Several hundred high quality replica watches, collected over 35-plus years, at a cost of hundreds of millions of dollars, curated down to 160. . .The numbers alone are enough to make The OAK Collection—which is about to open at The Design Museum in London ahead of its bow in New York this Fall—a must-visit for any horolophile, anywhere.
What makes the collection even more compelling, though, is the three-tiered approach to acquisition adhered to doggedly by its owner, French businessman Patrick Getreide. Firstly, the AAA US fake watches must be not just rare, but “one of a kind”—the phrase from which the OAK Collection takes its acronymic name. Special commissions, one-offs and prototypes all play their role in a collection that has involved, for Getreide, lengthy sagas of arduous pursuit as well as flea-market flashes of serendipity.
Secondly, the perfect replica watches must be flawless, and as functional as the day they left their manufacture (a full-time watchmaker is even employed to maintain them). Getreide has frequently eschewed damaged pieces over the years (including a “Victory Watch” commissioned for his hero Sir Winston Churchill) and is unmoved by watches that have been restored or excessively polished back to “newness.” “Many collectors like damaged cheap copy watches—as if it means they’re more alive,” he says, with a “not-for-me” shake of the head.
Finally, his emphasis is on classical, timeless aesthetics. Indifferent to the sci-fi avant-gardism found in the quieter rooms at the annual watch fairs, Getreide has built up a collection largely made up of Patek Philippe and Rolex pieces, although he does have a soft spot for Cartier, Vacheron Constantin, F.P. Journe and other independents.
Rarity, flawlessness and elegance, then, are his holy triumvirate. He’s also a firm believer that top replica watches must be used for their purpose (he insists that he wears all his pieces), is impervious to the tastes of others (he’ll speak passionately, for hours, about the beauty of the unloved new Rolex Air-King) and—ironically, given the astronomical value of his collection—is indifferent to how much they are worth, as he intends never to sell any of his pieces (“I’m just not motivated by prices,” he says. “C’est la vie.”)
“I will never bend my principles in order to acquire a piece,” is one of his parting comments to Robb Report, at the end of a very happy day spent with Getreide in the Geneva freeport complex in which the luxury super clone watches are housed in the lead up to a global tour beginning in London.
Patek Philippe Calatrava Ref. 5196P Replica Watches
Partly because he never buys with a view to selling on, and partly because of his fixation with his Swiss made fake watches being flawless, Getreide is as fond of modern pieces as he is vintage ones. “People think I’m crazy to collect new ones—that modern watches are not any kind of investment—but that’s not for me,” as he puts it today.
Which is why his comprehensive selection of wholesale replica Patek Philippe Calatrava watches spans from the early 1930s right up to the 21st century and is, as Patek Philippe president Thierry Stern has noted, the finest privately held Calatrava collection in the world. This 37mm, manual winding, time-only piece—water-resistant, in diamond-set platinum—was specially made for Getreide in 2016, and is made unique by its midnight blue dial, which contrasts with the Breguet numerals inspired by Refs. 530 and 570.
Rolex Cosmograph Daytona Paul Newman Fake Watches
“I had to fight very hard to get this one,” Getreide laughs, referring to a water-resistant, manual winding, stainless steel chronograph replica watches for sale with black dial and steel bracelet—one with a back story that more than merits its place in the OAK Collection. It was once owned by NASA astronaut “Walt” Cunningham, who took it up into space with him in the lunar module Apollo 7, on the first successful manned mission of the Apollo program in the late ’60s.
Featuring one of the earliest serial numbers found on a Paul Newman, the 36.5mm watch’s black dial, luminous markers, red outer-minute track and Cosmograph and Daytona designations appear as fresh as when they were printed over five decades ago. So much for space’s atomic oxygen eroding surfaces…
Replica Rolex Day-Date Oyster Perpetual Watches
This is one of the rare 1:1 online fake Rolex Day-Date Oyster Perpetual watches out there to be cased in pink gold – made even rarer by the fact that it once occupied the wrist of Sir Eric Clapton. A 36mm, Tonneau-shaped gem of a chronometer, it is water-resistant, with diamond-set dial, smooth bezel, its pale-pink dial graced with 10 diamond hour markers around its perimeter.
Whether another Rolex replica watches shop site belonging to Clapton—The Rolex “Crazy Doc” chronograph Ref. 6239 in yellow gold—ends up in this collection, after going under the hammer for an estimate of CHF 1.5 million in May, remains to be seen.