Dear members, newly joined, or the ones that have been here for a while and perhaps are not very familiar with the Patek Philippe reps.. I have been contacted literally by hundreds of members in the past year via PM. Some even have 0 posts, and others that have their weight in the community here. Many of them were seeking my advice for wanting to buy the best Patek Philippe Aquanaut rep out there.
First of all, I need to clarify something; my views on this thread are of only mine. The reader should understand that those views do not necessarily agree with what you think, and you might have different views, which is completely alright. A second thing I want to clarify especially for the new comers in the rep world, those grading systems of a rep being 1:1 with gen or with A++ quality is bogus, there is no such thing. Each rep has its flaws, and you will never ever find a 1:1 rep to gen, if you want a 1:1 I suggest you stop reading and go buy a gen. Also if you buy through our trusted dealers, you definitely see the quality is reflected in the price, without having to say it’s A and A++, and so on.. If you search for a certain watch and find a cheap version and another version that is much more expensive, here is your proof. The cheaper will have a cheaper movement and most likely the factory won’t take extra efforts to make the rep looks closer to gen. where the higher priced rep you will find a better quality movement, better attention to detail.
With having said that, let’s talk about the 5167 Aquanaut. The version I will talk about is the rose gold version, as it is the one I chose. I never bought the SS, so You are gonna have to ask someone that did.
The Aquanaut Jumbo is one of the most sought after Patek today, and the reason is that is it the most affordable version watch, and it’s the company’s intro in the market. This watch can be compared to normally priced Rolexes.. the next level Pateks will jump almost double the price of the 5167 Aquanaut. But the rose gold version is not considered intro priced, it is only the SS that is.
Now for me, I looked at many different versions of the watch, there are few miyota versions out there, and now also the decorated thicker version is introduced.. but after all the research I did, I found from other well established members that the SW200 version is made very close to gen. the dial color is spot on, the date font is really extremely close, and the overall look is closer than the other versions. Only issue is that the price is a bit hefty, and many are not willing to pay the $500 price tag. Also if you hate the sound of the spin from the rotor, I urge you to stay away from the Miyota versions in general, and especially the thicker decorated ones at they are not only noisy, but also could be seen from far that it is thick. At least with the trained eyes like mine now..
While at it, if you are contemplating between the RG and the SS because of your scare of the RG changing color, I will rest your mind. I have the RG 5167 Aquanaut for over a year now.. I have been taking a good care of her, wiping it from sweat from the places that touches my skin every time I wear it, and until today, the watch is intact. Perfect and without any discoloration. And hopefully it will stay this way as long as you take extra care of it.
So to conclude, After all this time and few new 5167 models coming out V.3 V4 and so on, to me, I still think that the 5167 Aquanaut SW200 V2 from V6F factory is the best rep you can buy today. As most of the flaws are tackled very well, and the dial color and the date font are on point. It won’t have any faults staring at you, no wrong dial color like the Miyota, no wrong date font, not a thick case, all those boxes will be checked. Last couple of pics are the watch on a brown Perlon strap, which gave the watch a completely new look, very summery look.
Now from now on, when I get asked by PM to help with finding the best Nautilus, I will just add the link to this post, and have the discussion here
First of all, I need to clarify something; my views on this thread are of only mine. The reader should understand that those views do not necessarily agree with what you think, and you might have different views, which is completely alright. A second thing I want to clarify especially for the new comers in the rep world, those grading systems of a rep being 1:1 with gen or with A++ quality is bogus, there is no such thing. Each rep has its flaws, and you will never ever find a 1:1 rep to gen, if you want a 1:1 I suggest you stop reading and go buy a gen. Also if you buy through our trusted dealers, you definitely see the quality is reflected in the price, without having to say it’s A and A++, and so on.. If you search for a certain watch and find a cheap version and another version that is much more expensive, here is your proof. The cheaper will have a cheaper movement and most likely the factory won’t take extra efforts to make the rep looks closer to gen. where the higher priced rep you will find a better quality movement, better attention to detail.
With having said that, let’s talk about the 5167 Aquanaut. The version I will talk about is the rose gold version, as it is the one I chose. I never bought the SS, so You are gonna have to ask someone that did.
The Aquanaut Jumbo is one of the most sought after Patek today, and the reason is that is it the most affordable version watch, and it’s the company’s intro in the market. This watch can be compared to normally priced Rolexes.. the next level Pateks will jump almost double the price of the 5167 Aquanaut. But the rose gold version is not considered intro priced, it is only the SS that is.
Now for me, I looked at many different versions of the watch, there are few miyota versions out there, and now also the decorated thicker version is introduced.. but after all the research I did, I found from other well established members that the SW200 version is made very close to gen. the dial color is spot on, the date font is really extremely close, and the overall look is closer than the other versions. Only issue is that the price is a bit hefty, and many are not willing to pay the $500 price tag. Also if you hate the sound of the spin from the rotor, I urge you to stay away from the Miyota versions in general, and especially the thicker decorated ones at they are not only noisy, but also could be seen from far that it is thick. At least with the trained eyes like mine now..
While at it, if you are contemplating between the RG and the SS because of your scare of the RG changing color, I will rest your mind. I have the RG 5167 Aquanaut for over a year now.. I have been taking a good care of her, wiping it from sweat from the places that touches my skin every time I wear it, and until today, the watch is intact. Perfect and without any discoloration. And hopefully it will stay this way as long as you take extra care of it.
So to conclude, After all this time and few new 5167 models coming out V.3 V4 and so on, to me, I still think that the 5167 Aquanaut SW200 V2 from V6F factory is the best rep you can buy today. As most of the flaws are tackled very well, and the dial color and the date font are on point. It won’t have any faults staring at you, no wrong dial color like the Miyota, no wrong date font, not a thick case, all those boxes will be checked. Last couple of pics are the watch on a brown Perlon strap, which gave the watch a completely new look, very summery look.
Now from now on, when I get asked by PM to help with finding the best Nautilus, I will just add the link to this post, and have the discussion here
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