Seamaster 300 Blue: A comprehensive comparison of GEN, VS, OR, ZF and AG

[spaceman007]

hi @spaceman007 - they are close; I can only speak for the blue-ones: the blue color (dial, brezel, strap) of the Gen is a little bit more intensive/ZF looks a tiny little bit more pale. Also the hour and minute hands are a little bit different/more pale on the ZF. When I show both to friends they are at first speak-less, but after a while of comparing they pick the right one as the Gen by guessing that this more intensive/deeper color must be the Gen. You need to play with light conditions to recognize it, nothing you can see quickly at a first glance or on the wrist as overall quality seems excellent by both. But movement wise Gen beats ZF clearly: my Gen is rotor-wise as silent as I expect from a watch in this class (fingers crossed that this will stay this way) whereas the ZF rotor is audible (I have read that people can make it more silent - but haven't tried anything); not to forget that the Gen Co-Axial movement should be far more robust (shock resistent etc). Personally, I wear and favor the SMP Gen over the ZF and I notice/appreciate the difference - but just my2cent: I also think a Gen Omega SMP is not a real valuable collector item for keeping unworn in the box (like e.g. some R...x models) ... likely I would not keep a SMP Gen when I wouldn't wear it ...

Thanks for the detailed response, I got the smp blue gen already. That is really helpful. Not sure what I should do now tbh

 

[_f1sh]

I was looking about to buy a ZF Seamaster and the seller sent me these videos comparing rotor noise. I know there's some background noise so it's not perfect, but does this seem like a good representation of the sound difference to people who've heard both in person? In these the ZF sounds substantially louder.

VSF:

ZF:

 

[silver_alpha]

My ZF Seamaster has the noisiest rotor I have ever experienced

Omg same. I thought I got a lemon. Lol was thinking of bringing it over to a watchmaker for some lube. Haha

 

[silver_alpha]

I was looking about to buy a ZF Seamaster and the seller sent me these videos comparing rotor noise. I know there's some background noise so it's not perfect, but does this seem like a good representation of the sound difference to people who've heard both in person? In these the ZF sounds substantially louder.

VSF:

ZF:

Yes, that's definitely a ZF! Hahahaha

 

[solomonkane]

but does this seem like a good representation of the sound difference to people who've heard both in person?

Yep, that's exactly what I hear It only does that when I shake my wrist. It's a known issue and there's an easy fix according to users, but factory has not yet addressed it.

 

[Valaj]

Yes. The ZF is significantly louder. It was the loudest watch I've ever owned. The only thing that drove me away was the rotor noise. I got it silenced and now, it's one of my most silent watches! It worked wonders. My ZF is my favorite watch, by far! I have a VSF WT, GF Santos and ZF IWC along with various Omega and non-Omega gens. The ZF SMP gets the most wrist time.

 

[dragon07]

Evet. ZF önemli ölçüde daha yüksek seslidir. Sahip olduğum en gürültülü saatti. Beni uzaklaştıran tek şey rotor gürültüsüydü. Sessize aldım ve şimdi en sessiz saatlerimden biri! Harikalar yarattı. ZF'im açık ara en sevdiğim saat! Çeşitli Omega ve Omega olmayan genlerle birlikte bir VSF WT, GF Santos ve ZF IWC'ye sahibim. ZF SMP en fazla bilek süresini alır.

Nasıl daha sessiz yaptın? zf seamaster'ım biraz gürültülü

 

[apearce]

Engraved view of lugs​

The VS logo graphic is thinner.

In terms of lettering, the factories all use different lettering processes, so there will be some gaps, but the overall shape can still be seen clearly.

Strap Detail View

Lume View​

GEN's sticks lume is more green, the factory's is more blue. The color is still different.

Movement View​

All factory movements use Seagull 2824 to imitate the 8800 SMD movement.

The structure of the four factories is slightly different. OR, ZF use fewer patches and more similar with GEN

The most obvious place for VS is the lack of a screw on the balance wheel.

In terms of polishing, OR and ZF are better, and in terms of gem color, OR is closer to GE

Data Comparison​

Illustrate: All watches are in a clamped state, and there may be precision due to the slight deviation of the caliper position. GEN and factories have steel tape protective films.

Well, today's post is here, thank you guys for watching. If there are any mistakes, please correct me. If there is anything else I overlooked, you can put it up, and I will try my best to do it. Complementary and comprehensive, welcome to comment and exchange!

(Illustrate: Some photos deviate from the real object due to the problem of the light source. The details are mainly written in text. The size of the comparison picture is relatively large. You can download it and enlarge it for comparison.)


Any questions, please contact with us:

Website: https://www.theonewatches.io/

Email: [[Redacted due to phishing warnings]]@gmail.com

whatsapp: +86-17081934955

Wechat: The5711

steve

This is a fabulous post and really helped me make my choice. But one glaring issue on all the reps I've seen is the profiling of the shiny bars on the fixed links of the bracelet. Why can't they copy the shape/profile, when they get all the other links right? It's sooo obvious even from 10feet away - see pics of Zf and Gen : now I have to find someone to fix it but I don't know how, or beg Orf to sell me just a bracelet, being the best of a bad bunch?

 

[apearce]

Engraved view of lugs​

The VS logo graphic is thinner.

In terms of lettering, the factories all use different lettering processes, so there will be some gaps, but the overall shape can still be seen clearly.

Strap Detail View

Lume View​

GEN's sticks lume is more green, the factory's is more blue. The color is still different.

Movement View​

All factory movements use Seagull 2824 to imitate the 8800 SMD movement.

The structure of the four factories is slightly different. OR, ZF use fewer patches and more similar with GEN

The most obvious place for VS is the lack of a screw on the balance wheel.

In terms of polishing, OR and ZF are better, and in terms of gem color, OR is closer to GE

Data Comparison​

Illustrate: All watches are in a clamped state, and there may be precision due to the slight deviation of the caliper position. GEN and factories have steel tape protective films.

Well, today's post is here, thank you guys for watching. If there are any mistakes, please correct me. If there is anything else I overlooked, you can put it up, and I will try my best to do it. Complementary and comprehensive, welcome to comment and exchange!

(Illustrate: Some photos deviate from the real object due to the problem of the light source. The details are mainly written in text. The size of the comparison picture is relatively large. You can download it and enlarge it for comparison.)


Any questions, please contact with us:

Website: https://www.theonewatches.io/

Email: [[Redacted due to phishing warnings]]@gmail.com

whatsapp: +86-17081934955

Wechat: The5711

steve

This is a fabulous post and really helped me make my choice. But one glaring issue on all the reps I've seen is the profiling of the shiny bars on the fixed links of the bracelet. Why can't they copy the shape/profile, when they get all the other links right? It's sooo obvious even from 10feet away - see pics of Zf and Gen : now I have to find someone to fix it but I don't know how, or beg Orf to sell me just a bracelet, being the best of a bad bunch?

 

[apearce]

Engraved view of lugs​

The VS logo graphic is thinner.

In terms of lettering, the factories all use different lettering processes, so there will be some gaps, but the overall shape can still be seen clearly.

Strap Detail View

Lume View​

GEN's sticks lume is more green, the factory's is more blue. The color is still different.

Movement View​

All factory movements use Seagull 2824 to imitate the 8800 SMD movement.

The structure of the four factories is slightly different. OR, ZF use fewer patches and more similar with GEN

The most obvious place for VS is the lack of a screw on the balance wheel.

In terms of polishing, OR and ZF are better, and in terms of gem color, OR is closer to GE

Data Comparison​

Illustrate: All watches are in a clamped state, and there may be precision due to the slight deviation of the caliper position. GEN and factories have steel tape protective films.

Well, today's post is here, thank you guys for watching. If there are any mistakes, please correct me. If there is anything else I overlooked, you can put it up, and I will try my best to do it. Complementary and comprehensive, welcome to comment and exchange!

(Illustrate: Some photos deviate from the real object due to the problem of the light source. The details are mainly written in text. The size of the comparison picture is relatively large. You can download it and enlarge it for comparison.)


Any questions, please contact with us:

Website: https://www.theonewatches.io/

Email: [[Redacted due to phishing warnings]]@gmail.com

whatsapp: +86-17081934955

Wechat: The5711

steve

This is a fabulous post and really helped me make my choice. But one glaring issue on all the reps I've seen is the profiling of the shiny bars on the fixed links of the bracelet. Why can't they copy the shape/profile, when they get all the other links right? It's sooo obvious even from 10feet away - see pics of Zf and Gen : now I have to find someone to fix it but I don't know how, or beg Orf to sell me just a bracelet, being the best of a bad bunch?

 

[Valaj]

Nasıl daha sessiz yaptın? zf seamaster'ım biraz gürültülü

There is a thread here that you can follow if you work on mechanical watches. I sent it to a watchsmith who did it for me.

Zf Seamaster A8800 rotor silencing [steps photos included]

With help of fellow RWI member I did a rotor silencing. It’s an relatively easy job to do. I don’t know if this was already posted, but until now I couldn’t find anything on the forum. It is a huge improvement! See the photos below (how they’re uploaded in the right order).

forum.replica-watch.info

 

[domiffm]

Just love it

 

[MeasurementCraft]

After much deliberation and research for the perfect daily SMP 300, I decided to create a list that shows all known flaws identified, with the three main contending factories being VSF (v2), ZF and ORF.

Since there is constant discussion on this forum around this subject and multiple threads, I thought I’d share the list here.

Hopefully this is the right place to share it.

Also, I tried to be as accurate as I could, feel free to add anything you feel important or that you disagree with and I will edit.

TLDR; there is no perfect SMP300 rep model. They all have there own flaws, some more obvious than others. You just need to work out which you are willing to deal with. General consensus I believe is to go with the ZF model (with lubricated movement to silence) and ORF bracelet.

 

[Phat3lvis]

I am down, I am sold I want one but when I go to your website, none of the pictures will load with Chrome, Edge or Firefox.
Is there a trick for getting it to work?

I like the ZF but if the VS seems to be the only one with a working bezel, which I actually use, then the VS seems like the best option.

 

[Caboose]

I've ordered the ZF and will give my thoughts when it comes in. If someone could like the instructions for silencing the rotor, that would be great!

 

[Valaj]

I like the ZF but if the VS seems to be the only one with a working bezel, which I actually use, then the VS seems like the best option.

What do you mean when you say only VSF has a working bezel?

 

[Pinion Minion]

What do you mean when you say only VSF has a working bezel?

He is confused. They all have a working bezel.

 

[Caboose]

What do you mean when you say only VSF has a working bezel?

The consensus is the bezel is very tight on all but the VSF, causing it to be difficult to rotate the bezel. It will work, but it will be tougher to move.

 

[Thatwatchguy]

After much deliberation and research for the perfect daily SMP 300, I decided to create a list that shows all known flaws identified, with the three main contending factories being VSF (v2), ZF and ORF.

Since there is constant discussion on this forum around this subject and multiple threads, I thought I’d share the list here.

Hopefully this is the right place to share it.

Also, I tried to be as accurate as I could, feel free to add anything you feel important or that you disagree with and I will edit.

TLDR; there is no perfect SMP300 rep model. They all have there own flaws, some more obvious than others. You just need to work out which you are willing to deal with. General consensus I believe is to go with the ZF model (with lubricated movement to silence) and ORF bracelet.

I would disagree with the ORF comments, I had a white dial one and the crystal was better than multiple VSF versions, the date window and font were completely fine. Movement was also not noisy unlike the VSF ones I had.

VSF comments are spot on

 

[Valaj]

The consensus is the bezel is very tight on all but the VSF, causing it to be difficult to rotate the bezel. It will work, but it will be tougher to move.

I have not played with a VSF SMP300. I, however, have a lot of experience with gen SMP300s. I also have a ZF SMP300 Green (Seaweed). I’ve compared it up close to a gen Seaweed. I was shocked at how close it looked. To my eyes, I couldn’t notice a difference in dial or bezel color. The bracelet is excellent (after polishing the sharp edges). The bezel is extremely smooth on my ZF. The gen was very slightly smoother. VERY slight, almost negligible. If you weren’t looking for it, you absolutely wouldn’t notice the difference.

The only difference (out of the box) is movement winding and noise. Again, the winding action in the ZF isn’t bad at all. The gen is slightly smoother. The ZF has horrible rotor noise and I absolutely hated the ruckus it made on the wrist. Until I got it silenced. It’s extremely silent now. In fact, the gen SMP300s I’ve experienced were slightly louder (with regards to rotor noise).

The reason I bought the ZF was to get a feel of how it would look on my wrist and how comfortable I’d be with it before committing to a gen (in fact, I almost bought a blue gen and I was lucky the AD I went to had to get it from another branch the next day, which was when I decided to get the gen to see if I’d love it or not). Got the ZF seaweed and now, I cannot bring myself to get the gen because of how good the ZF is.