BATMAN VRF vs V9 vs Gen

[KSwatches]

I have some time this weekend, so let’s talk about GMTs.

I know everyone obsesses over submariners but I have always had a soft spot for GMTs, they’re not as common as subs and the two tone bezel coupled with the extra movement complication just makes them a touch more special to me.

So I have with me the latest V9 vs VRF vs 2017 Gen to compare.

Both reps have gmt clone movements. The gen had been polished once - and worn a lot (so it ain’t got the factory showroom shine that you see at the AD).


Summary:
VRF: on oyster (date 5)

V9: in jubilee (date 4)

Gen: on oyster (date 11)


Let’s start with some group shots:

Initial impressions:
Both v9 and VRf feel good. Modern Rolex reps are now excellent in terms of case and bracelet overall fit and finish. In fact the reps often feel better than used/polished gens in some cases. For example, the SEL fitment on the above gen is actually very sloppy (vertically and horizontally). It’s just normal wear and tear that causes this over the years. Therefore, I can’t get too excited about SEL on reps.


Dial:
I won’t compare fonts and text spacing. There are various gen models and I don’t want to go down the route of analysing that stuff. However, the dial print on both V9 and VRF is the same quality. Both reps dials are also very accurate in terms of tbe satin black finish. It is spot on.

V9 hour marker surrounds are flat and pointy. They don’t reflect light like gen. (check the 12 marker in the bottom pics to see what I mean)

VRf: hour marker surrounds are very good. No complaints.


Gen:

Vrf:

V9:

Ok, let’s see macros:

Gen: you can see the hour marker surround is curved and polished. As a result it reflect light well and is very blingy

VRF: the lume is flat and not raised and slightly textured like gen. hour marker surround looks a bit scratched at this distance (which is normal for Rolex reps, only vsf hour maker finish is very good)

V9: you can see that the hour marker surround looks black at some angles. This is not very gen like. Gen hour markers bling in white gold at almost all angles. VRf hour markers are better.

Let’s continue in the next post....

 

[KSwatches]

Crystal:

You can see from the above pics that both V9 and VRF have milky cyclops. I don’t know why they can’t make a proper AR cyclops. Magnification on both reps is good, no complaints. The clarity of both rep crystals is also good. No issues.


Gen: top of crystal is flush with bezel

VRf: top of crystal is slightly raised above bezel

V9: crystal protrusion is excessive

You can see here that the rep crystals do not have gen like black hole effect. I recommend a gen crystal upgrade

Bezel:
Not much to say. Let the pics do the talking. The gen is used and has been polished, so we can’t compare teeth shape and depth with a new rep. Bezel feel on both reps is spot on. The rep colours and numerals are not gen spec - but we knew that already.

Gen:

VRf:

V9:

Gen:VRF:V9

 

[KSwatches]

Rehaut:
At normal viewing distance and in good light, the rehauts all look the same to me, for all intents and purposes. I don’t look at the rep in real life and think, oh that looks off. Under loupe it’s a different story. You can see that under loupe, v9 engraving is very nice whereas VRf engraving is not as crisp.

Gen:

VRf:

V9: crisp engraving

 

[KSwatches]

One final point I want to mention is the hands.


Gen hands have thinner surrounds and are nicely curved. VRf hands are close to gen but still not as pretty. V9 hands are ugly.

Gen:VRF: V9

Other points:
I don’t want to discuss crown/clasp/case/bracelet. These areas look and feel very good compared to the used gen but can provide specific photos if requested. The rep DWs are alright...not like ARF junk


Conclusion:
Overall both v9 and VRf reps looks and feel decent. We know the bezel inserts aren’t accurate and we already know the cyclops is bad on both. V9 hour hand is ugly and so are the hour marker surrounds. VRf is therefore the winner by process of elimination however it is not perfect as we can see from pics. Overall, The best looking GMT rep is the noob Pepsi CHS (the one with the ticking time bomb movement). It looks awesome (academic gen vs differences aside). Anyway, I hope this has been useful.

 

[SHB]

Pretty nice review
Thanks for the time spent!

 

[iotrap]

Thanks for the review.

 

[THXuk]

Thanks for putting this together. That gen insert must be so hard to replicate as it looks so clean.

 

[Repmaster1337]

Thanks for this! What do u think about gmf v3? Atleast insert must be better? V9f is out of the book.

 

[KSwatches]

Thanks for this! What do u think about gmf v3? Atleast insert must be better? V9f is out of the book.

GMF has the best blue colour. Even the bezel numerals are very good. In real life the GMF bezel looks the best. GMF lume is very patchy tho and overall quality doesn’t feel as good as VRf imo



GMF (top), gen(bottom)

 

[mpx]

Thanks for the comparison. I really want to get a 126710 BLNR rep, but it seems like there is none out there at the moment where everything seems to be OK. I don't expect perfect, it's a rep after all, but the quality should be pretty good. Currently my favourite is the GMF 126710 with the ICHS Movement, but I guess I will wait another few weeks/months, maybe there is a better version out there then.

 

[c_hall100]

Thanks for the comparison. I really want to get a 126710 BLNR rep, but it seems like there is none out there at the moment where everything seems to be OK. I don't expect perfect, it's a rep after all, but the quality should be pretty good. Currently my favourite is the GMF 126710 with the ICHS Movement, but I guess I will wait another few weeks/months, maybe there is a better version out there then.

Who the hell is going to know what you know when it’s on your wrist, be willing to bet no one lol


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[mpx]

True, nobody else will ever notice the little flaws. It's already pretty rare that someone even notices I got a different watch on my wrist. The issue is, that my own quality expectations are pretty high and I hate it when i look down at my wrist and always notice the little flaws. But the GMF one with the ICHS should already be good enough. But I will still wait a bit, I currently got 4 watches on the way, I have to calm down a bit. This obsession is getting a bit out of control.

 

[srhoque]

Great review, love the side-by-side pic comparisons. Thank you for taking the time to prepare such a detailed review.

 

[srhoque]

Besides patchy lume, who has the better quality dial (more rounded markers, marker shine, dial gloss finish, printing crispness etc) - VRF or GMF?

 

[Swiss_goupil]

Great comparaison! Thank you for taking the time, very informative and a good complement to other existing threads


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[Swiss_goupil]

GMF (top), gen(bottom)

GMF insert colour is king in Batman’s lair


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[kevBquick]

love this review.

For VRF....the insert is just no bueno. numerals are too skinny there for it makes the font itself off. transition of where it hits on the 18 is an issue. and rehaut is an issue as well.
V9 crystal height is a no go. transition on 18 is closer to gen.
was hoping more from VRF.

maybe i'll look more closely at GMFv3

 

[Hazing]

I have the GMF and I fvcking love it. The movement is awesome and I have the like one of the 6 they made before they used the vrf. The finish on every surface is flawless. The color and transition points in the insert is awesome.

It’s just the numbers on the inserts leave something to be desired. They’re tooo skinny and the 1s are off. But the ppm coating is great. And don’t get me started on how good the dial is. They did so many things right. It’s amazing how one detail not so right changes so much.


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[iotrap]

I have the GMF and I fvcking love it. The movement is awesome and I have the like one of the 6 they made before they used the vrf. The finish on every surface is flawless. The color and transition points in the insert is awesome.

It’s just the numbers on the inserts leave something to be desired. They’re tooo skinny and the 1s are off. But the ppm coating is great. And don’t get me started on how good the dial is. They did so many things right. It’s amazing how one detail not so right changes so much.


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What is the crystal height like on your GMF and where did you get it?


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[Tione12]

Nice post mate! Thank you so much for taking the time