ZF Black Bay Changes. (Rose fixed!)

[robinstyler]

Okay so I just received my new Black Bay from ZF today and am happy to announce some of the new changes. Although small in size, they are still big changes.
First of all what we have waited on for ages it seems. The rose logo has been fixed! Heres a close up pic:

Second of all, the caseback now uses a different size tool to be opened. Before I could open it with the same tool size I used to open my Sub caseback but now it needs one size smaller. Dont know if its true to gen but I would assume so. Otherwise it wouldnt make sense to have changed this.
Last change is the movement. There are now no engravings on the movement anymore but the winding feels better and then crown is much easier to unscrew.
Thats about all I found out so far.

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[mermayloo]

Glad that they have improved in the new batch, will they call this V6 or still a v5? If this is a complete fix, I'd get this over the Tudor Shield version.

 

[akira448]

That Rose is not fixed.

 

[pompompurin]

Unfortunately in my opinion, the Tudor rose logo still has a long long way to go (even if it's small)

Here is a gen for reference (notice the lines and the petal is much more detailed and precise)

 

[d4m.test]

I'm curious... how bad were the roses on the previous version. I saw on a different thread that someone posted complaining about the bevel on the case by the lugs, when someone commented "that doesn't bother me as much as the incomplete rose". I looked and really didn't see an issue with the rose. I'm now even more confused because it looked exactly like the one above. What am I missing?

edit... i now see the difference looking at the Gen above

 

[Hugop]

Robin thank you for the post. It is great to compare all the improvements as they come along. Even though the reps continue to improve they still pale in comparison to the gen. Here is what a gen Black Bay Noir rose looks like.

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[robinstyler]

Unfortunately in my opinion, the Tudor rose logo still has a long long way to go (even if it's small)

Here is a gen for reference (notice the lines and the petal is much more detailed and precise)

I do agree, and the hr dial is still mich more gen like, but its also 100$ more. not worth it imo. Thats why I sold mine and rebought it without the hr mod. Also the lume on hr is different so if you want matching lume you need to get the full set which I did and it puts you back around 150$. I think this is quite good for ootb.

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[robinstyler]

I'm curious... how bad were the roses on the previous version. I saw on a different thread that someone posted complaining about the bevel on the case by the lugs, when someone commented "that doesn't bother me as much as the incomplete rose". I looked and really didn't see an issue with the rose. I'm now even more confused because it looked exactly like the one above. What am I missing?

edit... i now see the difference looking at the Gen above

Now the difference is just the 3d'ness. before it was like this:

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[Hugop]

Also you had made notice of the caseback change. The gen caseback on the rose dialed BB is the same as the gen Rolex subs at 29.5mm or the No.5 tool. The earlier Tudors like the 9401 were smaller using a No.4 case back tool or 28.3mm. Not sure what they are on the new gen shield models. My rep shield from zf measures 33.2mm and I do not have a bergeon tool to remove it. So much larger than a No.4 or 5.

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[Hugop]

Here are a few more details on the gen. The symmetry of the hands and dial becomes very obvious when studied. There are quite a few things to be noticed that could be tells. The factories are doing a very good replication on these watches compared to other brands/models.

Notice in these pics how the triangle on the second hand relates to other hands and markers on the dial.

The center of the triangle splits the end of the hour hand. The inside point of the triangle aligns with the end of the qtr hour markers on the dial. The outside point of the triangle aligns with the inside edge of the round five minute markers. The point of the second hand is the same length of the minute hand.

And I think nothing else beeds to be said about the polished end of the seconds pinion. If I can get a better pic for you guys I will post that also.

 

[robinstyler]

Here are a few more details on the gen. The symmetry of the hands and dial becomes very obvious when studied. There are quite a few things to be noticed that could be tells. The factories are doing a very good replication on these watches compared to other brands/models.

Notice in these pics how the triangle on the second hand relates to other hands and markers on the dial.

The center of the triangle splits the end of the hour hand. The inside point of the triangle aligns with the end of the qtr hour markers on the dial. The outside point of the triangle aligns with the inside edge of the round five minute markers. The point of the second hand is the same length of the minute hand.

And I think nothing else beeds to be said about the polished end of the seconds pinion. If I can get a better pic for you guys I will post that also.

I will try to take some pics like that later when i'm Home. Im just wondering why they changed the caseback size. Seems very weird. I tried the sane size i used on my sub and on my older tudors and it was too large and I had to size down one size. So it surely is smaller than before. My shield ZF is also bigger than the sub caseback thread and I cant open that one due to that.

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[feni]

I think an HR dial is a good upgrade if you don't mind spending an extra $90. Here's my ZF with a HR dial:

View attachment 79015 View attachment 79016 View attachment 79017

 

[Hugop]

I made a comment about the cannon pinion being polished and it got me thinking if I have ever seen macros of the hand stack. I shot a few and here is what the gen actually looks like. I assumed it was the same as rolex with polished seconds pinion but looks like the illusion is created with a button on the second hand. Also look at how finely finished the hands are on the gen compared to the rep pic below.

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[Muni]

I think an HR dial is a good upgrade if you don't mind spending an extra $90. Here's my ZF with a HR dial:

View attachment 79015 View attachment 79016 View attachment 79017

What does HR stand for? What do they do extra. Thanks

 

[Hugop]

While I had the macro out I also grabbed you guys a definitive gen rose photo...

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[feni]

What does HR stand for? What do they do extra. Thanks

Helenarou. I got a spare set of hands from them too.

Won't be pixel perfect like gen but no one is going to come at your watch in real life with a 25X loupe

View attachment 79020 View attachment 79021

 

[Hugop]

Helenarou. I got a spare set of hands from them too.

Won't be pixel perfect like gen but no one is going to come at your watch in real life with a 25X loupe [emoji14]

View attachment 79020 View attachment 79021

HR does a good job on the rose and hands.

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[d4m.test]

Imho the HR dial looks fantastic. Did you guys replace them yourselves? I think with the HR dial it is NWBIG.

 

[d4m.test]

wow that HR dial is amazing. I went on their website and could find everything except the dials with the rose... in fact none of their dials had any markings on them. Am I just not looking in the right place?

I gotta tell you though, i'm learning so much. I can see how subtle changes can totally make a watch appear more gen.

 

[pompompurin]

wow that HR dial is amazing. I went on their website and could find everything except the dials with the rose... in fact none of their dials had any markings on them. Am I just not looking in the right place?

You have to email them because they don't openly advertise the branded Tudor / Rolex dials

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IMO HR dial has one OCD flaw (to me) and that is the "GENEVE" typography where the "V" and "E" are touching. But the raised ink for dial printing is very 3D

But don't mind me, nobody is gonna bring a loupe around and inspect your dial hah