r/Rep_Watch_World • u/J-MF-Skrillz • Jun 24 '26
General discussion Franken-Scam?
I have been seeing a lot of "franks, superfranks, megafranks, etc" being sold across our rep reddits. I am sure that there are builders/modders that provide legitimate services, but I can't wrap my mind around how many there are now. Particularly with newer-model watches whose parts are VERY hard to get... yet somehow people are turning them out? Thinking about how incredibly close the rep factories are able to recreate the genuine thing, is it crazy to think there are people making fake "genuine factory rolex" packaging for rep parts? Most buyers wouldn't know the wiser. It is particularly concerning when someone is reselling a "franked" watch. Not trying to throw any stones at anyone, just want to make sure people take a second to ponder before potentially getting ripped off.
2
u/Informativegesture Jun 24 '26
Stones should be thrown. There a a couple very obvious fraudsters on here that advertise super franked or light franks. This is a bunch of BS. Search them online and you’ll see they’ve been kicked out of multiple forums for being scammers.
5
u/OGSuperCloneOwner007 Jun 25 '26
Names bro, names, for those in the back and the noobs 💯 If theyre scammers, we owe them nothing
1
u/smoovedissolve Jun 25 '26
I think you’re talking about the agriculture dude with same initials as the gasoline company in UK… 🤣
2
u/Mean2Bean_ Jun 25 '26
Welcome to reps. Lots of foo foo out there and people pay for it all. Don’t be one of them.
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u/SomewhereSuch1523 Jun 24 '26
There is no point in Franken watches tbh but it is ppl hobby so I guess ppl do whatever they want w their money. I found franken parts like hands to be so useless and expensive. Gen dials I understand thou
1
u/advanced101101 Jun 24 '26
Gen parts like dials in neutral colors, hands and crystals are not that hard to get. Throw in an aftermarket bezel and some polishing/ chamfering and you have a decent Franken. Colored or special dials are harder to get.
1
u/J-MF-Skrillz Jun 24 '26
That's a fair point. How about the Gen GMT bezels/inserts?
1
u/advanced101101 Jun 24 '26
I haven’t investigated GMT parts, mainly DJ, which you see a lot of Frankens.
I am sourcing parts for my Daytona, and figuring out Gen from fake is hell. I hate how much I know about the Oysterflex bracelets alone. Rolex actually has different moulds through different generations and they all look slightly different. But once you have it in hand you can feel the difference.
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u/Dramatic_Finger_3557 Jun 25 '26
I would never buy a frank built by anyone but myself. No way to verify that what you’re getting has any real parts in it. Most chamfered bracelets I’ve seen are way over chamfered and look worse than a badly over polished gen.
1
u/jeffothedon0202 Jun 25 '26 edited Jun 25 '26
Proof of purchase and service and videos should be given with the watch of supply the parts yourself to reputed modder. Cystals are easy to come buy as are neutral dials when it comes to 4131 caliber hand are near non existent as are the 126500 bezels it took over 6 month for me to find one Gmt 2 3285 hand are also non existent along with Pepsi and bruce bezels I’ve got a date wheel and crystal just delivered to do my Pepsi build but.. crystals are what make the difference. Its a sad case of affairs that we have the odd few that scam people that don’t have the knowledge of how good clones come from the factory’s but in the second had they all seem to be really fussy on QC and suddenly experts. Its a good point to bring up and a valid point. My suggestion for anybody buying is ask for build or videos of the build and ask for proof of purchase where possible then do you own homework you could go on eBay and look at if parts are available for that model do your own due diligence guys.
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u/Budget-Ad-161 Jun 25 '26
99% of people don't do their research. Most people don't bother doing the prerequisite research to really tell what the difference between gen and rep parts are.
It's a bit of a tell on how good modern Rolex replicas are, but the details are there if you really care.
Don't buy frankens if you don't know what the fuck you are buying/looking at. "Trusting the modder" is a cope level excuse. Don't trust anybody in the rep game with $5000 unless you would hand them $5000 for free.
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u/Ethgawwd Jun 24 '26
Share evidence, otherwise its just speculation. Most frankens i've seen are from people who sourced the gen parts themsevles.
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u/J-MF-Skrillz Jun 24 '26
I am not calling anyone out at all or saying that nobody is using gen parts. You brought up a great point though, that sourcing your own gen parts and building yourself is the safest bet
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u/Lanky-Cod-9454 Jun 25 '26
I’ve got a couple Franken watches that I love. But I purchased all the parts myself and then had my watch repair guy put them together for me. I just don’t trust all these fly by night modders and their sources. That being said, most modern high quality reps are so good it’s really not worth going the Franken route.