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JF 15400 v3

MrOptional

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8/10/18
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Got a question. I should probably know the answer to this... but just curious about people opinions.

This guy I know has a 15400 Gen. SS/black dial. He is pretty good with watches, but he is not familiar with the rep world. If we sit across the table from each other, or stand next to each other, if he sees my watch, would he be able to say that it's rep? I have 15400 JF v3 SS/black dial (so like his), flawless, but no mods.

My guess is that he won't be able to call me out unless we really put watches side by side, but I am not sure. Wondering if its better not to wear that watch in his company :) Any thoughts from experienced members here?
 
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legend

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Got a question. I should probably know the answer to this... but just curious about people opinions.

This guy I know has a 15400 Gen. SS/black dial. He is pretty good with watches, but he is not familiar with the rep world. If we sit across the table from each other, or stand next to each other, if he sees my watch, would he be able to say that it's rep? I have 15400 JF v3 SS/black dial (so like his), flawless, but no mods.

My guess is that he won't be able to call me out unless we really put watches side by side, but I am not sure. Wondering if its better not to wear that watch in his company :) Any thoughts from experienced members here?

I hang out with both gen and rep owners, and in my personal experience, it is the rep owners who are often more anal/picky/obsessed with details. This makes sense too. The gen owner has no reason to study his watch details or compare it with the details on reps, but the rep owner very likely have done, or will do so.
Unless your friend is a rep or franken owner turned gen owner, he will be very unlikely to call out your watch as a rep. Even if he suspects so, you can always fall back upon the magic of "variances" which do exist for gen models.
Of course, I will advise you against initiating a side by side comparison. If and when that happens, many details like dial tapisseries definition and printing, as well as the finish of the hands and markers could give the game away. One tell of the 15400 which is not often mentioned in the forums is the flexibility of the bracelet. In the gen, the bracelet is a lot more pliable, and in the rep, a lot more stiff. The rep 15400,, by default, can stand firmly when the clasp is fastened and the watch put dial up on a surface. The bracelet will form a circular/oval shape.
In the gen, this will not be possible, as the bracelet is a lot more pliable. The gen 15400, under the same condition, will collapse a lot more than the rep, with the case a lot closer to the surface it is resting upon. This tell can be fixed, but it takes quite a bit of work.
 

C Master

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TQaK6.jpg

TQtGq.jpg
 

grandphuba

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I hang out with both gen and rep owners, and in my personal experience, it is the rep owners who are often more anal/picky/obsessed with details. This makes sense too. The gen owner has no reason to study his watch details or compare it with the details on reps, but the rep owner very likely have done, or will do so.
Unless your friend is a rep or franken owner turned gen owner, he will be very unlikely to call out your watch as a rep. Even if he suspects so, you can always fall back upon the magic of "variances" which do exist for gen models.
Of course, I will advise you against initiating a side by side comparison. If and when that happens, many details like dial tapisseries definition and printing, as well as the finish of the hands and markers could give the game away. One tell of the 15400 which is not often mentioned in the forums is the flexibility of the bracelet. In the gen, the bracelet is a lot more pliable, and in the rep, a lot more stiff. The rep 15400,, by default, can stand firmly when the clasp is fastened and the watch put dial up on a surface. The bracelet will form a circular/oval shape.
In the gen, this will not be possible, as the bracelet is a lot more pliable. The gen 15400, under the same condition, will collapse a lot more than the rep, with the case a lot closer to the surface it is resting upon. This tell can be fixed, but it takes quite a bit of work.



Interesting, what causes this? Is it due to the watch bracelet being too tight or maybe of the wrong dimensions? What's needed to "fix" this?
 

GadoDayek157

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I hang out with both gen and rep owners, and in my personal experience, it is the rep owners who are often more anal/picky/obsessed with details. This makes sense too. The gen owner has no reason to study his watch details or compare it with the details on reps, but the rep owner very likely have done, or will do so.
Unless your friend is a rep or franken owner turned gen owner, he will be very unlikely to call out your watch as a rep. Even if he suspects so, you can always fall back upon the magic of "variances" which do exist for gen models.
Of course, I will advise you against initiating a side by side comparison. If and when that happens, many details like dial tapisseries definition and printing, as well as the finish of the hands and markers could give the game away. One tell of the 15400 which is not often mentioned in the forums is the flexibility of the bracelet. In the gen, the bracelet is a lot more pliable, and in the rep, a lot more stiff. The rep 15400,, by default, can stand firmly when the clasp is fastened and the watch put dial up on a surface. The bracelet will form a circular/oval shape.
In the gen, this will not be possible, as the bracelet is a lot more pliable. The gen 15400, under the same condition, will collapse a lot more than the rep, with the case a lot closer to the surface it is resting upon. This tell can be fixed, but it takes quite a bit of work.

I agree, only rep owners are so nitpicking, gen owners usually don’t really care much or have no knowledge about reps
 

Tigerdragon

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one thing what is also not mentioned often the first link of the bracelet (which is attached to the body) are often to small compared to the gen one. Because the gen one is thicker and the body is slimmer you can easy see it if you know that flaw.
 
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Tader

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The OG tourbillons (TF?) had a strap that falls like gen. I always found it slightly annoying, haha.
 
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MrOptional

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legend
Thanks, your response is exactly what I was looking for! P.S. I knew about the tapisseries but never really seen gen next to rep in real life. But I never knew about the bracelet! This is interesting.

yllekp
thanks for the pics.

Tigerdragon
:) I doubt gen owner will know that :) most of people on this forum don't!

thanks guys, and happy new year!
 

rayz20

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I wore my SD43K ARF V2 some months ago to a car dealer and he had a older Gen Sub blue dial with the gold mid links. and he told me that he likes my SD too and wanted to buy one aswell etc etc..
 

MrOptional

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Guys what are your thoughts. I got 15400 JF v3. Time graph results by TD showed +1 second per day, full results below. However, about a week later the watch is running about 30 seconds behind each day. Meaning in 2 days it's about a minute behind.

How is it possible? Are time graph results not always accurate? Or is this indicative of a movement that is going bad?

 

legend

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Guys what are your thoughts. I got 15400 JF v3. Time graph results by TD showed +1 second per day, full results below. However, about a week later the watch is running about 30 seconds behind each day. Meaning in 2 days it's about a minute behind.

How is it possible? Are time graph results not always accurate? Or is this indicative of a movement that is going bad?


You need to learn a thing or two about timegraphers.

1. There are different grades of timegraphers, like there are different grades of watches. They do not have a uniform precision. I will not take the TD timegrapher shots too seriously, and take it with a large pinch of salt.

2. Timegrapher readings are different for encased movements, open case movements and stand alone movements. Combined with point 1, your timegrapher reading could vary a lot from the TD one depending on the states of the watch when the readings were taken.

3. Rough shipping can affect the calibration of the movement parts, and thereby, the timegrapher readings taken before and after the shipment.

4. Remember that a timegrapher is a snapshot of the movement health/performance over a brief period. For rep movements, and especially low grade ones like the miyota, I will recommend you get it cleaned and serviced at least, before the accuracy of the movement can even be measured reliably.
 

MrOptional

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legend A, as always, you are very informative! Thanks - I didn't / don't know much about how time graph work, so thanks for the info.

I am thinking I will wait a bit to see how the watch will behave over the next few weeks, and then will decide whether I need to spend about $100 to get the watch serviced.

Do you know if I can get it serviced at my regular watch smith (guy used to work for Cartier service department in NY before they moved they operations to Florida). Or should I reach out to rep friendly watch smith here in NYC who I never worked with before, but got his name on this forum (name is Mike).
 

legend

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legend A, as always, you are very informative! Thanks - I didn't / don't know much about how time graph work, so thanks for the info.

I am thinking I will wait a bit to see how the watch will behave over the next few weeks, and then will decide whether I need to spend about $100 to get the watch serviced.

Do you know if I can get it serviced at my regular watch smith (guy used to work for Cartier service department in NY before they moved they operations to Florida). Or should I reach out to rep friendly watch smith here in NYC who I never worked with before, but got his name on this forum (name is Mike).

whichever watchsmith you are comfortable with will be fine, a Miyota movement is simple to work on.
If your regular watchsmith is rep friendly, and willing to work on your watch, why not?
Take note that a lot of reps are not assembled with precision, and your regular watchsmith may not have the patience or experience to deal with abberant situations like movement parts coming loose during disassembly etc and may blame the fact that is it is a rep. lol.
 

MrOptional

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legend

So my new 15400 v3 is running about a minute late per day now and doesn’t keep charge for more than two hours. This should be fixed with a regular service correct? Based on my research, yes, but thought I’d ask you first.

Goig to go try my watchsmith tomorrow. I don’t think he worked on reps before but I’m not sure. He definitely works on higher end watches like Cartier but also on cheaper watches of all brands. Hope he can take care of it.

Are there any special instruction you think I should share with him?

sorry I’ve been asking too many questions lately lol.

Hope one one day I can learn a lot and share my knowledge w others;)
 

legend

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legend

So my new 15400 v3 is running about a minute late per day now and doesn’t keep charge for more than two hours. This should be fixed with a regular service correct? Based on my research, yes, but thought I’d ask you first.

Goig to go try my watchsmith tomorrow. I don’t think he worked on reps before but I’m not sure. He definitely works on higher end watches like Cartier but also on cheaper watches of all brands. Hope he can take care of it.

Are there any special instruction you think I should share with him?

sorry I’ve been asking too many questions lately lol.

Hope one one day I can learn a lot and share my knowledge w others;)

Yes your movement definitely needs a service. You just need to tell your watchsmith that:

1. It is a replica.
2. The movement is a miyota 9015
3. It is running more than a minute slow per day.
4. If you want, you can also tell him to oil the rotor bearing assembly to make it quieter and autowind a little smoother.

Your watchsmith should only be concerned that it has a Miyota movement and that is a basic movement to work on, much like the ETA2824.
 
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QueTip

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Yes your movement definitely needs a service. You just need to tell your watchsmith that:

1. It is a replica.
2. The movement is a miyota 9015
3. It is running more than a minute slow per day.
4. If you want, you can also tell him to oil the rotor bearing assembly to make it quieter and autowind a little smoother.

Your watchsmith should only be concerned that it has a Miyota movement and that is a basic movement to work on, much like the ETA2824.

Savior of the day.