Discussion : Various Mark XVII Le Petit Prince from MKF, SWF, and V6F

[pulp fiction]

We're all more than familiar with MKF and SWF's Mk 17 le petit prince. Apparently V6F recently released their version of the petit prince. It has been on puretime for few days now and I've been waiting for discussions and comparisons against mk and sw, but so far nothing. So I figured I'll start.

Because this is a limited edition watch, it's really hard to find a genuine one to compare to. On various photos it shows sunburst effect, yet on a youtube video, it showed matte finish dial.
https://youtu.be/UFOVm8dBB8w
I trust the authenticity of the video because Japanese resalers are notoriously painstaking when it comes to authenticity and condition.


The consensus of the dicussions on the prince till now however, has been that it has sunburst, based on various photos from iwc and various blogs, most notably this set of photos:

http://syndicate.details.com/post/h...vii-edition-le-petit-prince-live-pics-pricing
While there are no definitive answers, I can only conclude that Iwc has their own special technique of creating a dial that both has both sunburst and matte sandblasted finish. (perhaps sunburst + a layer or sprayed particles or sandblast?)



Here are the v6f's

As can tell from the photos, the leather color is awfully wrong. But the caseback is so much better than that crap mfk makes, and there looks like sunburst or reflective qualities on the dial. I've been waiting on photos from other TDs to get a better look at the dial, but so far no one has it yet.

Here is a comparison of all three dials in order of mkf, swf, v6f

Here are the casebacks for comparison

So far it seems that Mkf has the best dial because swf has the wrong spacing on 7 and v6f doesn't look like it has that matte quality. However, the Datewheel font size and spacing is much more authentic when compare to the other 2.
meanwhile V6f arguable has the best caseback, and the strap can be easily replaced by ordering SS bracelt or a new strap from vendors.

What do you guys think?

 

[darkelfx]

I'm in the market for an IWC, been looking at this one and the new ZF Portu. Which one would you recommend? I do like the MK more as well.

 

[pulp fiction]

I would recommend the MK, and I'll try to explain objectively without bias.
The thing is with the new Zf/YLf portugese is that it's an asian decorated 52010. It's not a clone of 52010, but another nameless movement decorated as one, and the decoration isn't very well done. I tried finding out more about it, but there's no information on it other than the fact that its a 23j with power reserve. I wouldn't recommend it because 1. the movement may be very unreliable and prone to problems since I can't even tell what movement it is. Not to mention if it does break, the parts are definitely harder to find than an eta clone. 2. because its so vastly different from the genuine movement and has a display back, it's an obvious fake unless you refuse to let it off your wrist.

Now about the Mk xvii, as we know there are two versions, the black one and the petit prince blue version. Out of the 2 I would actually recommend the black right now because no one has been able to do a very detailed comparison on the blue petit prince yet, so we don't know what's the actual color/ texture difference. And of the available ones right now, MKf has a horrible caseback that looks like engraved kid scribble. Swf has the wrong spacing on the numeral 7 on dial. I do very much like the blue color dial and is eagerly waiting for MKf to correct theirs or another factory to come up with a better version, preferably with comparison to gen. About the movement inside, It is a clone of the Eta 2892, which is renown for being a superb movement used in higher end watch of Omega, Baume & Mercier, Ulysse Nardin, Logines, and Iwc etc. That being said, I AM talking about swiss eta 2892s and not the asian ones. The asian ones however, using the same designs couldn't be too far off in terms of accuracy and mechanical stability. This is after all, a movement from the 1970s, and has almost 50 years of reputable history.

If you desperately want the blue dial and cannot wait for new versions, I recommend the V6f petit prince chronograph, which is reference 3777-06
here's a photo comparison between a nameless small factory, the genuine, and V6

?? = small nameless factory, ?? = genuine, V6 = well, V6f lol

It uses a relatively reliable A7750 which is based off another Eta movement and is used in most of the automatic chronographs you see on the market. I personally have 2 a7750s and 1 eta 7750, after calibration, the a7750 accuracy isn't too far off.
Hope that provides you with a thorough guide and helps you find what you're looking for.

 

[kim.lee]

are the MK and ZF will make the Prince Petit Chrono? I have heard some rumors, but somebody please confirm if that true. Thanks.

 

[mujidominic]

The MK version of the Mark17 Lpp seems to have a mishaped star counterweight on the second hand, not sure if this is just an angle problem though

 

[FAIRLADY Z]

KW's caseback is the best one so far. Just a few things on caseback; right shoe has a low heel and a small piece on right sleeve but that is acceptable in my eyes. For the dial, I could not see any sunbursts in the pics but it might depends on lighting conditions. Hope to see other TD's pics of it then if it has sunburst, this KW one with ss is my next watch.
Some dealers claim the gen does not have any sunburst on the dial but I am pretty sure the gen has a light sunburst. I saw a gen watch (the same model we talk about) that was my friend's one.

 

[alexanderjs]

Here's mine. Which version?:thumbup:

 

[noctus]

Gen ,I would say

 

[botsyboy]

V6

 

[pulp fiction]

The MK version of the Mark17 Lpp seems to have a mishaped star counterweight on the second hand, not sure if this is just an angle problem though

I see what you mean, one of the star arms is not aligned. You have a very keen eye for details, I wouldn't be too worried about it though as the star itself is not a very symmetrical shape to begin with.

KW's caseback is the best one so far. Just a few things on caseback; right shoe has a low heel and a small piece on right sleeve but that is acceptable in my eyes. For the dial, I could not see any sunbursts in the pics but it might depends on lighting conditions. Hope to see other TD's pics of it then if it has sunburst, this KW one with ss is my next watch.
Some dealers claim the gen does not have any sunburst on the dial but I am pretty sure the gen has a light sunburst. I saw a gen watch (the same model we talk about) that was my friend's one.

So toro updated his site with the new v6/kw xvii prince,

Can't really tell if there's sunburst, and I don't know if the photo lacks saturation or the color of the whole watch is wrong. Comparing to puretime's photos I would say toro's photos are off. Toro's not the greatest at taking photosm, often lacking the kind of details provided by puretime or intime. So I would say wait for Intime to be sure.

Here's mine. Which version?:thumbup:

I was tempted to say gen, until I saw the rounded corners on the 4, which is the same as the ones on v6. On other photos of gen, the corners are sharp-cuts. Is this truly a v6 in action? Please tell us, if it is, it is probably the closest dial to gen by photo comparison and an instant buy for many of us waiting. The color of the leather and dial are so spot on, combined with the lovely caseback, we'd have a decisive winner.

 

[alexanderjs]

Its V6/KW. Dial is matt sandblasted, sunburst effect is also present. Dial color is spot on. No purple tinge.

 

[pulp fiction]

Its V6/KW. Dial is matt sandblasted, sunburst effect is also present. Dial color is spot on. No purple tinge.

Wow, thanks, that's super informative. is that the original strap with v6? The colors seems right on yours, but off on the TD sites I've seen. How's the quality? is it soft, hard, rough?

 

[alexanderjs]

Strap quality is quite good. A little bit stiff, but will probably break in with some wrist time. Color in real life is very similar to my picture, at least on my screen.

 

[spursian]

Here's mine. Which version?[emoji106]

V6, it has smaller date fonts.

 

[Patsanchik]

I think the dial numerals on the V6 look like their edges are kind of sloppy, not crisp like those on the MK and SW.

 

[pulp fiction]

V6, it has smaller date fonts.

Smaller date font is right though, it's not suppose to almost touch the window like MK does.
Gen with similar date:

I think the dial numerals on the V6 look like their edges are kind of sloppy, not crisp like those on the MK and SW.

While I do agree, I do think that V6 did a huge leap towards the gen. I think the sloppy numeral is a direct consequence of scanning the dial and then making a cad out of it without refining the edges. A chinese thread I was reading where a competing factory talked trash about the new v6 prince accidentally revealed that this watch was a result of a customer bringing in a gen version to be cloned. If that is true, then it explains why the improvement on the dial and caseback upon first try by v6. MK and SW both have their more fatal mistakes. Niether has sunburst, Mk has a very bad caseback, while SW has the wrong spacing for its numeral 7. Considering noob spend 5 years with 5 versions and still couldn't get the sub right. I think this is a very praise-worthy XVII prince, no?

 

[FAIRLADY Z]

Hm...
I just have checked the pics of V6 on toro. The dial looks like a light sunburst on it but I would like to see more detail shots..

 

[FAIRLADY Z]

The caseback is much better than others but the strap color is obviously wrong...

 

[pulp fiction]

The caseback is much better than others but the strap color is obviously wrong...

Checkout photos alexander js posted though, the color of the strap isn't that much off on his v6 prince

 

[pippo]

Looks good! Mine will be from VF, no doubt