Affordable Luxury and all things Filippo Loreti

You're on your own there! 😂

I thought as much. I know FL is little more than over-priced, drop-shipped eye candy. In fact, if anyone else out there has fallen for the hype before he, or she, saw the light, then it would be fun to hear from him, or her. 

They are rebranded AliExpress junk. Not even the decent watch end of Ali. 

At least the offerings on AliExpress reflect their true value. FL gets some, if not all, of their stuff from China Watch Manufacturer (http://www.roexplore.com/), which also, according to their website, makes stuff for Rolex and other major brands. What exactly they do make for major brands is not stated, but I suspect that they make things like cases, backs and bracelets. The whole drop-ship thing is fascinating.

Actually have a few I got to see out of curiosity. Two of them were kinda meh (Eterno has a good case but I swapped the bracelet out for a Barton strap) and the Okeanos looks okay for a dive style watch, though my main issue with it is the bezel), and the Ascari Monza Chronograph feeling pretty good in terms of appearance and build quality. They are putting out a Swiss-Made automatic soon, so I want to see if it’s any better.

I haven't looked at the FL site for an age, so I don't know what they have or have not done with bezels or inserts. Their designs are pure eye candy. The Okeanos insert had markers, but no numbers if I remember correctly. I've got one of those Zazzle dive watches that looks better, but I doubt I'd even wash my hands while wearing it. I think FL's main problem is its lack of taste. Less is more in watch design, in my opinion.

So what is the story behind this Made in China brand. Don't get me wrong, I'm quite indifferent about it. Just want to know what made most YouTube reviewers say no to this brand. Is it because of it's marketing strat to claim that design was Italian or that they cut out the middleman or the founder was a fictional character? Let me know please coz the watches there looked, as you say, eye candy. Wouldn't that be better than anything else from Aliexpress. Still better than the fakes or other homage/copy out there. Just wondering.

Primarily low quality and high price. Taste is subjective, but anyone who has done even the most basic research soon realizes that you're not getting much for your money. A friend bought a FL Ascari. The numbers on the insert were painted on and soon wore off. The secondary dial pushers did nothing. When our local watchmaker opened the back, he found that the pushers didn't have any contact with the movement, which was an inexpensive one anyway. The colors and presentation were good, but flashy, especially once you looked around and saw what the market had to offer. He had previously bought a Venice Moonphase, automatic, which he liked. I saw the same watch on Chinese Watch Manufacturer (roexplore.com), so all FL did was dropship it and jack up the price. Going for US$247. I can get a similar quality watch on Aliexpress for a tenth of that price. Even Invicta will give me a quality piece at a lower price. The lack of copyright enforcement in China does that country's watch manufacturers a great disservice. I've done business with them and the Chinese turn out quality products, which are marred by their reputation for turning out cheap, and not so cheap, fakes.