Share your homage watches

Invicta Pro Diver, now I don't NEED what they're referencing 😂

I want to pick up a Pagani that's an homage to the latest 007 watch. Most of my collection is sub $100 watches and it's fine for me. 

I have a SD willard, its hard to beat for the price. 

Here's a little bit of everything. Great write up!  The Loreo is probably the best Submariner Homage 5 digit version I've ever seen and handled. All day AliExpress $80 CDN price point is fantastic hands down the best value for money.

I just sold my Steinhart Ocean 39 and Islander SKX homage last week. But I still have this Orfina Porsche Design homage…

Here's my Pagani design omega 300 JB homage. Full stainless case NH35 movement 120 click bezel with no back play. No lume in the bezel but plenty on the dial 

This is my tuna homage by steeldive.  Double AR coated sapphire glass 300M WR an  screwdown crown. The finishing on the case is amazing for the price point. 

An another Pagani design. The BB58 homage with a NH35 movement excellent lume screwdown crown an milled clasp. It really is a lovely watch.

Thank you so much, @Deeperblue for this awesome thread!

I love homage watches!  I love franken-builds!  I love modded watches!  And, I know we're supposed to be polite and diplomatic here on WatchCrunch, but I have this lurking suspicion that all the folks out there who protest that homage watches aren't real watches are simply elitists who don't want others to have access to their precious, exclusive luxury goods.

"You should feel ashamed for wearing a homage.  Only rich people like me deserve to wear this  particular fashion."  

This dude is a hero.  

Amancio Ortega founded Zara in 1975, with his wife in Galecia, Spain - as far away from the centers of high fashion as you could possibly get in Western Europe.  They decided they were going to produce homages to what came off the runways in Paris, Milan, New York, and London. 

Today, his net worth according to Forbes is $56B.  And he did it by creating a whole new category of fashion - fast fashion - thereby making haute couture accessible to the masses.

The one on the left?  $10,000?  $20,000?  The one on the right, by Zara, blouse available for $79.90, skirt available for $79.90.

I like to think that he and his wife built Zara from the ground up, as a giant middle finger to elitists everywhere!

I am fine with it especially if you want a fun watch in that to get in real life would cost you your home and leg. I had a blacked out gmt master homage and loved that thing - I would never in a million years spend the money I have to actually get a real thing

I've come to the conclusion that there is a place for all watches in this funny little hobby of ours.

Except for fakes. We say boo to fake photocopies right? Homages are the line.

I didn’t know what a YachtMaster was before I got this homage:

Yeah, fakes are bad...  except, the Swiss giants actually like the fake market, so long as the fakes are easily identifiable as fakes.  The Swiss never pressured the Chinese authorities to move against the replica producers, until the very top rep manufacturers - VSF and NOOB - created movements that were nearly indistinguishable and nearly as robust as the Rolex and Omega counterparts.  The key "fake" movement manufacturers made the mistake of showing off their movements at a big watchmaking industry conference!  They came out of the shadows to say, "Yo, check it out.  Our movements are such good copies of Rolex's and Omega's, you should just buy them from us."  Once they did that, the Swiss had the Chinese authorities go arrest a bunch of folks.  But, until then, so long as the fakes were "fake enough," fakes actually help keep the genuine article top of mind for aspiring-future-buyers.

And, it's telling, that to this day, you can buy plenty of fakes from BPF, GMF, GSF, and other "fake enough" rep manufacturers.  Meaning, the Swiss want the "fake enough" guys to stick around and help stoke demand for the genuine articles.

In the world of Big Tech, we like it when people pirate our software.  For example, Microsoft made it incredibly easy for anyone to share their CD-rom of Microsoft Windows and Microsoft Office with anyone else.  They purposefully did not put controls on multiple installations until very late in the game, precisely because they wanted everyone to install Windows and Office on their PCs, get used to Windows and Office, and thereby create lock-in and high switching costs.  Because their real money maker was always enterprise sales, and no big company is going to pirate Microsoft Office and Windows.  Big companies will always pay the licensing costs - they're not going to risk massive lawsuit and license verification penalties to save a few dollars here and there.  Microsoft knew that today's student who downloads and installs an illegal copy of Office off Limewire (remember them?) is going to be tomorrow's IT Middle Manager who's too lazy to learn anything new, and who then signs the PO for 1,000 enterprise licenses of MS Office.

This is all a long-winded way to say, "If Rolex likes it when GMF creates a rep Pepsi GMT Master II, why should I be so upset about people buying rep Pepsi GMT Master II's?"

Finally, I would say, you know which brand no Chinese rep manufacturer has ever successfully replicated?  Grand Seiko.  The Chinese reps can make fake Swiss everything.  The one brand they cannot convincingly fake is Grand Seiko.  Why?  Turns out with advanced machining, fast prototyping, etc., etc., it's super easy to make Rolex, Omega, IWC, Panerai, etc., etc., cases and dials that are almost indistinguishable from the real deal.  Because Grand Seiko uses the vaunted Zaratsu polishing, the hand diamond polishing, etc., etc., the Chinese can't copy-cat it.

Something to think about!

Yes! This thread made me laugh out loud.

I don’t have any, but I’d totally rock the Timefactors Smith’s Explorer or Commando, the Tornek-Rayville TR 660, and the Traska Commuter.

Watch community: “Homages are bad.”

Also watch community: “That Tudor that looks like an old Rolex is awesome!”

Wait what?! ¯\_ (ツ)_/¯

I’ll stop there, before my WatchCrunch profile gets blocked by YouTube.

You know what, I think I'm going to have to get myself an Invicta if I can find one that's less than 50mm for my tiny little wrist. I don't have a properly bling watch and someone posted a two-tone model a couple of days ago that I'd definitely wear. I'm going to go explore their catalogue.

An issue I've often worried about with homages is that the quality could be pretty terrible. I hear Steeldive are actually pretty decent for the money. How have you found yours?

As I mentioned to Bzilla, I think an Invicta may be in my future at some point and I think one of their Sub models is probably going to be the way to go if I can find one small enough. The counter balance on the second hand is my guilty pleasure.

What a collection! I can see you've tried out loads of different brands. Do you have a favourite out of them or think one does better on quality?

I have never understood enthusiasts issue with homages. For instance, my Baltic Bicompax 001 while not an homage draws inspiration from a '40s Patek..

And when I found and fell in love with the Omega Seamaster 165.024 from the 60s I was immediately on the hunt for one...but when I found how much they go for and took into account the idea of a vintage watch I was discouraged. Then I found the Watchco versions... essentially NOS pieces put together.. the price though was still too high... Then I found the Helson Shrakmaster 300 and for the price and the minor improvements over the Omega I was sold. It's pretty much a 1:1 in design, dimensions and durability imo. The 2824 movement after a minor adjustment runs -1 to +1 sec/day too. 

Now how about this homage... inspired by the same watch the Helson is... Even has the same base movement series albeit higher quality, and my only Vintage Omega I own at this point.

Yeah!  It was your watch that I was thinking of!  Great stuff!!!

I've gone deep down the rabbit hole of Subby homages now 😆

Have you ever tried on a Phoibos or Tisell? They are a bit more than Loreo and just curious if the price jump is worth it? 🤔

When I first entered this hobby i was blown away with the amount design nods there were to the submariner. the differences were so lost on me - I am like “homages - they all look the same what are you talking about…!?”

I actually think it’s healthy - the design language in watches is so narrow how could you not pull inspiration.

LOL!!!  I tried getting Phoibos but the design / model I want has been discontinued 😭 My buddy who runs the YouTube channel swears by the Phoibos and truly loves it.  I have the Tisell Submersible and it's a great watch and I love it!  The only issue people have are the male endlinks.   The price difference is definitely worth it.  But it's hard to get I've heard.  Good luck 🤙🏽

Honestly I don't know why I've never thought about just getting a Breitling second timezone bracelet and adding it to whatever watch I want. It seems so obvious now that I'm frantically on the hunt for one lol

That's great to know 👍 I think I can see one or the other of these in my future.

Here are mine.  As you can tell, i have a thing for Chinese divers and the occasional chronograph.

Great watches and pictures. Are Steeldive worth the extra pennies do you think?

Absolutely!

Been looking at these dials... the quality looks amazing. I have a 1970 Seiko 6119 on which the dial is knackered and I'm pretty sure I can get these dials/hands to work. I may just pull the trigger 

I think they're pretty decent qaulity.. although be careful around the indices and minute dots.. they have been known to come off if fuddled with too much. 

I have a collection that’s kind of all over the place. GS, a couple Omegas, some micros, etc. I bought a Pagani Tiffany OP homage a couple months ago, and I don’t regret it for a minute. 

I have a couple of homages. From San Martin are for me the best. 

Benyar wanna be Oyster Perpetual but fits amazing on my 7 1/2 wrist.  Caviar taste<Beer Budget