When Joshua asked me “I have KW version of Pelagos, no need to wait for ZF version - do You want it?” - I simply agreed to this offer.
When considering all these behind the scenes wars between makers and dealers - I am taking everything with a grain of salt now. Last such war for PAM 441 with supposed two makers: V6 and Kuvarsit (KW) ended with confirmed fact it was the same watch.
With this watch I am not so sure, that the ZF’s version offered by Pure Time is the same like KW’s version - there are some small differences but overall - looks like these two version share most of parts.
The gen Pelagos was introduced in Basel 2012 along with Black Bay but was not available as a rep until now. The whole watch is executed in titanium which makes it paper like weight. You simply forget You have it on your wrist. Some people will like it for sure. I got the watch together with ceramic PAM 438 which appears now as bulky heavy watch when comparing to Pelagos.
THE CASE SET:
Rep Pelagos is executed in titanium, too. Maybe it is a proof the case work is indeed from KW since:
- the inner edges of lugs are not sharp (as they used to be on ZF’s Black Bay) and the sharpness is not removed by single sanding strokes as in ZF’s version. They’re just not sharp and gives pleasant feel when touched.
- the crown guards ends are sharp as per gen (on ZF’s version as presented on Pure Time’s site they’re rounded)
All the rest of case shapes are done perfectly when comparing with photos of gen. Crown has well defined shield logo on the top and screws down nicely with visible o-ring on threaded tube.
Brushed titanium is my favorite - it is so easy to rebrush it with conventional kitchen scotch-brite sponge.
BEZEL:
- nice solid clicks, 60 of them. Unidirectional.
- minimal play when rotating but “wants” to stay in correct position
- minimal play when pushing bezel from left to right, as if the bezel has a fraction of mm too wide hole for sapphire…
- bezel ceramic insert fills the bezel perfectly
- lume application on bezel is perfect in shape BUT is not flat when you observe it closely. On all gen photos it was rather flat - here it is hefty amount luminous paint (probably with some reinforcing resin) printed on bezel’s surface. Hard to observe but evidently not flat.
SAPPHIRE:
- flat, with nice polished edge
- AR looks like weak double AR; it is quite easy to get annoying reflection of light since it is flat. I saw many movies with gen Pelagos and it seems the same easy to get that frontal reflection so maybe we have to live with this flat sapphire….
DIAL and HANDS:
- dial has all these lumed indexes glued on by hand. That’s where QC is crucial. There are “little bays” where indexes are applied and they can be “dancing” where not enough QC was forces. I was worried about this since on one of Pure Time’s photos they were dancing
From Pure Time’s photos:
When I get this watch - the QC concerning the precision of how lumed indexes where glued on dial’s surface was much better. Not perfect but no such flops like indexes on 11,12 and 1… so PAY ATTENTION to this on your QC photos.
Two-dimensional dial surface looks perfect as per gen, even with that “graphite like grain” in the center. Perfect printings on dial.
Date window has correct bevels. Anyway, the date wheel seems to be fraction of mm sunken on both KW and ZF Pelagos when comparing to gen photos and movies. Nothing alarming anyway. Sometimes I think I can see difference, sometimes not. Nitpicking
Nicely executed hands. Lume application on both hands and dial is a bit bulky but as per gen (it is not flat on a gen). Nice blue luminova everywhere.
HE VALVE:
- looks acceptable, maybe text engravings are less pronounced when comparing to gen
- wonder if it works or just pure decoration
BRACELET:
- looks exactly like on ZF’s photos, so both watches probably share the same bracelet factory
- works OK, even quite complicated clasp construction was replicated correct way.
- clasp has two working modes - solid 3 position and free expand mode. The latter uses two quite strong springs to control the force of expansion. I like the way it works, ingenious idea by Tudor and great replication by bracelet maker.
- perfect SEL fitment
- I did not have to tighten any screws
RUBBER STRAP:
- no smell at all!
- soft rubber
- strap has metal tubes incorporated to hold lug bars
- brushed stainless steel buckle (most GEN reviews address the material of this buckle as titanium but not all)
- to attach the rubber to a watch You need to use solid end links (SEL) taken from bracelet
- additional expansion strap (with brushed stainless steel buckle, too)
MOVEMENT:
- Asian nickel plated 2824 ETA clone, 28k, automatic, no jerky seconds hand
- nothing smart to say - works like +2secs/day OTB, we will see how it will perform later, great so far
OVERALL CONCLUSION:
- this is one impressive watch! Both as replication and as a watch per se. Get it regardless the maker.
- when comparing photos, no reason to wait for ZF version, I suppose. Maybe ZF will have better (more flat) lume application on bezel but, on the other hand - annoying rounded CG edges.
Now, to the photos:
wristshoot:
When considering all these behind the scenes wars between makers and dealers - I am taking everything with a grain of salt now. Last such war for PAM 441 with supposed two makers: V6 and Kuvarsit (KW) ended with confirmed fact it was the same watch.
With this watch I am not so sure, that the ZF’s version offered by Pure Time is the same like KW’s version - there are some small differences but overall - looks like these two version share most of parts.
The gen Pelagos was introduced in Basel 2012 along with Black Bay but was not available as a rep until now. The whole watch is executed in titanium which makes it paper like weight. You simply forget You have it on your wrist. Some people will like it for sure. I got the watch together with ceramic PAM 438 which appears now as bulky heavy watch when comparing to Pelagos.
THE CASE SET:
Rep Pelagos is executed in titanium, too. Maybe it is a proof the case work is indeed from KW since:
- the inner edges of lugs are not sharp (as they used to be on ZF’s Black Bay) and the sharpness is not removed by single sanding strokes as in ZF’s version. They’re just not sharp and gives pleasant feel when touched.
- the crown guards ends are sharp as per gen (on ZF’s version as presented on Pure Time’s site they’re rounded)
All the rest of case shapes are done perfectly when comparing with photos of gen. Crown has well defined shield logo on the top and screws down nicely with visible o-ring on threaded tube.
Brushed titanium is my favorite - it is so easy to rebrush it with conventional kitchen scotch-brite sponge.
BEZEL:
- nice solid clicks, 60 of them. Unidirectional.
- minimal play when rotating but “wants” to stay in correct position
- minimal play when pushing bezel from left to right, as if the bezel has a fraction of mm too wide hole for sapphire…
- bezel ceramic insert fills the bezel perfectly
- lume application on bezel is perfect in shape BUT is not flat when you observe it closely. On all gen photos it was rather flat - here it is hefty amount luminous paint (probably with some reinforcing resin) printed on bezel’s surface. Hard to observe but evidently not flat.
SAPPHIRE:
- flat, with nice polished edge
- AR looks like weak double AR; it is quite easy to get annoying reflection of light since it is flat. I saw many movies with gen Pelagos and it seems the same easy to get that frontal reflection so maybe we have to live with this flat sapphire….
DIAL and HANDS:
- dial has all these lumed indexes glued on by hand. That’s where QC is crucial. There are “little bays” where indexes are applied and they can be “dancing” where not enough QC was forces. I was worried about this since on one of Pure Time’s photos they were dancing
From Pure Time’s photos:
When I get this watch - the QC concerning the precision of how lumed indexes where glued on dial’s surface was much better. Not perfect but no such flops like indexes on 11,12 and 1… so PAY ATTENTION to this on your QC photos.
Two-dimensional dial surface looks perfect as per gen, even with that “graphite like grain” in the center. Perfect printings on dial.
Date window has correct bevels. Anyway, the date wheel seems to be fraction of mm sunken on both KW and ZF Pelagos when comparing to gen photos and movies. Nothing alarming anyway. Sometimes I think I can see difference, sometimes not. Nitpicking
Nicely executed hands. Lume application on both hands and dial is a bit bulky but as per gen (it is not flat on a gen). Nice blue luminova everywhere.
HE VALVE:
- looks acceptable, maybe text engravings are less pronounced when comparing to gen
- wonder if it works or just pure decoration
BRACELET:
- looks exactly like on ZF’s photos, so both watches probably share the same bracelet factory
- works OK, even quite complicated clasp construction was replicated correct way.
- clasp has two working modes - solid 3 position and free expand mode. The latter uses two quite strong springs to control the force of expansion. I like the way it works, ingenious idea by Tudor and great replication by bracelet maker.
- perfect SEL fitment
- I did not have to tighten any screws
RUBBER STRAP:
- no smell at all!
- soft rubber
- strap has metal tubes incorporated to hold lug bars
- brushed stainless steel buckle (most GEN reviews address the material of this buckle as titanium but not all)
- to attach the rubber to a watch You need to use solid end links (SEL) taken from bracelet
- additional expansion strap (with brushed stainless steel buckle, too)
MOVEMENT:
- Asian nickel plated 2824 ETA clone, 28k, automatic, no jerky seconds hand
- nothing smart to say - works like +2secs/day OTB, we will see how it will perform later, great so far
OVERALL CONCLUSION:
- this is one impressive watch! Both as replication and as a watch per se. Get it regardless the maker.
- when comparing photos, no reason to wait for ZF version, I suppose. Maybe ZF will have better (more flat) lume application on bezel but, on the other hand - annoying rounded CG edges.
Now, to the photos:
wristshoot:
