I did a proper review of this piece this morning and it's only appropriate to post it here.
I stumbled across this piece in the RWI M2M last week. The seller had a few pieces for sale that caught my eye, so being a new poster over there I messaged him and asked if he would consider doing bidness with a newbie. Turned out I picked the right seller, on a number of levels. First, I paid a DHgate price for this. Second it was in my mailbox in 2 days, third he was just a great guy to deal with. Also, I bought this is a package deal with a UN that is just fabulous, but that is another thread.
42MM dia case
48MM lug to lug
14MM thickness
Hefty, really nice weight, decent second hand sweep, not entirely smooth. Has kept very good time over 2 days.
I didn't know anything about this watch when I bought, other than it looked really nice and for the price as long as it worked, it was well worth the dough. Since it arrived, I've really taken to this piece. It has a lot going on, in an elegant and somewhat understated way. I know that seems a contradiction, but the day and month sit nicely and symmetrically under the Blancpain logo. The moonphase is a compliment, not a dominating feature. The Roman numerals stand out and make the watch instantly readable, yet the asymmetric blue date hand pops as well. Arabic date numerals sit in nice contrast below the oversized raised roman numeral. And all this against a gradient burst dial, very pronounced inside of the date ring, that gradually fades through the roman numerals.
Seller was straight up in his post, the crown is tight. And it is tight in both the winding and setting position.
There are a couple of obvious tells on this piece. The gen has adjustment buttons under the lugs. This rep has recessed push button on the side of the case. While it is a tell, everything works
. The "swiss made" printing on either side of the VI is not centered correctly and the day seems to be slight off centered to the left. But we are talking less than 100 US bucks here.
Not sure what the crystal or movement is on this, although I do know it is low beat asian. Maybe someone could help me out on this. Back features a crystal window to the movement with The Palace Museum, Piece Unique, engraved around the SS case. They got that part right, it is a unique piece.
Strap is a black faux gator/croc leather BP rep with an engraved buckle. It would be nice to have quick release clasp rather than a buckle, maybe something to do down the road.
Overall, I have to say I'm really pleased with this purchase. It's one of those things you stumble across when you spend too much time on the internet, but instead of being disappointment that it wasn't really what you expected, like so many guitars I have gone through, you are shockingly surprised at how nice it is when it is in front of you. It will get some wear time, I'm sure of that.
If anyone knows more about this particular rep, please jump right in here.
Cheers!
