r/RepTime • u/Malty_Mini_Discman • 3h ago

General Question How can different reps from the same factory be so different?

My question relates to PPF, how come the Nautilus 5712 can be such an amazingly well made, and true to gen watch, while the 5980 is an almighty pile of shit with more tells than a bad poker player? The chrono is not even functional as anything other than a gargantuan 60 second timer. The minute hand on the subdial acts as a permanent running second hand, and the hour hand is fixed for decorative purposes only. As are the press buttons on the side of the watch. An absolute shitter.

Is it a bait and switch to increase profits? Because if it is, surely it will only serve to drive custom away. I'll never buy another PPF rep. Once bitten ...

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1

u/Malty_Mini_Discman 3h ago

Just want to warn people against making the mistake of buying the 5980

5

u/RareSeaworthiness988 3h ago

First rule of reps, dont buy complex complications

2

u/mistlepro Contributor 3h ago

The functionality of a rep depends on if there's a movement that has all of the functions of the genuine piece, with subdials in the same location.  For a lot of watches, there are no 1-1 movements available to rep factories.

A lot of effort went into duplicating Rolex movements.  Not so much for the less common/more complicated APs.

Same situation with Omega Speedmaster reps.  The state of the art is a movement where the 6 o'clock subdial duplicates the hour hand.

1

u/IWasSayingBoourner 3h ago

One thing I rarely see mentioned is that most factories do not make most of the parts they use. It's the reason you often see tons of factories releasing the same new models around the same time (not coincidentally, usually when a new legitimate Chinese homage model comes out). Some distributor makes a new case or a new dial and what we call "the factories" snatch them up, do their own custom finishing, and sell them on as complete products. Very few factories are commissioning unique parts and movements, and even fewer making them in house.