Ritche watch bands

The bots annoy me less than the overuse of the constant-contact feature that has me bombarded with emails.

Right now, Woodpeckers is at the top of the list.  I get between 4 and 5 emails a day—28 to 35 per week. 

There is some data published where they show that overusing the constant-contact has a negative result.

I recently checked on the Filson website.  They are vying with Wookpeckers for the king of constant-contacting.  Annoying.

I wrote the post about having three watches.  So that one was not a bot (or I am a bot, myself).  Which one was the bot?
 
Recently, I switched to a NATO-style band, finding it less challenging but still not ideal. That's when I discovered Ritche bands.
Well, I had to replace two other watch bands and opted to order directly from Ritche. The free shipping was a bonus, but I didn't realize the bands would be coming all the way from Mainland China. Despite measuring wrong and misordering, Ritche's customer service pleasantly surprised me. They promptly credited my account for the full amount without requesting the return of the bands.
So, just be cautious with measurements or stick to ordering from Amazon for convenience. Oh, and speaking of watches, I recently came across some impressive https://superclonerolex.io options that could save you a bundle.
 
smithneil said:
Oh, and speaking of watches, I recently came across some impressive      that could save you a bundle.

They don't look bad from the pics and as a watch lover I'd very much like to see some of the models, but I'd probably be a little too dubious on seeing and feeling the build quality in person to spend that much on a fake. I've bought copies over the years and invariably they remind me of the mail order bride meme! Especially when there's some really nice brands that aren't really that expensive.

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Ritchie kind of shoots themselves in the foot on sizes.  For many of the styles they only list even size, e.g. 18; 20; 22; etc..

So my Citizen watch, which takes odd size (23, I think) had me confused because the style I was interested in came in even sizes only.  So which size do I choose?  22?  24?

Ritchie also promptly credited my account.  So no complaints.

They could avoid that issue by adding, “For 15, 17, 19, 21 and 23 sizes please select another style band.”

By the way, it has been several months and the bands have been holding up fine. I am happy with the appearance, quality, price and durability. (Over 3 years.)
 
luvmytoolz said:
smithneil said:
Oh, and speaking of watches, I recently came across some impressive replica watches that could save you a bundle.

They don't look bad from the pics and as a watch lover I'd very much like to see some of the models, but I'd probably be a little too dubious on seeing and feeling the build quality in person to spend that much on a fake. I've bought copies over the years and invariably they remind me of the mail order bride meme! Especially when there's some really nice brands that aren't really that expensive.

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I have a couple of replica watches.  They will fool a casual observer.  They will not fool a watchmaker.

There are still some that are meant to defraud, and come in convincing packaging and use real gold.  Those are “counterfeits”, not “replicas”.

In theory Customs is supposed to seize both replicas and counterfeits.  Mine arrived fine, keep good time.

However, I find the convenience of solar watches compelling and, while I still have several other watches, I only use my solar watches.
 
luvmytoolz said:
smithneil said:
Oh, and speaking of watches, I recently came across some impressive replica watches that could save you a bundle.

They don't look bad from the pics and as a watch lover I'd very much like to see some of the models, but I'd probably be a little too dubious on seeing and feeling the build quality in person to spend that much on a fake. I've bought copies over the years and invariably they remind me of the mail order bride meme! Especially when there's some really nice brands that aren't really that expensive.

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I have 2 replicas. Very nice. 

These are “replicas”. 

A longish amusing story about fake watches.

Back in the late 1970s, a gym buddy of mine was importing counterfeit watches.  These watches were exact in all aspects except for the movement.  So the gold watches were pretty expensive because they used real gold, but the stainless steel versions were reasonable.  They came with “authentic” boxes, instructions, warranty cards, etc. These could fool watchmakers until they opened the case and saw the movement. 

Another friend of mine had bought himself a real Rolex.  When he saw my counterfeit and heard the price he wanted to get one for his wife. 

I said, “Mike, don’t do that.  It is going to end up disappointing her.  You get a real Rolex and she gets a fake one.”

He said, “I’ll tell her as soon as she starts to unwrap the box.”

Of course he didn’t.  She gushed so much and gave him kisses.  He did not have the heart to tell her it was fake.

Fast forward a couple of years and Mike had some “marriage fidelity issues”.  He and Rita were going to a marriage counselor to little effect.

They had gone on a local trip on his motorcycle and were in an accident.  Mike was on the 3rd floor of the hospital and Rita was on the 5th floor. Separated by two floors, Rita decided divorce was the right answer. 

When she got out of the hospital she contacted a lawyer.

She also needed some ready cash.  She knew that the “Rolex” had some value.  She went to a Rolex dealer and tried to sell it to them.  They did good business in used watches.

The salesman brought it back to the watchmaker who opened the case and declared it a fake.  The salesman told Rita that he was supposed to confiscate the watch, but he was going to let her walk out with it. 

In the divorce case, the “Rolex” was cited by Rita’s lawyers as “just another instance of his duplicity”.  La mort du juste.

In any case, I found that I was embarrassed by the pretense.  I always confessed that the watches were fakes, but I liked how they looked.  I especially liked the Breguet. 

But be advised, while the replicas and counterfeit watches could fool people, the watch bands were problematic.  The bracelets would unlatch frequently and spill the watch.  Even the leather Rolex-style used that same latch.  So that was not a fix.  The “Breguet” had a conventional buckle and that worked fine. 

I had forgotten how much I liked the appearance of the Breguet.  I might wear it again some time. 

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Packard said:
I have a couple of replica watches.  They will fool a casual observer.  They will not fool a watchmaker.

There are still some that are meant to defraud, and come in convincing packaging and use real gold.  Those are “counterfeits”, not “replicas”.

In theory Customs is supposed to seize both replicas and counterfeits.  Mine arrived fine, keep good time.

Actually, the Rolex replica is very well done. There are only 2 exterior issues that jump out at me. The first is the too bold text font used on "Rolex Oyster Perpetual Datejust".

The larger more noticeable issue for me is that the half-links that attach the leather strap to the watch case should be individual white gold items and thus there should be parting lines seen on both sides of the half-link. On the replica, the half-link appears to be part of the watch case. Here's an original Rolex model 116139 to compare to the replica. These were offered by Rolex until 2022.

Question...is that dirt on the half-links, the bezel and the lugs of the replica or is the finish going away?

You mention that as soon as a replica watch is opened and the movement is inspected by a watch maker, the ruse goes away...that used to be the case but unfortunately in recent years not always.
https://www.watchfinder.com/articles/feature-real-vs-fake-rolex-daytona

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It took me awhile to find the two replicas.  I did not clean them and I’m not home at the moment.  I will take a look at the attachment point when I get home. 

When Mike bought the watch from my gym-buddy, he asked about a guarantee.  The gym-buddy handed him four (4) extra movements as his “guarantee”.  With the advice that “any competent watch repair could replace the movement in minutes”, but . . . Definitely not to bring it to a authorized Rolex dealer for that work.

I know that these counterfeits were intended to defraud someone.  I assume the jeweler was in-the-know and the consumer was being defrauded. 

These were very exacting copies.  The number that keeps coming up in my mind was $175.00. (About $800.00 in 2024).  So a bargain for a Rolex, but not exactly “cheap”.

The look-alike-replicas use gold plated parts in place of the solid gold of the counterfeits.  The counterfeiters’ work was excellent until the movement.  The movements were probably less than $5.00 each. 

It used to be that the watch that a person wore was a good indicator of their affluence.  But nowadays, leave off the watch entirely and carry the latest IPhone.  For show-offs, unfortunately the best IPhone is within financial reach for many.  So not much status in that.

A friend of mine in the 1980s drove a 1951 MGTD.  They were not very expensive back then.  He said, “If you drive a TD, either you are rich and eccentric, or barely getting by.  You can fit in anywhere.” [big grin]

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I cleaned the case and it appears to be milled from a solid block of stainless, or a stainless casting.

If I need a reminder that the straps suck, then I got that reminder.  While wiping the case clean, the stitching in the strap disintegrated and is now attached at one end only and uses conventional watch band posts.

A decent copy and never felt cheap.  But embarrassing if you don’t lie.  It even has a green holographic sticker on the back of the case. The alligator leather is almost certainly cow hide with the pattern pressed in.

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[member=74278]Packard[/member] That Breguet replica is very nice! Lot of effort went into that dial!
 
I used NATO bands for a while.  I was happy with the performance, but they only looked right on utility watches.  They look all wrong for dress watches.

Also, there is a broad range of quality in those bands.  The nicer ones definitely felt and looked better. 

I did find a quality maker of NATO bands.  I will look back and see if I can find the manufacturer.  But I am not going back to NATO bands as the Ritche bands addressed the installation issues and they are wearing well too. 

(I do have a problem remembering how to spell the name.)
 
Not fancy watches but I use Nato straps on my Seiko automatics. Mainly because they're inexpensive and swap easily without tools. Kinda fun altering the appearance of my watch without resetting the time and date.

I also like those watches @Packard. Very nice.
 
Hey [member=79813]makpacman[/member] If you want the best of the best...check out Julien Faure, they manufacture the NATO watch bands for Tudor and have only been around since....1864.

They also do special weaving projects for the Vatican.
https://www.julien-faure.com
 
I’m not going back to the NATO bands because I do like the Ritchie bands.

But when I was using NATO bands I found Crown & Buckle.  Everything about their bands was more substantial.  The band material was heavier as was the buckle.  If you want a quality NATO band, they are an excellent choice.
https://www.crownandbuckle.com/?gad...MIoPy5xMSWiQMVHDMIBR3XOQmLEAAYASAAEgJ_P_D_BwE

I particularly like the look of their braided bands, though I’ve never owned one and I wonder if it is slightly elastic.

And they sell large diameter spring bars though I don’t know what purpose the larger diameter serves.

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Thank you. I'll be trying one of these out.

I love the Julien Faure straps but then I'd have to buy a nice watch to wear it with. That goal's further down the road.
 
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