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Audemars Piguet Diver V3 Review with Gen-Rep Pics


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Fantastic review Edge.

I just received mine in the mail yesterday and wanted to share a few thoughts. My comments below sound negative, so let me preface the comments by stating this is one of the best if not the best replications available today. The overall finishing and attention to detail is amazing.

The fact that the Gen is over 15K makes it even more remarkable. The new Noob Pams are impressive as well but those are of 7K gens so I think this is more impressive for that reason.

Bezel brushing is SOO much better than the previous seconds at 12 AP ROO Chronos, overall the entire case is much better finished.

The strap and buckle are very gen like as well.

It really seems gen in this regard.

The inner bezel mechanism works well.

Dial and hands look great. As long as your bezel lines up, which fortunately mine does, there are few flaws.

Negatives, some of which I have not heard much about:

Blue AR on the cyclops (much talked about) ; factory is just wrong on this one, it is too blue and does bother me a bit though not a huge amount.

Really just a dumb mistake here though, especially since Angus was asking them to go with clear like the maiin crystal.

Crystal AR clarity: I do think they should have coated both sides. The crystal a is is not gen like in clarity,the gen is single sided inside AR only but uses a better quality crystal and I think the difference is noticable. Using double sided AR on the crystal would have been a better solution IMO.

As is from too many angles I see reflections more than I would on the gen.

LUME: what is up the lume and why is no one else talking about this. I have received most all of the new Noob pam releases made in the past 12 months and when advertised as Super Lume it does appear to be Super Lume.

This watch, while it is nice that they lumed the inner bezel, the quality of the lume is only slightly better than the previous REP Lume we all used to know so well.

Sorry as much as I love the watch and think it was worth every penny and more I think this was falsely advertised as Super Lume and honesty in advertising should account for something even in the rep world. I understand this is C1 vs. C3 or a C1-C3 mix used on Pams but it does not glow as much as gen C1 dials I have with much smaller indexs on the dials (BCE stick/baton dial as an example). So my conclusion, NO SUPERLUME was used on this watch.

Price should be $40 higher and they should have used SuperLume or at least don't sell it as Superlume when it is not the real stuff.

Overall the rep is so good, I am undecided if I should keep unmodded or send to Vac for a relume of the dial and inner bezel.

If I did that I might be tempted to have him AR the crystal and cyclops as well.

I would miss having the watch for the months that would take, so I am on the fence.

I do not regret the purchase 1 bit though.

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Should add much has been stated about the inner bezel lume but really only related to the application itself (being a little sloppy or uneven) but I haven't heard anyone who has received the watch flat out come out and say this is not genuine SL like I just did!

Also should have mentioned watch wears much better than the tall on the wrist AP ROO chronos, probably the most comfortable fitting watch I have ever strapped on my wrist.

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Thanks Roger for your input. Concerning the crystal I have to disagree, having discussed this with a gen owner and having compared them both I think the crystal is almost indistinguishable. You are right about the lume. Imo no superlume has been used although Angus told me it has been used but it has been mixed and that would be the reason why it is not strong.

As for the AR ont the cyclopse, so far no modder who can help me out, VAC can't do it he told me. There is no modder with the correct AR tint other than Chieftang. Chieftang's AR could do the trick imo.

As for the conversion to the ETA2846, I have dissassembled the V3 today to perform the transplantation, but without succes. The part that makes the datewheel click to the next date (via the crown) is needed to get transplanted as well because the teeth of the DW from the 2824 are slightly larger than the 2846. The part fitted but it kept being loose so the date mechanism does not work well. Otherwise the transplant would have worked. So far no 21600bph mod yet. Any other ideas?

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As for the conversion to the ETA2846, I have dissassembled the V3 today to perform the transplantation, but without succes. The part that makes the datewheel click to the next date (via the crown) is needed to get transplanted as well because the teeth of the DW from the 2824 are slightly larger than the 2846. The part fitted but it kept being loose so the date mechanism does not work well. Otherwise the transplant would have worked.

This part sits in a groove on top of the movement and is held on by a finger on the keyless works cover, it's not actually screwed in or anything, so you can just try a bunch of them until you find one that works well. You could try one from a 2836, it's slightly different than the 2824 part, that might help.

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Fantastic review Edge.

I just received mine in the mail yesterday and wanted to share a few thoughts. My comments below sound negative, so let me preface the comments by stating this is one of the best if not the best replications available today. The overall finishing and attention to detail is amazing.

The fact that the Gen is over 15K makes it even more remarkable. The new Noob Pams are impressive as well but those are of 7K gens so I think this is more impressive for that reason.

Bezel brushing is SOO much better than the previous seconds at 12 AP ROO Chronos, overall the entire case is much better finished.

The strap and buckle are very gen like as well.

It really seems gen in this regard.

The inner bezel mechanism works well.

Dial and hands look great. As long as your bezel lines up, which fortunately mine does, there are few flaws.

Negatives, some of which I have not heard much about:

Blue AR on the cyclops (much talked about) ; factory is just wrong on this one, it is too blue and does bother me a bit though not a huge amount.

Really just a dumb mistake here though, especially since Angus was asking them to go with clear like the maiin crystal.

Crystal AR clarity: I do think they should have coated both sides. The crystal a is is not gen like in clarity,the gen is single sided inside AR only but uses a better quality crystal and I think the difference is noticable. Using double sided AR on the crystal would have been a better solution IMO.

As is from too many angles I see reflections more than I would on the gen.

LUME: what is up the lume and why is no one else talking about this. I have received most all of the new Noob pam releases made in the past 12 months and when advertised as Super Lume it does appear to be Super Lume.

This watch, while it is nice that they lumed the inner bezel, the quality of the lume is only slightly better than the previous REP Lume we all used to know so well.

Sorry as much as I love the watch and think it was worth every penny and more I think this was falsely advertised as Super Lume and honesty in advertising should account for something even in the rep world. I understand this is C1 vs. C3 or a C1-C3 mix used on Pams but it does not glow as much as gen C1 dials I have with much smaller indexs on the dials (BCE stick/baton dial as an example). So my conclusion, NO SUPERLUME was used on this watch.

Price should be $40 higher and they should have used SuperLume or at least don't sell it as Superlume when it is not the real stuff.

Overall the rep is so good, I am undecided if I should keep unmodded or send to Vac for a relume of the dial and inner bezel.

If I did that I might be tempted to have him AR the crystal and cyclops as well.

I would miss having the watch for the months that would take, so I am on the fence.

I do not regret the purchase 1 bit though.

Thanks for providing this valuable information

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Great post, but I do want to say:

The majority of dive watches choose an outer unidirectional bezel to mark dive periods. AP went with an inner rotating bezel, which not only keeps the shapely octagonal case intact but also provides a more secure solution. You don’t want an accident or miscalculation when you’re a long way from a breath of fresh air.

This is... wishful thinking. AP chose the inner bezel to keep the distinctive look of their case. Bezels which can be operated underwater are far, far more useful. I always set the bezel after I'm in the water (usually after I've jumped in, while I'm waiting for the rest of the dive group to get out of the boat).

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As for the conversion to the ETA2846, I have dissassembled the V3 today to perform the transplantation, but without succes. The part that makes the datewheel click to the next date (via the crown) is needed to get transplanted as well because the teeth of the DW from the 2824 are slightly larger than the 2846. The part fitted but it kept being loose so the date mechanism does not work well. Otherwise the transplant would have worked. So far no 21600bph mod yet. Any other ideas?

:)

IMG-20120612-WA0009.jpg

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so any word on how to solve the blue cyclops AR? It really bugs me. I haven't heard from Chief. AR a cyclops is a tough job.

Has anyone contacted Uwe to see if he can do it?

I am 95% sure that Vaccum specializes in AR and lume for this watch.

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I am 95% sure that Vaccum specializes in AR and lume for this watch.

As for the AR ont the cyclopse, so far no modder who can help me out, VAC can't do it he told me. There is no modder with the correct AR tint other than Chieftang. Chieftang's AR could do the trick imo.

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A point on the movements you are all discussing. The hacking lever for a 2836/ 2824 can be retro fitted to a 2846. But the date wheels are not compatible between 2824 and 2846 you would need a DW from a 2836 due to the height as both the 36 and 46 were destined as day date movements an have the teeth of the DWs are set lower than the printed area of the DW.

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A point on the movements you are all discussing. The hacking lever for a 2836/ 2824 can be retro fitted to a 2846.

I have done this.

But the date wheels are not compatible between 2824 and 2846 you would need a DW from a 2836 due to the height as both the 36 and 46 were destined as day date movements an have the teeth of the DWs are set lower than the printed area of the DW.

Wondering if it would be possible to just attach the current datewheel (as an overlay) to the stock 2836/2846 datewheel. Probably would have to grind the teeth off first, and I'm too chicken to ruin one that way...

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Why is it so important to modify it to hack? I'm sure not many people will be unscrewing the crown and changing the time and those that do will most likely be close enough friends to know it's a rep.

Because non hacking movements are stupid.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using Tapatalk 2

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