Most rep watches are sold in Guangzhou, China. Guangzhou is a large port city northwest of Hong Kong. It is the capital and most populated city of the Guangdong province in Southern China.
There is a huge watch market near Gangzhou Railway Station filled with stands and stores that sell an immense number of rep watches and clocks.
Here are a few pics:
Factories
There are a number of different factories that sell reps. Not all factories make all the reps that are available. Some factories make some reps, while other factories make other reps. Some factories tend to focus on certain brands, while other factories focus on different brands. There is overlap, though, so certain watches are available from more than one factory. There are normally differences between the same type of watch that is offered from different factories. That is because each factory normally designs its version of the particular rep.
How a Rep Watch is Made
Here is an example of how the process works:
First, a factory decides to make a new replica of a particular watch. This is the factory that has the idea to replicate the gen, and it is the factor that designs the rep.
Second, to design the rep, the factory buys a gen version of the watch and dissects it.
Third, the factory approaches multiple other factories and commissions them to produce each of the component parts that will be needed for the rep. Each of these suppliers are the vendors that provide the main factory with the component parts. Different suppliers specialize in manufacturing different types of parts, like crystals, bezels, movements, etc.
Fourth, if a commissioned part is new (has not been made before), the factory will obtain a prototype from its supplier. The factory will QC the prototype and approve it when it meets their specs.
Fifth, the factory obtains the various component parts from its multiple suppliers.
Sixth, the factory assembles the final watch.
Even though the factory is called a “factory” or “manufacturer,” most likely most or all of they are doing is the initial design and final assembly of the watch. All of the component parts come from suppliers that have the expertise and machinery to make a particular type of part. The factory that sells the watch might not even own any manufacturing equipment.
This structure is not unusual in the manufacturing world. Even a large manufacturer like Ford or GM does not make all of its own parts, though they likely make more parts than a rep factory.
Rep "factories" are far different than what you will see in a factory like GM or Ford, or even a gen watch manufacturer. Rep factories do not follow ISO or Six Sigma standards. They do not have "clean rooms." Your watch probably gets assembled in a much dirtier environment that you might imaging.
Rep factories do not want to get raided and lose their inventory. They set up operations in a way to avoid attracting undue attention.
Relationship between factories and TDs
TDs obtain watches from factories and/or wholesalers.
TDs normally do not hold stock, unless the watch is current and selling in high volume. Not holding much inventory their inventory costs are lower, and it also lowers the risk of losing a lot of inventory if there is a raid. This also means that TDs can generally only supply what is currently available from factories and wholesalers.
Most TDs are relatively small operations. Some are bigger, some are smaller. It is unlikely that any of them are big because, like the factories, they are trying to not attract undue attention to their business.
In other words, TDs usually have a small staff that has to address dozens or hundreds of emails and PM every day. Since they sell watches across the world, they get emails and PMs 24 hours a day.
Once a TD buys a watch for you, they typically cannot get a refund on it. If there is a defect, they can usually get an exchange but not a refund.
The next post will describe how these things affect the rep market and rep buyers.
There is a huge watch market near Gangzhou Railway Station filled with stands and stores that sell an immense number of rep watches and clocks.
Here are a few pics:
Factories
There are a number of different factories that sell reps. Not all factories make all the reps that are available. Some factories make some reps, while other factories make other reps. Some factories tend to focus on certain brands, while other factories focus on different brands. There is overlap, though, so certain watches are available from more than one factory. There are normally differences between the same type of watch that is offered from different factories. That is because each factory normally designs its version of the particular rep.
How a Rep Watch is Made
Here is an example of how the process works:
First, a factory decides to make a new replica of a particular watch. This is the factory that has the idea to replicate the gen, and it is the factor that designs the rep.
Second, to design the rep, the factory buys a gen version of the watch and dissects it.
Third, the factory approaches multiple other factories and commissions them to produce each of the component parts that will be needed for the rep. Each of these suppliers are the vendors that provide the main factory with the component parts. Different suppliers specialize in manufacturing different types of parts, like crystals, bezels, movements, etc.
Fourth, if a commissioned part is new (has not been made before), the factory will obtain a prototype from its supplier. The factory will QC the prototype and approve it when it meets their specs.
Fifth, the factory obtains the various component parts from its multiple suppliers.
Sixth, the factory assembles the final watch.
Even though the factory is called a “factory” or “manufacturer,” most likely most or all of they are doing is the initial design and final assembly of the watch. All of the component parts come from suppliers that have the expertise and machinery to make a particular type of part. The factory that sells the watch might not even own any manufacturing equipment.
This structure is not unusual in the manufacturing world. Even a large manufacturer like Ford or GM does not make all of its own parts, though they likely make more parts than a rep factory.
Rep "factories" are far different than what you will see in a factory like GM or Ford, or even a gen watch manufacturer. Rep factories do not follow ISO or Six Sigma standards. They do not have "clean rooms." Your watch probably gets assembled in a much dirtier environment that you might imaging.
Rep factories do not want to get raided and lose their inventory. They set up operations in a way to avoid attracting undue attention.
Relationship between factories and TDs
TDs obtain watches from factories and/or wholesalers.
TDs normally do not hold stock, unless the watch is current and selling in high volume. Not holding much inventory their inventory costs are lower, and it also lowers the risk of losing a lot of inventory if there is a raid. This also means that TDs can generally only supply what is currently available from factories and wholesalers.
Most TDs are relatively small operations. Some are bigger, some are smaller. It is unlikely that any of them are big because, like the factories, they are trying to not attract undue attention to their business.
In other words, TDs usually have a small staff that has to address dozens or hundreds of emails and PM every day. Since they sell watches across the world, they get emails and PMs 24 hours a day.
Once a TD buys a watch for you, they typically cannot get a refund on it. If there is a defect, they can usually get an exchange but not a refund.
The next post will describe how these things affect the rep market and rep buyers.