Vacheron Constantin FiftySix Self winding by ZF

[Doc_Savage]

The only problem with this watch I have so far is the noise. It sounds like a train sometimes.
But I was able to put some Molykote on the rotor bearing today and it becomes super quiet. The process is way simpler than I thought. Those three screws you see at the back are actually just fake screws, glued there for cosmetic purposes only. You can easily peel the whole center dish with the 3 fake screws out, then the real rotor bearing screws are under that dish. Unscrew them with a good tool and the rotor is out, turn it upside down and put some Molykote in, done.

Thanks for explaining that process in detail. I've been looking hard at the silver dial fiftysix, and this thread has sold me. I love the Miyota 9xxx series, but I don't love the noisy rotor. I'll order some Molykote at the same time so I can tame it as soon as the watch arrives.

 

[watchnerd23]

Here’s my QC photos

The specs say its a brown leather strap, but this looks black....Not that I am complaining, I prefer the black.

 

[Nanook65]

The specs say its a brown leather strap, but this looks black....Not that I am complaining, I prefer the black.

I don't have this one yet so I guess I am no authority on this specific leather strap, but......
I have had dozens of leather straps from just about all the Rep makers and I have yet to find even 1 that is worthy of anywhere except the garbage bin so I would assume that this one is no different. Honestly if you have ever had a real nice leather strap you are never going to put up with one of these plastic - pleather - Cat leather idk.... They are garbage. This watch is certainly worthy of another $100 on a nice leather strap. There are plenty of custom strap makers that make beautiful straps in what ever color you want. Don't spend even 2 seconds thinking about the black vs brown coming from the rep maker other than which color you are going to have one of the custom strap makers make for you.

 

[Dmage]

I don't have this one yet so I guess I am no authority on this specific leather strap, but......
I have had dozens of leather straps from just about all the Rep makers and I have yet to find even 1 that is worthy of anywhere except the garbage bin so I would assume that this one is no different. Honestly if you have ever had a real nice leather strap you are never going to put up with one of these plastic - pleather - Cat leather idk.... They are garbage. This watch is certainly worthy of another $100 on a nice leather strap. There are plenty of custom strap makers that make beautiful straps in what ever color you want. Don't spend even 2 seconds thinking about the black vs brown coming from the rep maker other than which color you are going to have one of the custom strap makers make for you.

Agreed. I have the watch and still don’t know what’s the colour of the rep trap, which made its way to the bin too fast. Good news, the buckle is fantastic.

 

[watchnerd23]

I don't have this one yet so I guess I am no authority on this specific leather strap, but......
I have had dozens of leather straps from just about all the Rep makers and I have yet to find even 1 that is worthy of anywhere except the garbage bin so I would assume that this one is no different. Honestly if you have ever had a real nice leather strap you are never going to put up with one of these plastic - pleather - Cat leather idk.... They are garbage. This watch is certainly worthy of another $100 on a nice leather strap. There are plenty of custom strap makers that make beautiful straps in what ever color you want. Don't spend even 2 seconds thinking about the black vs brown coming from the rep maker other than which color you are going to have one of the custom strap makers make for you.

so when you replace the strap, will you still be able to use the clasp that comes with rep strap?

 

[Nanook65]

so when you replace the strap, will you still be able to use the clasp that comes with rep strap?

of course

 

[Nanook65]

so when you replace the strap, will you still be able to use the clasp that comes with rep strap?

just thought about this & the answer is still yes.

However, I do have a suggestion:
This applies mostly if you have never ordered a custom strap before &/or you don't have anything to compare it to or use for reference. When I got my first rep that had a leather strap I kept reading that all the pleather straps from the rep makers were garbage so I was determined to have a custom leather strap ready to go when my rep arrived. In hindsight this is not the best idea as I wound up ordering a few straps where I wish I had ordered it slightly different and consequently, unnecessarily wasted some money. When you order a custom strap you can order it however you want so what you do is just wait and see what comes with the watch knowing it will be garbage, but you use it for measurements to give to the custom strap maker. Sometimes the strap that comes with a watch fits perfect, but often it doesn't. For example, lets say the watch & deployant don't center on on your wrist properly. Easy fix.... You just adjust the measurements to something that fits you better.

 

[watchnerd23]

just thought about this & the answer is still yes.

However, I do have a suggestion:
This applies mostly if you have never ordered a custom strap before &/or you don't have anything to compare it to or use for reference. When I got my first rep that had a leather strap I kept reading that all the pleather straps from the rep makers were garbage so I was determined to have a custom leather strap ready to go when my rep arrived. In hindsight this is not the best idea as I wound up ordering a few straps where I wish I had ordered it slightly different and consequently, unnecessarily wasted some money. When you order a custom strap you can order it however you want so what you do is just wait and see what comes with the watch knowing it will be garbage, but you use it for measurements to give to the custom strap maker. Sometimes the strap that comes with a watch fits perfect, but often it doesn't. For example, lets say the watch & deployant don't center on on your wrist properly. Easy fix.... You just adjust the measurements to something that fits you better.

Good info. Thanks. And I guess clasp only works with a custom strap because the make to the same measurements as the rep strap? I couldnt order a strap off some site and expect my clasp to work with that strap....

 

[majwilliams0308]

Big update time. I purchased the gen dial that was listed on eBay for probably the past year. The condition looked fantastic, and the seller said it was new. However, upon receiving the dial, it was clearly not cared for very well. The indices were scuffed, and there were 4 major scratches on the dial itself. There is also a scuff on the minute track near 2. I was VERY bummed because the dial is beautiful despite that.

Then I received the ZF rep. The watch itself is really good. I've pulled the movement out so you can see the dials next to each other.

The ZF sunburst is much harsher, and it's noticeable next to gen. Some of the indices 'disappear' into the darker areas of the sunburst. I do not like this about the ZF. Also, there is a piece to the finish of the gen dial that is there on the ZF, but a bit harder to replicate - as the dial is viewed from a low angle, the entire gen dial appears a uniform gray color. The ZF does this, but at a steeper angle closer to parallel with it.

Close-ups of the dials in the same exact light and angle:

Gen ^^^

Rep^^^

And in the watch itself, attempting at the same angle:

Gen^^^

Rep^^^

Conclusions.
I would keep the gen dial for the white gold indices and slightly softer sunburst, were it not for the poor scuffs and scratches. But the rep dial is VERY close in terms of overall feeling, and dimensions.

 

[CasioDataBank]

Just picked up a ZF Rose Gold FiftySix with silver dial. Overall it's lovely. Unfortunately it has 3 issues: 1) a dark grey rim around the silver dial, which isn't true to gen. Gen has a light colored rim. This is the most serious of the three issues 2) Printing of Vacheron name, etc on the back of the watch is 1:1 with steel FiftySix, but the placement of that text is different on the RG model 3) RG should have a buckle, not a deployant.

Otherwise it is quite nice. Does anybody know the best person to get feedback to so hopefully ZF can fix in the next version?

 

[altaylar1]

Looks like ZF`s main issue is yellowish lume, which gets worse with the new batch. The image is from a fresh QC

 

[drmckenn]

Are these available again? I ordered one in Jan and it was cancelled after the raid made them unavailable


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[altaylar1]

Is this the gen?
As far as I can judge from the pics online, the gen`s lumed indexes are quite white, whereas rep has more of a yellowish tone.
So I thought the watch in this picture was rep. Cuirous to know (and would be great if you can let us know your opinions)

 

[pistebasher]

Is this the gen?
As far as I can judge from the pics online, the gen`s lumed indexes are quite white, whereas rep has more of a yellowish tone.
So I thought the watch in this picture was rep. Cuirous to know (and would be great if you can let us know your opinions)

Yes, this is gen. The lume on the rep is not substantively different, but the contrast between the sunburst area of the dial and the flat area is more pronounced in the rep. As an owner of the gen I say the rep is so good that the "not worth buying in gen" benchmark is easily passed. Without the gen in hand it's hard, even for me, to recognise the rep as a rep.

 

[Genera74]

With ZF u need to check ur QC carefully. I realized theres a smudge at the hour hand when i received mine - had to send it off for cleaning


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[altaylar1]

Are these available again? I ordered one in Jan and it was cancelled after the raid made them unavailable


Sent from my iPhone using RWI

drmckenn Yes they are, but I have a feeling that their QC is quite inferior now, see post of Genera74

With ZF u need to check ur QC carefully. I realized theres a smudge at the hour hand when i received mine - had to send it off for cleaning


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Genera74 Yeah mine also also has a lume drop on the dial, but I its really minor so I didnt bother. But the mechanism inside is very inaccurate, when dial up, its about 10-15 seconds a day slow, but if I leave it on its side, it multiple minutes slow per day. Never had so much devation depending on the position.

Yes, this is gen. The lume on the rep is not substantively different, but the contrast between the sunburst area of the dial and the flat area is more pronounced in the rep. As an owner of the gen I say the rep is so good that the "not worth buying in gen" benchmark is easily passed. Without the gen in hand it's hard, even for me, to recognise the rep as a rep.

pistebasher I am quite suprised by your response. Is there anyway for you share a side by side pictures? Even checking the pictures above with the rep and gen dial side by side, I see a significant colour difference on the lume. The gen is perfectly white, whereas the rep has it vintage kind of yellowish. Now I am curious if some of the gen batches has it in different colours

 

[pistebasher]

pistebasher I am quite suprised by your response. Is there anyway for you share a side by side pictures? Even checking the pictures above with the rep and gen dial side by side, I see a significant colour difference on the lume. The gen is perfectly white, whereas the rep has it vintage kind of yellowish. Now I am curious if some of the gen batches has it in different colours

Here we go. Blue is rep.

 

[pistebasher]

 

[altaylar1]

Thanks a lot mate,
Okay that was my mistake, the lumes are perfectly white on your gen, and also looks quite white ony our rep.
So I guess some reps have it white, some have it more yellowish like Omega 300M

 

[Heterodoxa]

Hello everybody!
Got my first rep from a TD found here on the forum.
Personally I'm very satisfied with the watch and I can't find any of the issues altaylar1 is talking about (but I'm very noob indeed).

I've red that the myota movement is only clockwise winding. Is it the same also in the gen?

I'm also searching for a strap replacement but can't find anything interesting at an affordable price on the web!

Cheers