I think Chinese homage watches have their place especially when needing to decide between 2 high-dollar watches and when buying both is financially out of reach. I’d buy the 2 watches from Pagani Design and wear them and see which one I gravitate toward over time and use that experience to purchase the real thing.
I’ve just bought a Pagani Designs sub homage for around $55. It has a Seiko movement in it. But I don’t actually see myself buying a Rolex. I wouldn’t say that a homage watch will tell you what the original will be like as often they don’t have the same dimensions. But they certainly give you an idea for the style of watch and how it will work with your attire and lifestyle. I have an extremely cheap Pagani Designs dress watch which is loosely a cocktail homage that I got to experiment with size as well as strap colours.
Trying watches on in a shop isn’t enough to know if size will work for you. It also comes from previous experience. Homage watches are great for getting some experience.
I have yes. Kinda stopped because I felt it wasn’t what i wanted to do with my money.
Genius idea OP
I had been looking at the Longines Dolce Vita and Oris Rectangular online. The dealers near me don’t stock those models as rectangular watches don’t sell well. If I was willing to put down a non-refundable deposit, they could order them but it would likely take many weeks. That’s a no-go for me as I am not about to commit to purchasing a watch I’ve never seen in person.
Therefore, I bought a couple of cheap “refurbished” Seikos on eBay from sellers in India. I was well aware of the “Mumbai special” terminology but I figured it would be worth a shot to see if I could pull off a rectangular or tonneau shaped dial, the size of the case and the colors of the dials. I figured these were throw away watches no matter what. The quality was appalling, as you might expect but it did help me come to the conclusion that rectangular watches aren’t my thing. Of course I might change my mind if I see the Longies or Oris in person someday.
I’ve actually never done this, and don’t believe I ever will. If you’ve done any degree of shopping research, you should be able to sell the expensive watch for what you paid for it fairly easily if you end up not liking it down the line. I also just don’t like the idea of wearing the homage watch. They’re just not for me.
Yes, I bought a Vacheron Overseas to try out before I splurged for a Tissot PRX… wait
I bought a 36mm Invicta to decide if I was ok with a watch that small when thinking about a Tudor.
You buy two watches to help you decide on buying another watch? Thought this was the other sub for a sec
Sugess is money!
i bought a $90 matthey Tissot to see if i wanted the grape Oyster perpetual. I do, now i need $7500…
Seems like a waste of time to be honest and a few hundred bucks. You just have to make a decision. It’s like saying do I want omakase or a nice ribeye tonight and then deciding to taste a bit of canned tuna and frozen White Castle burger to decide what you want.
Damn, thats an interesting way of thinking of Pagani. I always considered em as a concentrated piece of sod.
The only good alternative to your idea was printing the watch on 3d printer to see how it looks on a wrist.
Or you could try both on …. Crazy idea
There are levels of homage. Some homages are great because they do something slightly different from the original and are just solid watches to start with, for example a green San Martin BB58. Others give you an idea of the watch but just don’t have the quality to match, like most Pagani Designs.
Rather put the money towards the real one