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ZF Aquanaut 5167a vs KMF Aquanaut + (DW mod)

mottykytu

Active Member
4/6/13
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0
Hi guys,

I'm looking to buy a 5167a REP and after that update it with Keylog DW but in the first place I have to choose the base first, so I hope you can give me an advice

*Please do not tell me to read through topic about them, as I have already read many pages but still cannot decide that why I need your help, Thank you guys.

I have the final choice between zf 5167 and KMF 5167, and now have a dilemma because many say ZF 5167a is better but others say KMF 5167a + DW mod is much better than the ZF

so can you guys help me to update my knowledge

a/ ZF 5167a stock vs KMF 5167 a + DW mod

which one will be a better choice and closer to gen?

and if both have the DW mod like

b/ ZF 5167a + DW mod vs KMF 5167a + DW mod

which will have the better result in case, dial...? I do not care much about movement different !

Thanks alot for your advice, I appriciated all your opinion

Gratitude !
 
Last edited:

Tobel

Put Some Respect On My Name
6/7/17
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KMF is thinner but lacks a bit of sunburst. ZF has too much sunburst but has better markers. KMF seems to have crystal without white border, unlike ZF
 
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mottykytu

Active Member
4/6/13
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KMF is thinner but lacks a bit of sunburst. ZF has too much sunburst but has better markers. KMF seems to have crystal without white border, unlike ZF

thank for your opinion, could you please tell me what do you mean by "white Border" ?
 

LuminorReptar

RepTime BST Mod
27/3/17
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Speaking totally subjectively I think the ZF out of the box is the overall winner..


I personally have a KMF (TD told me the ZF was our of stock, so I could either wait or swap, and I was impatient).


I modded mine quite extensively though. Firstly adding Keylog / SpongeBobs DWO. Then I sourced a ZF dial, and swapped all the individual dial markers from ZF. Lastly I modded the pinion like gen, with white paint..


Overall it’s a mix of both worlds, which is ideal. But it was a pain and took a long time..


However, without such extensive work the ZF wins (in my opinion) because the “flaws” are the least obvious and overall the appearance is closer to gen.


The dial sunburst flaw is irrelevant.. it will change based on lighting and near impossible to tell on wrist. The thickness is only a few hairs thicker than KMF and again, impossible to notice on wrist. The decorated movement looks better than KMF. I think the clasp on ZF is slightly worse but it’s not a big deal. Overall the dial markers on ZF look spot on and makes ZF the better choice.



Sent from my iPhone using RWI
 
Last edited:

erudite

You're Saying I Can Sell?
8/11/18
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Speaking totally subjectively I think the ZF out of the box is the overall winner..


I personally have a KMF (TD told me the ZF was our of stock, so I could either wait or swap, and I was impatient).


I modded mine quite extensively though. Firstly adding Keylog / SpongeBobs DWO. Then I sourced a ZF dial, and swapped all the individual dial markers from ZF. Lastly I modded the pinion like gen, with white paint..


Overall it’s a mix of both worlds, which is ideal. But it was a pain and took a long time..


However, without such extensive work the ZF wins (in my opinion) because the “flaws” are the least obvious and overall the appearance is closer to gen.


The dial sunburst flaw is irrelevant.. it will change based on lighting and near impossible to tell on wrist. The thickness is only a few hairs thicker than KMF and again, impossible to notice on wrist. The decorated movement looks better than KMF. I think the clasp on ZF is slightly worse but it’s not a big deal. Overall the dial markers on ZF look spot on and makes ZF the better choice.



Sent from my iPhone using RWI

Yeah from my reading your exactly right. I think a mix of the two is ideal if you can do it. Did you do all the work yourself?

I asked a TD today if they knew that ZF had any plans of releasing an improved version and they said not.

I did see one guy in another thread who thought the dial on the ZF was way too strong with regards to the sunburst and had subsequently sold it.
 

mottykytu

Active Member
4/6/13
355
69
0
Speaking totally subjectively I think the ZF out of the box is the overall winner..


I personally have a KMF (TD told me the ZF was our of stock, so I could either wait or swap, and I was impatient).


I modded mine quite extensively though. Firstly adding Keylog / SpongeBobs DWO. Then I sourced a ZF dial, and swapped all the individual dial markers from ZF. Lastly I modded the pinion like gen, with white paint..


Overall it’s a mix of both worlds, which is ideal. But it was a pain and took a long time..


However, without such extensive work the ZF wins (in my opinion) because the “flaws” are the least obvious and overall the appearance is closer to gen.


The dial sunburst flaw is irrelevant.. it will change based on lighting and near impossible to tell on wrist. The thickness is only a few hairs thicker than KMF and again, impossible to notice on wrist. The decorated movement looks better than KMF. I think the clasp on ZF is slightly worse but it’s not a big deal. Overall the dial markers on ZF look spot on and makes ZF the better choice.



Sent from my iPhone using RWI

mix of 2 is a good choice, but should we choose the ZF Base or KMF Base and why?

Thanks alot for your in-depth solution ! ;) ...
 

LuminorReptar

RepTime BST Mod
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mix of 2 is a good choice, but should we choose the ZF Base or KMF Base and why?

Thanks alot for your in-depth solution ! ;) ...

No problem bro! Just sharing my opinion..

If you're going to make a mix of both, you should ask yourself if having a thinner case but with incorrect movement, is more important than having a slightly thicker case with a more correctly decorated movement... (still not perfect though).

I personally did not find the sunburst too bad on the ZF .. but I will take another look and compare them.

To me, I still say better base to use is KMF because its thinner, and the case-back with incorrect movement doesn't matter. No one is really going to see my watch off-wrist anyway, and even if they did I think 99% of people around me have no clue what the 324SC should look like. I also preferred KMF's slightly better clasp, and no "line flaw" on the dial at 5. Overall I thought KMF's dial was nicer even if very very slightly...

However, ZF dial markers are the clear winner, and the work to swap all the dial markers from KMF to ZF is a bit of a hassle.. but IMO, this is the best of both worlds.

If you wanted to use ZF as a base... the only adjustments I would recommend is the Keylog / Spongebob DWO, and the rest can leave it as is (or maybe swap the clasp to KMF since its easy installation).

Here are some pics:



 
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LuminorReptar

RepTime BST Mod
27/3/17
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Yeah from my reading your exactly right. I think a mix of the two is ideal if you can do it. Did you do all the work yourself?

I asked a TD today if they knew that ZF had any plans of releasing an improved version and they said not.

I did see one guy in another thread who thought the dial on the ZF was way too strong with regards to the sunburst and had subsequently sold it.

I sourced the parts but had Spongebob do all the work.. Apparently it was very difficult to exchange the dial markers because the 'bracket' or 'hole' on the KMF dial is small, but the markers from ZF have fat 'feet'. I can't remember if he cut the feet from the ZF dial makers and then pasted them... or if he found a way to widen the holes on the KMF dial.

Either way.. not an easy task (nor cheap)..

I'll take another look at my ZF dial compared to the KMF and give some feedback on the sunburst.. I wouldn't really be able to say which is closer to gen without a side-by-side comparison though, so its kind of a moot point..
 

mottykytu

Active Member
4/6/13
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I sourced the parts but had Spongebob do all the work.. Apparently it was very difficult to exchange the dial markers because the 'bracket' or 'hole' on the KMF dial is small, but the markers from ZF have fat 'feet'. I can't remember if he cut the feet from the ZF dial makers and then pasted them... or if he found a way to widen the holes on the KMF dial.

Either way.. not an easy task (nor cheap)..

I'll take another look at my ZF dial compared to the KMF and give some feedback on the sunburst.. I wouldn't really be able to say which is closer to gen without a side-by-side comparison though, so its kind of a moot point..

very very nice thank you !

with the SWAP Zf marker do you mean that now you have on your watch is

1/ ZF DIAL with KMF marker

or

2/ KMF DIAL with ZF marker ?

I cannot really tell from the picture...

p/s: and when you say ZF DIAL is the clear winner that mean the marker win only not the sunburst effect?
 
Last edited:

mottykytu

Active Member
4/6/13
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KMF original dial, with ZF markers installed onto it.

I meant ZF is the winner only for the dial markers. The actual dial details, print, and sunburst I slightly prefer KMF. But I think they are close...

<3 many thanks

if you keep both, hope you get the side-by side comparision soon to see how the sunburst really different in real-life and can be seen by naked eyes or not ;) ;)
 
Last edited:

LuminorReptar

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<3 many thanks

if you keep both, hope you get the side-by side comparision soon to see how the sunburst really different in real-life and can be seen by naked eyes or not ;) ;)

No problem bro!

Give me a day or two, I'll post some pictures and share feedback on how I think it looks in natural light / indoor light.
 

Mr.Marbella

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I think kmf Dial is the better one.

I’ve got a ZF here some
Pics for you to compare :

1a2de7678449a6fc2416b7419969ba76.jpg


029cec10b365a597238069c638f6ed3b.jpg


468c8777b4418750c8860886c264ed1f.jpg


75c0d9be7a871ddca1d4acd0b4cbf2a0.jpg


1c6de6e73102a27134344eaa3afbe7a9.jpg


This is Gen :

96499306b77d80940e89db9f8d73ead5.jpg





Gesendet von iPhone mit Tapatalk Pro
 

mottykytu

Active Member
4/6/13
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I think kmf Dial is the better one.

I’ve got a ZF here some
Pics for you to compare :


Gesendet von iPhone mit Tapatalk Pro

thanks, how exactly kmf dial better than zf dial?

they said zf dial got too much sunburst?
 

irvin

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KMF dial also does not have the number 5 line flaw with the marker. It’s obvious on the ZF once you sees it and worse if you have OCD.

I don’t get about having too much or too little sunburst, I pick the aquanaut because of the sunburst shades on the dial and It looks absolutely fabulous so having more is better for me, perhaps it’s like why some prefer having 2x AR rather than single AR like the gen. 2x AR showcases the beautiful dials of the watches and you’ll be able to take very nice pictures on many angles.(paneristis will know the pain)

End of the day most of the people you come across can’t really tell that on the wrist unless you had a gen side by side since the sunburst changes according to environment lightings.
 

mottykytu

Active Member
4/6/13
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KMF dial also does not have the number 5 line flaw with the marker. It’s obvious on the ZF once you sees it and worse if you have OCD.

I don’t get about having too much or too little sunburst, I pick the aquanaut because of the sunburst shades on the dial and It looks absolutely fabulous so having more is better for me, perhaps it’s like why some prefer having 2x AR rather than single AR like the gen. 2x AR showcases the beautiful dials of the watches and you’ll be able to take very nice pictures on many angles.(paneristis will know the pain)

End of the day most of the people you come across can’t really tell that on the wrist unless you had a gen side by side since the sunburst changes according to environment lightings.

You have kmf or zf? and by your criteria which one is closer to gen in real-life situation?
 

LuminorReptar

RepTime BST Mod
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Unfortunate news... Spongebob was supposed to send back my ZF dial over the weekend but was quite preoccupied and subsequently forgot..

Since I'm flying to the States day after tomorrow, I wont get a chance to post comparison pictures until after I'm back, around mid July..

Hope you guys don't mind the wait. Will follow up in due course.
 

The Rod

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KMF is thinner but lacks a bit of sunburst. ZF has too much sunburst but has better markers. KMF seems to have crystal without white border, unlike ZF

No white borders on ZF crystal