Something strange happened back in spring 2020, right at the beginning of the pandemic: just as normal life ground to a halt, the vintage-watch market exploded. Soon, sales of new AAA US replica watches were climbing, too. Things had been trending in this direction for years. The continuing relaxation of dress codes meant that steel sports watches had replaced old-school dressy pieces as the objects of white-collar desire, and it began to feel as if auction houses were setting records for sales every week. Seemingly all of a sudden, collecting high quality fake watches had become a lot more popular – and much, much trickier.

But then something even stranger happened: a whole new way of thinking about collecting sprouted up. One that prizes flexibility and the ability to dip in and out of a notoriously booming market. One that elevates personal preference over consensus opinion. And one that feels much more like an art than a box-ticking, cheque-writing science. What follows are eight ways to go about building a badass best replica watches collection in 2022.

Collecting Doesn’t Have to Mean Forever

Replica Patek Philippe Watches from Hodinkee Annual Calendar 5205G (£39,675)

Collecting top copy watches used to mean buying for life – and your choices were mostly limited to very new watches or very old ones. But now, what used to be a sketchy grey market for pre-owned watches – that is, lightly worn pieces produced since 1990 – has turned into a low-stakes way to build (and rebuild) your collection. Hodinkee, the US watch resale site, acquired pre-owned platform Crown & Caliber in 2021. That site, along with peers like WatchBox and Watchfinder & Co., have made it easier than ever to do the hardest thing in watch collecting: painlessly buy something you’re into without fear of getting scammed. Reams of historical pricing data and teams of authenticators, along with return policies you won’t find on the grey market, mean that you can trust in what you’re getting – even if you’re picking up this Patek Philippe. All the better, dipping into this world gives you the freedom to think of your collection a little more…fluidly. “There are cheap replica watches you’re gonna engrave your name on the back of and never get rid of,” says Russell Kelly, Hodinkee’s chief commercial officer. “And then there are watches that come and go.” The rise of pre-owned means that the latter will find a happy home – by which time you’ll be onto your next watch.

Enter the Post-Gender Watch World

Fake Audemars Piguet Royal Oak self-winding Watches (£41,200)

It might sound obvious to say that, historically, men haven’t collected women’s Swiss movements replica watches. But with brands pumping out seriously desirable goods meant for slimmer wrists, the only really obvious thing to say is: it’s time to start. The stealthy new 34mm black ceramic wholesale fake Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Self-Winding watches, for example, might just be the most covetable watch on the market right now. Fitted with a proper mechanical movement – most small ROs have previously had quartz-fired tickers – and cloaked in a ceramic case, the model is one of the coolest Royal Oaks ever. More than a sick new piece, it’s a blueprint for a post-gender watch world, where you can find true wrist heat at any size.

Resist Circular Logic

Cartier Privé Cloche de Cartier Skeleton Replica Watches (price upon request)

Maybe the easiest way to start building a distinctive-looking collection is to… buy distinctive-looking best quality super clone watches. Take your cue here from Tyler, the Creator, who’s been at the vanguard of a new generation of maverick collectors turning away from top-of-the-market sports replica watches paypal in favour of forward-thinking designs from the likes of old-world jeweller Cartier. Tyler once credited the luxury house’s “spectacular shapes” with getting him into watch collecting in the first place. The 1:1 cheap Cloche de Cartier fake watches, above, might be one of the most spectacular of them all: the case shape looks wildly futuristic, but it was actually conceived in the 1920s. The world of Cartier is full of stuff like this – the brand makes replica watches shop site that look like polygons, tanks, and bath tubs, and one that looks like it was painted by Dalí. Ingenious design isn’t a new thing in the watch world. You’ve just gotta think outside the circle to find it.