The Ultimate Aquanaut 5167A Dial Discussion

[Baklava]

Hello Guys,
Do you know where I could get the Buff version of this watch ? I looked at the websites of a few TDs and none of them are offering this version .

 

[daytonadude]

You have to contact a TD like @CTime that can do the mods for you

 

[bpbp]

I do not recommend any mods from Mr.wang Ctime! It's really piss me off for been waiting long time and pay a lot money for a crap.

 

[W8tchLover]

I do not recommend any mods from Mr.wang Ctime! It's really piss me off for been waiting long time and pay a lot money for a crap.

What happened exactly?

 

[bpbp]

What happened exactly?

It's actually not CTime problem, it's Mr.Wang work is not good show as the picture, and SW dial have very bad QC! So, the CTime do not work with Mr.wang anymore. And i do not recommend order dial from SW, the SW QC are terrible. The number on the dial is not alignment. (Even the basic 3k dial have no alignment problem)!

 

[rolexianer]

I just realized that a 5167 doesnt have framed dots but 5168 and 5968 do have it framed?

 

[xav06]

This is my 3KF V3 with SW set dial hands and DW. The only mod I'm planning in the future would be some casework.

All in all the execution is pretty good. Initially I thought the 1 o'clock marker was sitting too high but the gen also has a similar alignment.
The 10 o'clock marker could have been aligned slightly better, the indices being a little to close to each other.
It looks pretty good. You could just get a genuine dial but really who wants to spend that kind of money for a dial.

I guess it is what it is.

It's just me being a sucker because I find stick markers boring and I so love applied arabic numerals on a dial. So many watches have this, aquanaut and calatrave 5226G.

40K for a genuine 5167A is just outright crazy, 20 years ago the aquanaut was not really a statement piece anyway.
I'd rather put 8K-9K in a nice genuine sea dweller 16600 or 15K in a gen 2 VC overseas or for 10-11K you get the VC Fiftysix.

 

[daytonadude]

Quick update:
- SW’s dial has gotten much better, the lume is white like more recent gen versions and isn’t made of stickers
- Buff has also gone white, but I haven’t seen images of newer Buff dials. Will try to track down.

***There has been a consistent issue of SW or Buff seconds hands not fitting the 324 pinion, which to me suggest that getting these mods done by TDs is to our advantage.***

Another issue is date wheel alignment, number printing and tone. QC your date wheels before they are installed and make sure the one you get isn’t too grey. I still think the @Keylog74 date wheel is the best!

 

[felixgun123]

I have to ask. What do you think of this stock ZF Aquanaut dial? Can you help me point out the flaws etc? Thanks in advance

 

[xav06]

I have to ask. What do you think of this stock ZF Aquanaut dial? Can you help me point out the flaws etc? Thanks in advance

It's pretty close to the genuine. The lume colour of the hour plots is a bit to green, the seconds hand is incorrect it should have a stepped protruding centre sleeve with the canon pinion also being white. The datewheel font is a little thicker on the gen also. Bezel shape a little bit too round but the mid-case side profile is pretty good. nice watch in general!