Independents

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We may be closer than you think

However I get the feeling there is an agenda here and I really don't want to be a part of an attempt to discredit someone.  I admit I may be way off base but I would think if there is some view that someone here is not truthful about what they own (you have implied this twice now) or what their experience is in relation to having handled fine watches, that it would be handled a different way by the management here.  The way this thread has developed and the fact it was highlighted on HOME with another thread indicates to me this is not just discussion for the sake of it.  I hope I am wrong on this but the reaction seems to be disproportionate to the offense.  The long drawn out replies disecting my posts adds to this - I certainly regret making any comment at all in this thread.

Whatever the exact wording was in this thread and the comments made about Riley's opinion, the result was that he said he would refrain from offering them in the future.  I see a lot of words expressing a desire for open discussion, but the result here was the opposite.  Maybe there is a good reason for this (you seem to know something about Riley that I don't) but it seemed to be out of the norm for this site.

You have taken this statement in a way that it was not intended to be taken:

"An opinion is just that, and to say that someone has to have certain knowledge and experience to express one without getting "shot" as another poster expressed it, is troublesome."

In this thread, "albcwc" said this:

"There is a notable reluctance on these boards to say anything critical, and sometimes the messenger gets shot, metaphorically speaking of course.

Or ignored, if you're not one of the "regular crowd.""

Clearly I am not the only one that feels this way about this site in general, and this was the comment I was referring to with people being "shot" for expressing their views (not necessarily related to comments in this thread).

I was being facetious with my comments about a system of proving how much experience anyone has with fine watches, but short of that or some other objective system (and aside from the small group here that may know each other personally) how is anyone who participates here able to know who is "qualified" to make a proper observation in context?  That is what I find troublesome. 

How do you go from the desire to reach the ideal state (where we know that all opinions are in proper context) from the current practical state (not really having any concrete method)?  I don't have the answer other than to say (again) that I tend to give people the benefit of the doubt.  Maybe I am too generous in this approach, but I honestly don't take anyone's "opinion" on an internet discussion forum as absolute gospel regardless of their apparent qualifications.  I always reserve my final view to what I see with my own eyes.

Regards, Al