Review of Trusty Time Planet Ocean, Aqua Terra and Constellation

[KingBach]

This is a continuation of the thread where I reviewed Trusty Time  and the Planet Ocean.

 

Following the successful purchase of a 42.5mm Omega Planet Ocean I decided to purchase a present for my mother and to treat myself to another watch.

 

I decided to buy the Swiss movement Aqua Terra (Black) for myself and a Constellation Eagle (Quartz).

 

I originally decided to get the Blue Aqua Terra but after seeing the QC pictures the shade of blue did not even look close to the gen so I thought I would play it safe with black.

 

After waiting patiently for delivery I finally managed to get the packages. I slowly examined my mother's watch to check the quality of the metal etc and clasp etc. I then proceeded to check that it actually worked after fiddling around with it for several minutes the watch did not seem to actually work and I thought that the battery must have been dead, in addition the watch was too  small for my mothers wrist and there were not enough links for included and it was quite tight on her wrist.

 

I then went on to inspect my Aqua Terra and found the watch to feel a lot lighter than my Planet Ocean, its as it the links were hollow or something and the watch felt like it was an obvious rep. It felt pretty flimsy and the movement was actually loose. Andrew at Trusty Time assured me that I would be getting a sturdy one as the factory does "checks" before they are sent out. After looking at the watch for a few moments I was find as I was just happy it worked. so I wound the watch and started wearing it. about 20 minutes the watch started to stop when the second hand reached the 23rd minute marker. I was advised by Andrew to smash the watch hard against my hand to get the watch going again, which it did, but this is not a practical solution.

 

I emailed him several times saying that I wanted two new watched that worked and that I wanted a different watch entirely or even a different model because I do not want the hassle of going through the whole process if the "fixed" watches messed up again.

he said that this was not possible and I could only get it refurbished. I was seriously pi55ed off because I had spend over £500 on buying watched from him and he wants to refurb me these two broken watches, I paid the full price for a brand new rep and he wants to fob me off with these broken reps?

 

I am currently in the process of sending these back to the factory and they will no doubt take months to get these back to me.

I wanted to let you all know that whilst some replicas are good the AQ and the constellation are not so I would avoid these two models in particular.

 

the look great on the pictures but we all want a watch that can tell time right ... I'll keep you all updated with the process.

 

Thanks.

[afrodesiac]

Wow, that's dissapointing. I was just about to buy that same Aqua Terra soon.. it's a shame didn't live up to its hype. Any elaborations on the rest of the quality of the watch and do you know if it actually has AR? Thanks 

 

 

Also, have you thought about sending it to a watchsmith in the US or which ever country you're from? It could be faster and show better results, though I don't know if you want to pay extra for it... But the Chinese New Year is around the corner which may seriously delay your watches return.

Edited December 25, 2013 by afrodesiac

[fraggle42]

Sorry to hear it hasn't gone smoothly for you but you really started off on the wrong foot.

 

You ordered the blue one and after getting QC pics you decided you didn't want it as the blue didn't look right. There's plenty of opinions on here you should have searched for or asked for, about how accurate the blue colour dials are, there's member reviews, comments. Also how do you know the TDs camera has accurate colour rendition? Or the TDs computers monitor?

 

Once the TDs have a watch they are stuck with it. They can't send it back. They can't get their money back. It's up to you to do the research first and decide if the watch is for you or not, and only then ask the TD to get you one. QC pics are there to make sure it's the right watch, right strap/bracelet, etc, obvious errors that busy people (the TDs) may overlook.

 

 

Bracelets being too short is a common problem, best to ask on these and the other forums if anyone has any spare links, or buy a strap for it.

 

About the Aqua Terra, I don't know this particular model but I guess there may well be cheap reps and super reps of it, do you know which one you have? Obviously the cheaper the rep is, the cheaper it'll feel. (but some models even paying for the super rep some members have found they're not that good and best avoided - again, research and read!)

 

Sorry to hear about the problems with both not running, that obviously shouldn't happen but sadly is something that can happen during shipping. The AT does sound like a simple case of the second hand being knocked out of alignment and needing a very slight tweak to get it running properly. The quartz may just need a new battery, they're only a couple of quid for a new battery and the ones the factories put in them will only last a short time anyway so it may just be a case of the battery gone flat.

 

TDs do not exchange faulty reps, it's not like a gen shop. There's no guarantees or exchanges simply because they're not legal. It'd be like me buying a load of illegal arms and then going back and saying "This one is rusty, that one has scratches all over it and I'm short 5 dozen rounds!". They'd probably shoot me, take the arms and resell them!

 

You can send the faulty AT back to China at your cost for repair but that'll take months and you'll run the risk of customs intercepting the parcel, the parcel getting lost in China, and of the repaired watch being damaged again on it's way back. Most here recommend you find a local rep-friendly watchsmith and have them repair it.

 

 

Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

[afrodesiac]

I've been interested in these new AT replicas also and have been doing my research over the past week or so which dictates my response; however I'm not trying to be this man's internet bodyguard or anything, just gonna lay down some facts for everyone's understanding.

 

Here are a few points on the Aqua Terra he's referring to:

• The rep watch was just released recently and so there aren't many reviews on the site, all I've found is this one and the by GrimReaper on the original request thread. 
• He, as far as I can tell, did not order the blue watch and switch; he just checked out the QC pictures on the aforementioned thread as I have and decided for himself.
• The watch costs $328, not a paltry sum for what it is, and there's quite a lot of false advertising going on on the listing (Lack of AR, Movement, etc.).
• The blue color was apparent because people posted links to multiple websites all showing that color, there was also a video posted which showed an accurate color representation. 

 

So, I'd say he's in the right with most of his statements, and as I had planned on buying this same model today I'd be frustrated too if I received the load of he did.

Getting off my tangent, I hope his watch can be serviced, and hope that the dealers change their listing to show more of the truth... I mean if the feature listing isn't accurate, the movement is broken or is easily prone to breaking, and the customer service is as KingBach described, what's the difference between Trusty Time and all the other POS replica sites out there? I understand the men who sell these watches are only the man in the middle, they don't make the reps or supervise design, but the false advertising doesn't help.

Seems like the BP factory is on a discouraging trend... increasing prices and decreasing quality.

 

Good news though, I heard Angus at PureTime is making a rep of this.... I hope it's better considering it's apparently from a different factory.

 

References:

original interest/request thread, original review by GR85: rwgforum.net/topic/160189-anyone-interested-in-getting-an-aqua-terra-repped/

exact listing on TT (note false AR advertising in description): ttw888.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=35_66&products_id=11482

Video for different angles of a different-colored, but identical model: player.vimeo.com/video/78978193

Original model from 2011 for comparison (note the difference- what $200 buys you): ttw888.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=35_66&products_id=8663

 

Sorry about the adresses. 

Technically I can't post links yet so you'll have to copy them. 

 

 

I don't want to start trouble with any dealers or members considering I'm still new to this, but I think other people of this community would agree when I say the false advertising and increasingly careless QC should change. Not that they will, or this post will do anything about the quality control and procedures for what I assume is kids working in china, but we've got to start somewhere.

 

 

-A

 

 

 

ttw888.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=35_66&products_id=8663

[KingBach]

Hi guys I just wanted to give you a quick update so the Aquatab broke within one month after I waited three months to get back delivery. In addition the planet Ocean but I bought from trusted time the helium Bell fell off and he wanted to charge me 60 years dollars plus US$50 delivery that's hundred pounds for a new one then watched that seems to have held up is the constellation. I don't think that I will be buying a replica watch from trusty time ever again I have found that he is not very helpful doesn't keep to his promises and I would actually avoid I was so disappointed when he sent me to watches both of them didn't work very very very disappointed.

[Nightwatch]

You did well to update the story, unfortunately this didn´t have a happy end for You. 5 months and £500 gone.

Use Your power to change the TD, the level of service from Toro, Supermirrors and Intime (TD on the other forum) is reliable and high (from my experience).

Sell the broken ones on m2m, there is always someone ready to buy and able to fix them. The HE-valve problem is not a rare one.