Aquanaut 3kf 5168 Green Feeling

[WatchGeek5711 216]

A Summer Watch story.
 

Lets start this topic of by saying my emotions are an up and down and before anyone else buys it here is my mixed thoughts about it i havent been the best at making giant posts ever but if you can spare a few mins look over this and have a chat with me about this 

 i havent seen any other pics from the watch as in real pics other than the renders from TDs so far.

i ordered the watch roughly 30 days back and it arrived a couple days ago, i havent been wearing any other from my collection after just to get a feeling for it and here is what i experienced , right upon arival the watch looked stunnning like stunning big ways it did arrive with a JF rubberclad AP, the focus was drawn on the Aquanaut as it is and unfortunately still will be a grail of mine. This statement should set the tone for this post, the watch Will be a grail.

the colors of the watch look different from the renderings on the TDs pages, its much more dark in reality wich to my suprise is really bothering me more each day.

On the gen the color is really subtle and light green as you can see.

it may help to get a lighter strap (iam still searching) that doesnt cost half or more than the watch.

it is thin, like gen spec thin. You can feel the watch has quality so does the strap. Many people complained about 3kfs straps before wich i cant understand maybe because i never had an zf aqauanaut to compare.

the feeling on the wrist is oddly suprising as i wore a nautilus for the last weeks wich was in comparison quite heavy.

The first two days with the watch the size botherd me as 42mm really looks oddly big, not as In AP offShore big , the empty green dial makes all the looks. Rocking an offshore never been an issue to me as i owned quite a few ovee the past years including a gen Diver (yeah.. its rly NWBIG now, it is)  rocking a empty dial 42mm aquanaut did somewhat steer me into beliving 40mm is really THE size in watches for me, but that opinion is changing, it really is at this very moment, i cant sport the 40mm Nauti anymore it just doesnt work, feels weird better to get rid of it before my head goes crazy even more.
speaking of the dial, it does feel oddly fruity and healthy with its dominant green, theres no other color effect to it, it is just green and green. The sun plays with the green oddly satisfying though.

the finishing and texture of said dial are spot on imo. It feels expensive, so does the case.

the lugs and bezel , the sides the crown.. all feels really good made and the friends i gave it said they do get why Pateks are so expensive. They checked out the movement aswell wich is one of my biggest Minus points on the Aquanaut, it is loud. Like really loud, the rotor is clearly hearable in a room from a meter away. As i told my friends the watch is a 500$ clone from china they all got a little bit shocked and said they would have never realized if i didnt tell them.

after we now broke down the base finish and looks lets get into the feeling of actually wearing it outside among people.

the watch is so light due to its rubber strap that is very comfy, matter of fact so light n comfy u dont realize the watch is even there. 
It got some remarks from people which actually suprised me as this only really ever happend before like a handfull of times, in 5+ years. The people asked me what brand it was and where to get it as the green screamed summer to them just as much as to me. This really brings the feeling to light, it is a summer watch, not a daily beater by any means. It seems to be water resistant it survived the last few showers with ease. 
the watch however will remain a grail to me as i will most likely sell it at some point in the future eventually to get a black 40mm aquanaut by 3kf and do the pros the favor of adding a zf strap.. i really wanna know what the superb feeling of these must be like.

 

i compared it to my Hulk zzf v2s before and i must say i like the green it feels substantial and screams look at me from a far, i wear lighter colors in clothing most of the time therefore it just pops on the wrist. 
the slim case comfy strap and slight hiding under any cuff really give off the impression of a expensive watch to me, yet the emptyness and color of the watch seem to bother me. I dont know why, i rocked many watches thru the years and noone ever botherd me as much as this does, all the good vibes and feelings from the watch and it still botherd me.

i made a post about this piece here before without any real thoughts feel free to check it out for a giant amount of pictures:

movement 324C shot:

 

now that the euphorism about getting a new watch worn off heres my final verdict on this piece,

the watch looks and feels expensive, it wears big but comfortable, has a noisy rotor and clone movement that looks very very close to the gen ( apart from the print instead of the engraving theres no huge tells by a quick glance)

it screams summer it screams look at me and you feel like you wear a very light watch, noone ever will see a gen out in the field so the colors may not even be obvious to anyone specially now in the summer with the sun, this all beeing said it is a gen grail and always will be just that, a summer watch.

 

-WatchGeek5711
 

Edited June 6, 2021 by WatchGeek5711

[GenTLe 1,529]

Mate you can silence that rotor very easily: the ball bearing is exposed, just put in it a tiny tiny amount of watch oil and that's it, it will be silent.

[WatchGeek5711 216]

1 hour ago, GenTLe said:

Mate you can silence that rotor very easily: the ball bearing is exposed, just put in it a tiny tiny amount of watch oil and that's it, it will be silent.

I havent done anything quite like that i only changed out complete movements.  Nice to know thanks!

[watch.aholic 544]

Thanks for the write up...I got interested in the Aquanaut after seeing it one one of the wristies thread... That was on an orange strap.. My god did I think that it was a gen but then gen would be North of 100k...

 

So I dug in and found out that it was a 3kf... After years I'm very very tempted to buy another rep... Will be on a lookout for one 

[Chiquita Fanjita 1,862]

Nice write up

Also see that 3KF have used the older style deployant clasp with the inner bar rather than the two Patek logos per the gen.

[WatchGeek5711 216]

8 hours ago, watch.aholic said:

Thanks for the write up...I got interested in the Aquanaut after seeing it one one of the wristies thread... That was on an orange strap.. My god did I think that it was a gen but then gen would be North of 100k...

 

So I dug in and found out that it was a 3kf... After years I'm very very tempted to buy another rep... Will be on a lookout for one 

My next piece will be the aquanaut travel time.. hope 3kf makes a 1:1 of these

2 hours ago, Chiquita Fanjita said:

Nice write up

Also see that 3KF have used the older style deployant clasp with the inner bar rather than the two Patek logos per the gen.

wow i didnt notice! thanks.

 

[Jp1995 0]

This is my grail piece. Wonder if there is a way to make it heavier to mimic gold weight…

[trevorwilkin 0]

I get where you're coming from. I had a similar experience with a Patek Philippe Aquanaut replica I picked up a while ago. The renders looked fantastic, but the actual watch had a bit of a different vibe. It was a bit darker than I expected, and it took me a while to get used to. Still, once I got past that, I really grew to appreciate it. The design and quality are impressive, and it’s been a great addition to my collection. It might be worth hanging on to it for a bit longer to see if it grows on you!

Edited August 14 by trevorwilkin

[Wires 5,025]

On 06/08/2024 at 19:28, trevorwilkin said:

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. It sounds like you’ve had quite the journey with this watch. I totally get how the color difference from the renders can be a bit of a letdown, especially if it's something you were really excited about. It's great to hear the watch arrived looking stunning, though! Sometimes, the reality doesn’t quite match up to the expectations set by photos. Have you thought about reaching out to the TD for any possible returns or exchanges?

This was over 3 years ago I think the returns ship has sailed long ago