Here is a Graham Chronofighter that I picked up last week. Although it is considered a V2, and there is apparantly a better version that fixed a few dial flaws, this is a very well made replica that is pretty darn close to Gen.
I went to an AD this evening and looked at a Gen and the couple known issues are all I could find.
First known flaw is the lack of the 29 and 31 minute markers on the dial.
Second is the fact that the lever is quite often loose and is pushed out to far by the spring in the crown.
Although I cannot imagine having a steady enough hand the add the two missing minute markers, the lever was easily tightened. I used two short sections of a pop sickle stick and a pair of small vice grips to gently and smoothly press it tighter. It still maintains full functionality and stays in the correct position when not being used.
I have found many pictures with all black screws and silver lever parts, some silver screws and some black lever parts. But the gen that I handled today had the two small screws holding the lever cage on in black and the screw in the lever circle was silver (but the circle itself was black). I have seen pictures of gens with the circle silver and the screw black. So I used the Flax Seed Oil treatment on the screw, and made it black...
Although the genuine did not have blackened letters on the case back, I blackened mine. I just prefer the way it looks, and would probably do the same with a gen if I had it.
I also re-lumed the pearl. The lume on this watch is insane. It glows BRIGHT GREEN brighter than any rep Ive ever had, and it lasts for hours. The orange lume on the dial is not as great, but is very even and lasts nearly as long as the hands. I re-lumed the pearl and now it matches the hands perfectly.
I was also not a huge fan of the strap. Although it is very well made, I prefer my Ted Su Diver and think it looks and fits the Graham perfectly. I bought the watch with some scratches on the lugs from a previous strap swap, and have not yet polished them out. They are not that bad, and Im feeling kinda lazy.
The print on the dial is incredible, I could find no rough print anywhere. The watch is pretty accurate in the time keeping department at +7 per 24 hours. Im going to leave it at that... There is no fine adjust, and Im not going to mess with the lever for +7 seconds!
There are a couple pics with my AP ROO... Notice the thinned case back. The flat portion of the case back is now only very slightly thicker than the gasket between it and the case. That was as close as I could get to the pics of LOS's comparison... I have also had the a7750 serviced and the graphite treatment done to it. It ran +2 seconds over the last 48 hours!
Take care, and enjoy the pics...
I went to an AD this evening and looked at a Gen and the couple known issues are all I could find.
First known flaw is the lack of the 29 and 31 minute markers on the dial.
Second is the fact that the lever is quite often loose and is pushed out to far by the spring in the crown.
Although I cannot imagine having a steady enough hand the add the two missing minute markers, the lever was easily tightened. I used two short sections of a pop sickle stick and a pair of small vice grips to gently and smoothly press it tighter. It still maintains full functionality and stays in the correct position when not being used.
I have found many pictures with all black screws and silver lever parts, some silver screws and some black lever parts. But the gen that I handled today had the two small screws holding the lever cage on in black and the screw in the lever circle was silver (but the circle itself was black). I have seen pictures of gens with the circle silver and the screw black. So I used the Flax Seed Oil treatment on the screw, and made it black...
Although the genuine did not have blackened letters on the case back, I blackened mine. I just prefer the way it looks, and would probably do the same with a gen if I had it.
I also re-lumed the pearl. The lume on this watch is insane. It glows BRIGHT GREEN brighter than any rep Ive ever had, and it lasts for hours. The orange lume on the dial is not as great, but is very even and lasts nearly as long as the hands. I re-lumed the pearl and now it matches the hands perfectly.
I was also not a huge fan of the strap. Although it is very well made, I prefer my Ted Su Diver and think it looks and fits the Graham perfectly. I bought the watch with some scratches on the lugs from a previous strap swap, and have not yet polished them out. They are not that bad, and Im feeling kinda lazy.
The print on the dial is incredible, I could find no rough print anywhere. The watch is pretty accurate in the time keeping department at +7 per 24 hours. Im going to leave it at that... There is no fine adjust, and Im not going to mess with the lever for +7 seconds!
There are a couple pics with my AP ROO... Notice the thinned case back. The flat portion of the case back is now only very slightly thicker than the gasket between it and the case. That was as close as I could get to the pics of LOS's comparison... I have also had the a7750 serviced and the graphite treatment done to it. It ran +2 seconds over the last 48 hours!
Take care, and enjoy the pics...
