Hey guys,
Managed to pick myself up a Linde Werdelin II SpidioLite II Tech after resisting buying 'The One' and even this at launch.
A lovely review of the gen can be found here and I suggest you read it first to really enjoy the watch and this review:
https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/a-week-on-the-wrist-the-linde-werdelin-spidolite-ii-tech
I've always been an AP guy but recently the forged carbon bug has bitten and when one these bad boys popped up on M2m sale I just couldn't resist and bit the bullet.
Took awhile to arrive but I ripped the package open like a kid on Christmas morning the day it arrived. So as usual, not to leave any rep unopened and untouched, I dove into it and here's a quick and dirty review:
The case construction really oozes of quality and I'd like to think it's really spot on to gen (haven't handled a gen before).
One thing I noted though, the FC patterns aren't as pronounced as gen but perhaps I shall explore hyper polishing it to bring out those patterns (stay tuned for that).
On the left side of the case, serial numbers XX/75 (yeah only 75 were made) flank the left and right of the case. On the right, SL (SpidioLite) and ALW (Alloy Linde Werdelin) are marked. I also noted that the fonts for SL are very different from gen but hey who's gonna notice when the watch is on your wrist?
Gen:
Rep:
A commonly known flaw on this re is that the crown spots a spider instead of the LW logo as per gens. So far no one has confirmed that this is true, maybe because gens in the wild are pretty hard to come buy (75 pieces produced duh). Either way the flaw is tiny enough to pass off on the wrist.
The gen also has a nice green surround around the screws holding the strap lugs and surprisingly the rep has them albeit a wrong shade of green so I'm thankful the rep lug screws are larger and cover up most of the ugly green below.
The rep sports an A7750 movement which frankly isn't that far from the (IMO seems like a ETA 7750 modified) LW04 movement on the gen. But here's where all the flaws start (IMO at least).
Gen:
Rep:
I'm not sure if this was exclusive to my piece from M2M but the dial feet were sawed off and the dial was attached to the movement sloppily (note the 2 dark spots). So I'd appreciate if anyone can advise if theirs were also the same.
For me, the biggest tell on this rep is the cheap Chinese Double Corrector gear which is gold/bronze in colour that just sticks out on the rep. The gen uses an ETA one which is silver.
Gen:
Rep:
The culprit, can you spot the difference?
Another interesting find for those more technical is that the date indicator maintaining plate seems to be of a different shape, with an extra part jutting out which needs to be inserted below the double corrector gear and is frankly quite a b!tch to install. Honestly no idea why they made it so as it can't be seen under the dial and serves no bloody purpose. Also note that the screw holding this plate down is blue on the gen.
These problems are easily solved by installing the correct ETA parts and some light paint modding. Mods I would suggest to take this closer to gen:
1) FC Case polishing
2) Installing an ETA double corrector
3) Installing an ETA date indicator maintaining plate
4) Coat screw holding (3) blue
5) Grease rotor to silence it
Issues aside this is still a stellar try by re factories on such an exclusive piece! With mods this could potentially be a super rep!
Hope you guys enjoyed this review!
Ending off with some wrist shots here:
Managed to pick myself up a Linde Werdelin II SpidioLite II Tech after resisting buying 'The One' and even this at launch.
A lovely review of the gen can be found here and I suggest you read it first to really enjoy the watch and this review:
https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/a-week-on-the-wrist-the-linde-werdelin-spidolite-ii-tech
I've always been an AP guy but recently the forged carbon bug has bitten and when one these bad boys popped up on M2m sale I just couldn't resist and bit the bullet.
Took awhile to arrive but I ripped the package open like a kid on Christmas morning the day it arrived. So as usual, not to leave any rep unopened and untouched, I dove into it and here's a quick and dirty review:
The case construction really oozes of quality and I'd like to think it's really spot on to gen (haven't handled a gen before).
One thing I noted though, the FC patterns aren't as pronounced as gen but perhaps I shall explore hyper polishing it to bring out those patterns (stay tuned for that).
On the left side of the case, serial numbers XX/75 (yeah only 75 were made) flank the left and right of the case. On the right, SL (SpidioLite) and ALW (Alloy Linde Werdelin) are marked. I also noted that the fonts for SL are very different from gen but hey who's gonna notice when the watch is on your wrist?
Gen:
Rep:
A commonly known flaw on this re is that the crown spots a spider instead of the LW logo as per gens. So far no one has confirmed that this is true, maybe because gens in the wild are pretty hard to come buy (75 pieces produced duh). Either way the flaw is tiny enough to pass off on the wrist.
The gen also has a nice green surround around the screws holding the strap lugs and surprisingly the rep has them albeit a wrong shade of green so I'm thankful the rep lug screws are larger and cover up most of the ugly green below.
The rep sports an A7750 movement which frankly isn't that far from the (IMO seems like a ETA 7750 modified) LW04 movement on the gen. But here's where all the flaws start (IMO at least).
Gen:
Rep:
I'm not sure if this was exclusive to my piece from M2M but the dial feet were sawed off and the dial was attached to the movement sloppily (note the 2 dark spots). So I'd appreciate if anyone can advise if theirs were also the same.
For me, the biggest tell on this rep is the cheap Chinese Double Corrector gear which is gold/bronze in colour that just sticks out on the rep. The gen uses an ETA one which is silver.
Gen:
Rep:
The culprit, can you spot the difference?
Another interesting find for those more technical is that the date indicator maintaining plate seems to be of a different shape, with an extra part jutting out which needs to be inserted below the double corrector gear and is frankly quite a b!tch to install. Honestly no idea why they made it so as it can't be seen under the dial and serves no bloody purpose. Also note that the screw holding this plate down is blue on the gen.
These problems are easily solved by installing the correct ETA parts and some light paint modding. Mods I would suggest to take this closer to gen:
1) FC Case polishing
2) Installing an ETA double corrector
3) Installing an ETA date indicator maintaining plate
4) Coat screw holding (3) blue
5) Grease rotor to silence it
Issues aside this is still a stellar try by re factories on such an exclusive piece! With mods this could potentially be a super rep!
Hope you guys enjoyed this review!
Ending off with some wrist shots here:
