New APSF JLC Master Ultra Thin

[Silver_Arrow]

Like I said, perhaps it's just the pictures I've seen, so I'd defer to those who have the watch for their feedback. This said, to me, there are three issues to my eye. First, the moon on the gen appears to have a slight lift/emboss to it, whereas the moon on the rep misses this depth. Second, the rep moon itself appears flat, compared to the gen which has a shine. Third, the star background is off - way off.

Please keep in mind this is coming from someone who is a bit of a JLC hound (2 gens in collection, though not MUT) - hopefully, someone with direct experience weighs in. I'd appreciate the clarification myself.

Thank you for your feddback!

I need a moonphase in my collection and this watch is gorgeous. But some of those issues, like the lack of deph in the moon that were already present in the previous ZF version, adding to the fact, is the model with smaller indexes, is a deal breaker for me.

So, I think I'll stick with the main watch in this thread. The APSF SA896 Master Ultra Thin.

Would love to see a side by side review comparison, between the APSF and the gen.

 

[TheFire]

I just received mine, and I'm quite happy so far - Eric from Geektime got it for me. It feels super elegant on the wrist.

As stated earlier, the strap is garbage, but I'll find something nicer. The deployment clasp mechanism has a nice large bump to make sure it stays where you put it, but it damages the rep strap if you put it in any hole other than the final one you want to keep it in.

I'll try and take some decent pictures tomorrow.

 

[Silver_Arrow]

Look forward for more pics of this beauty !

 

[Marbe78]

Here we have a comparative with gen

真假对比：积家超薄大师小秒针腕表正品对比Aps评测_高清1080P在线观看平台_腾讯视频

真假对比：积家超薄大师小秒针腕表正品对比Aps评测

v.qq.com

 

[leebert]

Here we have a comparative with gen

真假对比：积家超薄大师小秒针腕表正品对比Aps评测_高清1080P在线观看平台_腾讯视频

真假对比：积家超薄大师小秒针腕表正品对比Aps评测

v.qq.com

Impressive, yet not a moon phase. If I was to get a MUT, this is the model - just remove the moon phase from the equation and it’s hard to argue it’s not NWBIG

 

[montanari]

that is very nice, thinking to sell my gen for this!

 

[kikata1997]

that is very nice, thinking to sell my gen for this!

Is the 1mm thickness difference noticable, in your opinion?

 

[montanari]

I don't know!

 

[Mkempes]

Is the 1mm thickness difference noticable, in your opinion?

Only if compared side by side. Otherwise noone will notice.

 

[Mr. Horology]

Can anyone give a final verdict on the reliability of the 896?
Wanna pull the trigger.

 

[Reaps]

Can anyone give a final verdict on the reliability of the 896?
Wanna pull the trigger.

For me, it's a solid AVOID. They haven't made any improvements to it. In Chinese market the JLC clone is considered one of the most unreliable movements, with a high repair rate. Unless you have a watch maker or some way to return the watch back to China easily, I would give it a solid pass and stick with the Miyota clone.

 

[Reaps]

For me, it's a solid AVOID. They haven't made any improvements to it. In Chinese market the JLC clone is considered one of the most unreliable movements, with a high repair rate. Unless you have a watch maker or some way to return the watch back to China easily, I would give it a solid pass and stick with the Miyota clone.

Sorry, I have to clarify, this is the one with the moonphase/date.

The one with just seconds is undetermined but they use the same base as the moonphase/date clone so I'm not super thrilled about it either.

 

[johnchpark]

Any updates on the movement reliability? If there were any information regarding what about the 925 that kept failing, it would be easier to determine if the 896 clone would have the same issues.

Otherwise, I'm considering ZF's Master Ultra Thin Small Second, which uses a Miyota 9015.
However, Miyota does not make any movements with small seconds hands at 6' clock.
This means ZF had to modify it (drill out hole, move the seconds wheel, etc) which I'm not sure how well they would've done it.

 

[dogwood]

It’s interesting that the JLC clone 925 always appears on the tier lists of rep movements as unreliable, but I have yet to see a broken one on my bench. Caveat: the volume of JLC reps compared to Rolex, AP, and Patek is tiny. So sample size isn’t great.

While not related to movement quality, I recently had a ZF JLC MUT on my bench for pressure testing and was shocked that it passed at 60m despite two pushers to adjust the date / moonphase, and no screw down crown.

 

[johnchpark]

It’s interesting that the JLC clone 925 always appears on the tier lists of rep movements as unreliable, but I have yet to see a broken one on my bench. Caveat: the volume of JLC reps compared to Rolex, AP, and Patek is tiny. So sample size isn’t great.

While not related to movement quality, I recently had a ZF JLC MUT on my bench for pressure testing and was shocked that it passed at 60m despite two pushers to adjust the date / moonphase, and no screw down crown.

Have you worked on/serviced any of the JLC movements?
I'm curious to know exactly which component is causing the high failure rates.

My difficulty with some of the clones/modified movements are that spare parts/movements are near impossible to find. Had a lot of struggles working on ZF's modified 9015 movements

 

[dogwood]

Have you worked on/serviced any of the JLC movements?
I'm curious to know exactly which component is causing the high failure rates.

My difficulty with some of the clones/modified movements are that spare parts/movements are near impossible to find. Had a lot of struggles working on ZF's modified 9015 movements

I haven't serviced a clone 925 so I don't know if there any components which are especially janky. But your point about spare parts is valid -- it's extremely hard to source spares for certain clone movements.

 

[Deviator]

how come that only one "silver" version is available for "small second hand"?
There are many "moon" versions available, but not small second hand version.

Any news for rose gold or black version?

 

[bavarex]

I haven't serviced a clone 925 so I don't know if there any components which are especially janky. But your point about spare parts is valid -- it's extremely hard to source spares for certain clone movements.

I have serviced two APS JLC Clones in the last two months ( Master Moon and Marche de Reserve) and i was surprised how good it is made by Dandong. The only thing was, that they are pretty dry and in combination with the very small parts in this movement, it's certain to be failing. Some levers and springs aber really delicate. There are a lot of points that HAVE to be lubricated. I made pictures of my teardowns and service and try to make a service/lubrication walkthrough. I didn't check for compatibility to Gen parts but visually its a pretty good made clone. If you've seen the Gen movement it's a straightforward. And yes, if lubricated properly, the movement is much more silent than dry.

 

[bavarex]

If I find the time, i will write the full walk-through. Here somthing as a teaser:

 

[dogwood]

If I find the time, i will write the full walk-through. Here somthing as a teaser:

Thank you very much for this teaser. I’m looking forward to seeing your full picture dump.