- 11/8/17
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Audemars Piguet is maybe the one brand that perfectly represents the history of Swiss watchmaking and is the oldest brand in activity still owned by the family of its creators.
Everything started with, once again, the association of two names to form what is commonly seen as one nowadays.
The brand begins with Audemars, Jules Louis Audemars a Swiss national, working since his early days on watchmaking thanks to his father being in the same craft. At around 23 years old, he's working as a "repasseur" in the town of Gimel, checking watches, regulating them and adjusting them before they are sent to the customer. This was considered to be a skilled work and not everyone was able to do it, you had to have serious watchmaking skills to achieve this position.
Piguet as in Edward Auguste Piguet, son and grandson of Swiss watchmakers, also born and raised in the craft by his family, was also an independent "repasseur".
In 1875, Jules Louis Audemars is working independently of his work, in an attic of an old building, near his family home in Brassus. Focusing his work on complicated movements (as in movement with complications), he quickly realise that those earning the most from his work are the company to which he sells his movement to.
Friends since school with Piguet, they decide to open their own watch company in 1881 under the name of Audemars, Piguet & Cie.
What will drive this brand to the top of the watchmaking industry will be the technicality of its movement. Seven years after the creation of the brand, they already have agents in Berlin, New York, Paris, Buenos Aires. In 1889 it's the biggest employer of the state (well, with only 10 employees ...).
As for all luxury brands, the two consecutive world wars put a serious break on this industry, not to mention the death in two years of Jules Louis Audemars and Edward Auguste Piguet (1918 & 1919).
In order to survive, they start manufacturing low cost watches under the brand Audiguet just after the end of the 1929 Wall Street Crash.
That branch is left aside at the end of the World War II.
After that, it will be nothing but success for the brand, achieving milestones each year, selling around 5000 watches in 1970 and around 35 000 in 2015 with more than 600 million Euros of revenue.
No doubt that any watch enthusiast know this brand, hate it or love it, they made some of the most iconic watches of the modern days and some that are high in demands in the show business world, not necessarily for their look but more for what they represent.
This review will be about the model that made them famous and allowed them to survive the great quartz watch crisis, the :
OMF Audemars Piguet Royal Oak 15400 in Gray
If no observation in bold then the information from the seller is either true or unverifiable. Italic bold texts are added informations about the rep.
Case: Stainless Steel 316L
Band: Stainless Steel 316L
Movement: Modified Miyota 9015
Functions: Hours, minutes, seconds, date @3
Case width: 41mm
Thickness : 10.2mm | 10.7 mm
Crystal: Sapphire Crystal (front & back)
Weight : 177.2gr(case + bracelet)
The gen |
The rep |
In 1970 Audemars Piguet is sensing that something needs to happen, otherwise they'll be eaten alive by the Quartz market of cheap and reliable watches. Not everyone can afford precious metal watches and not everyone wants to !
Times are changing and the luxury market is shifting towards sport and practicality.
At the time Gerald Genta is already a prolific designer, he has his own company and works with all the big names. He was not from the watchmaking industry (he was a painter/designer), that's perhaps why he's the father of many iconic concept in the watch world : The Westminster chime in repeater watch, it's him ; The Patek Philippe Nautilus, it's him ; Omega Constellation, him too ; IWC Ingenieur and countless other watches for private clients and big company. He's the father of more than 100 000 watches.
But the Royal Oak is his most iconic creation, this watch saved Audemars Piguet from the fall of the luxury market in 1972 and created the first stainless steel luxury watch.
But not in the way you would think, as this Steel watch was triple the price of any gold watch from Audemars Piguet at the time, the difference was that the finish and attention to detail was flawless, they had to make the steel appear like a luxury material.
Audemars Piguet is less focused on making stuff up like Patek Philippe is, and didn't have the need to do it. So the creation of this model is way more honest than the Nautilus.
The design was simply inspired by a vintage diver helmet. The tapisserie dial was an already existing finish made with a Rose Engine, modified for that purpose most of the time (see my dictionary of watch finishing for more info : Dictionary link)
The goal was also to break the code of watch design, in a time where everything had to be hidden and polished, Genta decided to show everything : the screw holding the bezel down, the gasket ensuring water tightness, the attachment of the bracelet to the case, nothing was hidden.
From the simple Royal Oak A series under the reference 5402 Jumbo to the various iterations of the 15400 15XXX, the Royal Oak is a design used and abused to the brim and we will not be going into the Royal Oak Offshore or Royal Oak Concept in this review, this would be far too big to cover.
As with any high demand watches, it's impossible to track down each and every little variation made over the years. Whether for special order by fortunate people with the good contacts or because those variations were never publicly documented.
Add that the various complicated versions produced over the year and on multiple reference and you have one of the most prolific gradients of watches from a luxury brand !
It would be long and painful to read (even more than this review will probably be for some people ... ) and wouldn't serve a good purpose as there's already a lot of documentation freely available on the subject.
My main focus in this review will be the simple Royal Oak, the same one that started the series and been transformed over the years.
So here is a quick sum up of the main versions of the Royal Oak just to be able to locate this rep in the history of the model :
- In 1972, the 5402 serie A to series D (each series had some minor improvement to the bracelet (clasp especially) or the movement and some minor changes to the dial) those series were all with a solid case back.
- During the 70s the first Royal Oak with central second was launched under the rare reference 4100, this was a reduced size of the 5402.
- Between 1980 and early 1990, the 14486 and 14700 were re-edition of the 4100, not much is known about them and they are considered to be pretty rare too.
- In 1990, the 15002, a simple reissue of the original model, with a solid case back.
- In 1992, the 14802, limited edition (1000 pieces), with a sapphire case back. Made in steel, yellow gold and platinum with various dials colours (blue, pink, ardoise, gilt, white, ivory, dark blue and Tuscany blue with diamond indexes)
- After various slight model reference change, we finally arrive to the 15202, made for the 40th anniversary of the watch and the 15400 that was launched at the same time.
If you have to remember one thing about this mumbo-jumbo of references, is that the 15202 and under were without second hands and were thinner, smaller.
Nowadays, there are two main categories of simple Royal Oaks, the "regular sized" ones and the smaller ones.
The 15400 and 15500 just released this year are the current regular sized ones (41mm) and the 15202 being the medium-sized one (39mm), the 15450 is the small size one (37mm)
I don't mention the vast array of quartz reference but do know that to this date, Audemars Piguet still produce quartz Royal Oaks in small sizes (33mm)
This review concern the rep of the 15400ST with Gray dial, this pretty beast should cost you 18 100 € if you manage to get one from AP directly and on the secondary market, they seem to go for around the same price, since the grey model isn't the one the most sought after.
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Talking about the case material always seems pointless as given how manufacturing process work in China, depending on the batch you can't be sure that the same steel supplier has been used, that same grade of steel has been used and for all we know it could be something else on purpose right from the beginning.
I'm opening a donating account to get some funding to obtain a portable metal analyser (I promise I buy that with the funds...)
But in the meantime, we'll have to take the word of the manufacturer that it's 316L or equivalent steel quality, in the end, we won't notice the difference anyway.
The Royal Oak 15400 is one of those everyone-wants-one kind of watches, and as much as the Nautilus from Patek Philippe or the various iterations of the submariner, people do care about even a fraction of millimeter difference between the genuine one and the replica.
So to all of you nitpickers, you'll be pleased to know that, as with the JF, the OMF is perfectly 41 mm in diameter and thus making it a perfect 1:1 on that aspect (I had to throw the 1:1 reference just to force noob to read all that next after searching that in the search box...)
But I know that the diameter is rarely the issue, and that the key to a good replica of this model lies in his thickness.
The gen is advertised as being 9.8 mm, we know that those measurements are also subject to slight changes in the manufacturing process, and people could have a 9.9 mm or 9.7 mm case depending on various factors, including how they took the measurement. So to simplify things, we will stay on the number given on Audemars Piguet website.
The OMF rep is doing a very good job on that aspect, with a measurement of 10.7 mm from crystal to crystal, I've been told by an AP connoisseur that this is the best out of the box in that regards, and to be honest a 0.9 mm difference is nothing on the wrist.
As always, to get this measurement, I've used a digital micrometer that while not being from the best brand around, will still be precise to the hundredth of a millimeter and for those that never used such a tool, there's a handy feature that let you apply just the required amount of force to get an accurate measurement, if you use that feature, you can't "squeeze" in a smaller measurement and it makes it a very repeatable operation (I usually do it three times to make sure my measurement is good).
Measurements done, for those too bothered by this gigantic thickness difference, hit the Alt + F4 key on your keyboard... for the other sane readers, let’s continue with some design considerations.
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We have to remember (and I certainly do since I'm constantly checking my Patek 5711 review while writing this one) that this is the first iteration of this design from Genta. Before the aforementioned Patek, before the Vacheron Constantin Overseas (which Genta had nothing to do with !) and before the Hublot Classic Fusion (nothing to do with Genta again).
This creation was done in one night, and if you look at the original sketch, there's really nothing that prevents this story from being true.
Inspired by a vintage diver helmet (those with the tube connected to the boat, pumping pressurized air into the whole scuba suit), the case is not trying to hide anything about how it's constructed.
The eights screws on top of the bezel are not aligned with any hour marker of the dial, probably on purpose, to break what would be too symmetrical a watch. They are, however, following the flow of the bezel and the screw slot is following the curvature of the bezel.
It is to be noted that these are not fake screws, but they are really what is holding the bezel down on the gasket and the middle case.
On this rep, they are perfectly aligned and as on the gen, slightly recessed inside the bezel, by a fraction of a millimeter as you can see on some of the pictures.
Speaking of the gasket, this is a dive watch, this was never intended to be a box queen when it was created, so it has to be water resistant, especially with the inspiration that lead to its creation.
The big black gasket is held hostage between the bezel and the middle case and goes deep inside this last one.
It's not just a flat gasket. I invite you to watch this video to see how a Royal Oak is encased, you'll clearly see the various security features that make this watch very prone to be water resistant.
In the finishing department, you'll have two types of work done on the steel : some brushing, vastly predominant on the watch and some polishing work, mainly the outside part of the bezel, on the chamfer of the case and the screws.
Contrary to the Patek Nautilus 5711 (this reference will come often as those watches share so many similarities), the 15400 does not give a smooth impression on the case.
Almost everything is sharp on the case, the only part smoothed out is the outer bezel, but this smoothness reinforces the razor edge impression of the rest of the timepiece.
Helping that feeling, the bridge between the bracelet and the case is abrupt like a cliff and give this false impression that the watch is very thick.
But when switching to the side, you realize that this is, as intended in the original design, a thin watch. Sometimes, you have to look at a watch from an angle that you'll not often see, to appreciate how well constructed it is.
The middle case is complimented by the two holes on each side, hiding the polished screws, like jewels waiting to catch a ray of light and nicely contrasting with the brushed steel.
Everything on this watch will shine at some point, even the brushed steel is polished a little, which is unusual on a watch and make it a very visible watch on the wrist.
Breaking one side of the watch, the hexagonal crown is another sharp geometric figure added to the inventory, and as with everything else, it is build to catch every angle of the light possible.
The sides of the crown are brushed and slighlty chamfered towards the top. This top part of the sides are sandblasted to better compliment the top of the crown sporting the AP logo, milled in a brushed finish steel surface.
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The AR on it is as good as I can observe it on gen pictures, but that's not a reliable test at all ! I've never been bothered by AR or the lack off, but it seems to me that's this is a very good one, since as you can see on the pictures, you can rarely see the crystal.
The back of the case is as nice as the front, the same eight polished flat head screws are securing the display case back and again with a tested sapphire crystal, which for some reason and as on my MKv5 Nautilus 5711, seems to be of a higher quality than the front one, as the diamond tester jump on the 8 value much quicker than on the front (no matter the order of testing).
The case back is finished with a circular brushed steel, again, this makes the screws really stand out and the sides of the case back are polished.
The underside of the middle case is sandblasted which make it very discreet.
Marking wise, this model being in steel, but the 15400 also being sold in precious metal, we could have feared the good ol' replica manufacture trick of putting markings all over the case. Thankfully, the maker of this rep seems to have focused their attention on making it the closer to the gen possible.
The only markings are the Royal Oak logo (with the O and the A interlocking nicely, as on the gen) this is placed at 12 o'clock.
At 6 o'clock, you'll find the fake serial number, I've done some research and this must be either a random one, or something coming from reference pictures, but it's definitely a valid form of serial number according to the gen pictures online.
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Now with the 15500 out, I have an excuse to get the blue too ... not that I needed one ...
So how is this grey dial in comparison to the gen ? I would lie by saying I ever saw a gen in grey, so I'll be only judging from various online pictures and with the caveat that depending on the angle, the light and the editing, the dial can be vastly different.
On my wrist, the dial is mainly a very light and shiny grey, but in my controlled lighting setup to take pictures, it appears dark, almost black.
This will also happen in real life, under some circumstances, which makes this dial, a grey chameleon.
From all the pictures I could find of the gen, there's not one scenario that the rep isn't able to reproduce. The main pictures of the watch in regular, outside lighting condition, make it appear light grey and that's exactly the same situation with the rep from OMF.
In artificial interior light, depending on how you twist your wrist (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-VAxGJdJeQ) you'll get the same colours, ranging from light grey to dark grey, than the gen picture I saw in those same conditions.
In direct interior lights or in the shadow, the dial can turn black and I saw a lot of gen pictures that way too.
In my mind, and totally subjective opinion, this dial nailed the gen colour perfectly.
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This is done by using a CNC machine but was previously done by using a modified Rose engine, a machine to make guilloché dials.
No doubt that our rep makers used a CNC machine, as those Rose engines, are not very common outside of Switzerland.
And by looking at gen close up of the pattern, our friend at OMF did a fairly good job at reproducing it.
The only difference is that the elevated squares of the pattern are a bit sharper than the slightly domed side of the gen pattern. But that's impossible to notice on the wrist and even in macro shot, you have to really do a 5 min side by side stare at them to notice what's different about them.
The bottom part or "filling" in between the square is exactly the same as on the gen.
The top cutting lines (those on the squares of the pattern) are lacking two lines per square, which give the gen a less visible pattern, again, talking about macro shot viewed on a computer screen, you won't be able to see it, let alone count them even by sticking your eye on the dial.
Still on the pattern, the number of square tapisserie elements is the same on the gen and on the dial, don't believe me ? Well, I counted them, so if you want to doubt it, go ahead do the same, depending on how well you see some of the partial square hidden by markers, hands and other markings, there are 406 squares on the dial.
The markings, cut-out and markers are positioned at the same place on the gen and the rep, thanks to all those reference points, it was easy to figure that out.
On to the markers now, the hours are indicated by nicely shaped sticks or "baton" (grey gold on the gen), the inside of the stick is lumed, but on the rep, the lume is so thin that it can barely catch enough light to stay illuminated for long, but that has also a lot to do with the luming compound and if you are after something that lasts a bit more, a reluming could be in order on this OMF.
The shape of those stick is made to catch the most light, the side is flat but the top is chamfered up to the lumed part, with the bottom and top of it being nice and flat.
One would think that with all those different surfaces on the dial, it would be too much, but each one of them complements the other or attenuate it just the right amount.
The 12 o'clock marker is doubled with a very discreet gap in between, just like on the gen.
The 3 o'clock marker is shorter to accommodate the date window, on my rep it looks like a little bit crooked, but upon closer inspection, it's just a trick of the eye and the angle you look at it.
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The AP logo is polished and has a line of white paint between the two letters. However it's not a lume line, contrary to what I have been reading and I was surprised by the non-glowing of that part, despite my best effort to expose it to UV light.
I've done some research, and it seems it's the same on the gen, I couldn't find any picture of the 15400 and other models, with the line between the A and P glowing, so it must have been a misconception from people and this line is just here to allow the logo to stand out a little better.
The letters could be a bit thinner while keeping the same footprint on the dial, the gen look logo look a bit sharper for that matter, but it's hardly a tell unless you have a comparison piece, and even then.
The Audemars Piguet name and Automatic are crisp but lack another or two applications of the paint as it should be thicker, to avoid showing the lines of the pattern, at wrist distance, it's not nearly as noticeable as on the pics and you would have to see the gen side by side to notice the difference anyway.
But it's to be noted that if an upgrade is to be made to turn this gray dial into a perfect copy, the paint needs to be thicker, which will make it look a bit bolder, won't show the lines and will take more space into the rounded rectangular raised plates (the text is supposed to almost touch the bottom and top of those plates).
The Audemars Piguet plate is good in sizing (always using the pattern to measure proportions since it's a known measurement common to the rep and the gen) but the automatic one is a bit too tall and should not hide so much of the row of square under it (it's off by say, 0.2 mm).
The "Swiss made" text suffer from the same lack of paint, but it's way less visible than the other ones and it's also printed on a "plate" rather than directly on the pattern, which is unlike the gen but impossible to see without magnification.
The hands are the right size and after looking closely at the gen, can't see any difference between them (excluding the weak lume, but it seems that even the gen is not very good in that matter).
The top of the cannon pinion, an often-overlooked part of the hands, is the same as the gen.
And lastly the date and date window. Size wise, we are spot on with the gen for the window cut out, with three squares from the side of the dial and barely touching the square on the other side. Height is also spot on with the gen.
Looking at side by side comparison from the TD website, it seems that they did a really good job on the font and colour of the date. If anything it looks like the rep font has had a little bit thicker paint application, but once again, impossible to tell without a macro shot !
It is to be noted that the first version from the TD was having a defect on the date wheel, the back was black, I was ready to accept it, but the TD insisted on waiting for the updated version, as he had transferred this issue to OMF, 10 days later another batch of date wheel with the correct grey background was out and ready.
Modified Miyota 9015 |
AP 3120 |
Something to be noted is that while Audemars Piguet started with doing everything in house, during their ascension, they acquired 40% of Jaeger LeCoultre, and if Audemars Piguet made and still make some brilliant movement, the king in that matter is still Jaeger LeCoultre, holding most patterns in movement making than any other luxury watch company.
But in 2000, Audemars Piguet sold all their shares in JLC to the Richemont Group and decided to expand their facilities and go back to the history of the brand by making their own movement in an etablissage owned factory under the name Audemars Piguet Renaud & Papi.
The 3120 is a simple 3-hand movement, with hacking second and a date complication, the date complication has an instant change feature at midnight.
It's 26.6 mm wide and 4.26 mm thick, with 40 jewels (278 individual parts), beating at 21600 bph with a 60-hour power reserve in only one barrel !
What makes this gen movement stand out is that it's the personification of the expression the devil is in the details.
The instant date change to start with is a very nice feature, nobody likes to see the start of the next date while the previous one is still halfway there.
The date is secured too, you can't break the mechanism by changing the date when it's already engaged, unlike any rep movement, for example.
The balance wheel is secured by a double screwed in bridge, this gives it more stability against shocks.
The rotor winds in two directions on ceramic ball bearings.
If you want to know more about the movement, you can check this link
So, how the rep is doing movement wise ? Without any surprise, as it's probably the thinnest rep movement on the market at the moment (for an automatic movement), the rep is fitted with a modified Miyota 9015.
Running at 28800 bps this will have the effect of a smoother sweeping second hand than the gen.
Just for the sake of pursuing the comparison, the 9015 is 3.9 mm thick (so it's thinner than the AP 3120) and 25.6 mm wide (shorter than the AP again).
It's holding 24 jewels and around 42 hours of power reserve depending on the cleanliness and oiling of your movement (but you can reasonably expect a 35 to 40 hours of power reserve).
Despite being smaller in all dimensions, the rep doesn't manage to achieve the exact thickness of the rep because of the decoration plate added on top of the Miyota to make it look like a genuine AP 3120.
Since this is one of the points where you can see some differences with the other main rep actor of the AP scene : JF, I invite you to go read the nice comparison thread that the good Hanski made. I'll focus on just describing the one from OMF, but do note that I agree with his comparison.
While I agree with his conclusion that the JF movement does look in general better, there's also some point where the OMF is better or on par with the one from JF.
In general, it's a good deco plate, very believable if you allow me. Unless being someone very versed in watch movements, you won't be able to tell it's a deco plate at first glance, us rep experts will see immediately the few tell of such trickery, of course.
The whole gen movement is covered by nice and thin Côtes de Genève and the rep makes no exception except the rep Côtes de Genève are not as thin and as a result don't shine as much as the gen.
The double screwed balance bridge of the AP 3120 is perfectly reproduced, but a lack of attention on some of the screw set it apart from the JF.
And for those who don't know how to spot a deco plate from a true modified movement, if you look at the shock absorber of the jewel, right in the middle of the balance bridge, you can see that it's simply (but nicely) glued on top of the jewel, as the flange of the golden spring don't go under the balance top shock assembly or chatton, which wouldn't be possible without the help of glue, said glue that would nullify the purpose of this spring.
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Above the balance bridge, and to copy the gen movement, the deco plate is sporting a bright yellow-gold gear, which viewed on macro shot, reveal a sloppy snailing, not worthy of the real gear.
Marking wise, inside the case around the movement a brushed coronet with the two words Swiss made in capital letters is inserted, the words are perfectly centered and the engraving is sharp thanks to the use of fibre optic laser.
The real main plate is covered by a perlage and some engraving, just below the balance wheel you'll find the 3120 engraving, nice and deep, next to it a serial number that doesn't mean much in this context (but for the real watch, it's a way for the factory to keep track of eventual defects)
The deco plate is also engraved with the Audemars Piguet name, but the engraving lacks sharpness due to the use of a milling bit rather than a laser, probably to have a deeper engraving for the yellowing of the letter. (Would require multiple fibre optic laser pass with the risk of bleeding between passes)
At the opposite side, still on the deco plate, the text "Swiss made Forty (40) Jewels" is engraved, this one is surprisingly sharper and yellowed too.
Last element of the movement, the rotor or counterbalance weight. In yellow gold on the gen, in rose gold colour on the rep.
Right below the centre screw, is engraved the Audemars Piguet name, with a much deeper engraving than the gen, on this last one the engraving is very subtle, more like the shadow of the text.
Just below the AP logo is of the correct engraving thickness.
At the left of the A, the coats of arms from the Audemars family, three stars under a bird and next to it a medieval tower with a floating flag.
The engraving is again much deeper than the gen and less precise, you can see that it has been grossly milled away.
It's probably not the same tool shop responsible for this engraving as you can see that rep maker can achieve a higher quality of engraving on the other parts of the watch, without using a laser.
On the right of the P, the coats of arms from the Piguet family, a horse holding a sword and three stars.
The centre plate of the rotor, with the screw is a bit different from the gen and from JF, with the two screws being too close to the border of the plate, but that's, of course, a very minor detail.
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Beside the chamfered and polished edges of the bracelet, giving it a lot more depth and refinement, the whole bracelet is brushed and polished on top.
This combination of finish and it's very sharp feeling, makes this bracelet shine like nothing else.
I've been playing with it all day when I received the watch, the way the light catch each link independently makes for quite the show.
The links are connected with large rectangular, brushed (yes I know I've already said it, but the review is too short, isn't it ?) pieces. They will stay straighter than the links, making for another light reflector, if it wasn't for the Swiss, you wouldn't almost believe it was done on purpose.
The inside of the clasp, despite this overall aggressive look is very comfortable, and doesn't pinch the skin or the hair, the rep maker did a good job at not leaving any sharp angle.
Also, I lied, the part of the link that you could consider being inside the bracelet (not under, but inside, facing to each other) are in satin finish, but I had to make a point of this whole brushed feeling you have when looking at it.
The links are secured by a system that may surprise the newcomer, or someone that lacks reading (like me for instance).
I first tried to remove them as usual, unscrewing it, but nothing worked, I then looked at it more closely.
Once you've removed the screw, you need to get a pin pusher and push inside the screw slot that you just opened, you'll be able to push the other part of the pin holding the link in place.
This is a very secure method of attaching links as even if the screw come loose, the bracelet will stay in place, the pin going through the whole length of the link.
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The double deployment is another example of good security to ensure the watch doesn't fall off your wrist (first-world problem).
To release it, you have to press the two pushers, this action will open the two metal fangs holding the clasp pin.
It's worth to be noted that the clasp mechanism is secured by screws, allowing for a change of mechanism if you can get your hand on that only part, or at least for a talented metal worker to build a new one.
Once open you discover the sandblasted background and brushed Audemars Piguet lettering, a subtle but beautiful touch.
The last marking present on the bracelet is the number 1220 on each side of it, on the last link, this is a reminder of the full reference of this model : Audemars Piguet 15400(Model) ST (ST = STEEL). OO. 1220(Bracelet)ST(Steel again).04(Grey or Ruthenium dial)
If I had to guess, a reference to the bracelet revision, as this is one of the many elements that evolved with the rest of the watch during history.
My last Patek 5711 review was my longest one, I don't like to disappoint myself in knowing how much some of you will pest about how verbose I can be (and also appreciating that most of you won't care at all and head over to the pics !)
A bit of context is necessary to understand this review, now that you've read it all, you have to know that before taking on this writing, I knew little to nothing about this model, I knew the history of Audemars Piguet, but I was never the biggest fan of their model, the market being dominated by the Offshore version of the Royal Oak (by the way, Google over where the Royal Oak name comes from, funny stories).
The freaking enabler that C Master is, convinced me without saying a word, that I needed a Royal Oak. After months of looking and trying to snatch a JF V5 on M2M in blue or grey, I stumbled upon an offering from a TD.
I have to say that I'm not disappointed, the overall feel of this rep is luxurious, it's a heavy rep but with the exact same weight as the gen. I'm not afraid to say that, even though you'll never get the finish that a nitpicker can see and that a connoisseur know from the gen, this rep is coming pretty close in most aspects !
So, JF or OMF, I couldn't say, but one thing is sure : OMF deserve some more light on their 15400 rep !
Thanks for reading !
