ZF Blancpain Fifty fathoms, first buy help.

[Hack-a-jack]

hi guys, im relatively new here in the world of rep watches, i am about to pull the trigger on a ZF 1:1 FF 2836 and from what i can judge i’ll probably buy from puretime or trusty time. (If anyone has any info on which of the two is fastest/better with UK delivery that would be great).

Links to products:

http://www.ttw-1388.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=19&products_id=17710

https://puretime03.com/fifty-fathom...sail-canvas-strap-a2836-free-extra-strap.html


I just wanted to ask (being new and all), are there any common problems associated with these that i should draw my attention to in QC pictures? i cant find an awful lot of threads talking about problems with them but rather than just assuming all will be hunky-dory i thought i should ask the experts if there are any immediate ‘tells’ so to speak.

I also wanted to ask about the rose gold vs stainless steel version, it states that the rose colour plating is thick however has anyone ever had any trouble with this wearing thin? I know even the best gold plating can wear over time but i just wondered if this should effect my choice of colour (as only $20 extra for rose colour, which is stunning).

Finally, has anyone ever had any issue with waterproofing, i’d love it to be swim proof so plan to ideally get it fully certified via a watchsmith as waterproof - but ehat are they like out of the box? Or is it just a case of some are good some are bad?

Thanks for reading and i sincerely hope all you knowledgable lot can chime in with some good suggestions for a noobie first time buyer, i Can see myself sinking into the pit of getting a new hobby rather fast & im already spending way too much time on RWI

Thanks

 

[mgberns]

So with the Fifty Fathoms many complain about crooked markers, in particular the 1 and 2 lining up on the "12" markers, I think you'll always have some variances in these and gens also have this variance as they are hand placed. Unless blatantly crooked, I wouldn't worry too much about it, moreover when you blow up QC pics to intense magnifications, you'll see this things you won't see on the wrist.

The big thing I believe with this watch is date wheel alignment. So to get one perfectly centered would be ideal, but it's pretty hard to tell what is perfectly centered in particular you won't be seeing every date shot. Some date justification may be different than others, but pretty much around the same sans slight variation. You can control seeing left and right justification pretty easily, and that's pretty obviously off centered, however, up and down justification on these is a huge concern. Because they crystal is domed, and date placement recessed, you're seeing everything on an angle. So when you look at date placement, if you're not getting one straight in the center, you'll have variances of what you see though the crystal. The QC pics are only taken at a certain angle and you can only make a judgement call based on what you see. That being said, if there appears to be more space on the top than the bottom of the date, I would pass, as you'd see the start of the next date from the way you look at the watch on your wrist. I would much prefer the date wheel to be slightly upwards justified as when you look at the watch on the wrist, you are looking at that direction anyway, so you won't really see the bottom date. Again, ideally you'd get one perfectly centered, but that may be difficult across all dates...

Here is an example of it being more top justified straight on..so when you're looking at it from the wrist angle, it ends up being much more centered...

Good luck!

 

[d4m.test]

So with the Fifty Fathoms many complain about crooked markers, in particular the 1 and 2 lining up on the "12" markers, I think you'll always have some variances in these and gens also have this variance as they are hand placed. Unless blatantly crooked, I wouldn't worry too much about it, moreover when you blow up QC pics to intense magnifications, you'll see this things you won't see on the wrist.

The big thing I believe with this watch is date wheel alignment. So to get one perfectly centered would be ideal, but it's pretty hard to tell what is perfectly centered in particular you won't be seeing every date shot. Some date justification may be different than others, but pretty much around the same sans slight variation. You can control seeing left and right justification pretty easily, and that's pretty obviously off centered, however, up and down justification on these is a huge concern. Because they crystal is domed, and date placement recessed, you're seeing everything on an angle. So when you look at date placement, if you're not getting one straight in the center, you'll have variances of what you see though the crystal. The QC pics are only taken at a certain angle and you can only make a judgement call based on what you see. That being said, if there appears to be more space on the top than the bottom of the date, I would pass, as you'd see the start of the next date from the way you look at the watch on your wrist. I would much prefer the date wheel to be slightly upwards justified as when you look at the watch on the wrist, you are looking at that direction anyway, so you won't really see the bottom date. Again, ideally you'd get one perfectly centered, but that may be difficult across all dates...

Here is an example of it being more top justified straight on..so when you're looking at it from the wrist angle, it ends up being much more centered...

Good luck!

Thanks so much, i will keep my eye out for markers on the dial and the date. Great info and great help!

 

[Matty369]

I don't know about PureTime, but it is out of stock on TrustyTime (although it appears in stock on web). I'm waiting 10 days already since I payed and got told there are not enough parts in factory for this watch.
I hope, when they start production, I don't get lemon.

 

[d4m.test]

I don't know about PureTime, but it is out of stock on TrustyTime (although it appears in stock on web). I'm waiting 10 days already since I payed and got told there are not enough parts in factory for this watch.
I hope, when they start production, I don't get lemon.

Just discovered puretime is also out of stock. Think i'll just wait for a few weeks, will give me time to do some more research i guess.

 

[scottr]

I had one on order with Lucy for a couple of months and she now tells me that it is in and is ready to be shipped. By this I would assume that the factory has released more for shipment.

 

[maximfrei]

I have placed an order today too, thank for the topic, OP.

 

[d4m.test]

So with the Fifty Fathoms many complain about crooked markers, in particular the 1 and 2 lining up on the "12" markers, I think you'll always have some variances in these and gens also have this variance as they are hand placed. Unless blatantly crooked, I wouldn't worry too much about it, moreover when you blow up QC pics to intense magnifications, you'll see this things you won't see on the wrist.

The big thing I believe with this watch is date wheel alignment. So to get one perfectly centered would be ideal, but it's pretty hard to tell what is perfectly centered in particular you won't be seeing every date shot. Some date justification may be different than others, but pretty much around the same sans slight variation. You can control seeing left and right justification pretty easily, and that's pretty obviously off centered, however, up and down justification on these is a huge concern. Because they crystal is domed, and date placement recessed, you're seeing everything on an angle. So when you look at date placement, if you're not getting one straight in the center, you'll have variances of what you see though the crystal. The QC pics are only taken at a certain angle and you can only make a judgement call based on what you see. That being said, if there appears to be more space on the top than the bottom of the date, I would pass, as you'd see the start of the next date from the way you look at the watch on your wrist. I would much prefer the date wheel to be slightly upwards justified as when you look at the watch on the wrist, you are looking at that direction anyway, so you won't really see the bottom date. Again, ideally you'd get one perfectly centered, but that may be difficult across all dates...

Here is an example of it being more top justified straight on..so when you're looking at it from the wrist angle, it ends up being much more centered...

Good luck!

Thank you for sharing your experience.

 

[JackJ1980]

I heard rumors the second batch may be slightly changed. But you’ll know with QC pics right away.

These are pretty spot on out of the box. Just make dw is aligned and that the numbers are aligned. If possible ask for a lume shot also to make sure all the markers in the bezel are fully filled in.

 

[stoyania]

did anyone receive QC pics from the second batch? I am still patiently waiting for pics from my TD...

 

[Matty369]

Just got my QC pics from Andrew and my concern is number 2 in 12. It's a bit crooked. I've compared to random QC pic from his site and few more, it's more a less similar issue on all pics. What do you think ? I'm about to pull the triger, waiting far too long for this watch, since october.
View attachment 107157

 

[d4m.test]

It's not crooked. You will never notice at real scale on your wrist. Accept it.

 

[Matty369]

As a said, it really is minor, especially now when I look this pic on phone and not on computer. Thanks anyway, already accepted.

Sent from the RWI App

 

[scottr]

Are there two versions of this watch? One with the burst and one without?

 

[d4m.test]

Are there two versions of this watch? One with the burst and one without?

Yes, one with burst and one without, i prefer the one without personally - feel it looks cleaner on the wrist.

 

[Matty369]

The one with burst is blue one, correct ?
Black one is without burst on dial ?

 

[scottr]

Thanks, I didn't realize that. I just assumed that one was incorrect. Matty, I don't think that the black one comes in the burst version. If it does I have never seen one.

 

[maximfrei]

What do you mean by "burst"?

 

[scottr]

One model has a sun burst on the dial and the other is like the one in the above picture with the blue dial.

 

[scottr]