MBW or Cartel? - You guess

[mbjoer]

Have had these games with other watches, but now I thought I would challange the sharp eyes on the AP section a little:

WHICH (if any) OF THESE WATCHES ARE (is) MBW????

Tell us your observations and provide the tells (with the exception of any serial nos which can give the game away). I want to find out how obvious the differences are on the watch.

The price for getting it right: Cudos on RWI.....



Good luck.

 

[silverspeed]

I'd say the black dial AP...'cause of the bezel finish and particularly the bezel screw which look much better finish in the bezel and perfectly flat with the bezel.

 

[mbjoer]

Thanks Silver,

Here are a couple more:

 

[jonasprivate]

I also think its the black dail.

 

[gapple]

I'm not sure what we are comparing. Are any of them gens? Is that it? The black dial is coarser than the other two, so I would say it is a rep.

The Audemars Piguet font in the on the dial is much finer on the white dials than on the black dial. Looks pretty rough to me.

I'm not sure what we are comparing. Are any of them gens? Is that it? The black dial is coarser than the other two, so I would say it is a rep.

The Audemars Piguet font in the on the dial is much finer on the white dials than on the black dial. Looks pretty rough to me.

 

[The Doctor]

The Nautilus is MBW.

That is out of 3 the most probable choice...but maybe none are

 

[2004]

The white ApRoo is MBW and maybe the the non chrono.The Black dial is the sec12.

 

[mbjoer]

Thanks everybody.

Some more hints:
None is a Gen. Question is if one or more is the MBW version or not.

There have been many discussions here as to whether MBW reps are better than the others. But what is better??

 

[The Doctor]

MBW reps have lost their once much coveted status buck for buck.

 

[mbjoer]

MBW reps have lost their once much coveted status buck for buck.

Will comment on that a bit later.
But for now a few more hints.

Crown and pushers:

Black Themes:

Safari:

Jumbo:

 

[R2D4]

Well the chronograph's should be compared together. I don't much about about these things nor MBW. (Maria's Best Watch) but between the 2 chronographs they have both have their strong points. You had the black one re-lumed. Is the BT, a newer version from the Cartel? They are both too thick and need the case back trimming mod. :thinking: IDK...

 

[mbjoer]

OK, Thanks all. You got there in the end!!

Now the story:

All watches came from private deals.

The Black Themes is a Cartel sec @ 12 which I bought unmodded.
It had a bad glare so I have had it has been AR treated.
The lume is weak and so it has (less succesfully) been re-lumed at the same time.
The crown is a bit stiff and I have had issues with the chrono function not working, in spite of it having been serviced.
Total cost so far: $445. But I am afraid that more will have to be spent before it is sorted.

The Safari is an MBW. This has had absolutely no treatment. There is little glare from the crystal, but I don't know if it came AR treated or if it is a different shape of crystal. It has no lume at all.
Movement is super smooth and very responsive. Easy to set.
Overall not quite so nice finish as cartel (bezel screws and crown nicer on cartel version), but marginal difference.
Main irritant is that the sub-dial @9 is the seconds but looks like it is part of chrono. Not a big deal for me as I always run the chrono anyway, so not terribly noticeable. But still I prefer when a dial is what it pretends to be, even if inaccurate to Gen.
Total cost: $210.

The Jumbo is a 21J version. I have only seen this from aobobuy, but it is very well made. I have had it AR treated and it makes a huge difference. The dial looks great now.
Movement is smooth, but not as smooth as the other two, and runs really well. Crown is fine.
Total cost: $245.

Thought this might help others to decide between versions.

And thanks again for playing along with this little game!!