VSF Aqua Terra Impressions

[DarkOmega]

My first Rep is here! I can't stop looking at it and putting it on. It's pretty incredible to see the workmanship on this.

Let's jump into my thoughts so far. I was immediately impressed with the crystal on this. The AR is almost indistinguishable from the sapphire. Having a background in Optical, I appreciate a really good AR job. We'll see how this holds up over time.

The second thing I noticed were the flaws that didn't come through in the QC photos. I'm sure someone who has been in this hobby longer than me can spot more flaws, but here are the two things I didn't pick up on in QC: there are stains on the minute and second hand, and the dial marker at 20 is slightly off. And when I say slightly off, it's maybe 0.1mm off. It's noticeable when you're looking at the watch with a critical eye, but otherwise both flaws are very difficult to catch regularly. In fact, it's been a challenge to get the minute hand stain on camera because the light has to hit it perfectly to be seen.

I've also been a little concerned that I've had to bump this watch a couple times since receipt four days ago. The longest it's been left without winding wasn't even 24 hours. That does have me concerned for the longevity of the movement since I'm hoping this watch will last.

I've been in contact with a lot of different watchmakers looking for someone willing to work on Omega reps. I would like to get this sent in for service sooner rather than later so the watch has the best chance of lasting. I still have to check a few local shops to see if they'll work on it for me. I'd much rather send it to someone trusted by the community though. We'll see what comes of this.

To be honest, I was expecting some sharp edges on the bracelet and underside of the case. There are surprisingly none of these evident on the watch, which I'm happy about. The watch fit immediately out of the box, which I wasn't expecting either. I'm just glad it fits because there were no extra links and I have problems with my large wrists usually.

The only mechanical watches I have to compare this to are an Orient Bambino and a Seiko SSA314. Consider this notice I have limited experience with mechanical watches. But this movement is pretty smooth and incredible. I love taking a little time to just watch the hands move.

Well I don't have much more to add, just wanted to share my experience so far. Thanks for checking out the thread!

Pictures of the watch:

https://clickpix.org/image/20230508-182846.3diz8F https://clickpix.org/image/20230508-182841.3di37t https://clickpix.org/image/20230508-182228.3diK32 https://clickpix.org/image/20230508-181523.3dijL5

 

[Gfpatt]

Hi! Looks like a really nice watch!! You can see some of the dust on the hands and if someone does work on it they can possibly clean that off. I would not have them touch the dial at 20. As far as the movement is concerned, you could have a local dealer check it to see how it runs by checking the beat via the timegrapher. Best of luck though, it’s a beautiful piece.

 

[DarkOmega]

Hi! Looks like a really nice watch!! You can see some of the dust on the hands and if someone does work on it they can possibly clean that off. I would not have them touch the dial at 20. As far as the movement is concerned, you could have a local dealer check it to see how it runs by checking the beat via the timegrapher. Best of luck though, it’s a beautiful piece.

Thanks! Yeah, I'm not going to have anyone touch the dial to try and fix it. I was just pointing out the flaws I didn't notice during QC since it's hard to see them in photos.

I am still on the hunt for someone willing to service the watch, but still have some local watchmakers to check with.

 

[Gfpatt]

Sounds good! Where did you buy?

 

[DarkOmega]

Sounds good! Where did you buy?

I got this from JTime.

 

[Gfpatt]

I just ordered a 126710 Pepsi from jtime! Li is a great guy!

 

[Specter1000]

Enjoy! And....I LOVE the bambinos...I have 3 of them!

 

[babachrome27]

Very nice timepiece. enjoy! And welcome to the rabbit hole first wristwatch followed by the second, and so on...

 

[GE206032880]

Hey I just got aVSF from Chazing on Thursday . Visually, the watch looks incredible. Great weight and 95% of people looking at it would never know I is a rep.

sadly, the internal moveKent’s is of poor quality. I was dead on arrival. Went to my well review local jeweler and he confirmed it was dead. Because it is ,a CO-Axial he wasn’t comfortable trying to work on it. Chazing said to send it back and that these things happen during shipKent - but after some great advice from RWI members - the consensus was not to send back as the chances of it being confiscated were too significant - and best bet was to find someone in the states to service the movements. After serious research, I found a highly regarded watchsmith who happily obliged. (I live in a Los Angeles). (Apologies for the upcoming lack of professional descriptions of the watch parts and work done to it)
He opened the watch and found that something was stoping the movement - the first wheel was not as smoothed out as it should have been and the unsmoothed parts was stopping the watch from any movement. He quickly repaired the part and the watch started to work. This was Saturday afternoon. I left so happy and relieved b/c I thought I dodged a bullet.

around midnight - I Noticed that the watch was 10 to 15 minutes fast. I thought that was strange as I’m almost certain the watchsmith had set the correct time. Perhaps he didn’t and I was so excited, I left before checking. When I left for work on monday. I pulled the watch from my watch winder box and noticed the watch was almost an hour fast. That’s funny I’m almost certain I set the right time. Huh. Well, I set the correct time at 7A but around 11A - the watch was clearly running fast and I needed to set the watch again.

in short, I had to adjust 2 more times throughout the day and headed over to the watch smith at the end of the day. I explained the situation. He used the same machine to test the time that was in my QC pic and told me that it was running 10 sec slow a day. I said that can’t be as it’s running minutes fast every hour.

per the watchsmith and my own eyes - he said that there must be different parts that must not be smoothed out and the wheels are getting stuck and or not working properly.

he suggested that rather Than send back and most likely loose the watch and my investment - but to request, at cost, to have ChazingTime sell me the movement(motor) only. And that he would replace for me. If they agree, I would ultimately be out a few more dollars but would have a working watch in the time it took them to mail - which took 3 week on the last shipment.

apologies for the long note - I just felt this thread warranted the warning and maybe not to accept the easy answer of - oh it probably was banged around during shipment. (Btw - it was very well cushioned in its wrapping when I opened it).

 

[DarkOmega]

He opened the watch and found that something was stoping the movement - the first wheel was not as smoothed out as it should have been and the unsmoothed parts was stopping the watch from any movement. He quickly repaired the part and the watch started to work.

Thanks for the anecdote. My watch is working perfectly fine and it sounds like after the watchsmith looked at it for you, he didn't regulate it. I'm not sure if you want to go back to the same guy, but you'll want to have a watchsmith put this on a timegrapher for you and try to fix the regulation as much as possible.

During your QC did you note what the timegrapher values were? Mine is VERY accurate and keeps great time. It's currently on its way for service and gasket pressure testing to ensure the longevity of the movement for years to come.

My recommendation to you for this scenario you're in is to take it back to the same watchsmith and ask if there's anything he can do about the regulation. See what he tells you. But you're also not in a bad spot to ask Chazing for a new movement at cost. Worst case, you end up with spare parts for the movement if you need service in the future.

Cheers!

 

[eBoy]

Hey I just got aVSF from Chazing on Thursday . Visually, the watch looks incredible. Great weight and 95% of people looking at it would never know I is a rep.

More like 99.98%. I wouldn't assume that 5% of the planet's population are horology nerds.

I was dead on arrival.

I'm glad that apparently the CPR measures were successful!

Went to my well review local jeweler and he confirmed it was dead. Because it is ,a CO-Axial he wasn’t comfortable trying to work on it.

Your jeweler is incompetent. Sorry that I have to say that. (Unless you didn't tell him that it's a replica???)

A VSF clone movement is anything but Co-Axial. Not even close.

It just has "Co-Axial" written on it. Doesn't mean it's true.

 

[GE206032880]

More like 99.98%. I wouldn't assume that 5% of the planet's population are horology nerds.



I'm glad that apparently the CPR measures were successful!



Your jeweler is incompetent. Sorry that I have to say that. (Unless you didn't tell him that it's a replica???)

A VSF clone movement is anything but Co-Axial. Not even close.

It just has "Co-Axial" written on it. Doesn't mean it's true.

Appreciate your input. Honest question - in layman’s terms - what makes a watch co-axial. and respectfully, isn’t the definition of clone - exact replica?

FYI the watchsmiths (not a general jeweler) was well aware it was a clone And actually appreciates the hobby.
Now I asked if he could take it apart and find the problem - (he felt that internally a gear was missing teeth and consequently the watch was about 15 minutes fast every 24 hours. And that the only way to fix was to replace the entire movement. (i agree, I thought that was odd - but I’m a newbi and the guy has a thousand 5 star ratings on yelp - so what do I know).

anyways - I was able to get ChazingTime to ask VSF to sell me a just a new VSF movement ( pretty reasonably) and even paid for shipping. waiting for QC pics now. props to Alice at chazingtime

And to answer a question from above - when I showed the QC pic of +/- 4 reflected on the machine. ( I’ve attached the QC pic of it). The watchsmith said that pic is not of your watch. He showed me on the exact same machine that my watch ( when I brought it back in - the day after he got it to work) was 10 seconds slow. It’s hard to argue when you see it right in front of your face.

let’s see what happens when the new movement arrives. Other than being 15 minutes fast over a 24 hour period - It does look and feels great. And though you educated opinion tells you that the watch smith is incompetent. The watch did arrive DOA. And he got it to work.

Thanks all for their input - I’m learning and trying to make this as positive an experience as I can.

 

[Feefo]

The 1:1, superclone, AAA+ etc. are marketing ploys, you can't have that with real world reps. This is actually what this forum is about, to learn about reps and their flaws, their "differences" from the real deal.
Regarding the timegrapher values, they're a snapshot of how the movement works before shipping. They're for you to make sure the movement is working, more or less well During shipping the parcel will be subject to rough handling which will affect how the movement works. You'll never have equal readings before and after shipping. You're movement might have been subject to serious shaking and bumping.

 

[GE206032880]

Thanks for the anecdote. My watch is working perfectly fine and it sounds like after the watchsmith looked at it for you, he didn't regulate it. I'm not sure if you want to go back to the same guy, but you'll want to have a watchsmith put this on a timegrapher for you and try to fix the regulation as much as possible.

During your QC did you note what the timegrapher values were? Mine is VERY accurate and keeps great time. It's currently on its way for service and gasket pressure testing to ensure the longevity of the movement for years to come.

My recommendation to you for this scenario you're in is to take it back to the same watchsmith and ask if there's anything he can do about the regulation. See what he tells you. But you're also not in a bad spot to ask Chazing for a new movement at cost. Worst case, you end up with spare parts for the movement if you need service in the future.

Cheers!

Thanks for your advice- just to be safe will search for an alternative watchsmith that will agree to work on clones and get a 2nd opinion and ask to them to regulate. In the mean time waiting on QC pics of the movement. Cheers

 

[eBoy]

Appreciate your input. Honest question - in layman’s terms - what makes a watch co-axial.

Omega is they only brand in the world that widely uses the Co-Axial escapement in their movements.

Even if the movement manufacturing plants in China could replicate those for the rep factories (and I believe they will at some point or even already are), they probably wouldn't rep those escapements, simply for cost reasons, as it would make the rep prices too expensive for the market.

What you find in Omega clones are either inexpensive Chinese copies of Miyota or ETA based workhorse movements (or a mix of different ETA movement types like the one in the Omega non-Co-Axial "Co-Axial" clone movement in your Aqua Terra) that have absolutely nothing to do with the real thing.

Rolex is, with a few exceptions, the only brand repped with real clone movements. But even those are nothing like the real thing in terms of finishing and build quality.

and respectfully, isn’t the definition of clone - exact replica?

No. Absolutely not.

FYI the watchsmiths (not a general jeweler) was well aware it was a clone And actually appreciates the hobby.
Now I asked if he could take it apart and find the problem - (he felt that internally a gear was missing teeth and consequently the watch was about 15 minutes fast every 24 hours. And that the only way to fix was to replace the entire movement. (i agree, I thought that was odd - but I’m a newbi and the guy has a thousand 5 star ratings on yelp - so what do I know).

That's strange if he is supposedly experienced with reps. He should have known that this particular watch that has written "Co-Axial" on it does not really have a Co-Axial escapement.

 

[eBoy]

@GE206032880

More reading material and a video:

A Technical Perspective - The Omega Co-Axial Escapement Fully Explained

The idea sprouted some 40 years ago in the genius mind of a British master craftsman, who worked his way up to become one of the greatest watchmakers of the 20th century. Following numerous attempts to find an escapement that would perform better than the century-old lever escapement, George...

monochrome-watches.com

 

[GE206032880]

@GE206032880

More reading material and a video:

A Technical Perspective - The Omega Co-Axial Escapement Fully Explained

The idea sprouted some 40 years ago in the genius mind of a British master craftsman, who worked his way up to become one of the greatest watchmakers of the 20th century. Following numerous attempts to find an escapement that would perform better than the century-old lever escapement, George...

monochrome-watches.com

Sincerely, Thank you for the education.

 

[eBoy]

Sincerely, Thank you for the education.

There's a LOT of information to soak in, so best to take in one piece at a time... After 3 years of studying, I don't even even know 0.1% about watches. But it's a super fun hobby nevertheless.