Ska 11 Posted June 1, 2010 Hey all. I know some of you have seen my thread detailing the purchase of this watch, a lot of people helped and gave me advice so firstly thank you to them all. Especially Greg, Fakemaster and Ding who pointed me in the right direction in the first place. The other thread was much more concerned with highlighting the 'Noob' experience of buying my first rep from a forum dealer, in this case Mary of WatchInternational. I'll spare the details but suffice to say she was a pleasure to buy from and provides very impressive customer service from the point of view of a first time buyer. Hopefully her after-sales service will be as good, the necessity for which I'll explain later on in this post. This thread is concerned entirely with the watch itself. So strap in, time for the review: Ok So below are the full specs of the UPO Chrono I ordered pasted from Mary's Ad in the WatchInternational section. MOVEMENT: Modified Asian Valjoux 7750 (28,800 bph) CASE DIAMETER: 45.5mm THICKNESS: 17.5mm DIAL COLOR: Black Dial with WHITE Numerals CASE MATERIAL: Solid Stainless Steel 316L BRACELET: Solid Stainless Steel 316L FRONT GLASS: Sapphire Crystal with DOUBLE AR BACK GLASS: Solid Case Back with detailed engraving BEZEL: BLACK Uni-Directional Bezel HACK MOVEMENT: Yes CLASP TYPE: Double Deployant Folding Clasp/Buckle DATE INDICATOR: At 4:30 position (Black Date Wheel with correct font and placement) OTHER REMARKS: Water Resistant Fully functional chronograph Running seconds subdial at 9:00 Minute counter at 3:00 subdial Hour counter at 6:00 subdial Pusher at 2:00 starts/stops chronograph Pusher at 4:00 resets chronograph Ok So after less than 6 days from when the order was placed this little beauty arrived on my doorstep: I'm sure you'll agree she looks stunning. BUILD QUALITY: I was lucky enough to try on the Gen a couple of weeks ago in Dubai (which was spurred me on to get this rep) so I can hopefully make a good comparison. Overall: Incredibly impressive, solid and heavy. Machining is very clean with accurate engraving and a very rugged feel. Bezel: Fits tightly with no unwanted movement, unidirectional with a satisfying click and stops accurately centered above 12. The crystal is very well fitted all round. Crown: Very accurate reproduction of the gen with cleanly embossed logo however the ONE fault with this rep is that the crown tube thread was stripped on arrival. (In some of the photos here i have used double sided tape to stick it down to the case.) Its common and also a very easy fix so I have e-mailed Mary asking about getting a replacement crown and tube as I am also ordering a rep Omega box for the UPO. I'll update this post with her response when it arrives. Clasp: Very solid and a faithful reproduction of the gen. Diver's extension is solid, no wiggle and flush with the inside of the casing. The links are finished to a very high standard and were suprisingly easy to remove when resizing. The whole job took less than 10 mins with a pin tool and a small hobby hammer. Markings: All serial numbers and manufacturing marks are in correct positions including engraving on the inside of the clasp. VERY impressive. Weight: This is as near as dammit a 1:1 Match (205 grams to the gen's 207) Bezel Pearl: Very neat, a little greener than the gen but overall very good, the pearl surround is smooth and clean. The double AR crystal is as mentioned before very well set-in and flawless as far as I can tell. In direct light you get a really good "glassless" effect. Not sure If any of my photos do it justice though. Ok, on to the movement: First of all, its very accurate. gaining no more than 1.5 seconds every 24 hours as far as I can tell. Its worth mentioning that it arrived from China still working with a decent charge and happily sits on my bedside table without a winder overnight, I estimate that its got about 35-40 hours reserve in the spring. The Chrono works really well, with the second hand snapping back accurately. from any position instantly. the subdials also snap to each position quickly without the lazy 'flop' you get on cheaper movements. The sunken datewheel is a casualty of the modified movement, a trade-off for getting the subdials in the right place. In my opinion its definitely worth it because its so hardly noticeable. The only thing I'd modify is that I'd paint the plate above the datewheel black around the date aperture. You can get a glint of bare steel between the date window and wheel which isn't ideal. Again an easy fix for someone willing to dig into the movement. On a plus again the date change is very crisp at dead on midnight it snaps over to the next position. Ok finally: Cosmetics: The real dealbreaker with the details making this a truly outstanding rep in my opinion. Dial: The accuracy of the dial has to be seen to be believed. Correct fonts and sizes throughout with very crisp lines and printing quality. I put this under the microscope at my workshop and its really just stunning. Hands: They seem to have gotten the hands down pretty accurately now, none of the old problems with short hour hands etc. The red tip on the chrono hand is very good, a little brighter than the gen but who's going to notice that?! Subdial hands are not quite perfect reproductions but still 90% there, and still have a little working lume strip on each one which is great attention to detail. Lume: I haven't charged this thing properly, as annoyingly my bedside lamp was broken by my cat on friday! However even with only a 5-10 second charge held up to one of the ceiling lights its very good. -Pics will follow when I do it properly!! OVERALL: I couldn't be happier with this watch. Its a remarkable acheivement to get something this close to the original and with such a feeling of Gen quality. Truly deserving of the title UPO. The gripe about the crown will be sorted with ease - and thats really half the fun of this hobby isn't it Ok here's a bit more eye candy to finish off. (Thanks to Curcio and SS for photography tips) Thanks for reading!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KinCaidk 0 Posted June 1, 2010 congrats, skathe. It's a very nice watch indeed! And your pictures are just stunning!!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ska 11 Posted June 1, 2010 Thanks Kinky, really appreciate it! Are you a guitarist by the way? Nice avatar. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KinCaidk 0 Posted June 1, 2010 Thanks Kinky, really appreciate it! Are you a guitarist by the way? Nice avatar. Well.. I know how to play the guitar - but I wouldn't call myself a guitarist. I like guitars a lot though and have a couple (or 5) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ska 11 Posted June 1, 2010 Nice man, what's in your collection? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Omeg@007 0 Posted June 1, 2010 What a FUCKING nice watch & Photos. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dingle 57 Posted June 1, 2010 well done ska and the watch isn't bad either Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mrtepax 0 Posted June 2, 2010 what a review!!! Nice watch by the way. :P :P Hope my submariner I just ordered from Mary looks as gorgeous as yours Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
greg_r 81 Posted June 2, 2010 Great review, skathe - watch looks superb! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ska 11 Posted June 3, 2010 Cheers greg, if this isn't an endorsement then I don't know what is. I took this to my tame watchmaker this morning to see about the crown prob as I've decided not to send it back to china. Jason (the watchsmith) literally couldn't believe it wasn't gen until I pointed out the sunken datewheel. He hadn't even thought to look as the subdials had him ruling out the 7750 from the start. He had an incomplete gen bracelet in a drawer so we did a comparison and it's uncanny. He said he might let me borrow it to do some side by side shots for you guys. I'm unsure of exactly which crown/tube I'm going to need to do the fix. Anyone know of the correct parts for a UPO chrono? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GC 4,484 Posted June 3, 2010 Phenomenal pics skathe!!! BRAVO Very happy to have you on our RWG team of photogs, look out RWI! btw: superb review too Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
photorog 0 Posted June 3, 2010 Nice shots and nice watch! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
houndoggie 58 Posted June 3, 2010 That looks great... The pearl is very good. Nice pics. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gran 198 Posted June 4, 2010 (edited) I love this watch it can never be a perfect replica but it is a perfect watch in itself (if one ignores the deep date) I have excatly the same watch myself...and I am having a small GRANken modification done on it as we speak....you will see the results in a few weeks me thinks.... All the best GRAN Edited June 4, 2010 by gran Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
alistairw 0 Posted June 5, 2010 Simply sensational.... nothing more needs to be said! Enjoy. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jkirke 0 Posted June 6, 2010 Wonderful pictoral ska! UPO chrono is a great route! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ska 11 Posted June 11, 2010 Ok so as promised here is a lume shot which IMO is pretty impressive. I've added a couple of other shots too because why the hell not! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gran 198 Posted June 11, 2010 sure is nice lume too ..I have had mine relumed..expect it on my doorstep this Saturda. I hope and pray. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ska 11 Posted June 11, 2010 ahh nice one, good luck with that!! pics when its done please!!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ska 11 Posted June 18, 2010 Ok I wanted to give my watch a thorough clean, lube the seals etc and generally clean house. Thought you lads would like a quick shot of the gorgeous modified 7750 in the UPO chrono: Yummy, I think you'll agree. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gran 198 Posted June 18, 2010 Great movement here is mine..Domi was not able to make the faux date mod I wanted but at least it is now Domi lumed, serviced and got some black paint at the metal around datewheel Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gran 198 Posted June 18, 2010 NICE!! Thank you skathewatch!!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
skintrade 0 Posted July 12, 2010 A fantastic review ska, thanks for taking the time out. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites