Explorer I -124270 Gen & Clean Comprehensive Comparison

[mrsullivan]

Crystal is quite good, not worth the switch IMO.

 

[Buythedip]

Not worth it imo.
Price is definitely high for xtal change.

To be honest I’ve never had a deep Xtal installed, and I’m not equipped to do it myself.

For my reference, what’s a fair price to have a deep Xtal and installation?

 

[Got20Mate]

Is this close to NWBIG?

 

[FaintOrGloch]

My 36mm just arrived. The stock crystal is spot on in terms of edge chamfer and how it protrudes out of the bezel. Way better than my BP.
Idk if a DeepXtal would be as good in that regard

 

[Reaps]

Is this close to NWBIG?

Yes. Very close. Only detriment is the "crown" is not exactly gen, it's a datejust 36 crown, but it's not a deal breaker at all and would never notice on wrist. Hell, you put it side by side with gen you might struggle. I think the blown up pics really overshow the watch. It's tiny in real life.. If you get it, QC for rehaut alignment, and bracelet especially.

 

[Got20Mate]

Yes. Very close. Only detriment is the "crown" is not exactly gen, it's a datejust 36 crown, but it's not a deal breaker at all and would never notice on wrist. Hell, you put it side by side with gen you might struggle. I think the blown up pics really overshow the watch. It's tiny in real life.. If you get it, QC for rehaut alignment, and bracelet especially.

Helpful - Thank you. I might start doing some digging and get one! Wonderful looker

 

[FaintOrGloch]

Helpful - Thank you. I might start doing some digging and get one! Wonderful looker

I love my BP, but the Clean just looks more elegantly proportioned, less clumsy. Case profile is better - looks less like a slab of steel with a dial - the 19mm to 14?mm taper of the bracelet, profile of the bezel+crystl, and daintier clasp are big improvements. It weighs around 10g less than the BP sized for my wrist.
NWBIG? I hope so. If this finally scratches my gen Explorer itch, I can tick the box and look at going gen with a Speedy (reps have been crap)

Will get around to taking some better photos

IMG 2983~2

Image IMG 2983~2 hosted in ClickPix.org

clickpix.org

 

[Got20Mate]

I love my BP, but the Clean just looks more elegantly proportioned, less clumsy. Case profile is better - looks less like a slab of steel with a dial - the 19mm to 14?mm taper of the bracelet, profile of the bezel+crystl, and daintier clasp are big improvements. It weighs around 10g less than the BP sized for my wrist.
NWBIG? I hope so. If this finally scratches my gen Explorer itch, I can tick the box and look at going gen with a Speedy (reps have been crap)

Will get around to taking some better photos

IMG 2983~2

Image IMG 2983~2 hosted in ClickPix.org

clickpix.org

Man alive, sold mine a few years back and I miss it. Wonder if I should pick another one up!

 

[Reaps]

Man alive, sold mine a few years back and I miss it. Wonder if I should pick another one up!

Love my BP Explorer 39. It's my "beater"rep. I had it water proofed, and I really do wear it to anything where I'm comfortable just thrashing my watch, gym, hike, etc. It's less than $300, the 2836 inside it is a tank, and if it shits on me I can replace with gen ETA2836. Great value for money and I wouldn't even trade it up for a Clean, since the VR3230 is nice but not easily replaceable like the 2836 is.

Is it boring? Yes. But that's the whole point of the Explorer. It's a watch I wear, when I don't want to think about watches.

 

[Mossback]

what do you mean? there is a CF in 39mm and in 36mm

Thank you Karbon74.
I'm kinda the RWI village idiot and somehow thought that rep was only 36mm.

 

[Karbon74]

Love my BP Explorer 39. It's my "beater"rep. I had it water proofed, and I really do wear it to anything where I'm comfortable just thrashing my watch, gym, hike, etc. It's less than $300, the 2836 inside it is a tank, and if it shits on me I can replace with gen ETA2836. Great value for money and I wouldn't even trade it up for a Clean, since the VR3230 is nice but not easily replaceable like the 2836 is.

Is it boring? Yes. But that's the whole point of the Explorer. It's a watch I wear, when I don't want to think about watches.

i liked the BP but I love the clean.
the a2836 of the BP drove me mad with its winding

 

[trailboss99]

I just got my CF explorer 1 36mm. What a gorgeous watch!

Question: The edges of the crystal appear white as in the picture. Is this normal (as in gen watches) or is this a problem with Clean Factory Crystals? I’ve read somewhere that CF Datejust suffers that white edge thing.

You have more than one account at RWI, please take out a support ticket at The Help Desk to resolve this issue or no one will see your posts.

 

[SpeedThrash]

Are the 36 and 39mm both the same in terms of quality?

 

[stonednerd]

Seeing that a few had commented that their watches were running fast, i present another data point.

Despite looking good on the timegrapher QC pic, my 39mm CF was running minutes fast every day since the day i received it. Just brought it to a local watchsmith, he put it on his timegrapher, and ... no lines could show up. Hopefully, he can figure out what is wrong after opening it up.

The watch took 2 months to reach me and then now this.

 

[Reaps]

Seeing that a few had commented that their watches were running fast, i present another data point.

Despite looking good on the timegrapher QC pic, my 39mm CF was running minutes fast every day since the day i received it. Just brought it to a local watchsmith, he put it on his timegrapher, and ... no lines could show up. Hopefully, he can figure out what is wrong after opening it up.

The watch took 2 months to reach me and then now this.

It's ok. It happens. That's the rep game. You can get a dud once in a while. Reminder that these are not made in nice, clean, factory with well paid watch makers, but in apartments by underpaid workers working in an illegal industry.

Well, you can always buy a VR3235 on Aliexpress and swap it in. You'll have a ghost date position but it's cheaper than a full service most times.

 

[stonednerd]

It's ok. It happens. That's the rep game. You can get a dud once in a while. Reminder that these are not made in nice, clean, factory with well paid watch makers, but in apartments by underpaid workers working in an illegal industry.

Well, you can always buy a VR3235 on Aliexpress and swap it in. You'll have a ghost date position but it's cheaper than a full service most times.

Yeah, you're right. Thanks for the kind reminder. Sometimes when i think that i have just blown ~$500 on a fancy metallic paper weight, i look at the other nice working ones and think yeah i win some and i lose some.

 

[Reaps]

Yeah, you're right. Thanks for the kind reminder. Sometimes when i think that i have just blown ~$500 on a fancy metallic paper weight, i look at the other nice working ones and think yeah i win some and i lose some.

Would show the TD you bought it from abd ask for a nice discount for your next rep. Cheers mate. Good attitude to have

 

[FaintOrGloch]

Sometimes when i think that i have just blown ~$500 on a fancy metallic paper weight.

I can totally empathise. I hope it's a cheap repair, or at least you can easily get a new movement installed (I'm sure the folk here can help you do that yourself). If you'd bought a $500 Seiko, you'd be furious if it was DOA.
It helps to remember that most of that $500 goes on the attention to detail in the construction, that's what you're paying for really because we end users are so fussy! I guess the movement, assembly costs and profits are a relatively small part of that, so your investment is still more or less intact!

Probably every rep I buy, I mentally factor in the cost of a new movement because it could run forever - or be a time bomb. I think the CF Explorer would be worth a quality movement - personally it's a keeper and I'd happily drop $280 on a Selitta or whatever in the future, which I wouldn't say about the BP Explorer with the wrong size lugs and bracelet, although it's still a quality piece...

 

[SpeedThrash]

I can totally empathise. I hope it's a cheap repair, or at least you can easily get a new movement installed (I'm sure the folk here can help you do that yourself). If you'd bought a $500 Seiko, you'd be furious if it was DOA.
It helps to remember that most of that $500 goes on the attention to detail in the construction, that's what you're paying for really because we end users are so fussy! I guess the movement, assembly costs and profits are a relatively small part of that, so your investment is still more or less intact!

Probably every rep I buy, I mentally factor in the cost of a new movement because it could run forever - or be a time bomb. I think the CF Explorer would be worth a quality movement - personally it's a keeper and I'd happily drop $280 on a Selitta or whatever in the future, which I wouldn't say about the BP Explorer with the wrong size lugs and bracelet, although it's still a quality piece...

Why you mentioning selitta? You can't swap out a VR3230 for a 2824 right?

 

[blankfe1n]

I'm rather new to the space and recently purchased the CF Explorer I Ref. 124700. Earlier in this thread, it had been discussed that the blank space between STEEL and INOX on the clasp imprint was removed by CF. However, after having received QC for my example last week, it was there again. Hence, I asked the TD whether it would be possible to swap the clasp to the new one, thinking I would have encountered an example from an older batch. However, after having contacted the factory, he responded that this clasp with the space between STEEL and INOX would be the most recent one and would also be produced until further notice. So now to my question: Does anyone here know where to buy a clasp without the blank space between STEEL and INOX that matches the CF specs? Thank you very much in advance!