SA3135 Movement Observations

[sub4me]

Yes, Angus was nice, i mean, he said that he ll contact the factory for a replacement stem, or i could send the watch back for repare but, he can't shipp to me just one stem and he can't sell 2 or 3 stems alone. So for my next order he ll shipp one stem to go with.

Since he's offering to fix the watch I would suggest he send you couple of spares with your repaired watch for your trouble. Why should you have to buy another watch to get a spare part for the one you just got. Do not buy another watch in hopes of getting a replacement stem. I can hear you already posting two weeks from now that the dealer forgot to send it with your next order. No way do not do it. Ship the watch back and let them repair it, replace it, or give you a refund.

Theres never really gonna be any watch that takes all gen parts and just fits together perfectly (like they say), theres always gonna be something you need to modify or fix yourself. So they say a gen dial fits right in, so WTF good is that if the rep movement and stem suck and wont line up right?? This new rolex look alike movement is just that a new China made movement. Theres no breakthroughs here.

 

[giobo]

Well i agree with you, i'm just explaining what the problem is to avoid any other members to be in my position. And when i said Angus was nice, what i wanted to say is that he at least replyed to me and proposed to repair, and again shipping to pay... So now the only thing i can do is to buy a cheap cheap rep but mostely be sure that the stem ll be in that box!!!I read that a lot of people like this this movement, but does anyone has changed dial and hands succesfully without any stem broke or more problems to set date, time... I'm curious!! the movement itself is not bad, but what the point to buy it if you can't even change the dial safely???

Does he know you are a member here and doing over and over mistakes may make him non trusted one...
Because yesterday i also red a post about problems in a 1000$ rep..Also, not first times this happens..

 

[INeedaWatch2]

Ya, looks like I will try and stick with ETA purchases. The swatch group makes great movements and so what if my REP Rolex has the same movement as a GEN TAG. I'll just call it a TAGLEX or a ROLTAG.....at least I know it will continue to work years from now....(with proper servicing) as all GEN movements. China clone movements are just that made in China....nothing new here. ETA movements are getting harder to find, but they are still out there, but not at the TD...order from the member area....they are usually eta and pre modded.....all depends on what your looking for I guess.....you can either try an fool your AD with the 3135 clone, or have your watch last for years........but in a weird way everyone is right....TD's are out to make money, we are out to fool ourselfs with mods and closest to GEN and China is still making shitty clone movements....7750 copy is one to write home about!

 

[Warrcraft]

First...bibi13 thanks for the insight & the time it took you to take and post the picts. It has now explained 'why" there is that slightly difficult "sweet spot" in changing the date, and why the hands move if you don't push in the crown slowly. It is odd why this movement can't be at least as good as the ETA clones, unless (perhaps)...it is not a "dressed up" ETA clone at all but a new design to actually clone the 3135? As such, it has it's "teething troubles" that "may" get fixed as time progresses. While I had no intention personally to change the dial as it looks pretty good (IMHO) hence, not worth it to me to spend another $500+ bucks to change out. It is dissapointing that this option may not be a good one for those that wish to based on bibi13's experience.

To answer your question bibi13, yes, another memeber HAS changed the dial to a gen and found a gen crystal did not quite fit, but the gen dial did. I can't remember what member that was as I write and will have to go search. He did not mention any problem with the stem or movement when he had the gen dial installed.

 

[greg325i]

Ya, looks like I will try and stick with ETA purchases. The swatch group makes great movements and so what if my REP Rolex has the same movement as a GEN TAG. I'll just call it a TAGLEX or a ROLTAG.....at least I know it will continue to work years from now....(with proper servicing) as all GEN movements. China clone movements are just that made in China....nothing new here. ETA movements are getting harder to find, but they are still out there, but not at the TD...order from the member area....they are usually eta and pre modded.....all depends on what your looking for I guess.....you can either try an fool your AD with the 3135 clone, or have your watch last for years........but in a weird way everyone is right....TD's are out to make money, we are out to fool ourselfs with mods and closest to GEN and China is still making shitty clone movements....7750 copy is one to write home about!

This is an excellent, EXCELLENT point, that I had overlooked (was perhaps getting a bit excited about this movement). If my ETA has a tiny part fail, guess what? Thousands of watchmakers here in the US can fix it for the cost of labor and a cheap part.

If a small part of one of these Rolex clones fails, you are either SOL, or looking for a GEN part to fix with. Or sending it back to China. None very good options in my book, and all FAR worse than getting and ETA fixed.

Thanks for such a helpful insight!

 

[sub4me]

Ok so lets assume the makers of these watches can no longer source ETA movements, WTF is keeping them from using the solid Sellita movements?? These Sellita movements are Swiss movements, have proven themselves, are fixable, easily available, and I've owned many and never had a problem. I know a few dealers are offering them (at least claim to be) but my point is we are being pushed towards the ETA clone (China made movement) or this new 3135 Rolex clone (China made movement), if you order a watch with an ETA its either used, old and unoiled, or you get the ETA clone and they hope you don't know the diffrence.

This new Rolex clone movement is not the next best thing for us, its the next best thing for them. They want us to believe they've actually perfected a movement because is got a couple of purple gears (Who cares??), they claim not even a watchmaker will know the diffrence (Please), the crown moves the same as a gen Rolex (So F'ing what?? So does my Miyota), its all BS, and then they claim its takes gen parts (maybe, maybe not), BS it may take a part or two but you'll be fixing modding, fitting, getting pissed, spending money all to build a watch around some junk based movement?? F that, they can keep it.

Listen I understand its nice to live in la la land, look at their pretty pics they post, want to believe thier BS, but its BS, and yes some will get some nice watches that function properly (for a short time), but you can be sure I'm not handing out 4 or 5 hundred for this latest thing.

Another point I'd like to add is this is the worst time of year to buy a rep. They will selling more during the holidays then any other time of the year and you can be sure your order will handled with no care, except one, send funds now.

 

[Ruprekt]

Looks to me like that skinny section of the winding stem is nothing less than a time bomb. You can't tell me that the guys who made this movement didn't know this was going to be a problem. If your going to go through the trouble and expense of cloning something, clone the the whole thing right! I was looking forward to picking one of these up just for a project watch and see what they are like, but not anymore. Bet there's lots of others out there thinking the same thing...

 

[Wiz]

Ok so lets assume the makers of these watches can no longer source ETA movements

For the record, so far ETA only stop supplying ebauches. You can still buy as many finished movement as you want.

They're supposed to stop the supplying of finished movements in 2012, but there is a decision pending from the Swiss administrative court. And even if they rule in favor of the Swatch group, Sellita and the others can still go to the Supreme court, so this story is not over yet.

According to Swiss Customs, for the last decade, the Swiss watch industry exported about 1 000 000 movements a year to China, ETA"s share being about a third in 2002.

That share has been gradually reduced over time, and in 2011, ETA's sales in China amounted only 17 000 pieces. But there are still about 1 millions movements that have been exported to China.

It means the Chinese bought 900 000 movements from other Swiss suppliers.

All in all, it means the supplying of Swiss movements in China is not in danger at all.

 

[Warrcraft]

All good points by the last few posters. To be honest, I knew that this movement would probably have some problems, and pulled the trigger more for the case improvements. I can live with the date and time change thing as long as the movement does not crap out. The watch does seem to be keeping good time and no problem with the power reserve to this point. Regarding the claim this is a "clone," if this were a "true clone" the winding stem should replicate the gen 3135 and not be a problem. Makes me wonder about the entire reliabilty and quality of the parts of the new movement as a whole. I am hoping one of you WIZ guys will tear the SA3135 movement apart and let us know what you find.

 

[sub4me]

Wiz, I will take your word on the numbers and I agree with your comments.

I can hardly find a member with a confirmed new ETA movement, as I'm sure you already know alot of guys have been sent and are still being sent the ETA clone when they paid for the ETA and alot of guys don't or won't know the diffrence. This is what I'm stressing, what these dealers post on their sales sites is for the greater part BS, to get us to buy the China made movements (which probably cost a few dollars) to make them more money, they have more interest in selling cheap China made movements as opposed to actually geting us imported Swiss movements, which they pay far more for.

If every single part of the watch comes from China the money stays there and now you pay even more about 4-5 hundred for the same watch but with a cheaper movement, this makes sense to them because they sell lots and lots, and people keep buying more, quality is no concern only quanity and profit.

Makes me wonder about the entire reliabilty and quality of the parts of the new movement as a whole.

Warcraft didn't mean to ignore you bro.:sub4me:

 

[Warrcraft]

Boostin20 sent me this as a PM, as we have been chatting back-n-forth. He said it was ok if I post for him as he was unable to at the moment... "I was thinking about that snapped stem, and came to a couple conclusions. First, the stem could've been defective since manufacture, and it's isolated. Second, the gen dial could've positioned the hole for the stem off center just slightly, and forcing it snapped the stem. Either way, I'm not ready to condem all 3135's yet."

 

[sub4me]

Fair enough, but it sure doesn't look well made.

 

[Fidhle007]

One thing that seems to have been overlooked so far is the crown height on the sub. Based on everything I've seen about these SA3135 watches so far it looks like the crown is in the same low, ETA-based position as all the previous offerings (save for the WM9 v3 of course...) If the stem location on the SA3135 movement is actually higher then the ETA, this would account for the misalignment and the breakage potential. Can someone confirm this either way?

 

[Wiz]

Wiz, I will take your word on the numbers and I agree with your comments.

These are numbers I read in the paper, a serious paper so I guess they are correct but really I don't know.

I can hardly find a member with a confirmed new ETA movement, as I'm sure you already know alot of guys have been sent and are still being sent the ETA clone when they paid for the ETA

I got confirmation from both Mary and MRep that dealers are fully aware which suppliers are known to provide new Swiss ETA in their watches, and which are not.

So before ordering Swiss ETA, I always ask the dealer if he believes the watch I'm after comes with true Swiss ETA. Maybe that explain I always got a brand new Swiss ETA when I ordered one.

I also seen some new Swiss ETA movements in watches I've had on the bench, but the vast majority were clones (bought as clones), for the simple reason that pretty much only clones develop functionning issues.

 

[trailboss99]

One thing that seems to have been overlooked so far is the crown height on the sub. Based on everything I've seen about these SA3135 watches so far it looks like the crown is in the same low, ETA-based position as all the previous offerings (save for the WM9 v3 of course...) If the stem location on the SA3135 movement is actually higher then the ETA, this would account for the misalignment and the breakage potential. Can someone confirm this either way?

Yes, stuffing this in a case not designed for it would indeed snap the stem if the stem hight is correct for a gen 3135. Good point!

 

[sub4me]

That does make sense, however the main problem seems to be the stem breaking when being pulled to the date set position. If it was the wrong height (I'm not saying its not) from the begining I think we'd be having winding, screwing down, and all functions failing from the begining. The member would get the watch and the crown would be hard to use or even turn and probably snap very quickly. I really think this is bad materials being used and no attention in manufacture. We also have to remember this is not a mod project, this is what is being sent as the best new version and already cased by the maker and taunted as its almost a gen, its supposed to be that good.

 

[giobo]

He had problems before put it on sale...Thats why he was a little late in the beggining..Maybe they were furious to put on sale before Christmas..

 

[Warrcraft]

For clarification regarding the stem breaking, bibi13's stem broke when he "reinstalled the movement in the case." As far as I know, nobody has had the stem break from simply pulling the stem out to change the date or time. I have not had that problem on my two SA3135, and have performed those procedures several times now. Also, I have had no problems in screwing down the crown, or the actual "turning" of the crown to set the date or time. The problem(s) have been in easily finding the date change position, and the hands moving from the set time if I don't push the crown in slowly. I do agree, that I am concerned about the quality/workmanship of materials used for this new movement based upon my observations and what I have further learned in this thread. However, I like the new look of the movement and that it mimics the 3135, can accept gen dial and hands, and it is keeping great time.

 

[sub4me]

gibo,yes there where problems and I remember that, good point, thanks for bringing that up.:sub4me:

Warcraft, I understand where the problem lies and you've made some good points as well. We only wait and see what comes of these movements, I perdict a newer inproved movement, LOL.

 

[levelmanroger]

... I perdict a newer inproved movement, LOL.

Agreed. But will the next iteration of the A3135 be the "Best", "Perfect" or "Ultimate" Edition?
The suspense is killing me!



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