Guide To Francklins

[elloello]

Guide To Francklins


1.What is a Francklin?
well a Franken short for "Frankenstein" is basically a watch with gen and non-gen parts so being a Franck Muller I see another guy say "Francklin Muller on a watch forum & caught on why he said it right away he was being "witty" with his remark so any Franck Mullers with the above criteria will be a "Francklin Muller" to me from now on.


2.Why are some gen dials coming without lume? But when you go to a AD they have lume? Ok simply put most of the time you will see "used dials" in Francklin Mullers this is for two reasons, A. Cost, B.availability "A" some brand new dials are $500+ plus to buy which in hand can defeat the persons goal on getting or a Francklin being built because it simply makes it too costly to do so.
B. Availability of used dials come from different sources some use various sellers on e-bay some use direct sources to seek these dials out if and when they come available.Also because they are used dials sometimes the lume is removed at source sometimes not maybe the case or perhaps simply didn't even make it past QC so was rejected at a stage of luminous application,the source can only really highlight this so I tried to explain the best I possibly can being a humble hobbyist. I personally have had over 20 dials in question with all different grades and quality


3. How do you know a crazy hours rep dial v gen dial?


I see this as the most commonly asked question to me via PMs,have a look at the pictures below one is tagged "rep" the other is tagged "gen" quickly study the 11 & once you notice the difference it will be embedded in your mind once you get it,then afterwards you will see other slight differences on some of the other numbers for example, for fun I let you play "spot the difference"

4. Crazy Hours Curvex numbers are a different font to the Long Island crazy hours so what I do is add pics a little later so it doesn't confuse anybody at this stage in question


hopefully this info helps you out on your watch journey

 

[elloello]

a mixture of lume & unlumed crazy hours dials

 

[elloello]

Crazy Hour Curvex


this is interesting because the reps to date have 3 case sizes "small/medium" "medium large"
"Jumbo" also to put a spanner in to the works there are rep dials which have the correct font and dials that have the wrong font for this model.


Let's start this off with the rep dial fonts


below is the incorrect font,

If you look at the numbers you will see they are the same as the Long Island Crazy Hours font which is incorrect for this model, I include more close up pics below so you can see

now we have a picture of another crazy hours curvex rep next to each other

Now look closely at the fonts on 1, 11,10 to hopefully see the differences I will include closer pics below

obviously there is other numbers you notice once you look at them carefully, in my view this is actually not a bad rep

Gen dials to my knowledge are 3 sizes for the Curvex CH range


"small / medium" 34mm x 27mm approx
"medium / large" 36mm x 29mm approx
"Jumbo" 40mm x 25mm approx
there is a pretty easy way to know with your Tds to decide what they are selling, the clue is to look at the back of the case "back plate"


Quick reference numbers to be mindful about


Jumbo size =
8800 cc at

"small medium" or "medium large" =
5850 or 8580 with text underneath saying "Crazy Hours"

you just have to ask the measurements to be sure which one will work best for your dial,
some of the early models did have "Casablanca" or "Vegas" & the infamous "Colour Drbams" Yeah I know it's annoying for a spelling mistake for any connoisseur buyer but keep to these numbers you should be half way conquering your goal, obviously there are some other back plate "numbers /name" but the main majority is above


last but not least here are closer pics of a gen dial

there is a fantastic review on our neighbouring rep forum below which is a great read from a few years back


https://rwg.cc/topic/70757-toads-review-of-the-franck-muller-crazy-hours-color-dreams

 

[JLS1963]

[MENTION=80751]elloello[/MENTION] thanks for the great comparison and the amazing pictures of the Gen dial.
I do see pictures of a Crazy Hours in a Jumbo size on a few of the TD websites. I contacted the TD's and was told that a few of them are in stock, but not the Color Dreams. Based on your comparison it is clear that the models currently in stock ALL have the incorrect dial.....
Are you aware of any TD that may have the correct dial Jumbo Crazy Hours?
I would love to see the Factories re-release the Jumbo Color Dreams. I think it would be a hot seller. I rarely see any Color Dreams come up for sale M2M.

 

[Malkovich]

Thanks for this, elloello!

 

[kilowattore]

Thank you very much for the helpful comparison, very informative. :thumbsup:

 

[elloello]

CH Rep Movement

https://vimeo.com/138386071


it's the sturdy built Asian 21j ok it's 22j but that's a whole other story it's been modified there is no tells how this movement functions ,the crazy hour flicks like the Gen movement does,nothing major to give it away cosmetically on your wrist unless you open your watch & or have backplate text syndrome.
Owning or doing CH francklins is a great way to go unless you want to go up the ladder & going all out gen? Bang for buck no questions in my mind CH Francklins is a great way to own a unique watch without spending thousands or even 700+ like some rep watches are costing these days in ratio to £ $ € ¥.
End of the day enjoy what you can afford and don't get too caught up with trying to get everything like for like because the money will runaway as you going along very easy, I seen some watches on various rep forums when you actually break it down on costs spending four figures on gen parts & rep parts you might as well waited and saved up & gone to a Gen AD put a deposit down get 0% finance deal & pay little each month and in a year or 2 it's all paid for without major pain trying to find all the money in one lump "that's my view anyway" but remember "francklins / frankens"
are never a full out Gen, keep it sensible look after your wallet is key in this game


Enjoy your time.

 

[chaw6125]

That 8580 is stuff of legend. I haven't seen one for sale and all the TD's I spoke to only had the jumbo. One even refused to sell me one as it is too unreliable in his words.

I have a gen curvex CH dial, but with a long island franklink I doubt it will ever get used.

I also have a spare gen long island dial but the lume has started to flake a bit.

Hopefully those 8580's come back to market. No real need for a gen dial in that.

 

[Malkovich]

Tell me about it.

I've got a gen Vegas dial, but F me if I can find the rep piece.

 

[mmm8]

[No message]

 

[jacobee]

erm...gen dials is expensive?

 

[JLFast]

A great read! Thank you for the knowledge!




Sent from the RWI mobile app

 

[Calico]

Thanks for this info, will be looking out for the "11"s on future reps!

Caleeco

 

[joegut]

Great intro intro to Franklins but no TD has them and never seen one on m2m. Seems like we need a supplier for these nice looking watches

 

[BPlayer]

Hi, happy new year ! Found this post after searching to FM Stainless Steel Bracelets - maybe you know where to get one SS Bracelet?