Franck Muller Hands

[alt.watch.obsessive]

So like many of you I have a FM rep with a genuine dial and good crown, but I've always beed "worried" about the hands. The hands on mine are the good rep hands, but they still flash a very bright and reflective blue, unlike other genuine blued steel hands I've seen (other than an Invicta I saw at Costco...not a good sign). So I went to an AD in Vancouver over the weekend expressly to check the hands on the gen (I find it helps to know what you need to check in advance and pictures lie about this kind of thing). Very nice little watch district they have there, ironically about three blocks from the area with all the homeless shelters. This AD was one where you had to ring the doorbell to get in...very cool. After I took off my master compressor geographic and set it on the counter the salesperson and I were fast friends, so I tried on everything. Stainless casablanca, gold master banker for 30 grand (choke) which was very big and HEAVY.

Anyhow, my conclusion...the rep hands are surprisingly good. The gen hands are very blue, and highly reflective, only appearing black when viewed from a few certain angles. So this is one watch where you want the Viagara blue flash from the hands. Score one for the rep manufacturers, as long as you can replace the dial without knocking the paint off the hands.

[HauteHippie]

So like many of you I have a FM rep with a genuine dial and good crown, but I've always beed "worried" about the hands. The hands on mine are the good rep hands, but they still flash a very bright and reflective blue, unlike other genuine blued steel hands I've seen (other than an Invicta I saw at Costco...not a good sign). So I went to an AD in Vancouver over the weekend expressly to check the hands on the gen (I find it helps to know what you need to check in advance and pictures lie about this kind of thing). Very nice little watch district they have there, ironically about three blocks from the area with all the homeless shelters. This AD was one where you had to ring the doorbell to get in...very cool. After I took off my master compressor geographic and set it on the counter the salesperson and I were fast friends, so I tried on everything. Stainless casablanca, gold master banker for 30 grand (choke) which was very big and HEAVY.

Anyhow, my conclusion...the rep hands are surprisingly good. The gen hands are very blue, and highly reflective, only appearing black when viewed from a few certain angles. So this is one watch where you want the Viagara blue flash from the hands. Score one for the rep manufacturers, as long as you can replace the dial without knocking the paint off the hands.

FYI, my hands were painted by The Zigmeister. The paint was provided by our resident FM guru and is a nearly perfect match to OEM FM hands.... a noticeable improvement over the rep blue (which, I agree, isn't as bad as some might think).

Now, as far as the good crown goes, if you have any sources to share I'm all ears. I actually don't know if mine is good or bad as is, either.

[alt.watch.obsessive]

Yea, the Casablanca I saw looked like it had been there awhile. I'm under the impression the FM crown has become more (for lack of a better word) Rolex like over time and this looked like the old one so I couldn't compare. I could be COMPLETELY wrong about this. At any rate, I was on a mission to look at hands, not crowns

[HauteHippie]

I seem to remember from back in the day conventional wisdom surrounding the 2892 Conquistador was that the dial was very good and the hands (in blue) were very bad. Well, having just completed the project, I'd say the opposite is true. The rep silver dial is a very poor replication of the gen. It is far more shiney, the starburst is far more prominent, the FRANCK MULLER GENEVE CONQUISTADOR and SWISS MADE printing is much too dull, and the hour markers are not shaped right. The blue hands were a little brighter blue than the gen, but not too bad. The hands mod is much more of a minor upgrade than the gen dial swap.... and if I'm being 100% honest I actually prefer the look of the rep silver dial to the gen silver dial. But what are you going to do?

[Guest avitt]

.... and if I'm being 100% honest I actually prefer the look of the rep silver dial to the gen silver dial. But what are you going to do?

Exactly my thoughts...I've looked at, and passed on several gen dials over the past year or so. To me, none of them look as good as the rep dial. And the hands are simply not worth messing with.

When I look at this rep, I just think "Brilliant!". It's one rep that I don't feel compelled to modify in any way (except reconditioning the bracelet, to give it that "smooth as silk" feel).