Wondering what’s your experience guys in regards to ZF 15202s water proofing.
Fine for an afternoon by the pool (like 1m of depth at max, no real swimming) or anyone had problems?
legend what’s your take on this please?
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OK there are 3 aspects of this members need to always remember, when it comes to waterproofing:
1. Yes any replica watch (ok most of them) can be waterproofed and pressure-tested and be shown to pass the pressure-test at 5-10atm, no problems there. But read on please. Don't stop here.
2. The main issue I have with reps (and some gens in fact), are the durability and quality of the gaskets and seals which serve as the primary protection against water. The parts may not always hold up to interaction with minerals in the sea or chlorine in the swimming pool. Even if they do, there is no telling for how long, or how much exposure they can withstand.
3. Lastly, most people forget that waterproofness follows a function of time of exposure and water pressure. For example, dipping your watch in the pool for 2 seconds near the surface is not equal to submerging at the bottom of say, a 6ft tank. In any pressure test, the entire process lasts for a minute or less (submersion time). In the real world, the constant water pressure exerted on the watch at 6atm for example, will be a lot tougher on the watch than how it performs in the pressure chamber. A pressure test is meant to show that there are no leaks in the watch case construction during the duration of the testing, and hence an indication. It will NEVER tell you about the mid to long term quality of the gaskets and seals, or how it will work under prolonged water pressure over a few hours.
I have seen and fixed several horror story cases with watches and water already. What I can say is that I do not recommend wearing any watch rep or gen, other than the cheap tool watches like Gshock or Garmin, into the water. If you think about it, there is no reason to at all. In the sea water, there is the added risk of abrasion against the micro-sediments in the water. So avoid exposing the watch to water if you can help it unless its an emergency. I have personally seen water ingression on a friend's gen Patek 5711 from taking a 2 minute dip in the swimming pool, and at least 6 different gen AP ROOs and ROs, and a gen Panerai Radiomir getting water in them. It is a very expensive problem to repair for the gen most of the time.
So at least understand the above, and then make your decision. The choice is always yours.