BLS AB0120/AB0127 Navitimer Review

[Autotechnica]

I just got into rep watches the last 2 months, and just started learning about all the factories that make them in this short time. I haven't seen any real reviews of this watch yet, so I thought I would share. I've always been a big fan of the original Navitimer with the old logo. I take a big risk by ordering from an unknown dealer. I see a lot of ads from this company on FB and Instagram, but no real reviews or anything like that. I added the guy on whatsapp and he was very responsive with videos and pictures. The company is called Watchmate but their website is Watchglow.shop. Their site mainly features stock gen pictures with prices listed for cheap quartz movements ($200-$300 range). I guess this is where they make most of their money with the cheap stuff. Anyways, I showed him a picture of a AB0127 Navitimer with 46mm case in black and he said he had stock from a good factory like Clean. I didn't know back then what I know now. He showed me several videos of the watch he would be selling and I was pretty impressed. The price was quite high which I didn't know at the time. However, I don't see this particular watch listed anywhere, so maybe it's more expensive to make than the rest like what I see on Geektime. I'll include some pics and show you what I liked and disliked. I saw a plastic tag in a video he sent me that said "BLS", so started to do research on that brand. Seems like not many people like the A7750 movement and using the chrono is a big nono. It's a rep of the ETA movement from the AB0120 anyways, so I guess that's ok. Opinions on BLS seem to be pretty mixed in general, but TBH I'm pretty impressed by the quality. I noticed a few things that made it a so so clone, but a beautiful watch nonetheless.

Here are some pics of me wearing it on my wrist. Beautiful colour change from the Sapphire glass in the light. I also got one where the lines matched up quite well with the main dial. Sunken date wheel was a typical issue I've recently just learned about and I also noticed that the sub dails are spaced out a bit too far outward. There should be more of a gap between the indices and the subdails, but on this rep they seemed to be crammed up against them. I guess the movement forces them into this position. Still not terrible, but eventually noticeable. I'm OCD about these things so I tend to notice everything over time. I'm guessing most people wouldn't notice. Where it says "swiss made" at the bottom is also a bit crammed because of the bottom dial also being spaced too far outward. Overall, that means the dials have a bigger gap between them. Again, slightly noticeably by me because I stare at it constantly, wouldn't be noticeable by anyone else I think.

The biggest problem I had was this. The back of the watch has an open window with a very nice view of the nicely dressed A7750 movement. Looks great, but the problem is I ordered a AB01207 46mm watch. First thing I did was measured the case. Came out to 42-43mm. That's not right I thought. The open window case on the back was engraved with the AB0127 part number as well. So I did more digging and realized that the AB0120 looks the same as the AB0120 only it has the 43mm case with a solid back with no window of the movement. So that's a bummer. I messed the dealer and he contacted BLS. BLS says that do not make the solid case with AB0120 stamped on it. that really annoyed me, because the back of the watch doesn't match what it actually is. Makes it a very half assed clone IMO.

 

[Autotechnica]

 

[Autotechnica]

20241225 120607 COLLAGE

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PXL 20241219 195602081~2

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IMG 20241128 WA0004

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[Autotechnica]

Sorry guys, still learning so use this forum. I can't figure out if I can edit posts or not. The pics I uploaded are of the watch I received with the box and packaging along with receipts from a jewelry store and authentication papers which is really useless TBH. The box it came in was meh, but I guess it's better than a plastic bag.

In the comparison photos, the side by side the left is BLS, the right is GEN. the top and bottom comparison the top is BLS, the bottom is gen. You can see the differences in the spacing of the sub dials. the dealer tried to contact BLS to see if I could get a solid back cover that says the proper part number AB0120. They said they do not make that cover, and all their covers for this watch are 43mm with the open window back. So no luck getting the correct case back. I guess it doesn't matter unless you take the watch off or the person looking at it really knows the difference between the AB0120 and the AB0127. The thing with these watches is, if you know, that's enough to make you feel bad about it. I want a good solid rep. At the end of the day, the watch still looks great, and I feel like the quality is still really quite nice. I don't even mind the sunken date wheel or the mismatched back cover. I just wish the spacing on the sub dials were better. I paid $650USD for this which after looking at other dealer sites I think I overpaid but quite a bit. I asked other dealers and they actually told me that they can't even get this model anymore, so I guess maybe that's why this one costs more? I received the watch after only 2 weeks shipped from Hong Kong (which is where the dealer is located). He worked with me quite a lot to answer all my questions to make sure I was happy. end of the day he gave me $65 USD refund and is giving me a banging deal on a Clean Factory Rolex Daytona 4130. I'm still somewhat satisfied but I really wish someone made a premium 1:1 rep of the Navi that I want.

 

[ETAWatchlover]

Indices are a tiny bit too long and subdial is slightly too big .
Also the indices are too round the original ones are more flat .Other than that it's pretty nice if nothing rattles or scrapes .

You could get a solid case back from a different model with the same case size probably.

 

[Autotechnica]

I wonder if the sub dials are actually bigger though. the sunbursts on the BLS is definitely more pronounced which seems to give the dials more depth over the genuine. The genuine looks more flat and 2 dimensional.

I will probably just leave the back cover alone. The AB0120 and AB0127 look almost identical to each other aside from the case size (43mm vs. 46mm). If I used a solid case back with a random part number it might end up looking even more mismatched.

I enquired with a few dealers about GO Factory which apparently has the better Breitling clones, but all the dealers either said the company no longer exists or they've been shut down. so I guess BLS is the only Breitling rep company around these days. I might have to pick up one of their less complicated looking designs to get a more exact rep.

 

[ETAWatchlover]

Gf /G Factory is gone since the raids .The glory days are kind of over .
There are a few factorys that make breitlings but their attention to detail and quality control isn't as good as the older Factorys

 

[CF_Stan]

Thank you for the review, it's always helpful to hear members thoughts.

To post images so that they display fully use the BBCode under the Full Image section.

 

[JimmyD750]

@Autotechnica , I would be extremely wary of buying anything else from the guy who doesn’t know the difference between 42mm and 46mm watches at a glance. That’s just unacceptable, and so is that exorbitant price!!!
You’re new, and like every newb nowadays, you failed to spend endless hours of research reading in this forum about what to/no to do when it comes to SAFELY buying a rep, not getting ripped off, and also receiving what you think you’re paying for.
That’s ok, all is not lost. But PLEASE please please avail yourself of info here and take it as The Gospel. These idiots on FB/Insta are nothing but money grabbing fly by night wanna be TD’s…they’ve learned some lingo, but most importantly they e learned that they can tell the uninformed anything and they’ll believe it. Don’t fall for it.
They all know of Clean factory and will claim a damned rep G-Shock is Clean , I even had a guy ask me “what’s your favorite factory?” When I asked him about a Chronomat just for fun. I said Clean, and he replied “ok I am salesman for Clean then. Which watch do you like? Swiss is best. Those are $850 shipped.” I couldn’t believe that people actually are willing to waste money like this.
If he told you he has a CF datejust, I would bet it’s probably EWF or another lesser factory. And of course he’s gonna say “I give you good price” bc he wants you to keep sending him free money!!!!

I’m not being a dick, I’m just being direct, and believe it or not you e actually done more than most. 5 minutes on Reddit and people are dropping $1000 for a couple subpar watches, and this winds up chasing them away from reps, perpetuating the fallacy that reps are junk.

I want to see you happy with your new hobby, as does every long standing member here; we’re a brotherhood. So, I’m gonna help you out and keep this simple: Stick with a TD from RWI. Stick with well known reps. CF DJ41 is a fantastic rep, I own one. Just don’t buy it anywhere else. The CF Daytona is great as well, but a gen is extremely expensive and very hard to get, so imo that’s a hard sell if you’re hoping to fool people into thinking you own a gen. VSF has some good reps, Omega is a safe bet. But still, be completely mental with your research before choosing.

Lastly, there is no such thing as 1:1, superclone vs reg clone, etc. TD’s just use that because it’s faster to type than an actual description of what they can get. So don’t think you’re gonna fool an AD with a rep lol. AAA+++ is another dead giveaway. Those are usually 2813 autos at best, quartz at worst, except the single quartz I’d use personally is the Seiko VK chrono bc it has a sweeping second hand and is robust.

Thanks for the write up regardless! You can PM me if you think I may be able to help in some way.

 

[Autotechnica]

@Autotechnica , I would be extremely wary of buying anything else from the guy who doesn’t know the difference between 42mm and 46mm watches at a glance. That’s just unacceptable, and so is that exorbitant price!!!
You’re new, and like every newb nowadays, you failed to spend endless hours of research reading in this forum about what to/no to do when it comes to SAFELY buying a rep, not getting ripped off, and also receiving what you think you’re paying for.
That’s ok, all is not lost. But PLEASE please please avail yourself of info here and take it as The Gospel. These idiots on FB/Insta are nothing but money grabbing fly by night wanna be TD’s…they’ve learned some lingo, but most importantly they e learned that they can tell the uninformed anything and they’ll believe it. Don’t fall for it.
They all know of Clean factory and will claim a damned rep G-Shock is Clean , I even had a guy ask me “what’s your favorite factory?” When I asked him about a Chronomat just for fun. I said Clean, and he replied “ok I am salesman for Clean then. Which watch do you like? Swiss is best. Those are $850 shipped.” I couldn’t believe that people actually are willing to waste money like this.
If he told you he has a CF datejust, I would bet it’s probably EWF or another lesser factory. And of course he’s gonna say “I give you good price” bc he wants you to keep sending him free money!!!!

I’m not being a dick, I’m just being direct, and believe it or not you e actually done more than most. 5 minutes on Reddit and people are dropping $1000 for a couple subpar watches, and this winds up chasing them away from reps, perpetuating the fallacy that reps are junk.

I want to see you happy with your new hobby, as does every long standing member here; we’re a brotherhood. So, I’m gonna help you out and keep this simple: Stick with a TD from RWI. Stick with well known reps. CF DJ41 is a fantastic rep, I own one. Just don’t buy it anywhere else. The CF Daytona is great as well, but a gen is extremely expensive and very hard to get, so imo that’s a hard sell if you’re hoping to fool people into thinking you own a gen. VSF has some good reps, Omega is a safe bet. But still, be completely mental with your research before choosing.

Lastly, there is no such thing as 1:1, superclone vs reg clone, etc. TD’s just use that because it’s faster to type than an actual description of what they can get. So don’t think you’re gonna fool an AD with a rep lol. AAA+++ is another dead giveaway. Those are usually 2813 autos at best, quartz at worst, except the single quartz I’d use personally is the Seiko VK chrono bc it has a sweeping second hand and is robust.

Thanks for the write up regardless! You can PM me if you think I may be able to help in some way.

I think I've given up on trying to find the perfect Navitimer rep. I contacted another random dealer who seems much more honest (if there's such a thing) and knowledgeable. They quoted me $380USD shipped for the exact same watch I purchased for $650USD from the other guy. My heart sunk. I knew I got ripped off, but didn't know by that much! Live and learn I guess. So anyways, I told this new dealer I wasn't happy with BLS clones and they offered me another factory called KW or JF Factory. I've never heard of it nor have I been able to find any information on it. They sent a few pics and it looks perfect. Problem is, you never know if it's just a picture of a genuine watch or the actual watch coming from the Factory. They said $510USD shipped, same movement and comes with a real gold Breitling logo, lol don't know about that. I think I should just move on from Breitling reps and be happy with the one I have. The original dealer that ripped me off seems to be trying to make amends. They offered me a Clean Factory 4130 black Daytona for $570USD. I see they typically sell for a lot more on other TD's. I decided to take the risk and ordered it. I will let you know how that goes. The guy seemed to really want to keep my business so here's hoping he took a hit or sold it at cost to make me happy. I'll dissect that watch and whether or not it's a genuine clean in another post. A lot of reddit guys are definitely spending ~$1000 on reps and many people are saying you should be paying around that or it's a fake of a fake or a bad quality rep. Apparently according to reddit, anything under $600USD is junk and they should be $800-$1000. I don't know who to believe. I understand that sometimes if the price is too good to be true, it often is, so even for reps some of us feel like spending more money is getting you a better product. You just can't be sure. Another no name dealer I contacted offered me 2 x BLS watches for $380USD because they said the BLS factory is having a short promotion, how the heck is that possible?? Again, maybe they want to unload old stock, but you can't be sure.

Is Geektime a reliable rep? I've spoken to Eric over whatsapp a few times and he seems quite nice and knowledgeable. The BLS prices are really good but his offerings are quite limited. Strangely, his clean Rolex prices are extremely high. I just like that on his site he has super high quality zoomed in shots of the actual factory watches rather than most sites just showing a stock photo of the gen watch. Like the OF Omega Speedmaster he has on his site look terrible. He actually zooms into all the badly printed fonts so at least that shows a level of honesty in what he's selling.

Anyways, my next watch is going to be the Omega Speedmaster Dark side of the moon. is OF pretty much the only one who makes them? The 2nd dealer I was talking to offered me the OF Omega at $480USD, is that a decent price?

 

[Autotechnica]

I've spoken to so many no name wannabe dealers now it isn't even funny. I definitely see a trend in their sales tactics. Most really know nothing more than a few catch phrases... They all say, the watches come with standard China movements, but we install high quality swiss movements into our watches and that's why the prices are higher. That's BS, they might be swiss clones, but they are all China movements. They also claim that ALL their watches are made in Clean factory. After some research, I see that clean mainly makes Rolex and nothing else. So when they said their Breitling or Omega reps are made in the clean factory, I know they're full of shit. I guess because the people like me initially who have done a bit of research will automatically relate to the "clean factory" and without further research you'd be convinced you're getting a good product. A little knowledge is a dangerous thing. Most can't even produce any real photos until you place the order apparently. Because your watch is custom made so they only get photos of the finished product when it's completed for you. While this makes sense for the QC photo before they ship, it makes no sense that the factory wouldn't have any photos of their completed products. This is all very overwhelming. I just wanted to get a good Breitling clone and I was willing to pay a premium for it.

 

[Pinion Minion]

I've spoken to so many no name wannabe dealers now it isn't even funny. I definitely see a trend in their sales tactics. Most really know nothing more than a few catch phrases... They all say, the watches come with standard China movements, but we install high quality swiss movements into our watches and that's why the prices are higher. That's BS, they might be swiss clones, but they are all China movements. They also claim that ALL their watches are made in Clean factory. After some research, I see that clean mainly makes Rolex and nothing else. So when they said their Breitling or Omega reps are made in the clean factory, I know they're full of shit. I guess because the people like me initially who have done a bit of research will automatically relate to the "clean factory" and without further research you'd be convinced you're getting a good product. A little knowledge is a dangerous thing. Most can't even produce any real photos until you place the order apparently. Because your watch is custom made so they only get photos of the finished product when it's completed for you. While this makes sense for the QC photo before they ship, it makes no sense that the factory wouldn't have any photos of their completed products. This is all very overwhelming. I just wanted to get a good Breitling clone and I was willing to pay a premium for it.

You are going to find the same issues with ALL Speedy reps as your Breitling issues- poor dial placement due to limitations on movements available.

Use this site for research- not Reddit/Facebook - 95 percent of those guys are completely clueless.

As far as Geek time I know nothing about him- but if you want support/help from the mods here if your transaction doesn't go as planned, you have to use one of the Trusted Dealers well documented in this site.

 

[Autotechnica]

You are going to find the same issues with ALL Speedy reps as your Breitling issues- poor dial placement due to limitations on movements available.

Use this site for research- not Reddit/Facebook - 95 percent of those guys are completely clueless.

As far as Geek time I know nothing about him- but if you want support/help from the mods here if your transaction doesn't go as planned, you have to use one of the Trusted Dealers well documented in this site.

If I go for a Navi rep with the sub dials in the 12-9-6 positions will they be in the correct place?

 

[RDRoss]

Why join this forum if you don’t want to avail yourself of the benefits it provides? There are incredibly detailed reviews of most commonly sought after watches and a series of Trusted Dealers to buy from. If you want to gamble your money away on unknown / untrustworthy dealers, Reddit and FB marketplace have you covered.

 

[Autotechnica]

Why join this forum if you don’t want to avail yourself of the benefits it provides? There are incredibly detailed reviews of most commonly sought after watches and a series of Trusted Dealers to buy from. If you want to gamble your money away on unknown / untrustworthy dealers, Reddit and FB marketplace have you covered.

I dealt with these unknowns before I even found out about this forum.

and BTW, I read about geektime from this EXACT forum, so that's why I'm asking about the reliability. They don't appear on the TD list, but members seem to have dealt with them regularly. There's a certain amount of risk I think everybody is willing to take if it saves you a significant amount of money. I understand the benefits of dealing with a trusted dealer from this site, I will be looking into that for future purchases.

 

[Pinion Minion]

If I go for a Navi rep with the sub dials in the 12-9-6 positions will they be in the correct place?

That is proper placement for a 775x movement which is what you're going to get, the issue is dial spacing. That I'm not well versed in. I would research this on this site in the Breitling threads.

To do this hobby correctly it involves research. People certainly don't mind helping, I love to help new guys on this site, but no one wants to completely spoon feed you. You have to do the work that's the only way you're going to learn.

Good luck and send photos of your new watch!

 

[CF_Stan]

I think I've given up on trying to find the perfect Navitimer rep. I contacted another random dealer who seems much more honest (if there's such a thing) and knowledgeable. They quoted me $380USD shipped for the exact same watch I purchased for $650USD from the other guy. My heart sunk. I knew I got ripped off, but didn't know by that much! Live and learn I guess. So anyways, I told this new dealer I wasn't happy with BLS clones and they offered me another factory called KW or JF Factory. I've never heard of it nor have I been able to find any information on it. They sent a few pics and it looks perfect. Problem is, you never know if it's just a picture of a genuine watch or the actual watch coming from the Factory. They said $510USD shipped, same movement and comes with a real gold Breitling logo, lol don't know about that. I think I should just move on from Breitling reps and be happy with the one I have. The original dealer that ripped me off seems to be trying to make amends. They offered me a Clean Factory 4130 black Daytona for $570USD. I see they typically sell for a lot more on other TD's. I decided to take the risk and ordered it. I will let you know how that goes. The guy seemed to really want to keep my business so here's hoping he took a hit or sold it at cost to make me happy. I'll dissect that watch and whether or not it's a genuine clean in another post. A lot of reddit guys are definitely spending ~$1000 on reps and many people are saying you should be paying around that or it's a fake of a fake or a bad quality rep. Apparently according to reddit, anything under $600USD is junk and they should be $800-$1000. I don't know who to believe. I understand that sometimes if the price is too good to be true, it often is, so even for reps some of us feel like spending more money is getting you a better product. You just can't be sure. Another no name dealer I contacted offered me 2 x BLS watches for $380USD because they said the BLS factory is having a short promotion, how the heck is that possible?? Again, maybe they want to unload old stock, but you can't be sure.

Is Geektime a reliable rep? I've spoken to Eric over whatsapp a few times and he seems quite nice and knowledgeable. The BLS prices are really good but his offerings are quite limited. Strangely, his clean Rolex prices are extremely high. I just like that on his site he has super high quality zoomed in shots of the actual factory watches rather than most sites just showing a stock photo of the gen watch. Like the OF Omega Speedmaster he has on his site look terrible. He actually zooms into all the badly printed fonts so at least that shows a level of honesty in what he's selling.

Anyways, my next watch is going to be the Omega Speedmaster Dark side of the moon. is OF pretty much the only one who makes them? The 2nd dealer I was talking to offered me the OF Omega at $480USD, is that a decent price?

Have a look at this review, may find it helpful .

The Darker Side of Moon, SpeedMaster DSOM black OMF v2 review

Spot the gen 🤔 @frenchaccent @Marbe78 I’ve been getting quite a bit of interest in the Omega SpeedMaster Dark Side of the Moon black rep from OMF v2 so decided to do a review. First off this is a very dark watch (if the name didn’t give it away) so legibility is not always easy, especially...

forum.replica-watch.info

At the moment there are 2 factories producing the DSOTM range OMF & NIF. I have the OMF v2 and can't really see a difference between them. Also the sub dial spacing on the DSOTM Speedies is good as they only have 2 sub dials (3 & 9). Its the other Speedmasters with 3 (3, 6 & 9) sub dials that have the spaced out issue.

 

[Autotechnica]

Awesome, going to pick that one up next.

 

[JimmyD750]

If I go for a Navi rep with the sub dials in the 12-9-6 positions will they be in the correct place?

Yes, and that’s the only one even somewhat reliable long term in a rep A7750 chrono. They’ll say it’s “Valjou”, “Seagull”, etc but they’re Asian clones of those movements (hence the “A” in “A7750”). The native 7750 subdial placement is a better bet than modded to 3-6-9.

 

[JimmyD750]

Awesome, going to pick that one up next.

Bro, I’m gonna be real Frank with you. You should probably stop buying reps for a minute. You’re far too impulsive at this point, and it’s totally understandable!!!! This is a kick ass hobby!!! But just like track kart racing, you HAVE TO KNOW AND FOLLW at least most of the info we’ve spent 20 years acquiring . You can spend $25k on a $5k racing kart; that doesn’t make you a better driver or leave you happy with your purchase.

This world isn’t about immediate gratification. What’s gonna happen here is that you’ll get so turned off you wind up quitting, and joining the ranks of “rep watches suck, I bought enough to know!”.

First off, you’re listening to, and actually, for some crazy reason, BELIEVING a highly illegal product seller who has absolutely ZERO reason for selling other than to take you for as much money as he can. Why do you think he isn’t here in RWI??? Ask him, I guarantee he either doesn’t know what it is, or he’ll make up some bs bc he’s banned already.. “He seems to really want to keep my business”??? “He wants to make amends”???? What, you actually think he’s your pal??? THATS HIS JOB!!! That’s what he does! He gains trust, and steals your money by overcharging for an inferior product. Almost sounds like a criminal right? That’s bc HE IS. Did you read any of my comment? I told you why he’s doing that! He has detected a sucker. You wanna be that guy, I can’t stop you.

Second, against advice, from members who’ve almost dedicated their lives to this hobby, you continue to buy anyways based loosely upon something you read on Reddit, which is widely known as the kindergarten sandbox of the rep world. Why would you do that??? And believing a guy whom you’ll never meet, over what people tell you here, is insulting at best.

If you’d just simply slow down, listen, research, and follow some basic tried and true methods that work so well the staff here will help you get things settled if your buy goes wrong, you’d be confident in your purchases instead of posting this. Does reddit do that? No, they’ll just laugh at you and call you an idiot, while they do the same shit.

Basically, you’re asking people to spend their time interacting with you, TRYING to teach you, and then you’re saying “thanks but I’m gonna do what I want, fuck off” and then come here to complain. That’s pretty rude tbh, and definitely not how we’ve successfully bought some absolutely amazing watches.