BKLM YM - How good is it?

[donaldejose]

I realize there have been some photos of this YM posted on RWI.
In fact, I posted some trying to show the flecks in the dial.
But this is my series showing the whole watch.
Spirit suggested I try less bling and more nature so I did.
But I just couldn't resist some bling at the end of this series.

You should realize the YM is a very reflective gray or silver watch.
It will take on color from light reflecting off its surroundings.
Thus, when it is photographed on brown wood, the dial tends to take on a brown tone.
In these photographs you will see the dial showing different tones.
The gray tones are the ones you will see on your wrist most of the time because the light hitting the watch will be blue/gray sky light.
But at times of the day when the light in the sky is warm, so will the dial be a warm tone.
It is just a feature of this highly reflective watch.
Also, in some of the photos the hour markers are greenish.
This is just the lume showing after a flash charged it.
You can see the height of the crystal, but I did not photograph the clasp because I don't like clasps.

I didn't try to show the flecks in the dial here because I have done that before with close-up shots.
But if you enlarge many of these photos on your monitor you will be able to see the flicks.

If you have a gen YM or good rep YM please compare it with these photos and post your comments.

This is not an easy watch to photograph because of its highly reflective surfaces.

 

[levelmanroger]

Darn you, Donald! You're going to make me break my self-imposed rep buying ban.
Problem is I'll need 2, because my wife loves the YM as well.

 

[donaldejose]

I have so many reps I even wear one to bed each night so I can get to use them all and get to look at the lume when I wake up during the night. This YM has great lume, lasts about 6 hours. I guess this hobby can make us crazy! You are lucky to have a wife who also likes reps. Most wives don't understand the obsession.

 

[levelmanroger]

Oh... don't get me wrong. My wife prefers gens! But she is supportive and is getting into watches since being with me. She has gone from 3 watches (Rolex, Cartier, and Gucci) to 9 watches now - most of the new ones being mine that she has confiscated.
I used to have a Fakey YM and she absolutely loved the face. My long-term plan is for us to have matching genYMs, but we're on a 5 year plan to be completely 100% debt free including the houses, so the watches will have to wait. So will the Porsche 911 she fell in love with while getting her Lexus serviced the other day!!! God, I love my wife!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Maximos]

I just ordered one of these yesterday and can't wait to get it... please await my pics

I do have one question, however. Can anyone tell me the lug width? I think it's 20mm but I want to be sure because I plan on replacing the bracelet with a strap to preserve it in new condition for any future sales and/or when my daily grind is a little less demanding. Call me unorthodox, but I value clean-looking items and the nicely polished bracelet will get scratched easily!

Also, what are some tips to easily make the swap?

 

[levelmanroger]

YM on strap? My nuerons are firing frantically to make sense of this phrase.
.
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.
.
.
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Nope - still nothing.


But if you must. 20mm, simple spring bars, compress them from underneath the lugs so you don't scratch the top surface of the watch. DON'T post pics of the abomination please.

 

[Maximos]

http://www.rolexforums.com/showthread.php?t=71740

I daresay it looks rather good... IMO, of course.

But thanks so much!

 

[levelmanroger]

http://www.rolexforums.com/showthread.php?t=71740

I daresay it looks rather good... IMO, of course.

But thanks so much!

I saw it. Guess that's whey they make more than one flavor of ice cream.

Ick!! (IMO, of course)

 

[Maximos]

Haha, definitely not for everyone, I suppose.

Now, let's say the leather doesn't suit the look of the watch (I'm not a 100% on-board with it and would prefer the bracelet if it wasn't so scratch-prone). Do you think a 5-stripe black and grey NATO strap would suit the look of the watch better?

 

[tasdevl]

wow, thanks for the link to the YM on the brown strap, I actually quite like it too. My issue with the cheaper YM I have is that the bracelet looked almost too blingy for my liking.. the strap tones it down quite a bit.

 

[levelmanroger]

No - the YM is too dressy. If you must strap it, leather, gator, ostrich, etc. is the way to go.
And I'm just giving you a hard time. Lots of guys like straps on Rolex watches. I'm just a bit of a purist.
PS - the bracelet is easy to A) buff out if scratched, and B) replace if needed.

 

[Maximos]

Ok, thanks for the info. I did mention that this solution would be a bit unorthodox!

I think I will give that two-tone NATO a shot. Worst case, I'll offload it and go with the leather strap. After creating a mock-up in PS, I'm personally satisfied with the way it looks.

I agree -- the YM is definitely not a low-key watch by any stretch of the concept. Even with the strap, it still has a great elegance about it.

 

[donaldejose]

Compare this BKLM watch to the T4D YM at this thread:

http://forum.replica-watch.info/vb/showthread.php/rolex-rolesium-ym-asian-eta-59513

 

[donaldejose]

I made these photos to illustrate three things which have been discussed in the two recent threads on YMs: BKLMs and the new T4D YM.

1. The dial will change color depending upon what colored surface the light that hits it is reflected off. The first image has no light reflected from the rock. The light comes from a white reflector above the watch and the dial is whitish/silver. A blue sky would make the dial appear blueish/silver. The other three images do have some warm light reflected from the rock and the dial is brownish/silver. Even those last three images are slightly different tones because the slightly different camera angle creates slightly different amounts of brown rock reflection. On high quality reps the exact "color" of this dial on the same watch over time will vary more than other Rolex dials. That is just one of the interesting things about the watch.

2. The bezel surface between the numbers on the BKLM is smoother than the bezel surface on the T4D.

3. The BKLM bezel has more room between the top of the numbers and the bezel surround.

You should be able to see these differences in the following photos.

This YM is quite an interesting watch!

 

[donaldejose]

Illustrating crystal height of BKLM YM

The height of the crystal is not so obvious from the front angle view. But you can see it if you look closely.

That crystal height is more obvious from the side angle.

The T4D YM seems to have good crystal height from the front view but we need a photo from angle or the side to make a good comparison.

The YM Spirit found does not seem to have adequate crystal height.

It looks really flat in the photo he posted.

 

[AllergyDoc]

The gen does have the extra space between the top of the bezel numbers and the edge of the bezel:

(Broberts's photo)

 

[donaldejose]

AllergyDoc: thanks for the gen photo and observation. What about crystal height? Yours looked good. How does it compare to the posted photos of Spirit's YM and BLKM's YM?

It still looks like your T4D YM is in second place to me.

 

[AllergyDoc]

Crystal height on mine is more than Spirit's but not as much as yours.

 

[donaldejose]

Thanks for the report AllergyDoc.

So your T4D YM remains firmly in second place!

AND importantly at $556.00 LESS! Amazing value.

Now just how important are those little details we have been talking about to you folks?

Thanks BKLM for making your YM available to us. Perfection, or as close to it as you can get to it in a rep.

I cannot distinguish BKLMs YM from the gen YM AllergyDoc posted above.

So how good is it? The Question that started this thread. Dammmmmm Good, I would say!

And Thanks T4D your making your YM available to us. Best bang for the buck in a YM.

It's great to have two types of choices available to us and great that RWI can identify them for us. You can sit at your computer and order what you want.

 

[MMs]

ordered a WM9/BK YM!
:woot:

T4D's is very, very nice for the price, but for me, I choose the WM9/BK.