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New AP ROO Franken for less than 2k?
- Thread starter MrBeasy
- Start date
nice builds have always liked the Bee and the volcano and would of considered the gens but them rubber pushers kill it.
That’s a lot of money though for what is essentially a rep. Shit, I can’t talk I just done it on a Daytona who am I kidding lol however personally I couldn’t do it for an AP.
I like Rolex, a good brand but AP, different league.
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That’s a lot of money though for what is essentially a rep. Shit, I can’t talk I just done it on a Daytona who am I kidding lol however personally I couldn’t do it for an AP.
I like Rolex, a good brand but AP, different league.
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Jurgenk
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The Franken is still a nice proposition for me so long as you can contain costs, get sufficient gen parts to minimize the tells, and get a modder who knows how to put it together so it’s reasonably bulletproof and feels solid. Here’s the ways in which going Franken still makes sense if you like the ROO but can’t live with the stock JF/Noob rep.
1. Functionality — A new or well-serviced LWO283 isn’t going to seize up the way every seconds at 12 7750 will within a few years— rather it can be expected to perform as well as the $3k-$10k gen watches that use the same movement and module. I use my LWO283 based frankens as the tool watches they were meant to be, without fear of having the needles misalign. Several times a day. In my mind they only misalign if they were installed improperly from the start, and any incident just gives me an excuse to reset the hands and do some tweaking. The date rollover on an LWO283 isn’t instantaneous like the AP 2840 /3840 but it isn’t a 90 minute transition like an A7750 or even an ETA 7750/7753. It’s about a 10-15 min slight shift of DW position before MN, and with a decisive click at MN if set up properly. An LWO is not a budget watch movement, but it’s not haute horology. Having said that there are some really nice watches that use an ETA2892, and I’ll just leave it here that AP deigns to use the DD2000 series in the offshore, so there’s that.
2. Look - case finishing is absolutely critical, and some modders are more attentive to some of the details mentioned above. While the JF out of the box finishing is nice, the proportions and thickness are kind of a cartoon of what the ROO should be. Case thinning affords not only the opportunity to restore some of the proportions that make such sweet sense on the gen, but also to adjust some details in finishing. There is a learning curve and earlier frankens may not be as nice in terms of mid-case finishing on the back of the watch, or the transitions to the lugs or the case edges. More recent builds can look amazing though, and I can attest after handling several gens that visually these builds get scary close if done right. The caseback and especially the way the sides are finished and mate with the midcase is a major area of contention for me, and I have started other threads to propose a solution. Currently I’ve felt that a Noob G or H series caseback thinned to about 1.6 mm and with grooves made to meet the rubber seal and aligned with a JF mid case would have the ideal look, and the improvement is even evident on the wrist. Again a good modder can take a mint, well finished JF case and refinish to a degree that rivals gen case finishing. Even if every screw hole and pusher recess is not precisely 1:1 with the gen case construction, they are very close. The other areas of contention are the handstack, date window, cyclops mag and the tachy bezel gap. Mikey has a v2 date cutout with more gen proportions, certain Prof cyclops versions are dead on, the right thickness of sapphire crystal are helpful, as are gen hands. As far as tachy bezel spacing the best modders have refined this to a science, and even if the dial and movement are out of alignment in the slightest (dial/movement not well centered within case or not flat with respect to front - back) then you will have visual and functional issues. Placed correctly, the crown and stem alignment should be dead on and all tachy indicators should be centered.
3. Feel - this is the hardest to judge IMO, highly subjective and experiential. If your franken build works solidly for years until needing a routine movement service you’re going to feel like you have a high quality timepiece. If you get a new gen AP ROO and you start having timekeeping issues you’re going to feel shaky about what’s inside even though it’s all to AP specifications and manufacture. If the case was carefully refinished and modded with Swiss-like attention to detail it will feel like an expensive watch...
1. Functionality — A new or well-serviced LWO283 isn’t going to seize up the way every seconds at 12 7750 will within a few years— rather it can be expected to perform as well as the $3k-$10k gen watches that use the same movement and module. I use my LWO283 based frankens as the tool watches they were meant to be, without fear of having the needles misalign. Several times a day. In my mind they only misalign if they were installed improperly from the start, and any incident just gives me an excuse to reset the hands and do some tweaking. The date rollover on an LWO283 isn’t instantaneous like the AP 2840 /3840 but it isn’t a 90 minute transition like an A7750 or even an ETA 7750/7753. It’s about a 10-15 min slight shift of DW position before MN, and with a decisive click at MN if set up properly. An LWO is not a budget watch movement, but it’s not haute horology. Having said that there are some really nice watches that use an ETA2892, and I’ll just leave it here that AP deigns to use the DD2000 series in the offshore, so there’s that.
2. Look - case finishing is absolutely critical, and some modders are more attentive to some of the details mentioned above. While the JF out of the box finishing is nice, the proportions and thickness are kind of a cartoon of what the ROO should be. Case thinning affords not only the opportunity to restore some of the proportions that make such sweet sense on the gen, but also to adjust some details in finishing. There is a learning curve and earlier frankens may not be as nice in terms of mid-case finishing on the back of the watch, or the transitions to the lugs or the case edges. More recent builds can look amazing though, and I can attest after handling several gens that visually these builds get scary close if done right. The caseback and especially the way the sides are finished and mate with the midcase is a major area of contention for me, and I have started other threads to propose a solution. Currently I’ve felt that a Noob G or H series caseback thinned to about 1.6 mm and with grooves made to meet the rubber seal and aligned with a JF mid case would have the ideal look, and the improvement is even evident on the wrist. Again a good modder can take a mint, well finished JF case and refinish to a degree that rivals gen case finishing. Even if every screw hole and pusher recess is not precisely 1:1 with the gen case construction, they are very close. The other areas of contention are the handstack, date window, cyclops mag and the tachy bezel gap. Mikey has a v2 date cutout with more gen proportions, certain Prof cyclops versions are dead on, the right thickness of sapphire crystal are helpful, as are gen hands. As far as tachy bezel spacing the best modders have refined this to a science, and even if the dial and movement are out of alignment in the slightest (dial/movement not well centered within case or not flat with respect to front - back) then you will have visual and functional issues. Placed correctly, the crown and stem alignment should be dead on and all tachy indicators should be centered.
3. Feel - this is the hardest to judge IMO, highly subjective and experiential. If your franken build works solidly for years until needing a routine movement service you’re going to feel like you have a high quality timepiece. If you get a new gen AP ROO and you start having timekeeping issues you’re going to feel shaky about what’s inside even though it’s all to AP specifications and manufacture. If the case was carefully refinished and modded with Swiss-like attention to detail it will feel like an expensive watch...
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