I tried to bring order to the definitions of what a “clone” movement is in my
comprehensive guide… but no sooner than the ink was dry on my definitions the SH4131 was released and it refuses to conform to my categories.
For reference:
- "True Clone" is a movement that's >99% part interchangeable with gen. e.g. DD4130, DD3285, VS3235, or VS3135
- "Design Clone" is a movement that follows the design of the gen movement very closely but generally isn't compatible with gen parts. e.g. The "clone" patek 324SC and 240 movements, the AP 4302 and 3120 movements, or the JLC 825 movement.
- "Homage Clone" a movement that follows the design language of the gen and looks similar at first glance, but is actually something different. e.g. VR3235 and VSF Omega movements.
- "Decorated" a movement that isn't a clone but rather is a slightly modified off the shelf movement with thin decoration plates on top of it so that it looks like something that it's not. e.g. most decorated Miyota 9015 / ETA 7750 / ETA 2824 found in reps.
The SH4131 is mostly a “true clone” — of the ~200 parts that make up the movement, it appears that the pallet fork and escape wheel are not gen spec. (It seems likely to me that the balance complete of the rep is also not gen spec given the difference in pallet fork geometry). So that’s 2 or 3 out of 200 parts that aren’t gen spec which means 98.5% of parts are likely Gen spec which falls outside of my definition of “true clone”. But obviously this is an outstanding effort in terms of movement replication.