GMF Batman vs Gen Batman

[KSwatches]

Ok, Here are my thoughts:

I am comparing these watches side by side and not zooming in pictures and micro analysing differences that are essentially impossible to see in real life, without staring hard at your watch (close to the face) and knowing exactly what to look for.



First impressions: The GMF looks and feels good. Bracelet pops and makes the watch look premium. The feel is quality is good. The dial surrounds are nice and overall the watch doesn’t look cheap (which is always the risk when essentially blind buying a Chinese rep). For hardcore Rolex fans, The Cyclops requires modding but that’s the case with noob and ARF and well.

Bezel:
In real life I honestly can’t see an appreciable difference between the gen and rep bezels. Ok, after studying zoomed-in pictures you might see a slight colour difference or the numerals may or may not be exactly the same thickness but all this is irrelevant, since in real life the rep doesn’t look off to my eyes (and I am used to staring at gens):
Gen (left), Rep (right)

Take a look at this picture, now bear in mind the picture is many times magnified compared to what you see in real life:

To my eyes the numerals are close enough. Bear in mind that that the numeral colour changes depending on lighting, angle etc - therefore it’s hard to define what gen numerals should look like In real life. Of course in pictures it’s easy to spot gen vs rep numerals but in real life (as a gen collector) I could never spot this as a rep bezel at wrist distance but then again I am not as paranoid as some and haven’t spent decades staring at gen vs rep micro differences.

The blue colour is very dynamic, on gen and rep. It changes depending on lighting and angle. Impossible to define what gen should look like on the wrist, so don’t get hung up over the precise shade of blue in pics.

Dial/Hands: the GMF Dial is nice in terms of hour marker steel surrounds. They are nicely rounded. Very close to gen. not like the flat pointy 12 marker found on ARF. ARF hands are much better, in terms of gen like geometry but GMF is nit bad in this department.

*****NOTE: the crown at 6 in “Swiss Made” is correct for 2019 gen******
GMF:

Gen:

Bracelet: hard to compare jubilee with oyster but the jubilee looks nice. We have a gen Pepsi jubilee arriving in a few months, so will do a better comparison then. I do like the jubilee, will probably use it on the gen. GMF clasp is nice. Feels like gen to me.
GMF (left), Gen (right)

Side by side:

Gen bezel numerals look more 3D here but that’s always going to be an issue on reps (ARF, noob etc).

Here is the GMF bezel again, at this angle you can see that the numerals are nice and 3D:

To be continued.


KSWATCHES

 

[rayz20]

Thanks KS for taking the time to share this detailed comparison for us!

The Dial looks very good imo the 12 marker is very good compared to other GMT models.

Finally a good step from the factory.

Cyclops needs a mod on nearly every Rolex model. Don’t matter what factory but i personally can live with GMF, ARF cyclops. Irl it’s always different you can’t see it that detailed and close up.

Overall: nice comparison!And a good watch. There’s always improved that can be made. That’s the fun of the hobby.
Will maybe buy one!

 

[Nivka]

This looks great. I think a prof black hole/ gen crystal + sputter insert mod and it’s a brilliant replication. If arf don’t deliver, this will be my gmt go to

 

[KSwatches]

Crystal/Cyclops: the GMF offering requires a profS crystal IMO. I can’t live with any rep cyclops (ARF, noob, BP....all shit...some less shit but nevertheless still shit given that it’s 2019 and they still can’t get it right on the most desirable watches in the world)

You can see from this picture that GMF cyclops is I’ve magnified (more than x2.5) but the gen cyclops is unmagnified (less than x2.5). It’s common to see under magnified gen cyclops.

The GMF font is actually quite good. It looks off because the cyclops has crappy AR but the font itself is fine (there are various gen fonts, some are thick some are thin and I don’t keep track of all the different variants).
Font print is slightly raised and glossy - not perfect but decent attempt IMO. I always swap in gen DW on all my Rolex reps.

Cyclops black hole effect is not great:

Gen cyclops looks really off here...that’s why I don’t complain too much about reps because gen’s are not perfect either.

Sunlight: here’s a comparison picture in direct light. You really have to have both side by side to appreciate the difference.

I really don’t see why people are advocating spray painting their bezels. This is one sure why of ruining the 3D depth effect found on stock rep inserts IMO:

ICHS: basically impossible to notice in real life without holding the watch close to your eyes for an appreciable amount of time....unless you have paranoid rep forum member eyes and can spot reps from across the room:

Bottom line:
I like the dial and hour surrounds. I can’t wear ARF anymore due to the flat/pointy 12 marker and the ghost white lume. GMF lume is creamy like gen and hour marker surrounds are nicely curved. I would wear GMF with ProfS crystal. GMF hands are not as nice as ARF. Maybe I’ll ask my China partners to send me spare ARF hands to use on the GMF. The GMF bezel is good enough to my eyes (I’m talking about real life and not in zoomed in pictures).

Given that gen costs £16k (essentially), this is a very nice way to enjoy the watch at a faction of gen price IMO.

KSWATCHES

 

[rayz20]

Very well said.

Theres always room for perfection it’s 2019 they cant get it right.

But for now we need to see what we have and work with what we have.

And in GMT terms I think the GMF is offering a great watch if you do some modding.

 

[beau7816]

Big tell with a crown at the 6 o'clock position on the GMF.

 

[KSwatches]

Big tell with a crown at the 6 o'clock position on the GMF.

No. The crown at 6 is correct for 2019.
Lots of other text/spacing/engraving gen differences over the years


KSWATCHES

 

[ks123]

Not bad for a first attempt from GMF

 

[Hakro]

Watch has some flaws but really looks good to me, this was my all time favorite Rolex but the rep bezel was always shitty, this one looks actually good to me.

Thank you for the great comparsion, i‘ll definetly give the gmf a try

 

[corleone911]

Great review as always. Thank you very much for such a great review

 

[stufuse]

Big tell with a crown at the 6 o'clock position on the GMF.

Coronet at 6 indicates 2018 Basel world release with new movement


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[KSwatches]

Couple of people asking about the transition between blue and black:
Gen(left), GMF(right):

In reality the blue black transition at 6 and 9 is Irrelevant ad the following picture illustrates, the blue and black blend into one another other depending on angle l/lighting (for example look the the bezel from form 12 to 6):

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[w_inman]

Nice write up! Really fancy one of these GMF's .... Must resist .

 

[muiramas]

KSwatches thanks for the pics and review. They help a lot.

As with ARF and Noob, this needs a crystal update, after that I think its going to be OK.
Fit and finish on a $500 Chinese fake will never match that of a £8,500 gen.

Comments in this thread that there are 'many flaws' or the 'x,y and z are crap' without explaining what / why are just useless shit posts and contribute nothing.
Comments about 'Swiss (coronet) Made' on the rep not being the same as a 2016 gen demonstrate ignorance.

I may get this with the Oyster and the Pepsi with the Jubilee. I don't care for super-clone movements that can't be fixed / CHS or the up coming ARF which is likely going to come with the usual, fat, font / worst date wheel on the market, and an over magnified cyclops to read it with.

 

[LuminorReptar]

Firstly, thanks KS for the amazing write up and pictures!

I agree that the overall quality from GMF is looking really good on this, especially the dial. I personally don't think the DW is a huge deal, nor the crystal. You can get a DS Crystal for $125 and will be enough of an improvement that most non-obsessive watch nerds like ourselves won't ever be able to notice.

The one flaw where I still feel this falls short, and none of the other factories can get right either - is the insert. I know not everyone will agree, but I think that it's a much bigger flaw than the crystal or DW, and it's the first thing I look at when I see any factory version of this model.

I will say that I think the GMF color looks great, the number font is also a bit thin but not a deal-breaker, triangle marker at 12:00 is also a bit small. All of these are pretty minor..

However, where every single rep falls short is in the transition from black / blue on the inner of the bezel numerals at "6" and "18". In this case the transitional line is completely off on the "18", it sits underneath the "8" where the gen it should transition on the number. On the "6" it looks better placed, but of course like all other reps, you can see a distinct line inside the number where the two colors meet.

Maybe others dont put much importance on this, but to me all the other details are irrelevant if this flaw is staring me in the face. I think its the fastest and easiest way to look at any Batman (or two-tone GMT) and tell if its a rep or gen.. Really wish at least one factory will get this right eventually.

Overall still a great looking watch for the price.

 

[wewillrock123]

KSwatches thank you for the pictures, it helps a lot!

could u give ur opinion on the jubilee quality , as nice finished as the ARF ones ?

 

[KSwatches]

KSwatches thank you for the pictures, it helps a lot!

could u give ur opinion on the jubilee quality , as nice finished as the ARF ones ?

Very good question. I’ve just spent the last 5minutes comparing GMF and ARF jubilee bracelets...essentially the quality is the same. Both 904L. Both “feel” the same in the hands in terms of finish and sharpness. Put it this way, I’m happy to use the GMF on my gen.

Jubilee: 40mm GMF Batman vs 36mm ARF DJ

The DJ is a smaller watch and the lightweight jubilee feels right. The GMT watch head is large and heavy and the light weight jubilee may feel flimsy at first but the quality is just as good as the ARF offering. Once you get used to jubilee it’s hard to go back to oyster.




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[wewillrock123]

KSwatches thank you again for this nice comparison & help !!

 

[KSwatches]

Remember also that the GMT clasp is also quite substantial compared to the dressy thin/lightweight integrated clasps found on DJ models. Therefore a jubilee bracelet on a thick heavy watch like batman, with a thick claps, might make the user think the bracelet is cheap and flimsy but it’s not an issue of GMT bracelet being of poor quality...it’s just mass distribution as per Rolex design intent

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[wewillrock123]

Would like to see the jubilee comparison of the GMF and the ARF both with the oyster clasp like at the DJ41

https://m.imgur.com/a/4tno5hL ( from a User hope it’s ok to use it here )