ARF vs. VSF DateJust 41 126334

[DAWSONHOUSEHOLD 15]

Assuming I can live with the flaws which rep do I get for longevity?

ARF vs. VSF DateJust 41 126334. I gather the VSF is the best out the box.  I’m not into modding and not sure how the Clone 3235 movement will hold up. I think I’d feel better knowing a GEN 2824 will drop into the ARF and the watch will hold out for years to come.

Will the ARF even take a GEN 2824? I understand that some watches with A2824's can't.

Thought’s suggestions, and comments all appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

[Intresting 21,712]

[Aramis2288 6,317]

Yeah so....

First things first - there is a lot of info about Rolexes and these kinda 'which rep is the best' topics tend to start the shitstorm. I recommend doing as much reading as you can first - pretty much all info is there, plus you risk getting fried if you posted that e.g. on RWI .

Having said that, to streamline your learning curve,  here's condensed know-how:

1. The Rollie being good out of the box:

VERY subjective manner. In general Rolex reps are the ones people give the most fcks about and you can easily find endless threads discussing the importance of a 0.0000001 mm misalignment on a rehaut and so on. By a rule of thumb with a Rollie rep you are the most likely to be questioned by people on whether it's gen or not as well as getting called out for wearing a fake. That's because even average Joe knows that there are tons of fake Rolexes floating around and the brand itself has a certain stigma of high price and luxury around it. Something you will not experience nearly as much with other brands. 

EVERY Rollie OOTB will have some good things and some bad things about it, so it's your call with what flaws you are willing to live and with what you are not. VSF and ARF are among the best so do your reading about the pros and cons of each and call your shots consciously.

 

2. GEN vs non-GEN 2824 movement:

Gen ETA 2824 and variants

Ain't gonna get it. There is no such thing as reliably offered GEN 2824 movement in a rep straight OOTB. What you call 'GEN 2824' is a Swiss ETA 2824 (produced in a bunch of variants). Afaik, it's ringfenced by a swatch group so it's very difficult for rep makers to get it in big enough quantities for large scale production of reps. 99,99% of reps are powered by A2824 type of movements which are simply Asian clones of swiss ETA counterparts. You will find some offers of reps with 'swiss ETA XYZ' but you have no guarantee that it's actually a swiss movement, it's likely to be old and scavenged Swiss ETA. The bottom line, you will pay a very elevated price for no guarantee or reliability whatsoever. Again, hundreds of threads explaining this are around if you are willing to search.

Asian 2824 and variants:

Usually a good choice from a maintenance standpoint.

Main pros: VERY popular, simple and long time in the market which translates to its relative predictability and claimed reliability. It's very popular so it is EASY to fix if something happens. Every watchmaker knows ETA and thus the Chinese clone as they are nearly identical. In case of problems you can go the easy way - just buy a new movement and put it in (cost around $100 - $150). You can try to replace weak parts with gen ETA parts or swap to gen ETA movement (fairly easy to buy online in small, non-industrial quantities). Asian 2824 in most cases can accept gen ETA parts as well. Most of the watchmakers know how to handle it (as long as they are willing to work with reps). You do have an option to swap for swiss ETA movement but it depends on your rep whether it will accept it or not - you need to do more research about the model you are trying to buy to know whether you can do a swap or not.

Man cons: it is not a clone movement, it just behaves like it (frequency and instant date swap at 12 (in most variants of Asian ETAs).

Rolex movement clones:

By rule of thumb that do behave exactly like gens. Depending on which Rolex rep and Rolex clone movement you are going for some of them can be unreliable (e.g. VR3135 have good opinions, but read about Noob's GMT Master II a.k.a. time bomb to know that some of the options available can be very problematic).

The main problem is that to repair them you need a watch friendly watch smith who knows how to work on Rolex movement. The replacement of Asian clone is possible for the most part but substantially more expensive compared to Asian ETA and maybe a bit more difficult to replace. The repairs may need either the whole new sourced movement as a donor or gen Rolex movement parts (expensive and may be problematic to get).

 

So it all comes down to the 'whatever rows your boat' rule. Personally, I don't mind going for Asian ETA clones in my reps, since I am not planning on franking them (maybe except the Xtal or DW), but I know there are a lot of folks who tend to give a substantial amount of fcks about how extremely similar to gen the movement is, so it all comes down to your preferences.

 

Homework:

Movements:

https://www.rwg.bz/board/index.php?/forum/11-watch-repair-upgrade-reference/

Rollies: 

https://www.rwg.bz/board/index.php?/forum/29-rolex/

 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 27, 2021 by Aramis2288

[DAWSONHOUSEHOLD 15]

Thanks, however, I’m not a Newbie! Been around these forums 18 years. Joined here 2014.

Maybe the question was too broad. I can live with all the flaws that both models have.

There isn’t really much info on how long the 3235 movement will last.  The question really was: -

Will the ARF DateJust 41 126334 take a Gen ETA 2824, as I know some clone 2824’s don’t (nor can I find any posts confirming that it has been swapped).  Or do you think that the 3235 will stand the test of time? Having to source parts for it in future could be problematic and I feel if I go for the 3235 I may need a spare movement to hand.

Thanks.

[Aramis2288 6,317]

Oops, my bad . Didn't mean to roast you or anything .

 

Perhaps try to do a quick search for a clone movement online. I would say that if you can find a few good options for a whole movement to buy, you could risk it for a biscuit and go for a Rolex clone. You will end up with more gen like experience and options to just swap.

 

Usually when there not much info about the movement failing frequently and the movement itself is not very new, it's a good information in general. If it was failing a lot you would be more likely to find these posts easily.

 

For ETA swap, I do not have any knowledge about this particular model unfortunately.

 

 

 

Sent from my LYA-L29 using Tapatalk

 

 

 

 

[DAWSONHOUSEHOLD 15]

1 hour ago, Aramis2288 said:

Oops, my bad . Didn't mean to roast you or anything .

 

Perhaps try to do a quick search for a clone movement online. I would say that if you can find a few good options for a whole movement to buy, you could risk it for a biscuit and go for a Rolex clone. You will end up with more gen like experience and options to just swap.

 

Usually when there not much info about the movement failing frequently and the movement itself is not very new, it's a good information in general. If it was failing a lot you would be more likely to find these posts easily.

 

For ETA swap, I do not have any knowledge about this particular model unfortunately.

 

 

 

Sent from my LYA-L29 using Tapatalk

 

 

 

 

No problem!

That's a good point on the failing and the number of posts, appreciated. If anyone knows the answer to, "will the ARF DateJust 41 126334 take a Gen ETA 2824?" It would be apreciated.

As I know some clone 2824’s don’t (nor can I find any posts confirming that it has been swapped)

[WatchGeek5711 175]

Hey im kind of late but anyone has a few pics of the ARF DJ. Vs gen?

[BadApple 13,219]

18 minutes ago, WatchGeek5711 said:

Hey im kind of late but anyone has a few pics of the ARF DJ. Vs gen?

Use Google you lazy ****

I did and within seconds found a site with a full comparison and pictures like this......

 

[WatchGeek5711 175]

thanks. yeah i looked for experienced poster who maybe has one. will buy one then

[RolexCollector 126]

ARF will take genuine 2824 ETA whitout problem.