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Aquaracer Day-Date Arrives!


docblackrock

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Is white dial fantasy? Thought gens were silver
Nope the white dial does indeed exist as a gen. Confusion stems from the previous model date-only 41mm 'Racer, which came in black, blue and silver dial versions. The silver dial was a poor seller probably due to bad legibility (see pic) so when they upgraded the model to the 45mm DayDate, they obviously changed that variant to a white dial.

Gen 'old' Aquaracer Silver Dial

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Gen 'new' Aquaracer White Dial

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Thanks for the photo Slai :tu:

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I'm really enjoying this watch right now...my first white-dial watch! I think it's a keeper so it's time to make an appt with the one they call The Zigmeister for the lovin only he can provide. :lol:

Anyone have any thoughts on how to fix the bezel that turns both ways for now?

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I'm really enjoying this watch right now...my first white-dial watch! I think it's a keeper so it's time to make an appt with the one they call The Zigmeister for the lovin only he can provide. :lol:

Anyone have any thoughts on how to fix the bezel that turns both ways for now?

Duct tape.

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  • 10 months later...

good watch,I like the black one.Thank you.

Well, it seems Mr Postie had a little surprise package for me today :Jumpy:

So thought I'd share my initial thoughts as well as some quick 'n' dirty photos, hope you enjoy...

Dealer

Big kudos to the delightful and reliable Ms King - her English may not be perfect, but it's always a pleasure dealing with her :tu:

Background

As some of you know, Tonton and I petitioned for this rep during the Great Polls of Christmas 2006, but were humiliatingly torn apart by Pugs and his IWC-olytes. :black_eye: I must admit then, that the fact that the 'Racer has made it into production before the long-awaited standard Aquatimer gives me some tiny glint of pleasure, but hey I'm petty like that ^_^

Onto the watch then, I actually had the gen on approval at the beginning of the year, and I was keen to see just how 1:1 this rep was. I initially ordered the black dial on bracelet together with an extra rubber strap. Also have a blue dial on it's way, the plan being to gift one to my brother.

So first impressions.....this is as expected a stunning piece, from memory it has the same heft as the gen, as welll as the same overall quality of finish.

Dial - clean crisp, concentric rings in dial and subdials are pretty much perfect. New silver decal logo is also spot on. Calendar window is also nicely silvered. 9/10

Case and Bezel - superb finish to case, pushers feel solid, crown screws in with same resistance and smoothness as anyone with a gen Rolex crown/tube would recognise....very nice indeed. Bezel has the correct 120 clicks, nice and tight. Inner bezel aligned perfectly, no movement with outer bezel. 9/10

Caseback - ok a little rough in terms of finish as usual nothing a bit of elbow grease can't sort out. Diver's helmet engraving is nice although not quite as defined/deep as the gen. Maybe 90% there. The surrounding engraving is more of an issue - not as defined as gen even if despite somep peoples' fears it still is engraved NOT etched. It is also inked, which will be easily removed (a la MBW/WM vintage Rollie casebacks) to give a more accurate look. One welcome addition to the prototype pics is the inclusion of model and serial etchings in the correct place. I recall someone pointed this out as a major flaw based on the model pics. Well that person(s) can now sleep at night (assuming they're correct numbers of course, I just can't be bothered to check :rolleyes:)

Calendar wheel alignment - finally, the fly in the ointment, the spoke in the wheel, the strychnine in the soup, etc. Yes, about as misaligned as it possible to be. A big big tell. Fortunately, an easy solution - gen ETA day/datewheels :whistling: and a copy of Pugs' excellent DIY guide to swapping 7750 wheels....voila, hopefully a good fix :thumbsupsmileyanim: 2/10 rising to 10/10 with fix.

Note: I have it on good authority that TH plan to change the datewheel colour on all new black dial models inc the 'Racer from next year, so the black DWs will come in handy ;)

Bracelet/Strap - as good as the UPO bracelet, says it all really. Almost indistinguishable from the gen. The old Date-only 'Racer not only had a weedy 41mm case but had a bracelet that rivalled Rolex in the cheap and nasty stakes. When they thought to modify the gorgeous Aquagraph case for the new Aquaracer, they also (thank God) used the 'Graph's bracelet - much more substantial and silky with a much-improved clasp. The rep bracelet does not disappoint far from it. Clasp looks and feels good, and the polished midlinks give the watch a nice almost-dressy feel - very much an allrounder or hybrid watch. 9/10

Rubber strap I've not actually received yet but from pics it looks very good, no lug gap issues that some people had with the post-production PO rubber strap. Still I've included pics of the gen strap to give you an idea of how it looks on the wrist.

Crystal - the big AR question, does it or doesn't it? Well I'm happy to say the crystal is as the gen crystal. It DOES have AR - almost clear with a faint blue reflection. By no means a light sucker (neither is the gen) but the dial is clearly visible at certain angles, no mirroring or other nasties. Doesn't perform too well under fluorescent lights though it must be said. This ain't no gen PO. Logic states it must be single-sided meaning inner coating but interestingly it does seem to give a positive fingerprint test. Hmmm :g: . So to clarify again, this is not AR as some people seem to think AR should be - bright blue/purple reflection like with some of the 'super' Breit or HBB reps or older-generation Pams - that is simply not accurate for a Tag, so there's no flaw here to speak of. Good news. 9/10

Movt - the Achilles heel of course, being it's a Asian 7750 - we've all been here before many times gentleman, luck of the draw in which your odds are improved if you stay away from the chrono function. That said, this is a watch that is ripe for a movement swapout with a Valj.7750 - I have been offered one at a very competitive price, not sure whether it will end up in this piece or not though. 5/10.

So all in for approximately one-tenth of the RRP on the gen, you'd be mad not to indulge a bit of Tag love.

"Stop blathering on man, and just show us the bloody pics!" I can hear you all muttering, so without further ado....

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