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APSF and ZF Royal Oak 15500 w 4302 clone caliber

zerodreamy

You're Saying I Can Sell?
29/6/23
49
56
18
Canada
Have just ordered a ZF 15500 V3 clone....should I have waited for a potential new model?

I'm debating doing a dial swap. DP dials feel too shiny, ZF feel a little lacklustre, but heard the MPF dial is a good compromise.

What's everyone's opinion?
I agree with all the responses you've been given already, but to answer the question of dial options:

DP is noticeably shinier than gen. A good way I can personally describe it is that you'll find that gen has a full streak of shine from end to end (that moves along with the light source), while DP's huge soleil in comparison has about two distinct streaks. Base ZF does have a streak similar to gen but it is terribly weak.

I feel as if put under intense light the ZF begins to look like how gen does normally and effortlessly, but is otherwise a very matte version.

MPF seems to have streak down well, excellent as far as a replica dial is concerned. With that said it has a very flat construction. The gen's dial construction is beautiful up close. The ZF construction isn't quite the same but you can see a lot of effort and detail in it that punches so above its weight it is nuts.

DP has very little detail. MPF has none. It is incredibly bare bones despite the soleil being a great middle ground between ZF and DP.

I can't speak to SWFs. It also seems to be a good middle ground, but I haven't managed to see any up close HQ pictures to speak to is construction and minutiae.

Finally, gen is gen. If you have 7-8k lying around I am sure you will eventually be able to find a spare blue dial lying around. Less for others, pick your poison

Right now you can't really replicate gen all the way. I mean.. you absolutely COULD, same as anything in this world, but this is a matter of cost, demand, potential roi. Unless one factory or specialty dial maker comes out of the woodwork with the same level of construction as ZF while making up for the mostly lacking soleil, we should probably count our lucky stars that ZF provides such an excellent job for what it is.

Standalone it is really a well made piece. Compared to gen I am positive you can get away with passing it off as such in certain conditions, but when you look at all environments, the replica will be caught lacking in some way right now, just a fact.
 

suppish

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1/10/17
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I managed to try one of these in the boutique and to my surprise, the 15500 actually fit my 16.5cm wrist pretty well. This after attempting a few attempts at the 15400, to which I finally accepted it wears a bit too big for me.

So my question is, does the ZF wear similar to the gen? I couldn’t tell in person if the lugs tapered more sharply or if the bracelet was more flexible which meant the 15500 hugged my wrist better, but I was wondering if this “improved fit” translated to the ZF version?
 

grillbrill

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9/7/18
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I managed to try one of these in the boutique and to my surprise, the 15500 actually fit my 16.5cm wrist pretty well. This after attempting a few attempts at the 15400, to which I finally accepted it wears a bit too big for me.

So my question is, does the ZF wear similar to the gen? I couldn’t tell in person if the lugs tapered more sharply or if the bracelet was more flexible which meant the 15500 hugged my wrist better, but I was wondering if this “improved fit” translated to the ZF version?
My guess is the first links of the gen bracelet are more flexible.
 
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MrG_EU

Horology Curious
20/9/22
8
5
3
I'm on the fence about getting a 15500, Even though I'm more decided towards APSF than ZF.
I'm a little concerned about the reliability of the clone movement.
What is the consensus on it? I'm getting it serviced as soon as I get the watch on hand.
Thank you
 

watchesandwonders

Looking Around
17/10/23
3
5
3
Just received my ZF15500 v3 recently. A quick summary on the pros and cons:

Pros: Looks good in general (black dial), reliable time keeping (over a week so far no issues), instant date change, nice weight to the watch
Cons: Bracelet finish is not great feels rough - I recommend ordering a rubber or leather strap online and changing the strap. The biggest issue for me was the rotor noise (loud scratching noise like metal on metal / rotor does not spin freely).

I have since changed the bracelet to a rubber strap and went to a local watch shop that does work on rep watches to remove the rotor entirely. I basically use it as a manual wind (bye rotor noise) now with probably 45-48 hours of power reserve - I know removing the rotor seems silly but the rotor noise annoyed me deeply and the current state of the watch makes me happy.

Cheers guys!
 

zerodreamy

You're Saying I Can Sell?
29/6/23
49
56
18
Canada
Technically not within the scope of the thread, since that is an APS update, but it looks great. Any information on expected release, and whether the update will extend to other colours? I admit, white was a big offender among 15500s..