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#1
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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. |
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#2
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Watches
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 |
#3
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Watches
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 |
#4
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Watches (corrected posting)
[[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 |
#5
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Watches (corrected posting)
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 |
#6
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Watches (corrected posting)
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 |
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