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3K Aquanaut review
- Thread starter timnic54
- Start date
APpee
Active Member
I haven't had it modded to fit the case yet, pictured is the 3kf crown. Side by side they are very similar but gen is obviously pristine
Tobel
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I have one I bought and intended to mod but too little time and too little money means its going to stay sidelined for the moment. I can sell but will have to post up a sales thread as per the rules etc
Been following this watch for months now, but during the last days I haven't heard too much about it... Not sure if CNY is the reason, but I sent an email some days ago to Jennifer (PureTIme) and she told me 3KF V2 5167 is still available. Don't know what I'm missing, as I have read a lot about this watch being a NWBIG except by the mismatch of the lume between hands and hours markers...
Can anyone explain me if I'm missing something? Jennifer also told me the factory has not yet presented or spoken about a V3 version.
Can anyone explain me if I'm missing something? Jennifer also told me the factory has not yet presented or spoken about a V3 version.
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Photo's of the movement as requested
Thank you very much for the photos of the movement Sir.
A quick question about the engraving [Patek Philippe Twenty nine (29) etc].
Are they laser-printed or are they actually engraved?
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I must say this is a little confusing because if you see the Aquanaut 5167 V2 in TD websites you realize that they have engraved movements currently available.
Please see these images for example.
Did you by chance purchase the V1 version of the timepiece?
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BIONONE
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nothing on a 3KF clone is hand-engraved. The markings on the V2 are laser-engraved and the difference can be easily seen on the balance cock and its engraving which is clearly made by a milling machine and come with a deep gold rich color.
The laser engraving will always leave a burned sandblasted surface lacking the inward bevel of a milling tool.
The reason for the laser engraving is that the movement factory doesn't want to violate any trademarks etc. even though a dozen patents are broken whilst replicating a whole mechanism.... the final step is to engrave the movement without disassembling and without any chips of a milling tool or drops of coolant inside a already finished movement.
Not to speak of the fact that the engraving of the letters on the movement is initially done before the rhodium plating - the letters are covered/filled in a wax base lacquer and after plating and removing the lacquer the words will appear in the same way as the balance cock with a nice polished shiny surface.
Obviously this process would drive the costs up and the risk of the factory getting busted for an almost perfect movement...
my 2 cents
EDIT: I know that you are fond of those facts - just wanted to shed some light into the previous post.
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Thank you for your guidance Bionone and Christo 14.
Bionone, maybe if you have a free moment you can elaborate a little more.
-Do you think there is a V1 3K Aquanaut with laser-printed movement and a V2 with laser-engraved movement?
-What is the difference between laser-printing and laser-engraving?
-Also did I understand correct the balance cock on the V2 is engraved by a milling machine (would you call that machine-engraved?) while the rest of the decorative bridges on the V2 are laser-engraved?
Many thanks in advance.
BIONONE
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The first 3KF clones came with a pad-printed movement - so no laser involved. Just ink/printed words on top of the Geneva stripes or cotes de geneve.
The later versions all came with laser engraved typography where the rhodium plating is burned away to let the brass shine through.
The first examples of the 3KF movement were better suited for a removal of the printed words to offer a blank "canvas" for a custom engraving with a milling machine like described - so far I haven't seen any afterwards engraved 3KF clones but there is the possibility.
the balance cock is indeed engraved with a milling machine - like I said - no trademarks were broken by the simplistic symbolism near the regulator whereas all the brand names and serial numbers were spared by the movement manufacture to avoid difficulties like other clone factories faced in the recent raids.
The rest is made by a CNC laser which can be also identified by the burned edges around the letters on some examples - just like other tempered metals the rhodium changes color when heated to a certain point (heat blued steel screws for example).
If you have a look at the 3KF 7118 you can see that the laser engraving is different than on earlier 3KF 5165 - I would say it is indeed a bit more refined and brighter than on the first versions. Differs from batch to batch I would say. No reason to reject QCs but worth keeping an eye out for.
I really hope 3KF is aware of this issue and tries to resolve it - even though they didn't even change their date wheel for almost 2 years now... My hopes aren't that high for an updated milling-machine engraved movement anytime soon.
I screwed up my aquanaut. I bought a buff date disc m2m which I was told was for the aquanaut and got it installed. Clearly this is the wrong font very frustrating
dashindark
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I screwed up my aquanaut. I bought a buff date disc m2m which I was told was for the aquanaut and got it installed. Clearly this is the wrong font very frustrating
Wrong font.
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Tobel
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I screwed up my aquanaut. I bought a buff date disc m2m which I was told was for the aquanaut and got it installed. Clearly this is the wrong font very frustrating
Looks like the font for the 5711 green dial, sorry man