Also have to mention, winding isn’t the most pleasant experience. Feels very “gritty.” Power reserve is a good 1.5-2 days. Accuracy is -12 seconds after 1 week. Experiences may differ? 2x AR crystal not needed because dial is ok and no real sunburst effect, but in natural lighting you see the richness- if that makes sense. Came with two rep straps- rubber/leather hybrid and rep gator. And deployant and tang buckle. All 4 interchangeable. I think the deployant clasp is incorrect because it’s meant for the Villeret model line and not the Aqua Lung. I wear mine on the rep gator and tang buckle. Rep gator is stiff. Looks better than it feels. Not plasticky and cheap, but feels like a $10-15 strap. It suffices.
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Aqua Lung Big Date
- Thread starter Commander Straker
- Start date
WatchVoyage
Active Member
- 17/10/18
- 359
- 31
- 0
Thank you for the review, Liiu31 ! I would have bought the watch, but now cause of the really white arrows i`m considering it...
The white hour/minute hands are an initial disappointment. But after relume, it’s really not that bad. But considering that you’re dropping close to $500-600USD after purchasing from TD and relume cost, it seems a better value proposition to just buy a whole different watch altogether in my opinion. Date font is ok. Never had a gen to compare it to. But with online pics, looks decent by comparison. They key takeaway is that this is a super rare niche collector’s watch. Don’t worry about call outs, but rather how it feels for you. In hindsight, considering that I bought this new and dropped money modding it, I think I’d rather have the super rep Rolex Daytona or a gen Hamilton. Just my 2 cents.
Karlus slight sunburst. But remember, it’s next to impossible to find a gen, and even slimmer to be called out with this. It’s very rare. Unless you’re wearing an ostentatious AP or Rolex, no one will question its authenticity. Besides, there are other more remarkable flaws to thiswatch than the sun burst.
Karlus
Renowned Member
- 4/7/17
- 705
- 321
- 63
Yes, I saw the lume was no bueno and the fonts slightly fat. Anything else to watch out for? I'm thinking about snagging this and getting it relumed
Karlus fonts slightly bigger than gen namely the “3,6,9”. They lean more to the edge whereas the gen is centered. Also text is slightly thicker than gen. But very minuscule flaws in my opinion. A strap upgrade is necessary too in my opinion. The rep strap looks good but feels stiff. But you’re looking at $500+ after relume service. If that’s the watch you’re set on, it’s worth it. But for $500+, I could get a better watch ootb from the factories or even a good entry level gen like a Hamilton or Tissot or Frédérique Constante. Just my two cents.
I’ve got a gen of this model so can do a quick photo shoot if any of the rep owners want to compare and contrast.
From the looks of it, the rep got these things wrong:
- fat dial numbers
- fat dial inscriptions
- poor big date font - I see plots and missing paint
- case looks thinker
- deployant is incorrect, should be a folding clasp instead
The gen AR is double sided and pretty poor (Blapncpain would even swap for crystal for a much better, internal AR one during service for a nominal $50 or so), the lume also sucks.
The rest of the watch is super nice - the hand finished F.Piguet movement is just awesome - and it’s a high end piece, made to top specs, in line with the Aquanaut or AP Jumbo proposition of a sporty Everyday watch bit obviously missing the historic value of either.
Overall it is a pretty decent effort although not cheap for a rep.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
From the looks of it, the rep got these things wrong:
- fat dial numbers
- fat dial inscriptions
- poor big date font - I see plots and missing paint
- case looks thinker
- deployant is incorrect, should be a folding clasp instead
The gen AR is double sided and pretty poor (Blapncpain would even swap for crystal for a much better, internal AR one during service for a nominal $50 or so), the lume also sucks.
The rest of the watch is super nice - the hand finished F.Piguet movement is just awesome - and it’s a high end piece, made to top specs, in line with the Aquanaut or AP Jumbo proposition of a sporty Everyday watch bit obviously missing the historic value of either.
Overall it is a pretty decent effort although not cheap for a rep.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Cool I am back home next week, will snap a few photos for a quick review then
Here you go folks - here are a few quick and dirty snaps of the genuine article - I’ve put the watch on a genuine BP villiret shark strap with spring loaded deployant as this is what you’d get with the replica, the original leman deployant is a single fold one which I actually prefer but the shark looks pretty good on this watch so I may keep it like that for a while before switching back to the rubberized calf that this watch originally shipped with...
Enjoy
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Enjoy
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Thanks for the pictures! aside from the fatter fonts, the rep actually is quite decent in my eyes...
The big date is actually an eyesore on the rep, based on the photos of course as I don’t have a rep. Given how prominent the date is on this 40mm case, you’d get to see the crap print quality in a large size every time
You look at the watch. However for the money, I’d say the rep is not bad - if you can leave with he faults, it’s a classy proposition. If I didn’t have my gen, I’d def grab it just to try it out
you're right ... now that its pointed out, its a bit of a distraction
How come number '2' looks so much worse than the other?!?
Just got the Rose Gold too. Very pleased with the quality. Font on the Big Date could be slightly crisper but overall it's a great looking watch.