- 30/9/06
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When I started collecting replicas my first 7 watch were all Rolex. The GMT was always my favorite watch and until today I think I had 7 different GMT’s. In my opinion the GMT II C is a must have watch.
In my counting we have now version 3. The first GMT II C came out and was called the Anniversary Model, the second version was called The Ultimate and now the latest version is called The Ultimade Best Version. There are many different reviews and comparisons between the The Ultimate and the gen, By-Tor has a review over at RWG and another comparison is from Dan ( dtan888 ) over on RG. So I do not want to compare the basics of this watch, I like to compare the improvements from V2 to V3. What is the difference now from the engine? The V3 comes with a Nickle plated Asian clone (Rolex 3186) Automatic Movement, 25J and 28800bph. Some of the gears are painted in red and it has a dummy bridge installed, you also can get this ‘3186’ movement based on ETA 2836-2 technology. I decided for the Asian clone.
The big difference now with the new movement compared to the Ultimate version is the setting of the GMT hand. The Best version comes with the incorrect hand stack, the 24h hand is placed under the hour hand, you need to look with a loupe to see it. Regarding By-Tor’s post the visual problem with the WHS occurs only one time during the day when the hour hand and the 24h hand meet. With this new movement you can set the GMT hand in increments of 1 h steps. That is a big improvement compare to the V2. I always like to have the GMT hand at the right position, so when it is 10 am I would like to see the GMT hand also on 10 and not a mm before 10. With my old version it happened that I was setting the GMT hand and when I pushed in the crown, the hand move a mm .
Next improvement is the Bezel. The Bezel from the V3 is more shine then the v2 bezel. So it looks more gen. The size of the bezel is different, V2 is 40.4mm wide an 3.1 mm high, the V3 is 40.7 mm wide and 3.3 mm high. We will see this 0.2 mm difference also in the crystal. The V2 crystal is 30.7mm and 1.98 mm thick, the V3 crystal is 30.7 mm and 2.18 mm thick. This is very important to know, if you want to mod your crystal you cannot use a clark or any other aftermarket crystal, they are all 1.98 mm thick, otherwise your watch would look like this.
Best improvent is the inlay for the bezel, the numbers are a 1/10 of a mm bigger, they are a little deeper and they have the right color now, more silver / white / grey like the Gen. Just take a look of the inlay in the bezel, it is recessed compare to the V2 version and so is the gen GMT. Also the high of the crystal of the V3 version is now perfect, V2 crystal was too high compare to gen.
V2
V3
The crown on the v3 is .3 mm shorter then the V2 version. I do not know how the gen is but compared with some gen internet pictures I would say the crown on the v3 version is better
The v3 is offered with solid 316 L stainless steel, I did not recognize any difference but I would like to test this with a Niton XL3 from MaddogUK.
The lume on the watch is not bad, it is better then the v2 version and you can still see the time after 5h.
Conclusions: The v2 is already an outstanding rep. please see my test here in RWI and make up your own mind on the answers from our members.
http://forum.replica-watch.info/vb/showthread.php/gmt-riddle-for-sat-afternoon-50152
The new Ultimate best version shows some good improvements, I would say it’s as good as it’s going to get. They day will come and they will fix the non-symmetric rehaut engraving, and we have the Super Replica Ultimate GMT II C, but for now I would call it one of the best reps out of the box. And the question to me is really, would anybody recognize the noon-symmetric engraving when you sit at a table and people look at your watch?
Regarding my GMT II C, I wanted AR coating on that crystal, so I sent the watch to find dd and here you can see the results. The glare on the cyclops is gone and the dial comes out very nice. Fine dd is also offering to take the AR off after the crystal is coated and the cyclops is mounted again or he takes the upper AR coating away so you end up with single coating. I am sticking with double AR on this one, I do not care if the gen doesn’t have it, I like it and I can always tell that I modded the crystal because Rolex doesn’t do AR. Some people run a PVD job an a Rolex, so why not AR when it improves the look and feel.
Thanks to Precious Time for delivering this beautiful watch
In my counting we have now version 3. The first GMT II C came out and was called the Anniversary Model, the second version was called The Ultimate and now the latest version is called The Ultimade Best Version. There are many different reviews and comparisons between the The Ultimate and the gen, By-Tor has a review over at RWG and another comparison is from Dan ( dtan888 ) over on RG. So I do not want to compare the basics of this watch, I like to compare the improvements from V2 to V3. What is the difference now from the engine? The V3 comes with a Nickle plated Asian clone (Rolex 3186) Automatic Movement, 25J and 28800bph. Some of the gears are painted in red and it has a dummy bridge installed, you also can get this ‘3186’ movement based on ETA 2836-2 technology. I decided for the Asian clone.
The big difference now with the new movement compared to the Ultimate version is the setting of the GMT hand. The Best version comes with the incorrect hand stack, the 24h hand is placed under the hour hand, you need to look with a loupe to see it. Regarding By-Tor’s post the visual problem with the WHS occurs only one time during the day when the hour hand and the 24h hand meet. With this new movement you can set the GMT hand in increments of 1 h steps. That is a big improvement compare to the V2. I always like to have the GMT hand at the right position, so when it is 10 am I would like to see the GMT hand also on 10 and not a mm before 10. With my old version it happened that I was setting the GMT hand and when I pushed in the crown, the hand move a mm .
Next improvement is the Bezel. The Bezel from the V3 is more shine then the v2 bezel. So it looks more gen. The size of the bezel is different, V2 is 40.4mm wide an 3.1 mm high, the V3 is 40.7 mm wide and 3.3 mm high. We will see this 0.2 mm difference also in the crystal. The V2 crystal is 30.7mm and 1.98 mm thick, the V3 crystal is 30.7 mm and 2.18 mm thick. This is very important to know, if you want to mod your crystal you cannot use a clark or any other aftermarket crystal, they are all 1.98 mm thick, otherwise your watch would look like this.
Best improvent is the inlay for the bezel, the numbers are a 1/10 of a mm bigger, they are a little deeper and they have the right color now, more silver / white / grey like the Gen. Just take a look of the inlay in the bezel, it is recessed compare to the V2 version and so is the gen GMT. Also the high of the crystal of the V3 version is now perfect, V2 crystal was too high compare to gen.
V2
V3
The crown on the v3 is .3 mm shorter then the V2 version. I do not know how the gen is but compared with some gen internet pictures I would say the crown on the v3 version is better
The v3 is offered with solid 316 L stainless steel, I did not recognize any difference but I would like to test this with a Niton XL3 from MaddogUK.
The lume on the watch is not bad, it is better then the v2 version and you can still see the time after 5h.
Conclusions: The v2 is already an outstanding rep. please see my test here in RWI and make up your own mind on the answers from our members.
http://forum.replica-watch.info/vb/showthread.php/gmt-riddle-for-sat-afternoon-50152
The new Ultimate best version shows some good improvements, I would say it’s as good as it’s going to get. They day will come and they will fix the non-symmetric rehaut engraving, and we have the Super Replica Ultimate GMT II C, but for now I would call it one of the best reps out of the box. And the question to me is really, would anybody recognize the noon-symmetric engraving when you sit at a table and people look at your watch?
Regarding my GMT II C, I wanted AR coating on that crystal, so I sent the watch to find dd and here you can see the results. The glare on the cyclops is gone and the dial comes out very nice. Fine dd is also offering to take the AR off after the crystal is coated and the cyclops is mounted again or he takes the upper AR coating away so you end up with single coating. I am sticking with double AR on this one, I do not care if the gen doesn’t have it, I like it and I can always tell that I modded the crystal because Rolex doesn’t do AR. Some people run a PVD job an a Rolex, so why not AR when it improves the look and feel.
Thanks to Precious Time for delivering this beautiful watch
