Jump to content
When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.
  • Current Donation Goals

IWC Aquatimer Cousteau Divers


yellomen

Recommended Posts

OK guys... here is a small review...

CD06.jpg

The ordering from Angus went super smooth, after payment i got a tracking numer a day later (monday) and by the end of the week this beauty was finally here. I wanna thank Angus for the good communication and the quality control he did on this one.

The Aquatimer was on my wishlist since it came out and when i saw this limited cousteau divers i knew it replaced the normal Aquatimer from my wishlist. This was the one i wanted! And good for me, half a year later i saw the first posts from Angus showing this pretty piece and saying they would copy it! I was out of my mind from joy :D

CD07.jpg

CD08.jpg

The movement runs really good and in a week time it's going about + 25-30 seconds. Chronos work perfectly and it also resets smooth. The new asian 7750 is impressive i think. The only thing that is not flawless is that the date and day are not always perfectly aligned in the day/date window. The weird thing is that the last few days they appear to be more in the centre of the day/date window so it might be start-up problems. It's only a minor thing because they are maybe a milimeter from where they should stand and still completely visible.

As for the case... well... 1:1 and the finish is incredible. Next to a lughole there's one small dent from installing the rubber band probably with an iron tool that left the dent there... but it's hardly visible.

The dial... the print on the dial... the markers... all incredible! The lume is superlume, but it's only a very thin layer and this explains that it glows only for a short while and not really strong. When i looked at the lume with the magnifier i could see it's a thin layer... when i'm ready to take it of my wrist for a week or two i'll sent it to someone who can lume it.

lume02.jpg

The inner bezel turn good by turning the crown/pusher at the 4 position. Adjusting the time and date works fine as well. I was worried about the inner bezel actually but as it appears it's good. Haven't counted the number of clicks but i guess it's 1:1 as well.

The rubber strap is the first rubber strap on a rep i had that feels like a real one. Most rep rubber straps feel way to soft, but i don't have the new 'ultimate panerai' rubber strap so i can't say anything about that. The clasp is also really nice and different from the 'normal' clasp that comes with the other new IWC reps. So they didn't save money on using that same clasp... no they made this one specially for the Cousteau Divers!!

CD04.jpg

CD09.jpg

CD10.jpg

Well... i don't know if the watch is waterproof. Angus told me he checked one randomly and it was waterproof to 10 atm (=100m), so it's possible mine is waterproof as well but i'll have that checked before i jump in the water with it.

The crown screws on several full turns, so that feels safe :)

The engraving on the caseback is really nice as is the piece of wood with the boat. All this details would blow my mind when seeing the real deal... i guess you can imagine that this one blows my mind in at least the same amount! I am completely astonished by what the Chinese watchmakers and manufacterers are doing these days. One model after another... OK the quality control of the factories is crappy, but this alone is the best reason to buy your watch from a dealer that does his QC himself :)

CD13.jpg

CD15.jpg

and finally a wristshot :)

CD20.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wijze woorden Frank, ga volgende week naar Griekenland.

De ICW JC had mooi bij het zwembad gepast :thumbsupsmileyanim::thumbsupsmileyanim:

Maar goed, is er na de vakantie ook wat leuks :victory:

(best wel aso zo NL praten op een engels forum, maar ik ben te moe om engels te tikken)

Weltrusten :bicycle:

Patience... a quality control is more important than speed or a few $$ less :D
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wijze woorden Frank, ga volgende week naar Griekenland.

De ICW JC had mooi bij het zwembad gepast :thumbsupsmileyanim::thumbsupsmileyanim:

Maar goed, is er na de vakantie ook wat leuks :victory:

(best wel aso zo NL praten op een engels forum, maar ik ben te moe om engels te tikken)

Weltrusten :bicycle:

About a quarter to three.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Great review, i want to order one from Agnus..........but they are out of stock for 1 week :thumbdown:

Email Joshua, I ordered one from him last week, Thurs. It should be here tomorrow (US of A). A Chanel J12 and VC came in today, ordered at the same time.

Edited by HikeUSA
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Looks great but the 3 o'clock marker is crooked...

For 200 bucks.......great but for this price they should be straight....no more junk....date wheel is bad enough.

Then again if I saw the work conditions and knew what they paid the poor guys that assemble these I would probably never buy another replica again.

Email Joshua, I ordered one from him last week, Thurs. It should be here tomorrow (US of A). A Chanel J12 and VC came in today, ordered at the same time.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Patience... a quality control is more important than speed or a few $$ less :D

Yes - as I put in another post - the one I got from Angus has what looks like blue paint from the dial smeared across the inside of the crystal! I don't imagine it is blue paint but it sure looks like it!! Apart from that I agree with everything Yello says - it is a superb watch but after all the effort that has been put in it's a bit annoying to have such poor QC.

Not to worry though - I'll be getting it serviced/cleaned - but as Yello says - I don't think I can take it off for another couple of weeks at least!

Hilts :play_ball:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

strap size... short part is from the side of the watch to the end of the buckle 3.4 inch and 3.5 inch to the last hole... watch diameter on the underside is around 1.7 inch, so totall 9 inch or so from the end of the buckle to the last hole... in my opinion the strap is quite long!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

strap size... short part is from the side of the watch to the end of the buckle 3.4 inch and 3.5 inch to the last hole... watch diameter on the underside is around 1.7 inch, so totall 9 inch or so from the end of the buckle to the last hole... in my opinion the strap is quite long!

Frank,

Did you already tested the waterproofness?

greetings,

MonkeyXP

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I wonder too about waterproofness. If they keep doing super reps, why is it that they can't comply with the waterproof issues?

I'd love to have all my reps (specially if the gens were design to be used inside the water) to be with them INSIDE the water. I'm not asking for scuba standards, but at least to have a great swim.

Cheers!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am going to pile in on YM's review as I got mine a few days ago. It is an incredible rep of a $7,000 watch. The minute I got it I marched into Tourneau and compared it with gen IWC's including standard Aquatimer and the new ti Cousteau ,. This one is incredibly close and the weight and feel is excellent. I have to second YM's comment that it is far and away the best rubber strap I have ever seen on a rep. Frankly it is better than my gen PAM, and Breitling Rubber straps. The concern on the line-up on the numbers on the inner bezel relative to the dots is unfounded. The inner mechanism is exactly comparable as the one on the new gen Ti Cousteau. The caseback although not perfect is damn good. The new 7750 movement has been running for sseveral days now is keeping COSC time. And by the way within 3 days my day date wheels appeared to have settled in to reasonably good alignment. Anyone who doesn't think this is a great rep just doesn't get it. For $400, if you like IWC's, there is no other rep I would buy which is currently out.

In my case, it is a long term keeper so I will swap out the movement, have Ziggy re-lume and swap the day date wheels for standard ETA (very close to standard IWC date font). I will be into it for approximately $700 and for 10% of the cost of the gen I will have a fabulous rep. In fairness, I did not have any QC issues so I can't comment on that. Thanks again to Angus.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes he will relume it. I presume you are asking because of the lume on the inner rotating bezel. I showed him a picture and he seemed to think it is possible. Anyone who can perfectly lume a gen conquistador dial can certainly do this one. ;) But I will not know for sure until he sees it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes he will relume it. I presume you are asking because of the lume on the inner rotating bezel. I showed him a picture and he seemed to think it is possible. Anyone who can perfectly lume a gen conquistador dial can certainly do this one. ;) But I will not know for sure until he sees it.

this is good news.....the reason i asked is it would seems like it is going to take a lot of lume to do it.....but when it's done, wow :Jumpy:

253596-6903.jpg

i think this is a mandatory mod for this watch

deltatahoe

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm waiting mine...but this makes me fell confortable with what I'm expecting to received.

Great reveiw!!

Tomorrow I will recived for my birthday the Chopard Gran Turismo XL (7750) from King...lets see how it goes...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...
Please Sign In or Sign Up