Ordered a Tudor Black Bay Bronze Bucherer (blue) (from XF Factory) for my friend and look what turned up today
Unboxing (striptease?)
Time to do some unboxing and teasing hah
And out comes the watch with the leather strap + nato strap
The watch with the stock leather strap
Comes with a nato strap like gen
Look at the size difference! (43mm black bay vs 36mm explorer 1)
Review
First thing to note... I have no experience with the Tudor brand and I have never handled a genuine before so I am a complete noob in this aspect
After unboxing the watch and immediately picking it up, i noticed how crisp the text on the dial is, and it is printed with raised ink (like gen I believe) unlike cheap replica watches that have really flat-looking non-3D text on the dial
The '3' '6' '9' indices are very well made and shaped imo, and the other indices are polished to shine nicely. Everything looks as gen as my noob experience with Tudor
I also love how the text on the dial is printed in a very crisp way - no smudges or overrunning ink
The next thing i immediately tried was the bezel. Unfortunately, there is some play/wobble in the bezel (but I don't know if the gen behaves the same like the rep, and I don't know if the degree of play/wobble is acceptable to gen specs... so take my opinion with a pinch of salt). I also noticed that the rep's bezel insert's pearl doesn't look gen at all - the rep pearl protrudes too much like a pimple that is about to burst. The gen's bezel insert pearl is much flatter by comparison.
After playing with the bezel, i tried changing time on the watch. I noticed that the A2824-2 movement inside has 3 positions - (1) winding, (2) date change, (3) time setting. Since the gen and rep black bay doesn't have a date complication and date window, my OCD gets triggered by realising that the factory has simply shoved an usual A2824-2 inside without changing the keyless setting. So... i think will look into the ways of modifying the movement to make it have 2 crown positions.
The rose logo on the crown looks well made but I believe the gen should have laser-burnt black engravings (according to google pics?).
The leather strap is thick although the top layer of the strap looks like it is cracking a bit - i think they used a leather veneer on top to make the strap look like the expensive real deal one
I also believe that the Tudor buckle on the leather strap should have laser-burnt engraving like gen pics from google
Overall from my noob experience with handling a Tudor, here are the advantages and disadvantages of this watch
Advantage
- QUALITY overall (crisp dial text)
- watch feels hefty on the wrist and it just feels damn good wearing it
Disadvantage
- Bezel insert's pearl protrudes too much like a pimple that is about to burst (according to google pics?) EDIT -> need more pics for confirmation and it doesn't look like a big concern in reality when my friend is wearing the watch
- The movement's crown setting has 3 positions (which includes date setting position) which is useless and unlike gen because the gen/rep watch doesn't have date complication
- The rose logo on the crown looks well made but I believe the gen should have laser-burnt black engravings (according to google pics?) EDIT -> maybe it takes time for the case to patina which will make the engravings darker
- The Tudor buckle on the leather strap should have laser-burnt engraving like gen pics (according to google pics?) EDIT -> same as the above point
In my opinion, this rep watch is definitely worth buying because I have also seen those comparison threads between the gen and rep... and i can really see that this watch is definitely not worth buying in gen (despite the minor OCD flaws from above)
Unboxing (striptease?)
Time to do some unboxing and teasing hah
And out comes the watch with the leather strap + nato strap
The watch with the stock leather strap
Comes with a nato strap like gen
Look at the size difference! (43mm black bay vs 36mm explorer 1)
Review
First thing to note... I have no experience with the Tudor brand and I have never handled a genuine before so I am a complete noob in this aspect
After unboxing the watch and immediately picking it up, i noticed how crisp the text on the dial is, and it is printed with raised ink (like gen I believe) unlike cheap replica watches that have really flat-looking non-3D text on the dial
The '3' '6' '9' indices are very well made and shaped imo, and the other indices are polished to shine nicely. Everything looks as gen as my noob experience with Tudor
I also love how the text on the dial is printed in a very crisp way - no smudges or overrunning ink
The next thing i immediately tried was the bezel. Unfortunately, there is some play/wobble in the bezel (but I don't know if the gen behaves the same like the rep, and I don't know if the degree of play/wobble is acceptable to gen specs... so take my opinion with a pinch of salt). I also noticed that the rep's bezel insert's pearl doesn't look gen at all - the rep pearl protrudes too much like a pimple that is about to burst. The gen's bezel insert pearl is much flatter by comparison.
After playing with the bezel, i tried changing time on the watch. I noticed that the A2824-2 movement inside has 3 positions - (1) winding, (2) date change, (3) time setting. Since the gen and rep black bay doesn't have a date complication and date window, my OCD gets triggered by realising that the factory has simply shoved an usual A2824-2 inside without changing the keyless setting. So... i think will look into the ways of modifying the movement to make it have 2 crown positions.
The rose logo on the crown looks well made but I believe the gen should have laser-burnt black engravings (according to google pics?).
The leather strap is thick although the top layer of the strap looks like it is cracking a bit - i think they used a leather veneer on top to make the strap look like the expensive real deal one
I also believe that the Tudor buckle on the leather strap should have laser-burnt engraving like gen pics from google
Overall from my noob experience with handling a Tudor, here are the advantages and disadvantages of this watch
Advantage
- QUALITY overall (crisp dial text)
- watch feels hefty on the wrist and it just feels damn good wearing it
Disadvantage
- Bezel insert's pearl protrudes too much like a pimple that is about to burst (according to google pics?) EDIT -> need more pics for confirmation and it doesn't look like a big concern in reality when my friend is wearing the watch
- The movement's crown setting has 3 positions (which includes date setting position) which is useless and unlike gen because the gen/rep watch doesn't have date complication
- The rose logo on the crown looks well made but I believe the gen should have laser-burnt black engravings (according to google pics?) EDIT -> maybe it takes time for the case to patina which will make the engravings darker
- The Tudor buckle on the leather strap should have laser-burnt engraving like gen pics (according to google pics?) EDIT -> same as the above point
In my opinion, this rep watch is definitely worth buying because I have also seen those comparison threads between the gen and rep... and i can really see that this watch is definitely not worth buying in gen (despite the minor OCD flaws from above)
