Pepsi bezel insert battle CF vs Xing_Patrick: A photo comparison

[aHero]

Great info, pics, and post. Agree with all your points. The best colors, which overcomes the other flaws. But also those other flaws are absurd at this (or any) price. I didn’t sand mine, as don’t think the thickness is noticeable.

Surprised you did new infill and removed it though. Worth noting the 1-8 flaw isn’t present in your pics. Not sure if it’s noticeable on the wrist or when not looking for it since it’s not all angles/lightings. But I’d like to try Molotov’ing it myself.

It’s only there in certain light and from certain angles. Heck, I had my v4 for a couple weeks and was happy with it until someone here pointed out that flaw that I can’t unsee now lol I should stay off the forums sometimes for my own sanity!

 

[cyprusdaedalus]

Yea it's in certain angles but I would say the rule is you see it and exception is the angle/lighting is hiding it. Most of the time it's loud and proud and ready to ruin your day when you look at your wrist lol...

 

[aHero]

Yea it's in certain angles but I would say the rule is you see it and exception is the angle/lighting is hiding it. Most of the time it's loud and proud and ready to ruin your day when you look at your wrist lol...

Yep. But I didn’t even notice it until it was pointed out here.

 

[KJ2020]

Yep. But I didn’t even notice it until it was pointed out here.

You should try a paint mod bro. ROF before and after pics. It's lasted more than a year already.

 

[aHero]

You should try a paint mod bro. ROF before and after pics. It's lasted more than a year already.

I did it a couple weeks ago on my Aliexpress insert (I was the one the put it in the airfryer lol). But my Xing v4 is with Oascom already. Pat's current working his magic (but he said he doesn't do platinum plating or anything like that with inserts).

 

[KJ2020]

I did it a couple weeks ago on my Aliexpress insert (I was the one the put it in the airfryer lol). But my Xing v4 is with Oascom already. Pat's current working his magic (but he said he doesn't do platinum plating or anything like that with inserts).

Ah yes, SuperFry haha. Well you can you do it on your V4 with it installed. I've done that plenty of times. No need to suffer with something that bugs you.

 

[davidc]

Posted my full build details here w/notes on shaving down xing, etc: https://forum.replica-watch.info/th...-video-release-finally.10939641/post-11306548

I ended up not painting mine... well I did but wasn't happy with how it was drying and removed the paint and have kept it stock infill for now. I will say that I think the 1-8 flaw is frankly unacceptable at this price. It's got to be due to the 1 being milled out at a different angle from the 8 so the base of the material that then gets plated is orientated differently and thus is catching the light different. It's also too thick.

But it is the best color bezel I think that's available currently so it is what it is for the moment.

For the premium they are charging I hope they can rectify these issues on the V5 which almost certainly will show up sooner or later.

Hope my build notes helps someone!

thanks for sharing and the amazing pics, i'm actually getting tempted to try swapping insert now only need to work up the courage.

 

[aHero]

thanks for sharing and the amazing pics, i'm actually getting tempted to try swapping insert now only need to work up the courage.

Very easy.

 

[cyprusdaedalus]

Ended up painting just the 8 on my bezel as a half measure. It always looks so dark so the paint does brighten it up, but then I left the rest of the plating alone as I do think the consistency of the smooth finish on the plated areas is a bigger thing for me than having all of the numbers look identical. Honestly just doing the 8 gets the bezel much better in my eyes so i'm not constantly looking down and seeing a dark 8 staring me in the face.

Here's praying the Viemo embed works:

Some sunlight/shade photos showing the painted 8 in different lighting. It's my happy medium fix for now.

 

[aHero]

That’s a good call!

 

[Neon]

Ended up painting just the 8 on my bezel as a half measure. It always looks so dark so the paint does brighten it up, but then I left the rest of the plating alone as I do think the consistency of the smooth finish on the plated areas is a bigger thing for me than having all of the numbers look identical. Honestly just doing the 8 gets the bezel much better in my eyes so i'm not constantly looking down and seeing a dark 8 staring me in the face.

Here's praying the Viemo embed works:

Some sunlight/shade photos showing the painted 8 in different lighting. It's my happy medium fix for now.

Vimeo embed worked perfectly for me (mobile safari). Kind of hilarious that painting only the 8 seems to have worked. Molotov? 8 doesn’t stand out as different than the 1 (or 16 or 20)?

 

[cyprusdaedalus]

Vimeo embed worked perfectly for me (mobile safari). Kind of hilarious that painting only the 8 seems to have worked. Molotov? 8 doesn’t stand out as different than the 1 (or 16 or 20)?

Yea I used a Moloto and I didn't flood it entirely - just a thin layer in there enough to fill the numbers with paint and I let it dry overnight. Quick IPA buff on a polish cloth to remove any reminants.

When on wrist the angle you're alwaays looking at the watch from really highlights the 8 so this seems to brighten it up enought to blend it in with the brighter numbers elsewhere. It looks a little brighter than the 1 if you were to look at it upside down in darker lighting but overall I think it's a suitable outcome for now.

 

[geoffdragon]

Yea I used a Moloto and I didn't flood it entirely - just a thin layer in there enough to fill the numbers with paint and I let it dry overnight. Quick IPA buff on a polish cloth to remove any reminants.

When on wrist the angle you're alwaays looking at the watch from really highlights the 8 so this seems to brighten it up enought to blend it in with the brighter numbers elsewhere. It looks a little brighter than the 1 if you were to look at it upside down in darker lighting but overall I think it's a suitable outcome for now.

I did some sanding on my bezel. After on the left, before on the right.

All by hand using various grains of wet and dry.

If I say it took hours I wouldn't be exaggerating! But very happy with the result.

 

[Explorrertime]

Polish a Ceramic Insert

Thanks! Which polishing tool on the Dremel and compound did you use?

 

[aHero]

Clean on left, Xing v4 on right. Xing will be sanded before install.

 

[Hugg727]

Clean on left, Xing v4 on right. Xing will be sanded before install.

I gasped for a second.......at first quick glance i thought someone cracked their insert!

 

[greenbeans]

Polinum is the best compound I've used on all jewelry parts to get an absolutely flawless mirror finish. It's awesome for bracelets and cases, etc. I final sand with very fine grit paper - not micro fine, but like 7000. At that point without a loupe you could almost think it had already been buffed. Then the Polinum does its magic.

I've not ever polished the topside of a dull insert because I've never had one but my tests with Polinum on the underside bode well for an attempt. You just need to be consistent all the way around as Polinum works gradually on ceramic so time spent in every spot needs to be the same.

On the plus side, there should be a level of glossiness beyond which further polishing has no more effect.

Thanks a lot for sharing, that's really valuable info! I actually bought some Polinum off the back of your recommendation. It's made a big improvement to my bracelet. What is your process before the final polish? Do you use any sandpaper, grit, water etc?
Thanks a lot!

 

[eVojlib]

It's possible I'm crazy but did someone say the GEN bezel takes this insert w no sanding, meaning it's countersunk vs flush or sitting slightly above.

I may have found a high quality bezel assembly that's GEN SPEC, thus negating the need to grind this thing down.

Now the question would be is how likely the GEN bezel (complete assembly) is to fitting the clean case.... hmmm

 

[cyprusdaedalus]

@eVojlib @KJ2020 posted some gen pics for reference earlier in the thread here: https://forum.replica-watch.info/th...ick-a-photo-comparison.10921278/post-11286024

You can check out. Gen shows it just slightly recessed into the bezel.

 

[KJ2020]

It's possible I'm crazy but did someone say the GEN bezel takes this insert w no sanding, meaning it's countersunk vs flush or sitting slightly above.

I may have found a high quality bezel assembly that's GEN SPEC, thus negating the need to grind this thing down.

Now the question would be is how likely the GEN bezel (complete assembly) is to fitting the clean case.... hmmm

CF case will take a gen bezel assembly (that means the whole set of parts including the crystal retaining ring). But the XING insert is thicker than a gen insert and will still sit higher I believe. But if you can get a better bezel it wouldn't be a total loss if you tried it.