PVD homage on the bay

[mjmurphy926]

I just bought this:

I know the brushed finish under the PVD is incorrect, but does anybody have experience with one of these and is the PVD decent?

Thanks,

Mike

[red]

Your best bet is to source a movement from the bay, and everything else from DSN. His PVD is superior to what you can find on ebay because he bead blasts his cases before the PVD treatment.

[mjmurphy926]

Your best bet is to source a movement from the bay, and everything else from DSN. His PVD is superior to what you can find on ebay because he bead blasts his cases before the PVD treatment.

Thanks Red.

I bought it mainly for the dagger swan neck movement which I'll use for a 111 project I'm putting together. But since I don't have a PVD case, I decided to go for this (I got a pretty good price) thinking that if the case sucks, so be it, at least I got the movement. I know about DSNs PVD. I'll probably buy a case from him at some point.

I was just wondering if anyone was familiar with this particular case and what the quality might be. I guess I'll find out soon enough.

[lololo33]

I have a couple of these in my parts bin.. which is kinda where they belong along with 99% of these other "rep pvd" cases. The case itself is not bad, but the shiney black finish IMO is totally unacceptable. I've tried buffing it up with cape cod cloth or sanding it down but nothing really helps.

[mjmurphy926]

I have a couple of these in my parts bin.. which is kinda where they belong along with 99% of these other "rep pvd" cases. The case itself is not bad, but the shiney black finish IMO is totally unacceptable. I've tried buffing it up with cape cod cloth or sanding it down but nothing really helps.

Thanks lolo.

That's kind of what I suspected. I basically bought it as a parts watch anyway. Just curious though, is it real PVD or is it paint or something else?

[blueradish]

Not sure about the watch details regarding PVD, but Helenarou is a solid seller. Many people on various boards speak highly of her product based on the fact that it is fairly inexpensive.

[LegendofSpeed]

i have the opposite opinion of this seller's offerings... i bought some hands and after opening the envelope at the mailbox, they went right into the trash... pitiful...

i saw one of these cases and it looks more like it was painted on than anything else... night and day with dsn's pvd...

[lololo33]

I'm pretty sure the standard rep "pvd" is painted on and as strong as thin gold plate. I have a this exact case that I completely destroyed with a caseback opener. Just took the "pvd" finish right off like it was cheap gold plate. If you want real pvd either buy a gen pam or get a dsn case. Once you see dsn's pvd finish up close you'll be astonished by the quality and strength of the coating.

[mjmurphy926]

I got it yesterday. It's not very accurate. It's too black, too shiny, the crystal is too domed, the bezel angles right into the crystal with no flat portion at the top, the CG is too thin (top to bottom), it's brushed instead of bead blasted...And I think it's cool as HELL!! I can't get myself to take it off!!

Now I really want to either buy a nice PVD case or have a SS case bead blasted and PVD'd.

The fit and finish is actually pretty good. I bought this for the dagger swan neck movement which I already pulled out. I'm using the movement for a 111 project. I replaced it in this watch with a standard asian 6497 that had a nice sandwich dial mounted. I may actually use this dial on the 111. I also added a Hirsch Liberty strap I had laying around. It's a little darker than I'd like for PVD, but it's 24/22 so I could use the PVD thumbnail buckle the watch came with. I like the look so much, I actually ordered a lighter honey Liberty strap for it.

A couple of quick shots:

[sssurfer]

A nice watch, indeed! Congrats!

On the pics I would not say it's painted. To me, it looks real PVD -- just not beadblasted in advance, and most likely with few Al.

[mjmurphy926]

A nice watch, indeed! Congrats!

On the pics I would not say it's painted. To me, it looks real PVD -- just not beadblasted in advance, and most likely with few Al.

SSS, I think you are correct, but what's Al? Is that something that has to do with the PVD process?

[sssurfer]

SSS, I think you are correct, but what's Al? Is that something that has to do with the PVD process?

Oops, apologies. "Al" stands for Aluminium here.

And -- double apologies -- I see I wrote "few" Al while I wanted to write either "much" Al or "few" Ti (Titanium).

Aluminium (Al), Titanium (Ti), and Nytrogen (N) are the elements used in our watch PVD.

The more Al over Ti, the darker the PVD tone -- and the softer the PVD coat, IMHO (but not very softer).

When there is much Al you will hear of AlTiN, otherwise TiAlN.

Al being less expensive than Ti, inexpensive PVD reps are usually made with AlTiN. Hence, they are also pretty dark.

My poor English is of no help here. Apologies once again if I have not been clear.

[mjmurphy926]

Oops, apologies. "Al" stands for Aluminium here.

And -- double apologies -- I see I wrote "few" Al while I wanted to write either "much" Al or "few" Ti (Titanium).

Aluminium (Al), Titanium (Ti), and Nytrogen (N) are the elements used in our watch PVD.

The more Al over Ti, the darker the PVD tone (and the softer the PVD coat, IMHO -- but not very softer).

When there is much Al you will hear of AlTiN, otherwise TiAlN.

Al being less expensive than Ti, inexpensive PVD reps are usually made with AlTiN. Hence, they are also pretty dark.

Great info. Thanks. Now I'm going to Google and check out how the whole PVD process works.

Thanks again.