial number on
the back.
=20
=20

Well,

In this case "real" is a rather relative term. You see, Gucci does not=20
make watches. They license watch making manufacturers to make their=20
watches for them and put the "Gucci" brand name on them.

"Gucci watches" are your regular mass produced junk watches, and use=20
commercially available movements, that cost just a few dollars.

Many, if not most of these movements are made by "ETA" in Switzerland=20
(http://www.eta.ch/). You won't be able to get into most of the site,=20
because you need a username and password. Another company making these=20
mass produced movements is "Ronda"

You can see many ETA movements here=20
(http://www.ofrei.com/page_183.html), and when you scroll down the page=20
you'll see that several of them have different brand names on them like=20
Bulova, Wittnauer, Cartier, Calvin Klein, Swatch, etc.

I went to the site you mentioned and looked at just a few "Gucci"=20
watches. To illustrate my point, take a look at a famous "Gucci" watch=20
at http://www.aatime.com/productdetail.asp?productid=3D485

Down the page under "Description", you'll see on the first line "Swiss=20
made. RONDA quartz 3 =BE =94 movement =96 RONDA 732"

Now go to http://www.ofrei.com/page_197.html, and search for "732"=20
You'll find HQ 732(2N50). Cost $25.95

If you go to http://www.aatime.com/productdetail....ctid=3D839,=20
you'll see that this particular watch has an "ETA quartz 7 =BE=94 =96 ETA=
=20
956.032 movement". Now go to http://www.ofrei.com/page548.html. Here=20
you will find that the ETA 956 series movements of Ligne Size 7.75 range=20
in price from $11.95 to $28.00 The 956.032 (first one on the page)=20
costs $28.00

If you go to this page with all "Gucci" watches=20
http://hwljewelers.com/ebproduct.asp?catmainid=3D915, you will see, that=20
all of them have either ETA or Ronda movements.

The last page I want to send you to is=20
http://www.pmwf.com/Watches/QuartzWa...dBatteries.htm. "pmwf" in=20
the URL stands for "Poor Man's Watch Forum". Here you will find an=20
extensive list of watch brands and models, and the movements they have=20
in them. As you will see, most of the are from ETA.

So, in conclusion, you may have a "real piece", as far as "Gucci" is=20
concerned. In fact, most likely that is what you have. The Chinese=20
Gucci knock offs, are not a lot worse in terms of the quality of the=20
movements used. In either case you have a cheap watch for which you=20
most likely paid to much. What you bought and paid for is a status=20
symbol that has the name Gucci printed on it. You do not have a fine wat=
ch.

BTW, don't feel bad. The watch I wear is a Braun AW 12, which has a=20
cheap quartz movement in it also. The last time I had it exchanged I=20
think it cost me about $10.00

The next time, you may want to do your research, BEFORE you buy.

As always "Caveat emptor"

Abrasha
http://www.abrasha.com

[[moderator's note: I first approved and posted this messages a little earlier today,
not noticing a glitch in my postin software's handling of formatting thatpretty much
scrambled Abrasha's text, notably several of the URLs.
This copy of the post should (I hope) be correctly readable. apologies... PWR]]
******************

james wrote:
I have recently purchased a Gucci from the web site www.aatime.com. The
service was very good, but i was wondering how i can tell if it is a
real piece or not. It does seem to have the origanal serial number on
the back.



Well,

In this case "real" is a rather relative term. You see, Gucci does not
make watches. They license watch making manufacturers to make their
watches for them and put the "Gucci" brand name on them.

"Gucci watches" are your regular mass produced junk watches, and use
commercially available movements, that cost just a few dollars.

Many, if not most of these movements are made by "ETA" in Switzerland
(http://www.eta.ch/). You won't be able to get into most of the site,
because you need a username and password. Another company making these
mass produced movements is "Ronda"

You can see many ETA movements here
(http://www.ofrei.com/page_183.html), and when you scroll down the page
you'll see that several of them have different brand names on them like
Bulova, Wittnauer, Cartier, Calvin Klein, Swatch, etc.

I went to the site you mentioned and looked at just a few "Gucci"
watches. To illustrate my point, take a look at a famous "Gucci" watch
at http://www.aatime.com/productdetail.asp?productid=485

Down the page under "Description", you'll see on the first line "Swiss
made. RONDA quartz 3 ¾ ” movement – RONDA 732"

Now go to http://www.ofrei.com/page_197.html, and search for "732"
You'll find HQ 732(2N50). Cost $25.95

If you go to http://www.aatime.com/productdetail.asp?productid=839,
you'll see that this particular watch has an "ETA quartz 7 ¾” – ETA
956.032 movement". Now go to http://www.ofrei.com/page548.html. Here
you will find that the ETA 956 series movements of Ligne Size 7.75 range
in price from $11.95 to $28.00 The 956.032 (first one on the page)
costs $28.00

If you go to this page with all "Gucci" watches
http://hwljewelers.com/ebproduct.asp?catmainid=915, you will see, that
all of them have either ETA or Ronda movements.

The last page I want to send you to is
http://www.pmwf.com/Watches/QuartzWa...dBatteries.htm. "pmwf" in
the URL stands for "Poor Man's Watch Forum". Here you will find an
extensive list of watch brands and models, and the movements they have
in them. As you will see, most of the are from ETA.

So, in conclusion, you may have a "real piece", as far as "Gucci" is
concerned. In fact, most likely that is what you have. The Chinese
Gucci knock offs, are not a lot worse in terms of the quality of the
movements used. In either case you have a cheap watch for which you
most likely paid to much. What you bought and paid for is a status
symbol that has the name Gucci printed on it. You do not have a fine watch.

BTW, don't feel bad. The watch I wear is a Braun AW 12, which has a
cheap quartz movement in it also. The last time I had it exchanged I
think it cost me about $10.00

The next time, you may want to do your research, BEFORE you buy.

As always "Caveat emptor"

Abrasha
http://www.abrasha.com

On Wed, 09 Nov 2005 08:03:46 GMT, Abrasha wrote:

[[moderator's note: I first approved and posted this messages a little earlier today,
not noticing a glitch in my postin software's handling of formatting that pretty much
scrambled Abrasha's text, notably several of the URLs.
This copy of the post should (I hope) be correctly readable. apologies... PWR]]

Thanks, Peter. Actually, this has been happening on a number of posts.
It is fixed for good and all?
--
Al Balmer
Balmer Consulting

On Wed, 09 Nov 2005 08:26:53 -0800, in ¸õ Alan Balmer wrote:

On Wed, 09 Nov 2005 08:03:46 GMT, Abrasha wrote:

[[moderator's note: I first approved and posted this messages a little earlier today,
not noticing a glitch in my postin software's handling of formatting that pretty much
scrambled Abrasha's text, notably several of the URLs.
This copy of the post should (I hope) be correctly readable. apologies... PWR]]

Thanks, Peter. Actually, this has been happening on a number of posts.
It is fixed for good and all?

Nope, but interestingly, Abrasha sent two messages yesterday, using essentially
the same setup and settings. The one scrambled, the other, which alertedme to
the problem, did not (though I posted the correction instead of his "complaint"
one, as that seemed the clearer correction. As a result, I've got some better
data on just what is happening, or rather, where in the process it's happening.
I've still not found an actual solution, and am suspecting that the problem is a
glitch in my software or some undocumented settings somewhere that I've got to
change. not sure. I'll have to talk to the program vendors, I think, toget a
handle on it. But better armed, at least I now know what to be on the lookout
for, and how to work around it when it happens (assuming I'm awake enoughwhen
processing the messages to notice it...)

cheers

Peter