First impression of this watch is simply amazing. It looks and feel outstanding. I can honestly say that it is by far the best quality of rep IWC that I have owned!
Before I give you my impressions, here are a couple of pictures
So here are my impressions about the various details.
Crystal - I have to start by the crystal, which is probably the best feature of this watch. I have never seen a crystal so clear! No foggy or cloudy feeling. This crystal makes the dial look HD and high contrast. The edges are polished making the crystal's presence really discrete. In fact you will wonder if its there most of the time. The very nice blue hue (very gen like) gives a very special spark to the watch.
The Dial - Very good, the sunburst effect is really present while still having a grainy surface. The color seems a bit more brownish / yellowish than gen, but I am basing myself on the photoshoped gen picture from the IWC catalog.
Markers - Alignment is good and their definition is great. The lume is evely applied in the markers. The triangle and the dots are very nice.
Hands - This is probably the downside of this watch, the hands side is not polished properly, and the edge suffered from a poor press cutting. I think I might try to re-polish / scrape the side of the hands one day. The lume is even, just as the markers.
Lume - I should have taken a shot of the lume... Lume is really ordinary, nothing to be crazy about. It is OK, not more.
Date Wheel / Date Window - The date wheel font are very nice, the color or the date wheel matches the dial perfectly. The only downside is the alignment, I am under the impression that the upper edge of the date window is a bit to low, hidding the upper date a little or making it a tight fit at the very least.
Case - Case is beautifull, the brushing and the polished edges are perfect.
Back cover - Back cover feels a bit cheap compared to the rest of the watch. Brushing seems a bit harsh and the shot peened area is uneven. I am maybe a bit picky here but the rest of the watch is so damn good that I would have expected a bit more on that side.
Crown - Feels a lot better that on my V6 maker's 3777. The edges are smoother and the operation is a lot better. The screw in mecanism is also more precise and more smooth than on my 3777. Plus is has more screwing threads.
Movement - Here is an interresting part. The movement feels great. The seconds runner hand at 6 rotates realy smoothly, no stutter at all. My 3714 do stutter a lot. This one feels like a normal sec @ 9. The Counter at 12 is the same as regular 7750, it will count 30 minutes per rotation. So on this watch every minute is indicated as 2 minutes.
The date change mecanism and the crown pull action feel a lot different too. Pulling the crown is a bit harder and there is a spring loaded mecanism when pushing it back in from date change. I never seen this on other 7750.
Power Reserve - Well it looks like the movement functions without to much restriction. I calculated 47 hours. And it restarted after a small tap for around 1 hour.
Chrono Pushers - They feel solid, no wobbling around. They operate firmly and precisely. They look also as per gen.
Strap - Do I really need to comment on a rep strap? Feel better than other IWC rep straps I got though.
Clasp - I need to compare with other clasps, It looks different, the shape of the logo looks taller, like stretched. And the surface where the logo is looks longer too. To be confirmed later.
That's it! Hope you enjoyed watching and reading
Mirage
Before I give you my impressions, here are a couple of pictures
So here are my impressions about the various details.
Crystal - I have to start by the crystal, which is probably the best feature of this watch. I have never seen a crystal so clear! No foggy or cloudy feeling. This crystal makes the dial look HD and high contrast. The edges are polished making the crystal's presence really discrete. In fact you will wonder if its there most of the time. The very nice blue hue (very gen like) gives a very special spark to the watch.
The Dial - Very good, the sunburst effect is really present while still having a grainy surface. The color seems a bit more brownish / yellowish than gen, but I am basing myself on the photoshoped gen picture from the IWC catalog.
Markers - Alignment is good and their definition is great. The lume is evely applied in the markers. The triangle and the dots are very nice.
Hands - This is probably the downside of this watch, the hands side is not polished properly, and the edge suffered from a poor press cutting. I think I might try to re-polish / scrape the side of the hands one day. The lume is even, just as the markers.
Lume - I should have taken a shot of the lume... Lume is really ordinary, nothing to be crazy about. It is OK, not more.
Date Wheel / Date Window - The date wheel font are very nice, the color or the date wheel matches the dial perfectly. The only downside is the alignment, I am under the impression that the upper edge of the date window is a bit to low, hidding the upper date a little or making it a tight fit at the very least.
Case - Case is beautifull, the brushing and the polished edges are perfect.
Back cover - Back cover feels a bit cheap compared to the rest of the watch. Brushing seems a bit harsh and the shot peened area is uneven. I am maybe a bit picky here but the rest of the watch is so damn good that I would have expected a bit more on that side.
Crown - Feels a lot better that on my V6 maker's 3777. The edges are smoother and the operation is a lot better. The screw in mecanism is also more precise and more smooth than on my 3777. Plus is has more screwing threads.
Movement - Here is an interresting part. The movement feels great. The seconds runner hand at 6 rotates realy smoothly, no stutter at all. My 3714 do stutter a lot. This one feels like a normal sec @ 9. The Counter at 12 is the same as regular 7750, it will count 30 minutes per rotation. So on this watch every minute is indicated as 2 minutes.
The date change mecanism and the crown pull action feel a lot different too. Pulling the crown is a bit harder and there is a spring loaded mecanism when pushing it back in from date change. I never seen this on other 7750.
Power Reserve - Well it looks like the movement functions without to much restriction. I calculated 47 hours. And it restarted after a small tap for around 1 hour.
Chrono Pushers - They feel solid, no wobbling around. They operate firmly and precisely. They look also as per gen.
Strap - Do I really need to comment on a rep strap? Feel better than other IWC rep straps I got though.
Clasp - I need to compare with other clasps, It looks different, the shape of the logo looks taller, like stretched. And the surface where the logo is looks longer too. To be confirmed later.
That's it! Hope you enjoyed watching and reading
Mirage
