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3K Aquanaut review

srhoque

srhoque

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28/11/18
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Burbizia said:
Received my 5167 from 3KF yesterday.
Not as impressed as I hoped.

Positive stuff:
1) Dial is amazing Sunburst are gorgeous (and I only tried during night time).
2) Polishing of bezel is very good.
3) Date is thin, but well centered.
4) Movement is nice to watch
5) TD I bought it from, made the experience really positive.

Negative stuff:
1) Rotor is very noisy. I read that gen is too (and listened to a video on you tube), but i don't think is possible that genune is SO noisy. Maybe I have been unlucky, but is way nosier than ARF and even 70$ reps. When (if) datewhell will be released will ask to silence it and change DW, and probably try to water-proof it. But right now I feel hesitant to wear it due to noise.
2) Strap is really bad. I knew it and would like to fix it. Everyone here seems to be able to find a original strap, but I wonder where. I need 15 "dents" on a used one, and genuine seems to be only sold at 500€... would like to spend 200€. I wonder if i would be able to buy a ZF one from a TD. Would be great.
3) Painted writings on movement are almost non visible under bulb light. Don't know if engraving would have changed that, but I see no point in creating a "clone" movement that has an instant tell of difference.

Neutral stuff:
1) Some of numbers of dials seems not so well aligned. it was my first purchase so maybe I messed up QC. Still have to step up that part of "the game".
2) Clasp is not as bad as I expected from reviews.
Click to expand...

This is a very good summary. Another negative I would add is the lume difference between hands and hour markers. The hand lume is too much white. At some angles/lighting, I absolutely don’t like it.
 
2841

2841

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srhoque said:
This is a very good summary. Another negative I would add is the lume difference between hands and hour markers. The hand lume is too much white. At some angles/lighting, I absolutely don’t like it.
Click to expand...

Yep, the hands looks weird in daylight when then the lume is "charged"
 
APpee

APpee

Active Member
22/4/20
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sandman42 said:
Does anyone know if they only fixed the bezel on the steel bracelet model or if they fixed it on the strap model as well?
Click to expand...

Are you sure they even fixed the bezel? I spoke with trusty and he said model hasn’t changed or been modified awaiting QC. Though the thicker bezel is consistent with the pre 2009 model


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T

Tornado33

You're Saying I Can Sell?
4/3/20
37
2
8
bosaftw said:
I received my 3KF on steel bracelet + ZF rubber strap like a week ago after waiting 1 month for QC pictures.
I ordered steel bracelet version because I wanted to be sure there are no gold engravings, even when today also rubber version comes without gold engravings.

I am a noob and no watch smith but it was easy to put the ZF strap on the 3KF watch. I used a needle for the pins and a good knife to cut the rubber strap.

The watch feels incredible. Super flat and comfortable, you almost don‘t notice it on the wrist.
Movement keeps time perfectly, like +2 sec/day.
The rotor sound is exactly like gen. Noisy but that‘s how gens sound aswell.

3KF has fixed the bezel. It is not too fat anymore. So there is no reason anymore to buy ZF watch and put 3KF dial into it.

Yes the date font is a little bit too thin but I don‘t care. Nobody will notice. For me personally it looks even better with this thin date font. I don‘t like bold fonts on luxurious watches like this.

The only thing I will probably mod is the second hand pinion. On gen it is white.
On this 3KF the second hand itself is white, but the small pinion that holds the second hand is metal color and not painted.
To notice it you really have to be close to the watch so nobody will notice it immediately but putting a little bit of white paint is no difficult mod so I will ask a watch smith to do it for me.

It is my first Patek replica and I had lots of other reps before like ZZF, Noob, ARF. But this 3KF Aquanaut really is a stunning piece.

GOOD JOB 3K FACTORY!!!! :D


Some pictures in sunlight with beautiful sunburst.
Click on the picture for high resolution!





Click to expand...

That is gorgeus! I decided to go with the same combo 3kf steel bracelet version + ZF rubber strap and clasp. Which TD did you use? Thanks!
 
J

JCFans01

Horology Curious
2/10/20
17
3
3
Hi guys, my 3KF is finally here and I'm super excited. I think it looks perfect. What do you guys think? Any feedback? 3 pics below.





Thanks, everyone.
 
Mark1937

Mark1937

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JCFans01 said:
Hi guys, my 3KF is finally here and I'm super excited. I think it looks perfect. What do you guys think? Any feedback? 3 pics below.





Thanks, everyone.
Click to expand...

Just change rubber bro :)))
it is beautiful!
 
J

JCFans01

Horology Curious
2/10/20
17
3
3
Already on it. Ordered replacement straps in several colors lol. Thanks, everyone!
 
J

JCFans01

Horology Curious
2/10/20
17
3
3
srhoque said:
Enjoy in good health, stunning watch!! I also suggest you get the movement serviced byCosmograph4Ever sometime later (if/when 3k fixes it), you will have to change the DW also ;)
Click to expand...

Can you let me know what about the movement needs to be serviced and from my picture what is wrong with the DW? Sorry I'm a newb and appreciate the feedback!
 
2841

2841

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JCFans01 said:
I'm thinking about this too but down the line. What do you think of the potential gap?
Click to expand...

There is no gap. If you read back, i did a post on what type of springbars to use, and i put up a couple of pictures of the end result
 
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srhoque

srhoque

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JCFans01 said:
Can you let me know what about the movement needs to be serviced and from my picture what is wrong with the DW? Sorry I'm a newb and appreciate the feedback!
Click to expand...

movement is a hit or miss with regulation and service allows to "oil" it better. It also allows Watchmaker to look for potential issues. Since it's a relatively new movement, no much is know at this point. Your DW is too thin
 
J

JCFans01

Horology Curious
2/10/20
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srhoque said:
movement is a hit or miss with regulation and service allows to "oil" it better. It also allows Watchmaker to look for potential issues. Since it's a relatively new movement, no much is know at this point. Your DW is too thin
Click to expand...

Got it thanks. Where can I buy a gen DW and how much is a good price?


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JCFans01

Horology Curious
2/10/20
17
3
3
2841 said:
There is no gap. If you read back, i did a post on what type of springbars to use, and i put up a couple of pictures of the end result
Click to expand...

Thanks for entertaining me and the feedback. I will look for that post!!!
 
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aristole

aristole

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23/8/19
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Got my 3k Aquanaut today, lovely watch. The strap though is so "petrol stinky" that I cannot wear it...don't know if ZF strap is better, this one stinks like hell...impossible to wear :sick:
 
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