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ZF AP 15500

Dr Fun Socks

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Balance wheel position would still be wrong as it would be far away from the edge of the caseback

I dont think they really have much choice but to use a miyota or a custom movement. Wrong balance position never stopped them in the past although you make a good point about it being to far towards the centre. It cant be worse than the current 15500 on the market in terms of looking at it from the back!
 
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The Rod

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I dont think they really have much choice but to use a miyota or a custom movement. Wrong balance position never stopped them in the past although you make a good point about it being to far towards the centre. It cant be worse than the current 15500 on the market in terms of looking at it from the back!

We already know what a Miyota looks like in the 15500 as that's what OMF has used and it looks like crap honestly...
 
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Glaude

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Aren’t all dw’s pad printed? I can see why it would be hard to put the tiny little cutout pointy bits onto a printing pad. They must be <0.05mm thick at points. If they have managed to get the pad 100% correct, maybe the factory is using an ink with a lower viscosity than ap and it spreads out and joins up the parts that are meant to be separate?
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pad_printing

Correct, all printing in the watch industry are done with the pad printing method, as it's the only one that can achieve the desired thickness and precision at the same time.

The heart of the process doesn't reside in the printing, it's the making of the plate that is the hardest and will determine the final precision. Various techniques can be used to create the pad printing plate that will be inked, most of the time the plate is chemically etched.
But I know that it's more and more common to use fiber laser (galvanometer) to engrave those plate with precision.

Googling up a bit on pad printing etching method can be very informative if anyone want to learn more about it :)

The good thing with those method is that it doesn't matter how complex the font is, as long as your etching method is precise, you can print anything you want, it's like a "photocopy" of the design
 

Dr Fun Socks

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Correct, all printing in the watch industry are done with the pad printing method, as it's the only one that can achieve the desired thickness and precision at the same time.

The heart of the process doesn't reside in the printing, it's the making of the plate that is the hardest and will determine the final precision. Various techniques can be used to create the pad printing plate that will be inked, most of the time the plate is chemically etched.
But I know that it's more and more common to use fiber laser (galvanometer) to engrave those plate with precision.

Googling up a bit on pad printing etching method can be very informative if anyone want to learn more about it :)

The good thing with those method is that it doesn't matter how complex the font is, as long as your etching method is precise, you can print anything you want, it's like a "photocopy" of the design

Spreading that scientific knowledge as usual mate :) laser etching is super precise if you have a laser with a good resolution. Im guessing ap have the best money can buy and china has gone for the budget version.
 
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Glaude

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Spreading that scientific knowledge as usual mate :) laser etching is super precise if you have a laser with a good resolution. Im guessing ap have the best money can buy and china has gone for the budget version.

Even for Chinese manufacturer, fiber laser with high resolution are something they can buy and will be able to use on various other part of the building, so I think they may already etch their plate that way.
Most of the engravings founds on case and especially bracelets & clasp are done with a fiber laser

You can buy an "amateur" one for around $3000 to do some awesome metal engraving and a bit of cutting, look for fiber laser on aliexpress or even ebay ;)
One day I'll have one ! One day ! :D
 
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Dr Fun Socks

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Even for Chinese manufacturer, fiber laser with high resolution are something they can buy and will be able to use on various other part of the building, so I think they may already etch their plate that way.
Most of the engravings founds on case and especially bracelets & clasp are done with a fiber laser

You can buy an "amateur" one for around $3000 to do some awesome metal engraving and a bit of cutting, look for fiber laser on aliexpress or even ebay ;)
One day I'll have one ! One day ! :D

Yeah they (or at least whoever prints the dw’s) probably have a decent laser. I had a laser etcher at my old work but it sucked! Holding the work is normally the hardest part. Especially when your doing a round surface like the rehaut on a rolex
 
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stufuse

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Correct, all printing in the watch industry are done with the pad printing method, as it's the only one that can achieve the desired thickness and precision at the same time.

The heart of the process doesn't reside in the printing, it's the making of the plate that is the hardest and will determine the final precision. Various techniques can be used to create the pad printing plate that will be inked, most of the time the plate is chemically etched.
But I know that it's more and more common to use fiber laser (galvanometer) to engrave those plate with precision.

Googling up a bit on pad printing etching method can be very informative if anyone want to learn more about it :)

The good thing with those method is that it doesn't matter how complex the font is, as long as your etching method is precise, you can print anything you want, it's like a "photocopy" of the design

This is why I like the forum!


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