Omega Planet Ocean full review plus Gen vs Rep compro

[peter4103]

Very true….. it’s always apples and oranges in a way. I was therefore only referring to the VSF PO 43,5mm orange insert bezel that I have at the moment. VSF has, in my opinion, one small flaw and that is that the orange letters on the dial lose their orange color over the years. Other than that, it’s a great piece and it keeps time as the gen!

 

[eBoy]

Mine has orange letters on the dial and they still look fine! But I'll keep an eye out for such wear now. Thx for the hint! I never heard of that issue, just of colored ceramic bezels on the newer VSF reps losing their color. An RWI buddy on here has a Big Blue 45.5 that recently needed its bezel insert to be swapped.

 

[peter4103]

I wasn’t aware of that issue. Mine is about 2 years old now and bezel is as new. Actually the whole watch is. I just installed a new rubber black strap with the orange stitching a few days back as the clasp on the ss bracelet broke (one of the two buttons on the side broke), but other than that the watch is still in the same condition as two years ago. And it runs flawless. Very happy with it. As mentioned, when I received it I still had the gen (45,5mm chrono), which i sold not much later and haven’t missed the gen for a minute.

 

[eBoy]

I can imagine that with reps, it is indeed possible (maybe even very likely) that the quality of certain parts may vary greatly between batches, since I think that the watch part suppliers may be switched, perhaps even several times, within the production run. Even more so if a popular rep model is produced over the course of several years.

 

[peter4103]

Yeah, I think consistency in quality is not something to be expected. Having said that, I think there are a few outstanding factories for reps and a lot which are much less. I keep VSF in high regards for Omega and Panarai.

 

[eBoy]

No doubt about that!

I'm a big Omega fan and recently bought a new Moonwatch with the co-axial mvmt because there's no good rep available.

But my three VSF Seamasters are just NWBIG. Instead of spending almost 20 Gs, I have 98% of the visual and haptic experience and perhaps 20 to 30% of the mechanics for a mere 5% of the gen cost.

A VSF Panerai will most likely be my next purchase, but for this year I'm done (I have a new AP 15500 ZF V3 currently on the way).

 

[peter4103]

I know the feeling! I have a VSF Pam1056, a AZF IWC big pilot annual calender le petit price and a GF Breitling Avenger 44 underway. I am pretty much done for this year too. Am thinking about selling the VSF Omega (its a full set), but not emotionally ready yet. ;-)