Hi Legend,
I perfectly agree with you that an eta will never be as refined as the ap or the jaeger-lecoultre based movement ( based only on assumption off course, i've never had the change to fiddle around with a gen ap movement before ) , but can you be more specific on the other things that bother you so much in a franken ? Don't get me wrong please, just curios to see and learn of course .
Cause you called the franken above to be leagus away from the real piece and that really made me curious.
I don't have a lot of knowlage on the ap roo builds but i'm assuming most of the things that bother you are related to the case. Like finishing and shape, right ?
Having a lot more experience with rolex builds on the other hand, i could argue the same for those.
I mean regardless of how many gen parts you throw on a sub rep for example, there will still be a lot of things wrong with it .
Like the lugs shape, sel shape and fit, bracelet finish and feel, clasp look and feel etc.
But having both gen and the rep (case and bracelet ) side by side i was able, in many cases, to end up with a pretty close build to the real deal both in look and feel.
So what i'm saying is that most of the issues realted with the prestige and finesse if you will ( like very small tolerances, subtle beveled edges on the clasp and bracelet for .ex) , that set the gen apart from any reps or frankens can be overcome thorough hard work and study.
Now on a ROO build, having the realatively cheap option to go for a gen strap and clasp (and considering you go gen for the hands, dial, tachy and cyclops maybe) the only thing left to worry about is the case. And how hard can getting the case right be ? Am i right ?
Again, just making assumptions here, but i recon that with a little fine tuning you can get pretty close to the real deal.
I'm really curios to see your take on this subject. After all you do have a lot of gen roos and defently know a lot more about them than me.
I've noticed that most modified cases still have issues left unsolved, like the beveled edges on the back near the crown, or the missaligned border between lugs and back, or the caseback shape even after modding ( which would be pretty hard to address ) , but i still recon that those issues can be fixed as well .
Looking forward to your and other's input on this as well .
Hi Spatiumtemporis
Firstly a warm welcome to the AP section. Yes I do agree that there is a lot of vibrancy and life here as well as knowledge and good advice.
I used to own 12 AP frankens at one go, my last purchase being in 2016. I’ve sold all of them and never looked back as the frankens, no matter how well built, can never be compared with the gen ROO. I own the same number of gen APs now. Yes a franken can look close to the gen in a picture. No doubt it will even pass off as a gen on social media posts. But so will many modded reps.
But place most frankens side by side with their gen counterparts, and you will see the minor but crucial differences between the gen and the franken. For example, even with gen hands and gen dial etc, the date window plate opening is still rectangular vs the square in the gen. The cyclop can look accurate, but no aftermarket datewheel matches the gen one if you know what to look for. The gen case is also a thing of beauty, and no rep case can match it in terms of alignment of rhe dial, tachy, crown and stem/tube, pushers etc. Yes the rep case can be thinned. But turn the gen in your hand and inspect it from all angles, and do the same for a franken, and you will see and feel the difference. A watch is about an experience, and not just looks alone. It is essentially encapsulated time on your wrist and you need to enjoy every fine detail of it, from the visual beauty to the finesse of the winding and time setting, and details like the crispness of the instant date change in the gen. You can never experience this in any LWO movement, and more so if the alignment of the tube, movement, crown and case are off by just a little.
I have no arguments that a lot of frankens look somewhat accurate. But when I mentioned leagues apart, I included the experience of wearing and operating a gen AP vs doing so for it’s franken counterpart. It is like driving a Porsche and a Toyota engine in a Porsche chassis. Imagine this and you will understand the difference I was trying to express.
Even if the franken has a gen movement, a custom movement holder still has to be made to accommodate the movement in the rep case. And the alignment will never be perfect among all the components.
It will never have the perfect balance and feel which a gen has. So while a franken can look accurate, so can a parked Porsche fitted with a Toyota engine. I am certain that the drive of the car is as important as, or more important than its looks and that this “franken” Porsche will never drive like the gen one. From the outside everyone will admire the guy in the Porsche, but the driver will never get the satisfaction of the Porsche experience. I was speaking from the viewpoint of the driver. Leagues apart.
So yes the impressiveness of AP frankens stop with the forum pics. It does not even matter that nobody can call it out in real life. The wearer knows well that he can never have the satisfaction of wearing it as a true AP.
This is a very personal view though. I’m sure many are happy with frankens and even find them impressive. I personally just cannot see them as relatively low end watches with a economy engines running them. It is like the Rolex 3135 being substituted by the ETA2836 in rolex frankens. How do you feel about that?
I have nothing against frankens as novelty watches resembling their gen counterparts closely. These are not AP or Rolex or whatever brand they resemble. They are customized watches for sure though and nice to appreciate visually. But they do not possess the true spirits and souls of the brands displayed on the dials.
To each his own. We all have different benchmarks of quality but I will now rather go bare wristed than to wear an AP franken. I think it is a case of familiarity breeding contempt (for the concept of frankens and not against any franken owner or watch) especially if they are being passed off as gens.
I like the building and modding process. And I admire the dedication and creativity, as well as the hard work to source the parts and assemble them. But the end result is not something I can identify with or put on my wrist.
I have mentioned before that this is just my personal opinion. I think a well modded AP rep can look impressive and I’ve seen a lot of APs in the picture thread which are non frankens and equally impressive visually. If the franken owners start touting the superiority of the LWO movement in theirs, they must surely recognize the superiority of the gen movement over theirs in the exact same way.
So if you just want a visually acceptable rep, go with what members like
spursian TheDonSL did. Their watches are no less impressive visually.
It is all a matter of choice and resources ultimately. I choose to wear gen but that’s just me. Doesn’t make me better or worse than anyone here.
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