GrimReaper85

Josh has some new AT models out, all rose gold: http://www.p-cls.com/0140-p-15019.html http://www.p-cls.com/0140a-p-15020.html http://www.p-cls.com/0140b-p-15021.html But what is more interesting, blue Titanium 42mm PO finally came out: http://www.p-cls.com/omcpo42105-pocean-ceramic-blue-titi-swiss-2824-p-15013.html

Because Josh from PC and Andrew from TT have some sort of arrangement with BP factory, and Angus from PT has the same with Noob factory. But there can be exceptions, both Josh and Andrew have Noob LMLE PO. As for Toro, he is not associated with any factory, he also got BP Sub recently.

I now figured the bezel is aligned perfectly. I looked with my right eye closed before. But with both eyes opened it is nicely centered. And the bracelet, I have read so many horror stories about this bracelet, but mine turned out very nice. When I got it out of baby oil today, I noticed the squeaking is gone. And also the GlideLock glides ok now, and it doesn't give me any troubles. I am now happy like a kid with a new toy. I myself don't need a gen or a gen like quality rep. I just need a watch that looks nice, and the BP certainly looks nice. But I also Googled pictures of gen 116619, and it is really perfect. Even the notches in the bezel align with markers. Altough I have seen ones where they don't: https://www.rolexforums.com/showpost.php?p=2447687&postcount=25 And ones where the notches come right in between the markers: http://forums.watchuseek.com/f30/fs-rolex-ceramic-submariner-blue-dial-18k-white-gold-model-116619-complete-priced-sell-hot-702514.html And I am looking at my BP, and the notches at least align at 35 and 45. So I guess even 30k€ gens have QC problems. But I see all have aligned rehaut engravings, which BP doesn't. I mean, it is aligned, the crown is at 12, and the 5x ROLEX right of 12 is aligned. But left of 12 every letter is too much to the left. And there has to be a lot more things, but to a guy with average Rolex knowledge, like me, BP is a very nice watch. They did so many things right it is almost unbelievable if you look at the price: -aligned bezel with dial -aligned rehaut engraving (altough engraving itself is off on left side) -centered date -aligned cyclops -centered pearl These things certainly require a lot of QC work, which is not typical for BP factory, and Chinese factories in general. Maybe I will also buy a Noob V2 some day, but I really prefer blue to black.

I have a question regarding bezel alignment. Every bezel has a little play, mine aligns when in the leftmost position. I want to know if this counts that the bezel is aligned, or is this already out of alignment, altough just little? I guess it is hard to find a perfectly aligned bezel. And it wasn't even seen on QC, there it even seems to be a little to the left, because of the angle. Otherwise, my BP is a very nice watch. Altough the bracelet is not very good. GlideLock adjustment is very stiff. Will see how it feels when it comes out of baby oil. If not ok, I can just fit the whole Noob V2 bracelet, is that right, or the SEL won't fit nice? Clasp only in that case?

I now opened the watch to see what is causing the rattling noise. Meanwhile I also cleaned the inside of caseback glass. I too had some problems when I already closed the back and I noticed a piece of fiber, so I can understand why rep factories don't bother with cleaning. But at least the inside of the watch was clean. I then quickly found out that the rotor is making the noise. It is too loose, it moves up and down way too much. I tried to screw it a little more, but still the same. I then also opened an ST6 watch with the same problem and the screw couldn't be screwed more. So I don't know what to do, except to install a better movement. This is how it rattles:

I haven't asked for AR, it doesn't bother me. But the caseback is already on the way from China. And I have a strong feeling all watches will come with somehow scratched caseback and lugs. Yes, it is not seen when on the wrist, but it is so nicely polished, it is a shame that they scratch it when screwing it back.

ETA and 8500 are not interchangable, I read so on RWI when someone wanted to buy a 8500.

I compared it again to pictures of gen (no high res ones available), and the gen is not any better looking. Buy a nice Swiss movement for $200 and replace this shitty movement, and you are set. Maybe even ST2130 for $100, why don't rep factories use these? But I think i will just use mine until it breaks. If nothing else, it is vey accurate, +2s per day. But it must be desperate for a service, judging by noise, there is not much lubrication.

Blue hands are so beautiful that I decided to take 100 pictures of the dial. Here are 30 of best ones. I helped myself with white light from my 27" monitor, and I also tried using flash. You can now clearly see the imperfections, there are a lot of small dents in the grooves. But these are not all visible when you look at the wrist from a normal distance. The black spot at minute 4 bothers me the most. And the dents at 2.5, 18 and 22 minutes. But I usually don't have the time to look at the watch for that long, and looking at it from close distance makes you weird, so I will see how it bothers me on the wrist.

Both Josh and Andrew corrected this on 18th, it now says ETA 2836-2. But I still don't know what difference that makes, to me refurbished 2824-2 is the same as refurbished 2836-2. I was also looking at the SMP, it is now the only remaining rep that I want. And the upcoming Skyfall Aqua Terra from Angus. And maybe Noob LMLE. But I don't like these 007 versions, especially the dials. Both Skyfall PO and SMP 50th have really unattractive dials. And these SMP's aren't as popular as PO's. And I heard that there are a lot of QC problems.

There is no AR whatsoever. Here are the pics. First one of the dial is actually not bad, I don't know why I didn't take more. You can clearly see the not so clean dial. I now see that the spring bars were also fitted by a child, all 4 lugs are scratched. And I will have to polish the bezel, altough it would probably be scratched quickly again. You can see one scratch on 5th picture in 3rd row. QC is really subpar on this watch, even for rep standards. But still, this is a very genlike rep. Hands are perfect, this was the main reason I bought this watch anyway, to look at those beautiful blue hands. And the whole dial looking from normal distance of 10-30cm is actually quite good. I don't think you can recognize this watch as a rep from 30cm, if the date is 10-31. When the date is 1-9, which should be bold, the distance has to be at least half meter. On last two pictures you can see the angled clasp. It still closes and opens without problems, but it is certainly strange looking.

I think BP factory really needs to stop refurbishing these old Swiss movements, and just go with Asian clones. Mine is very rough when setting time, makes the watch very cheap. And there is loud noise when you shake the watch, even 2 of my 3 Silix $35 economy ones don't make that noise, they are DG2813. Only Seagull ST6D one makes the same noise. And I also have another ST6D and it is quieter. There was a good post from big_raji on RWI regarding these movements: And I must agree completely. And I will also get an Asian ETA and DG4813 in the same time, so I can see which one lasts longer. As for other factories, my other Aqua Terra from unknown factory has new Swiss and Noob factory also has new Swiss or Sellita movements.

I now looked at the dial with a 15x loupe, and what I thought is dust look like some holes. And there are exactly 11, some visible with naked eye. So no point in removing the movement. There is only one small spot which could be removed. Again, the Silix $35 doesn't have this problem, I can see only one hole, but only with a loupe. As for scratched caseback, Josh told me he would arrange it. As for the clasp, I am now looking at it and perhaps it was meant to be like this. Everything actually works as it should. I will take a picture of what I first thought was the problem. As for the noisy rotor, I now see it has a screw on it. Do you think that if I screw it in more, the noise will be gone? Can anyone describe how AR should actually look? If I hold the watch under light, I now see the light clearly, and everything else can be seen like in a mirror. But what I like is when you turn the watch to the light, the blue hands change color to a lighter blue. Would you lose this with AR? PO V5 is on the way to me, I will see for myself in 2 weeks how AR should look. I now also cleaned the crown with rodico, man it was dirty, I guess from polishing.

I asked Josh for new caseback now.

Can't edit anymore. I forgot one thing. If someone also has a 6.2" wrist, I was left with 2 regular removable links and one half link on both sides. Altough there is a rule that 6 o'clock side should have less links, I don't think it would look good with two half links together. And I think one more regular link on 12 side would be too much. The watch itself looks good on 6.2" (16cm) wrist, it is not too big. I don't think there is a need for a 38.5mm rep, as some of you would like. I think these watches are more sporty anyway, and 38.5mm is really a dressy size. I haven't measured lug to lug with a caliper yet, but with a tape it is around 48mm, which is the same as 42mm PO. My PO is still on the order, so I can't do a comparison for now. I really have to open the watch and clean it. The caseback won't be a problem. But I haven't yet removed a movement. Altough I have a lot of cheap watches to practice on.

I got the watch today. Here are some first thoughts about this watch. And I already took the pictures, but they are probably not that good, because of bad lighting. When I first looked at the watch, I was very happy they got the blue hands right, they are beautiful and I don't think gen has them any better. They are not lacquered as on my other rep, but heat treated, or how do they do it. And they change color with different lighting, as blue hands should, and what is the main attraction of blue hands. And I have to say for the whole dial, it is as best as it can be in a rep, I would rate it 8/10 comparing to gen. The drawbacks are: -too thin DW font, altough centered nice -specks of dust in the grooves, I counted 4 on mine This is a QC thing and it shouldn't happen. They should have used an air blower or rodico. I am now looking at my $35 Silix AT and it doesn't have this problem. The finishing is nice, everything is polished as it should, even between the lugs, which only some of my gen watches have, but no rep. Altough I did notice that the bezel is sligthly scratched, it didn't came protected. When I first looked at the bracelet I thought that this is a gen quality bracelet. But I later found it is just another rep bracelet. First, they [censored] up the clasp, yes, it still opens and closes without problems, but the 3 parts are held together at some strange angles, I already have a better clasp from a rep which was not made from a genuine watch. The resizing is a pain in the ass, but practice makes perfect, and after probably 10 removed pins, I finally know how to do it without major problems. You have a screw on each side and a pin in the middle. But this pin needs to find its way through 3 holes. Even the second one (through middle part of the link) is not easy sometimes, but for the last one on other side you really have to wiggle it just right so that the pin finds the hole. It is doable, but you need practice and be good with your hands. I don't know how difficult the gen is to resize, but my other rep has only 2 screws, one larger where the smaller one goes in. Endlinks are not that bad, I think the space is pretty normal, and they don't move, but the first two links attached to end links do. Bracelet also has some noise, but nothing that baby oil can't fix. Now for the caseback. There are two specks of dust on mine, one is quite large, probably skin. And funny thing, when I was just saying to myself, look at that nicely polished caseback, I see that it is badly scratched from a jaxa wrench. Couldn't they just use a sticky ball? As for the movement, I can't say much for now. It works normally and it is precise (should be +1s per day). When setting time, it was somehow rough. My other rep is a lot better, but I am almost certain that one has a new Swiss movement. And I noticed a noise coming from it, when I shake the watch up and down. Actually my other rep has that sound too, but I haven't noticed it before. Here it is much louder, like some spring sound. It makes the watch really cheap. Here you have it. To some this would look like a bad watch, but for me, I don't mind misperfections that much. I can use it as a beater watch, which is practically every day if you work in a toolshop like me. And I usually don't have the time to look at the watch from a very close range and for a longer time. What I also have to share is the weight. I will probably measure it too, altough I don't like to use a caliper around new watches, this one already came quite beat up. And the lume. I must say it is nice, but I have yet to see how long it lasts. And yes, there is no AR. But I don't have an AR watch in my posession, so for now that is not so bad for me. You probably wonder what my other rep looks like. I got it from Hont in June. I wanted a 2503.33 Swiss rep, but didn't knew they stopped doing the good ones. Now they are almost fantasy watches, they don't look nothing like the gen. The blue hands are lacquered and they don't look as nice. The finish between the lugs is as poor as it can be, just roughly milled, like on $35 reps. And everything else is quite poorly made, considering I payed $300. I only like the Swiss movement and the bracelet. I can also give you pictures if you like.

That QC pics of the dial are really bad (except second one on 6'o clock side), if it were my watch, I would tell him to make them again. And I guess I got a really nice movement, +1s/d, 286° amp. and 0.0ms b.e. This one is still good, but I would have to open it to regulate it to +1s. QC for Captain's are of my watch, btw.

Nice finds there, van_damme1988. As for me, I'm not looking for a perfect watch for $330, even watches for $1000 probably have QC problems. Even Omega's probably some minor.

I also asked him yesterday about this watch: I guess they don't have a blue gen, only Captain's, which is already on the way to me. As for Bond's watch, he wears 231.10.39.21.03.001 in the movie Skyfall, which is a 38.5mm. http://www.omegawatches.com/collection/seamaster/aqua-terra-150-m/co-axial-385-mm/23110392103001 http://forums.watchuseek.com/f20/skyfall-omega-full-view-bond-671076.html But there also exists 41.5mm blue one, which is the same as Bond's, just 3mm bigger. http://www.omegawatches.com/collection/seamaster/aqua-terra-150-m/co-axial-415-mm/23110422103001 And white/blue Captain's, black/green Golf and black/yellow Gauss, these are all 41.5mm. I actually don't know which one would wear better, for dress watch 38.5mm is certainly better, but I don't like dress watches. I will certainly tell how I feel about my Captain's 41.5mm. And I can already tell I don't like the size of my Fineat 38.5mm Aqua Terra homage. And I like my 40mm 2503.33 rep.

Looks like you are correct, here is the 2011 version and the font is thin: http://forums.watchuseek.com/f29/fs-omega-seamaster-aqua-terra-golf-2011-a-634531.html Found some more examples: http://uhrforum.de/omega-aqua-terra-golf-kal-8500-aus-nov-2012-a-t121976 http://forums.watchuseek.com/f20/*official-omega-seamaster-aqua-terra-co-axial-thread*-341632-8.html http://forums.watchuseek.com/f29/withdrawn-omega-seamaster-aqua-terra-8500-golf-781819.html http://forums.watchuseek.com/f20/decision-mid-size-8500-black-dial-not-teak-grey-856064-3.html#post6284347 http://forums.watchuseek.com/f20/aqua-terra-railmaster-photo-thread-535524-34.html#post6168044 http://www.uhren-miquel.com/Omega-Seamaster-Aqua-Terra-Chronometer-Golf-_art_5244_en.html http://www.chrono24.it/omega/aqua-terra-golf--id2221761.htm I think the bold one is 2013 version. PC and TT now corrected the Captain's, 2836-2 instead of 2824-2.

This is what Josh wrote: They don't have the gen Skyfall, so I don't think I will buy it. Better to wait for puretime's version, but he said that the maker bought the grey one, so I don't have high hopes for that either. For now it really looks that Captain's will be the best for a long time.

I asked Josh now for any info on blue one, and if he knows which gen ones BP maker bought.

I think they bought the Captain's and that is a 41.5mm watch. I will tell how it wears and give some wrist shots.

Black is actually black/green Golf. But I am certain they didn't need to buy gen for this. But they need a gen for Captain's (which they had) and for Skyfall, because blue is hardest to replicate. And looking here, they certainly need to perfect the datewheel, but that probably won't happen. Golf version in particular has even bolder/wider numbers than Captain's and Gauss. Same goes for black/white/grey/blue. http://www.omegawatches.com/collection/seamaster/aqua-terra-150-m/presentation/seamaster-aqua-terra-golf Actually looking here, Captain's DW is not off at all: http://global.rakuten.com/en/store/gmt/item/1000005791933/ http://forums.watchuseek.com/f20/opinion-aqua-terra-captains-watch-827676.html#post6053491 Numbers don't seem to be bold. This all blue is the one Omega should make: http://forums.watchuseek.com/f20/aqua-terra-captains-watch-760005-2.html#post5558291 Btw, does anyone have an idea how do these reps sell? I got answer from PC that he sold 3 the first day, 5th of October. I don't think they sell very well, but it was probably known before they started making it, that it is not as popular as PO.

I think that some cheap V5 with 4813 movement for $140-148 is still worth the purchase. I will certainly buy it to see how the watch feels. 2500 and 8500 42mm are the same size wise, right? I mean lug to lug and end link size. I already bought Silix Economy 45mm PO and 42mm AT, and their 50mm lug to lug and 58mm end link to end link is just ridiculous, and must be certainly far from gen. As for LMPO, I think it is too expensive, $298 for Asian and $448 for Swiss. So really best to wait for Noob Ceramic. But I will see with V5 if this watch is even for me, if not, only AT's remain.