OK, long post alert with loads of pics. If you are not interested in knowing about my 2018, skip to next paragraph, if you are interested, please read on. It has been a while for me to be excited about a rep as much as I am excited about this one.. in the past year or so, I didn't manage to find something really nice in the rep market, so I settled with the reps I have, after all, most of the reps I have are modded and worked on. few disappointments in 2018, my modder (an artist to be honest) told me that he retired, he no longer wants to mod reps, it seemed it was so much pressure on him, so he quit. when I got the news, I was truly lost, I didn't know any other modder, and I had a few projects lined up, but when he told me he is retiring, I stopped all plans of buying reps and modding them to become very close to gens. Also some disappointments with regards of some reps have died on me in 2018, 3 to be exact, and 2 more the crown can be unscrewed out of the rep and the hands can not be set.. I do not know if that would be an easy fix or not. More over 2018 got me some dead on arrival reps.. so I am glad that 2018 is done, and I hope 2019 will be better for me in the rep world. I have a new modder that everyone here is vouching for, and I will start with him my first project. below you will see the details of it.
I know this might be boring for few of you to see yet another Nautilus project, but to be honest, I have always wanted a close to gen 5711/1R. in 2015, I came to the forum because I was interested in the RG Nautilus, before even wanting the steal version. My issues in the past were mostly the dial was really far from gen, and the date wheel. all the old versions that came out could't make the rep look close to the gen on the wrist, heck some versions had even the wrong end links. the dial color can scream FAKE from a mile away, the DW also if you look at it closely, the DW was much thinner and some of the old reps came with the wrong font all together. I knew of few friends who bought them and immediately flipped them cos of the faults were screaming at them and they couldn't take staring at those tells. Then came out the PF.. PF had taken the time to make the best over all structure, great case, and really top notch bracelet. their steel version is an instant sell out, they couldn't catch up with the demand. so they took a shot at the RG version. I was waiting for that version to come out, and when it did, I was holding my breath, but just like all the other factories, their shot on making the dial look like the gen was a failure. But they still made a great RG rep overall, if you do not look at the dial and DW, you would see the rep is a good quality rep, that looks close to the gen, not to forget to mention they succeeded in making the rep thinner of all its competitors out there. As much as I was excited about the PF RG 5711, I never thought of getting it, purely for the dial and date wheel tells that are a mile apart from looking like gen. then things started to align somehow.. I heard about the great project that
Keylog74 started in May called "
Nautilus date wheel project", I kept following the project, and soon enough, the project materialized and people are so happy with the output, thanks to all the hard working members, we have solved the date wheel issue right now for the ones that hated the rep date wheel. that is one step closer to realize that the RG Nautilus can actually happen. at the end of 2018, I got introduced to
slaughterer62 , and we worked out a schedule for the first project. so again, that made the 5711/1R closer to reality.. but I was still not 100% going for it because of the bad honey looking shiny dial the PF has, and everyone was telling me, go for the JJF dial, it is better, but the problem is that the JJF is also not quite good enough.. it is better than the PF true, but the color is far from the gen dial. and in December, things aligned, somehow again, and made my dream RG Nautilus idea a reality.. I have bitten the bullet and purchased a gen 5711/1R dial. don't ask me how much I have paid for it.. I don't even want to remember, but all I can say is that this rep would be the most expensive rep I will have after slaughterer62 finishes it. I will keep updating this post as we progress with the project. Thanks in advance to slaughterer62 and the guys who worked on the Date Wheel Project. let's see some pics...
Arrival of the PF RG Nautilus this morning
front pose.. (dial is a mess, DW not aligned, I didn't care, as I need the case and movement, the rest will be swapped and worked at)
back pose! (not going to take the seal nor adjust the size)
some measurements for you, since it's in my hand (40mm diameter)
9mm Thickness including crystals
close up on the PF dial
Now the gen Patek Philippe 7511/1R dial (pictures can't do it justice, and the color is not showing on the pics like the real thing)
Trying to show you the different shades (dark brown, light brown, gold, grey.. no wonder the rep factories can not do it.. it's really complicated)
want to see the side by side comparison between the gen and the rep dial?
trying to move it to show under different lighting, but actually no need, the difference is vast.
here is the new close to gen date wheel..
and last but certainly not least all the parts that will undergo in the project
I hope all will go well, and I will receive my most expensive rep even.