3K Nautilus Review

[timnic54]

I received my 3 K Nautilus from Trusty today

The watch has the white dial. I chose white because the blue dial can almost never be right.
PP themselves have made many variations on colour and finish. The white dial is easier to replicate and 3K have done a great job on what appears to be a pre 2018 dial ( There are many greater PP experts here please correct me if I am wrong about the dials chronology)

Dial hands and print, including date wheel are excellent to the eye and even good through a loupe Date wheel seems nicely centered.The markers look well finished, corners could be better rounded, but this is only visible with a loupe. The white has a nice slightly ivory hue which lends an air of very high quality and at the same time exudes genuineness.

The case is very well finished and the brushing and polish is very gen like . Weight seems right and everything functions smoothly and feels very solid . The crystal is clear and well set and the crown sits perfectly

From the back the 324 clone movement looks superbly finished The script is laser printed rather than engraved (This has been addressed extensively in threads relating to the Aquanaut from 3K) Rotor doesn't seem noisy to me

The band feels very smooth and has the right degree of articulation. It has no sharp edges and feels very well made.
The clasp works well and is firm when closed.
The polished part closest to the watch is a few microns too big to my eye, but it isn't that obvious on the wrist.

Overall the watch is very gen like and an amazingly good replication of the original (Which I have owned in the past)

We live at an incredible time. A time where for less than $600 we can buy a rep of a watch costing 30 times as much. A watch with an almost perfectly cloned movement. Ironically a movement which due to its exactness even suffers the inherent faults of the Gen. That is to say that the second hand , due to it's remote operation can stutter slightly in certain positions.

This watch is a game changer. IMHO anyone who buys a gen in place of this is completely crazy.

The gen will give you nothing that this watch doesn't offer

It is 100% NWBIG

Nothing will ever be the same since 3k made this movement and Noob made the 4130 Not to mention some great Panerai clones from VSF.

This is the golden age of Rep watches. Enjoy and indulge

Some photos

 

[bill33]

That dial is surprisingly good. Much much better than what I’ve seen in the qc and dealer pictures. Hands are excellent. Dial markers and hands have the correct oxidised finish that looks silver at some angles. Lume is a bit too grey on the markers though, should have had a white base coat beneath the lume imo. The datewheel cut out edge has the same issue as the PPF dial, not painted on the edges.

I don’t like the case on these though. I won’t go into detail as you’ve already mention the main flaw.

I’m going to build one of these with a 3k movement and hands, PPF white dial and PF case and bracelet if I can find a solution to the date disc. Be it a gen date disc or keylog date wheel if he decides to do them. I’ve got a 3k 5167 and the date disc font drives me insane.

At the end of the day it’s a $600 dollar watch versus a $70k gen. These are great for the money. Enjoy your watch mate, its great!

 

[theREALgoat]

The proportions look excellent IMO. All it needs is a gen dial bill33

 

[Blaithin]

Firstly, thank you very much for providing this review of the 3KF Nautilus. Reviews like these are invaluable to the community, and must be lauded for the effort taken to provide them. However, I'd like to add some things to the review just to make it clearer to others.

Now, I'm pretty sure I remember @majwilliams0308 commenting about the hour markers + hands not being correct (relating to the becoming "silver" part) on the 3KF Nautilus thread. I also remember that he installed a gen white dial on his Nautilus awhile back so the 3KF may be incorrect there. I won't comment on the white dial beyond that because I don't own one.

Good points (just things that weren't pointed out in detail):
1. In the photo of the back of the bracelet, there is an incredibly light "rounding" of edges in the center links which is what the gen has. Will increase comfort tremendously compared to PPF bracelets

Extremely Good Points:
- Movement finishing is truly superb when compared to the Calibre 324SC. Baseplates have beautiful geneva stripes that have a (not sure how prominent based on photos) curving hill effect for each slot. The chatons (those gold thingies where rubies sit) are mirror finished. The pivot points/points of friction where the other rubies and screws are inserted have a beautifully angled mirror finished anglage/chamfering along with every corner of the movement being subjected to the same anglage treatment (see how the edges slant with a mirror finish all over). Engraving or no engraving. This movement is already in and of itself quite impressive, and worth paying 600 usd for. You won't find any microbrand that would sell you a fully finished movement like this, I can assure you.

Below, I want to explain in light detail why this clone is so good relative to the genuine cal. 324SC to put into perspective the sheer immensity of the value of this "cheap ass" superclone.

Note that the Calibre 324SC is NOT a true hand finished movement, and there have been debates regarding pre-and post geneva seal Patek finishing, but for our purposes. The Nautilus 324SC conveniently met the Geneva seal qualifications below (These guys have changed and reworded the definitions to accomodate machine tooling).

Straight from the Poincon de Geneve aka Geneva Seal website: Baseplates, plates for additional mechanisms and bridges

Solid parts that house the wheel trains and mechanisms. Due to their large size, the Poinçon de Genève specifies that all machining marks must be eliminated. In addition, the most attractive decorations are used according to specific criteria.


Take note of the underlined part which only requires manufacturers to clean up machining marks. The Nautilus qualifies for this. As an example, a machine tool called a touret (it's been described as looking like an electric toothbrush...not inaccurate) can allow one to more easily create the anglage effect with significant time savings. The end result is still quite angular, and has the very tiny burrs that you have to clean up via bevelling by hand to meet the Geneva Seal.

There is evidence that post-Geneva seal Patek has reduced/"left out" the hand finishing somewhat signifcantly on entry level movements like the 324SC and some permutations based on it, and in very, very high magnification close ups you will see marks left by the machine in the anglage. The term you'll use depends on whether you view using a machine assisted by a guy's hand as "hand finishing" because you can do angalge with a touret...you can do cote de geneve with the geneva stripe machine...you can do circular bevelling with a machine etc. etc. all assisted by a guy's hand. Whereas inefficient old school hand finishing has you using a file and a peg for anglage (I like to call it a wooden stick) which opens up more advanced finishing avenues that a machine cannot do, and is obviously very time consuming.

Granted, there is also [not simply anecdotal] evidence where they have upped their hand finishing on the those models bordering the true high-end line since shedding the Geneva seal (generally stuff in the 100k-200k ish mark).

I won't rant too hard about my misgivings about the gen cal. 324SC, but this should give you an approximate idea of what this superclone movement represents for the replica community. It will never meet the cleanliness, materials, sturdiness, and qc of a gen movement, but it's pretty much a goddamn steal in the grand scheme of every watch in the 500-1k usd price point.

**I'm sorry I couldn't be more eloquent about my descriptions. I had to shed so much of my insane watch enthusiast jargon to accomodate for people who wouldn't understand me throwing around technical terms, and random fancy french words. I also left out a whole section describing the more difficult types of finishing that can only be done by hand

My additional observations (things I'm pretty sure are off):
1. the "inner sides" of the date window isn't painted black (see second photo of main post). I'm pretty sure I recall those had to be painted black all the way through.
2. The first solid center link is, indeed too big. (This isn't that much of a problem).
3. All the solid center links are too rectangular (emphasizing the angular part). They're not curved enough, and I take more issue with this (personally), but it's easy to see regardless. No rep Nautilus has gotten this fully right, but I know the PPF is close enough that it's hard to tell unless you're looking for it. It's much more prominent here.

Other suspicions and tiny personal peeves (take with grain of salt):
1. Anglage/Chamfering of the lugs seems far more prominent. In other words, it looks to me, that a larger portion of the lugs is mirror finished compared to gen where it's this mirror finish part is far more subtle.
2. "Patek Philippe Geneve" font is a smidge less bold. <-FYI, but nothing that anybody would really notice unless they were forcibly using a loupe to check your watch

Addendum:
Since I know linking stuff to other places might do some weird unwanted stuff in search engines. I can only describe the article I suggest as light picture-book reading for those who wish to look at a beautiful movement possible only by hand finishing in nice macros with a bit of spirited discussion on what the meaning and presence of the highest calibers of finissage in a movement is. Is a movement's technical execution good enough to deserve this high calibre of finissage? What is the purpose of finssage beyond aesthetics? As well as a lament on "skin deep" finissage on [gen] movements that do not get the basics of keeping time reliably, precisely, and accurately. This will probably also help you better understand what the superclone 324SC offers and what it does not.

- Article by watchesbysjx entitled "Editorial: Movement finishing in the Instagram Age"

 

[timnic54]

Firstly, thank you very much for providing this review of the 3KF Nautilus. Reviews like these are invaluable to the community, and must be lauded for the effort taken to provide them. However, I'd like to add some things to the review just to make it clearer to others.

Now, I'm pretty sure I remember @majwilliams0308 commenting about the hour markers + hands not being correct (relating to the becoming "silver" part) on the 3KF Nautilus thread. I also remember that he installed a gen white dial on his Nautilus awhile back so the 3KF may be incorrect there. I won't comment on the white dial beyond that because I don't own one.

Good points (just things that weren't pointed out in detail):
1. In the photo of the back of the bracelet, there is an incredibly light "rounding" of edges in the center links which is what the gen has. Will increase comfort tremendously compared to PPF bracelets

Extremely Good Points:
- Movement finishing is truly superb when compared to the Calibre 324SC. Baseplates have beautiful geneva stripes that have a (not sure how prominent based on photos) curving hill effect for each slot. The chatons (those gold thingies where rubies sit) are mirror finished. The pivot points/points of friction where the other rubies and screws are inserted have a beautifully angled mirror finished anglage/chamfering along with every corner of the movement being subjected to the same anglage treatment (see how the edges slant with a mirror finish all over). Engraving or no engraving. This movement is already in and of itself quite impressive, and worth paying 600 usd for. You won't find any microbrand that would sell you a fully finished movement like this, I can assure you.

Below, I want to explain in light detail why this clone is so good relative to the genuine cal. 324SC to put into perspective the sheer immensity of the value of this "cheap ass" superclone.

Note that the Calibre 324SC is NOT a true hand finished movement, and there have been debates regarding pre-and post geneva seal Patek finishing, but for our purposes. The Nautilus 324SC conveniently met the Geneva seal qualifications below (These guys have changed and reworded the definitions to accomodate machine tooling).

Straight from the Poincon de Geneve aka Geneva Seal website: Baseplates, plates for additional mechanisms and bridges

Solid parts that house the wheel trains and mechanisms. Due to their large size, the Poinçon de Genève specifies that all machining marks must be eliminated. In addition, the most attractive decorations are used according to specific criteria.


Take note of the underlined part which only requires manufacturers to clean up machining marks. The Nautilus qualifies for this. As an example, a machine tool called a touret can allow one to more easily create the anglage effect with significant time savings. The end result is still quite angular, and has the very tiny burrs that you have to clean up via bevelling by hand to meet the Geneva Seal.

There is evidence that post-Geneva seal Patek has left out the hand finishing on entry level movements like the 324SC and some permutations based on it, and in very, very high magnification close ups you will see the marks left by the machine in the anglage. Granted, there is also [not simply anecdotal] evidence where they have upped their hand finishing on the those models bordering the true high-end line since shedding the Geneva seal (generally stuff in the 100k-200k ish mark).

I won't rant too hard about my misgivings about the gen cal. 324SC, but this should give you an approximate idea of what this superclone movement represents for the replica community. It will never meet the cleanliness, materials, sturdiness, and qc of a gen movement, but it's pretty much a goddamn steal in the grand scheme of every watch in the 500-1k usd price point.

**I'm sorry I couldn't be more eloquent about my descriptions. I had to shed so much of my insane watch enthusiast jargon to accomodate for people who wouldn't understand me throwing around technical terms, and random fancy french words.

My additional observations (things I'm pretty sure are off):
1. the "inner sides" of the date window isn't painted black (see second photo of main post). I'm pretty sure I recall those had to be painted black all the way through.
2. The first solid center link is, indeed too big. (This isn't that much of a problem).
3. All the solid center links are too rectangular (emphasizing the angular part). They're not curved enough, and I take more issue with this (personally), but it's easy to see regardless. No rep Nautilus has gotten this fully right, but I know the PPF is close enough that it's hard to tell unless you're looking for it. It's much more prominent here.

Other suspicions and tiny personal peeves (take with grain of salt):
1. Anglage/Chamfering of the lugs seems far more prominent. In other words, it looks to me, that a larger portion of the lugs is mirror finished compared to gen where it's this mirror finish part is far more subtle.
2. "Patek Philippe Geneve" font is a smidge less bold. <-FYI, but nothing that anybody would really notice unless they were forcibly using a loupe to check your watch

Thank you for your informed accurate and very welcome comments. All of which I agree with entirely

 

[SHB]

Excellent review thanks for sharing that advice

 

[Blaithin]

Thank you for your informed accurate and very welcome comments. All of which I agree with entirely

Thank you to you as well. I just wanted to add input, and put into context why this superclone is much more worth it than many members think. Just because it's not engraved doesn't mean it's worthless. The features at play are too good to simply let people dismiss them.

I also made major clarifications to my post after you quoted me. I felt i had not fully explained my rationale as to why some in the upper echelons of watch collecting believe that Patek has "left out" its hand finishing on "basic" movements like the cal. 324SC

 

[andrewmb]

Great review again, and good to see some better photos. Really tempted with this!

 

[Lizandro]

timnic54 could you please post a picture of the crown side of the watch
it would be greatly appreciated.

 

[pompompurin]

I think not all gens have painted sides of the date window? Like the one below:

https://www.professionalwatches.com/patek-philippe-nautilus-jumbo-white-dial/

 

[paulvillo]

[mention]timnic54 [/mention] and [mention]Blaithin [/mention] thanks a lot for this! You’ve made my day!
Taking the plunge ASAP!
Cheers!

 

[flextime]

[mention]timnic54 [/mention] and [mention]Blaithin [/mention] thanks a lot for this! You’ve made my day!
Taking the plunge ASAP!
Cheers!

Yes. I want to echo what Paul here have said. Thank you for the thorough review and explanations. I’ve learned a lot.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Rainbowkin]

Thanks for the hard work guys. Unfortunately I am going to wait till 3K figure out there blue 5711 which is one of my grails. Congrats!

 

[timnic54]

Thanks for the hard work guys. Unfortunately I am going to wait till 3K figure out there blue 5711 which is one of my grails. Congrats!

If you finally select the blue dial Make sure you calibrate you computer screen before checking photos.

Look at several photos of the watch over the last 10 years at least.

Only by this do you have even the smallest chance to know if you have a dial which resembles the Gen closely.

Colours are very difficult, even for the gen makers, to keep consistent through batch production over time.

 

[Rainbowkin]

If you finally select the blue dial Make sure you calibrate you computer screen before checking photos.

Look at several photos of the watch over the last 10 years at least.

Only by this do you have even the smallest chance to know if you have a dial which resembles the Gen closely.

Colours are very difficult, even for the gen makers, to keep consistent through batch production over time.

Hey thanks for the kind words and help. I recently joined the rep game and will for sure keep learning as I go.

 

[timnic54]

timnic54 could you please post a picture of the crown side of the watch
it would be greatly appreciated.

Crown side

 

[srhoque]

timnic54 Blaithin Amazing review. Thank you for technical details and attention to multiple facets of the watch in your reviews. Much appreciated!!

Can anyone confirm if this movement fits the PF case?

 

[mech500]

What a lovely watch and review. Thank you for your opinion. Pictures look fantastic although it would be good to see a few unedited/unfiltered daylight pics to get an idea of how this watch look like in real life...ie. does it “pop” in the same manner without the editing.

but yes, I agree, this new clone movement is a game changer!! Enjoy

 

[timnic54]

What a lovely watch and review. Thank you for your opinion. Pictures look fantastic although it would be good to see a few unedited/unfiltered daylight pics to get an idea of how this watch look like in real life...ie. does it “pop” in the same manner without the editing.

but yes, I agree, this new clone movement is a game changer!! Enjoy

I am pretty minimalist with editing (Old school photographer) I don't even own a photoshop program.

All of the photos I posted are un-filtered and in daylight either on my patio or in the garden. No lighting and no photoshop. Just a little sharpness enhancement and some cropping.

Two shots I just took in the garden, not ideal light, It is 2pm and very bright sunlight in a tropical climate, but straight out of the camera and one on my sofa in natural light.

 

[acmcc]

Thank you timnic54 for your great review, I've always enjoyed reading your reviews (and Blaithin for his additional comments).
With so many black and blue dials in my collection I was thinking of another white dialled watch. I was originally thinking of the VC overseas that you reviewed (a while back now) and I'm guessing both would work in a collection as the VC is a little more sporty on the rubber strap. I know that the Patek kind of bridges the gap between dress and sport watch but how does it feel on the wrist?
One of the biggest things for me I've found over years is that I have a lot of watches that I like but rarely wear as they aren't really that comfortable! so I usually end up going with something that feels good on the wrist (gen or rep).