Best 39mm Royal Oak AP

[Tigerdragon]

Just beautiful

 

[tosoboso]

Bracelet is a bit stiff near the connection to mid-case.

Contrast between brushed and polished surfaces is not as good as say JF.

On the wrist it looks very close to gen. I don’t think i could identify this as a rep on somebody else’s wrist. I might be a little suspicious but would couldn’t be 100% sure if gen or no gen.

The problem is that I could identify this as a rep any day from 2-3 meters away the crown is off (too fat and too short), the midcase is off (bezel/lugs gap is too wide). And there goes the otherwise great (for the price) job this maker has done. I think there’s a steady trend (discussed at lenght elsewhere) of makers not putting in enough resources in ap models development; clearly the factores are not investing enough funds let alone attention to the minuit details that in fact make these timepieces what they are. How hard could it be to get the proportions and basic things such as crown size right? Looking at the rlxs and even rms, those other pieces are getting ever more precise and the AP wagon is just going down hill. Sad to say this, really

 

[Tigerdragon]

They make more money with Rolex thats why they can buy the gen for replicating it. The watch here costs 139 Dollar so production value will be 20-30 USD so i dont think the factory could buy a gen for 28k. But yes they could fix the bezel and case very easy maybe with the next batch

 

[mech500]

Of course rep isn’t perfect as far as likeness to gen but it conforms to be basic design principles and aesthetics used by the brand over the years....that is all you can hope for when buying a cheap rep.

More importantly it looks less shit than this £20k (or whatever) gen piece:

Ugly Gen (left), cheap Rep (right):

I know you can’t compare the two references directly my point is that the rep doesn’t look ugly. If you want to fool people into thinking your $150 watch is gen, then this rep is not for you. If you just want something that looks pretty, quality is good and looks like AP design, then this is a great watch

 

[stufuse]

Of course rep isn’t perfect as far as likeness to gen but it conforms to be basic design principles and aesthetics used by the brand over the years....that is all you can hope for when buying a cheap rep.

More importantly it looks less shit than this £20k (or whatever) gen piece:

Ugly Gen (left), cheap Rep (right):

I know you can’t compare the two references directly my point is that the rep doesn’t look ugly. If you want to fool people into thinking your $150 watch is gen, then this rep is not for you. If you just want something that looks pretty, quality is good and looks like AP design, then this is a great watch

Agree it’s a nice looking watch, captures the general Aesthetics of an AP.


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[ssouthall6]

It’s thin. Maybe too thin for my taste.

If you choose to sell I'll have a crack with it mate. I'm in the UK as well. Let me know if you're thinking of listing. I just ordered a Piaget Polo from Sead, was going to add one of these but he posted already. Typical!


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[Tigerdragon]

Of course rep isn’t perfect as far as likeness to gen but it conforms to be basic design principles and aesthetics used by the brand over the years....that is all you can hope for when buying a cheap rep.

More importantly it looks less shit than this £20k (or whatever) gen piece:

Ugly Gen (left), cheap Rep (right):

I know you can’t compare the two references directly my point is that the rep doesn’t look ugly. If you want to fool people into thinking your $150 watch is gen, then this rep is not for you. If you just want something that looks pretty, quality is good and looks like AP design, then this is a great watch

+1

Exactly this you cant really fool a watch person with reps. I bet if you go with your 15400 to a normal person and say "Hey how much do you think that watch costs?" they would say 500 dollars maybe 1000 dollars but never 18k or more. That only works if Rolex stands on the dial lol or if a watch person sees it.

Way to many people care about the reps infact in real life nobody gives a damn about your watch.

 

[TagHeuerFan1963]

Bracelet is a bit stiff near the connection to mid-case.

Contrast between brushed and polished surfaces is not as good as say JF.

On the wrist it looks very close to gen. I don’t think i could identify this as a rep on somebody else’s wrist. I might be a little suspicious but would couldn’t be 100% sure if gen or no gen.

What is this factories name? I want to email sead but don't want to confuse him.

 

[mech500]

What is this factories name? I want to email sead but don't want to confuse him.

Email him and say you want “39mm AP RO quartz, blue, automatic on dial” ....he’ll know what you mean

 

[tosoboso]

I don’t want to be the source of bad mood here, but fact is that the makers are not investing enough in creating new AP models or even updating existing ones.

On the issue of maths and the ability of factories to afford buying a 20k gen to produce a usd150 model, I can only say this: a gen dial or a gen bezel is not really expensive given the overall investment, let alone a crown or even a bracelet. To produce a whole watch you don’t have to have a whole watch. But you certainly need a pair of keen eyes and some basic geometry knowledge (precisely to be able to remain true to the aesthetics of the original). So I can’t see why people are readily accepting the fact that the factories are lazy. I for one have not been even tempted to get any of these so called new models released in the last 2 years that are basically the same old stuff in different colour/plating. Again, looking at the RM or Blancpain pieces, there are some serious attempts there, whereas on the ap side there’s hardly anything exciting.

On the issue of trying to fool people: I care for the aesthetics and not because of what people think or might believe. That’s why I want a proper crown on a cheapie $150 quartz. And that’s why I want a properly proportioned and angled bezel so that the watch sits properly and hugs my wrist as intended, not because “they will know” that’s a rep.

In any case, I for one will be boycotting the ap factories until they start caring about their products as much as, say, zf do about their fifty fathom models. Not to mention the recent RM011 skeletonised chrono modules, next to which our aps look like plastic toys. Alas, I don’t want to sour the mood here. I too was/probably still am a devout follower of the ap movement.

 

[stufuse]

????????


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[Tigerdragon]

Then buy the gen sorry but did you see how the reps looked 5 years ago? They improved the reps extremly i know that because i have the old quartz and did post photos about it and for the RM come on everybody who knows about watches will see that its a fake because the original movement is just a complete different piece than the rep. You should really step down your expectations or buy the gen because i was the same like your but after years i accept know that its only a "Rep" for cheap money (yes even 500 dollar is cheap compared to 18k or 28k), thats it.

And yes you can criticize the factorys i do that too but you don't need to buy it, some example i have an AP 15400 JV2 then i looked if i the V3 is an upgrade because minute markers and swiss made looks like shit (funny because it looks good on the 139 usd rep) after some looking i was like "No thats not worth 500 usd" then i just gave it to my friends and say did you see any flaws? ALL of them saw NOTHING they just said its a good looking watch nobody saw the swiss made flaw and yes i know 400 or 500 usd is a lot of money but you can still step down to the 100-200 usd reps. For the Blancpain i never saw so simple watches (if we talk about the standard reps) its way more easier than the AP ones.

For the 15202 the automatic ones have the proper bezel but everything else is shit so yeah just buy them if you like them and wear it thats it and don't lie about it, just say its a rep and thats it. You would be surprised how many people i get known because of this sometimes people with expensive watches asks me about the APs and when i say its a rep they are very surprised how far the repworld become.

Its just my opinion

 

[mech500]

Surprising I really don’t like the thinness of the 15202.

A lot of people say 39mm is the perfect size for AP but it’s a little small and retro looking for my personal taste.

Maybe I just expect a 20k watch to have more heft to it.


I’ve been trying to decide which has a better profile on wrist for day to day wearing:


15202:

15400:

15703:

5711:

 

[Tigerdragon]

i vote for 15202 but i like the 15400 also fits both great

Edit: I really dont like the propotions of the 15400 on the gen, the bezel looks so overshaped compared to the thin watch i even like the JF more in that case because it looks more normal shaped hard to say actually

 

[phdsjain]

Surprising I really don’t like the thinness of the 15202.

A lot of people say 39mm is the perfect size for AP but it’s a little small and retro looking for my personal taste.

Maybe I just expect a 20k watch to have more heft to it.


I’ve been trying to decide which has a better profile on wrist for day to day wearing

You should try the Aquanaut next. ZF is slated to release a 1:1 next Month if Ryan is to be believed.

 

[mech500]

You should try the Aquanaut next. ZF is slated to release a 1:1 next Month if Ryan is to be believed.

Yep. Defo. Can’t wait.

 

[mech500]

i vote for 15202 but i like the 15400 also fits both great

Edit: I really dont like the propotions of the 15400 on the gen, the bezel looks so overshaped compared to the thin watch i even like the JF more in that case because it looks more normal shaped hard to say actually

Good point. The bezel is kinda thick. I like it that way. Makes it sportier looking

15400 vs 15202:

 

[Tigerdragon]

Yeah maybe it looks better in real life but damn the 15202 really nailed the dial color

 

[stufuse]

Good point. The bezel is kinda thick. I like it that way. Makes it sportier looking

15400 vs 15202:

You can really see how great gen finish looks there


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[stufuse]

Surprising I really don’t like the thinness of the 15202.

A lot of people say 39mm is the perfect size for AP but it’s a little small and retro looking for my personal taste.

Maybe I just expect a 20k watch to have more heft to it.


I’ve been trying to decide which has a better profile on wrist for day to day wearing:


15202:

15400:

15703:

5711:

I have to say, for me 5711 looks the nicest on for daily.


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