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Today we tested all the popular SUBs for 904L steel

Smoke

Legendary Member
18/3/13
14,093
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mmh i see, i'm linking the pieces now, i wonder if ZF and Angus tried the test on a V2S or on a real V3 at this point.

I guess we shall see

He said the latest that's means v3 imo
 

arpa90

Active Member
2/11/18
248
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43
He said the latest that's means v3 imo
I dont think so. He didnt even know the v3 existed until i pointed this out to him. No one got QC either. The only pictures that exist of the v3 were made by Li@JTime.
 

mnkoshka

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28/12/09
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The problem is 904L and 316L composition is vastly different. We're not talking small changes in alloying metal percentages. It's about having or not having copper, >10% absolute difference in nickel, having or not having phosphorous. So the "we got a bad batch" excuse is a bit of a cop out.

Personally I don't think 904L is "worth" any premium over 316L in both rep and gen form. If patek is fine with 316L, it's fine with me.

I completely agree... but as soon as someone sees a little more nickle and molybdenum than what’s expected with 316 using certain test equipment they get all excited. There’s a lot of factors that go into manufacturing steel that give its properties along with its specific ingredients and The purity of those ingredients is also a factor. I agree that 904L is nothing special... I deal with more super duplex steels which have higher strength and hardness and are actually cheaper lol


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Neo_Goku1

Horology Curious
26/9/20
24
11
0
I dont think so. He didnt even know the v3 existed until i pointed this out to him. No one got QC either. The only pictures that exist of the v3 were made by Li@JTime.

What's your problem dude? You've called Angus a liar on his ZF reveal post and are still on Smoke's case after calling him a retard twice? Why you even here?
 

arpa90

Active Member
2/11/18
248
175
43
What's your problem dude? You've called Angus a liar on his ZF reveal post and are still on Smoke's case after calling him a retard twice? Why you even here?
I don't know what your problem is. I cautioned people to wait someone independent to confirm what Angus said. Now its confirmed. I'm also not sure why you are quoting me here. I'm fairly certain that Angus tested the v2s. Because as far as i know the only one who had the actual v3 was Li.
 

Neo_Goku1

Horology Curious
26/9/20
24
11
0
I don't know what your problem is. I cautioned people to wait someone independent to confirm what Angus said. Now its confirmed. I'm also not sure why you are quoting me here. I'm fairly certain that Angus tested the v2s. Because as far as i know the only one who had the actual v3 was Li.

I'm not sure why you have Smoke's comment pinned either after calling him a retard twice. You are being passive aggressive and it's toxic to the forum.
 

mnkoshka

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The problem is 904L and 316L composition is vastly different. We're not talking small changes in alloying metal percentages. It's about having or not having copper, >10% absolute difference in nickel, having or not having phosphorous. So the "we got a bad batch" excuse is a bit of a cop out.

Personally I don't think 904L is "worth" any premium over 316L in both rep and gen form. If patek is fine with 316L, it's fine with me.

I just it find it’s funny that we are getting 904L that’s magnetic... what I meant is with batches is they are probably not getting 904L from all suppliers of parts. Obviously not all these parts are not made under one roof so false claims from vendors is likely taking place. Probably explains why most of my reps stated as 904 have very magnetic parts. Sometimes it’s a bracelet and sometimes it’s a bezel or case, I’m sure factories don’t test these “batches” of steel


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mari115

Put Some Respect On My Name
9/6/18
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Nearer than you think
I just it find it’s funny that we are getting 904L that’s magnetic... what I meant is with batches is they are probably not getting 904L from all suppliers of parts. Obviously not all these parts are not made under one roof so false claims from vendors is likely taking place. Probably explains why most of my reps stated as 904 have very magnetic parts. Sometimes it’s a bracelet and sometimes it’s a bezel or case, I’m sure factories don’t test these “batches” of steel


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is 904l supposed to be non-magnetic? while 316l is? i have some 316l and 904l watches at home, if magnetism can be used as a way to distinguish them then it's easy, right?
 

Raddave

Most Delicious of all Nipples!
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Most stainless are non magnetic
 
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mnkoshka

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is 904l supposed to be non-magnetic? while 316l is? i have some 316l and 904l watches at home, if magnetism can be used as a way to distinguish them then it's easy, right?

Sort of but Not exactly... you’ll need a good quality magnet to tell the differences although I’ve had a standard fridge magnet be attracted to some of my stated 904L watches haha which indicated they are most likely not 904L. 316L can become magnetic through cold working... as metal that’s worked below it’s recrystallisation temperature to put it in simple terms.

When case blanks are punched out by a press it’s similar to an extrusion process along with other categories such as bending, sheering and squeezing. These processes are used more often with stainless because hot working stainless can cause stress fracturing and making it harder on tooling and machining accuracy.

Proper 904L is austenitic does not magnetise under theses manufacturing processes as in the ones involved in making watches. Other high quality stainless steels like 316L do become magnetic through these processes and most of the time go through processes to demagnetise at the final
Stages of manufacturing or production... obviously rep factories would not do this.


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saucin

Renowned Member
20/4/20
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Nothing truly “official”. Li did say that the owner of ZZF was told by his supplier that the bracelets he was buying were 904L. He also said that ZZF guarantees V3 will have 904L bracelet exactly like ARF. But I think a consumer test by Mike will be necessary to check for sure.

Based on this, and the fact a V2s bracelet was tested by both Angus and Mike and is def not 904L, it sounds like ZZF’s supplier might have screwed up some of (if not all) the V2s bracelets.


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VIV54

Renowned Member
13/12/17
688
391
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Nothing truly “official”. Li did say that the owner of ZZF was told by his supplier that the bracelets he was buying were 904L. He also said that ZZF guarantees V3 will have 904L bracelet exactly like ARF. But I think a consumer test by Mike will be necessary to check for sure.

Based on this, and the fact a V2s bracelet was tested by both Angus and Mike and is def not 904L, it sounds like ZZF’s supplier might have screwed up some of (if not all) the V2s bracelets.


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they only quote the bracelets so according to ZZF the case is 904l?
 

rolexppapfan

Renowned Member
17/11/18
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ITALY
If ZZF was not guilty they would've already come up with a excuse or official statement through Li.