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ZF will release Blue Ceramic Bathyscaphe very soon.

mgberns

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Looking at intime's pics of the steel model, it's uncertain if that is even screw in, I can't see the threads. I wouldn't take a rep, and any gen watch for that matter diving. But I would get water splashed, which I have with my blue Bathyscaphe and not have issues. At 105grams, this ceramic Bathyscaphe is a pleasure to wear....
 
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rj999

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Nobody expects true water resistance: these are reps. But at that price level, we have come to expect well sealed screw backs or gasketed bolt on back like APs. Having said that, I've had the back off this several times while trying to get the watch well regulated (well as much as a 23J will permit). Each time I have decided it's gone back cross threaded and it's come off easily again. It's only this last time that it has gone on straight after I examined it closely and found the plastic push on gasket and no thread. So this time, I just pushed it on all round. And I suspect it probably will never come off again!
I see on the Purettime site, there is a pic of the newer GF black version back which clearly shows the plastic ring.
 
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vcappp

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I see on the Purettime site, there is a pic of the newer black version back which clearly shows the plastic ring.

Thanks for sharing what you experienced with the caseback unscrew.

So, what does it mean that the newer black version shows the plastic ring ? Does it mean that the newer black ceramic GF version also has same problematic construction that you mentioned at your previous post above?


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rj999

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I would think it's the same case manufacturer, so the construction will be identical. The ring is a *very* tight fit and I had a job taking the back off originally, when I thought it was a screw on. I had to put the body in a vice and twist the back using one of the large adjustable three point back wrenches. Who knows, maybe the ring is so tight it is adequately water resistant. Mine certainly passed its PT pressure test:
UU0M3.jpg
 
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vcappp

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I would think it's the same case manufacturer, so the construction will be identical. The ring is a *very* tight fit and I had a job taking the back off originally, when I thought it was a screw on. I had to put the body in a vice and twist the back using one of the large adjustable three point back wrenches. Who knows, maybe the ring is so tight it is adequately water resistant. Mine certainly passed its PT pressure test:
UU0M3.jpg

thanks for the information


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The Rod

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Finally received mine after almost two months wait! One stipid question to the owners: does your crown screw down?? Unfortunately mine doesn't and I'm pretty sure in the gen it does

mgberns asiparks
 

mgberns

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The Rod

Mine screws down. However, there are other issues with the crown. It seems to be wobbly, but it catches all the positions. Maybe that's not really an issue and just comes with rep territory. You don't really notice that it's wobbly until in third position. In first and second position it's solid enough.
 

The Rod

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The Rod

Mine screws down. However, there are other issues with the crown. It seems to be wobbly, but it catches all the positions. Maybe that's not really an issue and just comes with rep territory. You don't really notice that it's wobbly until in third position. In first and second position it's solid enough.

LOL. Mine feels very solid in all positions but it doesn't look there are any threads on which you can screw it on (should be visible with no crown guards). I guess the guy assembling it had finished the threaded tubes and used a normal one!
 

mgberns

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No threads are visible on the outter side of the tube..
 

mgberns

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Quick dirty pic of my crown..

IMG-20181024-164909019-2.jpg


It's actually a hell of a watch, only if ZF's assembly process was as good as its replication process we'd have solid winners. I'm certain you'll notice things you missed in QC like dust under the dial and even micro scratches on the dial. Thank goodness it's a sunburst dial so a lot of this all gets hidden.

And then the movement, mine gets like +20secs a day. The simple remedy is to set it a minute slow so it catches up. I also naturally put my time 5 mins fast so it equalizes out.

Ah, the things with deal with for style purposes. Haha. It definitely looks the part on the wrist.
 
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asiparks1

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mines in the -7 or 8 seconds a day range and it also suffers crown wobble in time setting position, but it screws down very very smoothly indeed...

The Rod- Aiyo ! that's a let down- so when you push the crown all the way down against the case, does it pop back up away from the case or does it just push down and sit against the case as it would if it did screw down ?
 

The Rod

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mines in the -7 or 8 seconds a day range and it also suffers crown wobble in time setting position, but it screws down very very smoothly indeed...

The Rod- Aiyo ! that's a let down- so when you push the crown all the way down against the case, does it pop back up away from the case or does it just push down and sit against the case as it would if it did screw down ?

I tried again now and it actually does screw down!

It's difficult to explain but I was not "feeling" the threads being engaged, now I tried pushing harder while rotating and it finally catched the threads!

Quick dirty pic of my crown..

IMG-20181024-164909019-2.jpg


It's actually a hell of a watch, only if ZF's assembly process was as good as its replication process we'd have solid winners. I'm certain you'll notice things you missed in QC like dust under the dial and even micro scratches on the dial. Thank goodness it's a sunburst dial so a lot of this all gets hidden.

And then the movement, mine gets like +20secs a day. The simple remedy is to set it a minute slow so it catches up. I also naturally put my time 5 mins fast so it equalizes out.

Ah, the things with deal with for style purposes. Haha. It definitely looks the part on the wrist.

Yeah ZF assembly and QC are really bad, I also noticed a super tiny spec of dust on the dial. Until now time keeping seems ok, one of the reason why I had to wait for so long is that when the watch first arrived to my TD it was running way too fast, so it was sent back to ZF to be adjusted, hopefully it's fine.
 

Rustyrust

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Probably my favorite watch. Having a hard time picking between ZF (QC issues) and GF (less accurate case). Crown position and pearl on GF are the biggest tells for me.

Or wait for better batches and get the ZF FF first?
 
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The Rod

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Probably my favorite watch. Having a hard time picking between ZF (QC issues) and GF (less accurate case). Crown position and pearl on GF are the biggest tells for me.

Or wait for better batches and get the ZF FF first?

ZF is the better rep and grey ceramic is stunning: Just choose a good td and do your QC well
 
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mgberns

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No matter what TD you choose for a ZF watch, you're just going to have to live with some of their QC issues. You'll drive your TD insane making a bunch of requests. Moreover, some stuff you just won't see in a QC picture, yet alone notice in real life unless you're looking for it..

Here's a great example on my blue Bathyscaphe...you see the marks on between the 8 and 11 markers? That's on the dial, it took me a hell of a lot of shots to even be able to capture it. There are some other marks similar to that throughout. You'd certainly will never notice it on QC pics..

IMG-20181025-153334939-2.jpg
 
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mgberns

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That low light pic makes it looks super sexy, dark rich blue..my low light pic doesn't look close..lol

IMG-20181026-025647780-2.jpg
 
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