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Mini review: Ebel 1911 - Back To Roots


z3k0

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I'm in love with this watch for a long time, first I saw pictures of gen when @flavor posted about purchasing a gen, and then I checked it out in person many times at various ADs. So, for a long time I was waiting for super-rep to happen. And then, without warning, it appeared, and despite noticing all flaws, I knew I got to have it.

Now that I have it, it quickly became one of my favorites, it really has something specific, even w/o correct subdial spacing. As for subdial spacing, it just can't be done with 7750, since all subdials have different positions. Increasing 3 and 6 subdials, like someone suggested so to get gen-like overlaping of 9 and 6 o'clock dials, would not leave space for 3 and 6 hour markers, so that would be again ugly solution.

One thing I really wish they have done is to do custom movement rotor, since gen has really spectacular rotor - and movement of course - but when you see rotor it really grabs attention. And since on new, crappy 150$ worth IWC Portugese auto they made really complicated rotor design, it is really beyond me why not do it on $350+ super rep :bangin:

As for quality it is definitely there, case is very well replicated, bezel is made of quality rubber, no dust. Shape of the case, and that is one of the things I adore about this watch, is perfectly replicated, feel and finish are very close to gen.

Another possibly weak point is strap - it's wearable and looks quite decent for a rep strap, but I'm very concerned how it will look after few months of wearing, it definitely is not even close to real leather. Since it's custom design it will be very hard to find aftermarket replacement. On a positive side, deployant is very well made, and it has a nice way of "hiding" end of strap, without keepers, check it out on a picture below.

OK, enough talk, lets do some pics. I was kind of lazy when taking those, and did it with quite harsh lighting, w/o deploying lightbox ;) so maybe it's not best possible. Maybe this weekend I'l do some better pics with proper lightning. Here we go:

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For anyone still not knowing how dial should look like, this is gen:

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AR on this one is strong, but with strong blue-ish hue. Now days I got used to industrial quality AR coating we can get from k2222 and chief, so this does not impress me any more like it would few months ago.

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Back of the watch is also very nicely made, with great attention to detail - except for the rotor, of course:

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And, this is how rotor SHOULD look like (picture by @flavor flav):

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On with the pictures from every possible angle :)

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This watch wears quite small on wrist (of course, compared to 44 & 47 mm PAMs, HBBs and like), and is very comfortable to wear, even for thin-wrist person like myself. Here are some side-by-side size comparison shots with PAM 229 and HBB:

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That's it for now, thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed it.

regards

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Very, very nice!

Thanks for the review.

I like this design a lot, the beautiful curves of the case and I love the treatment of the chrono pushers, this is just a really nice design where everything fits amd flows well into each other. To me the HBB looks like it was put together with left over parts.

I'd love one on steel bracelet, I wonder what the quality of it is.

Wear it well.

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Thanks for this excellent pictorial. I always wanted a BTR, and most likely I'm going to get one now when it's repped.

Yeah, too bad about the rotor, but such is life. I really like the looks of this watch (even with the flaws)... and I'm probably getting the yellow hands w/ bracelet version.

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  • 1 year later...

Those are beautifully photographed. I always appreciate when someone goes to the trouble of getting the pictures right.

I've got the 1911 Discovery Panda and with 7.5" wrists, it's a pretty snug fit, but I really like the watch.

Wear it in good health.

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