It's already 2020; Let's talk about what changes took place in large factories in the replica watch world in 2019.

2019 passed very quickly, 2020 has passed by just a few days; Factories also started to go on holiday one by one.
This is my first post of 2020. I wanted to take a look back at what changes happened in replica watches in 2019 and share them with you.

First of all, let me say this: there is still not much change in the appearance of replica watches.

Secondly, let's talk about what materials are used in replica watches.

Case and Body Workmanship

Stainless steel, gold-plated, ceramics, carbon fiber and titanium are mainly used.

What is a little different is the Breitling Hurricane series released by the gf factory; It uses a new material called thermoplastic resin and emphasizes lightness and durability.

Then, if there is a technical development, let's focus on that.

General Evaluation and Conclusion

In general, the situation is the same as before. However, a Patek Philippe enamel dial released by L Factory at the end of the year attracts attention. This didn't exist before. According to what is said, the workmanship he used is very close to the original; That is, it is drawn by hand, and after drawing it is baked at high temperatures. That's why this enamel dial does not change color and does not oxidize. It's really well done in that respect; It is considered a breakthrough in enamel dial technology.

Movement and Caliber Performance

Everyone often asks if there has been a breakthrough on the mechanism side. Actually, there is nothing very good for this year; There is no mechanism of its own production that stands out. There are the four familiar mechanisms as before.

These are: caliber 3135, N Factory 4130 caliber, VS's Panerai P9000 series caliber, and VS Factory's 8500, 85XX, 8900, 85 series calibers. These four mechanisms are the most well-known. There are also some that are well done but not quite mainstream; for example, 3K Factory's 324 movement.

Now let's talk about the prominent and representative replica watches of 2019.

First up is ZF Factory's Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Geographic. Previously, other factories always made 43 mm diameter; It was quite large and quite thick. ZF Factory has refined this 9015 movement, and its functions are the same as the original. In this respect, it is a small progress.

The second is XF Factory's Audemars Piguet AP15202. The 39 mm diameter is well balanced; The overall workmanship and machining is also quite well done. There is also a breakthrough on the mechanism side: the date setting function. It's not a direct single-tap quick date setting like JF Factory did before; It provides quick date setting by turning the clock back to 9 and then fast forwarding it. Just like Panerai's P9000 movement. However, this is not a self-made mechanism; It uses the Japanese 9015 movement and has been modified to be the same as the original. Still, it is a significant change.

The third is the 3 movement of the Patek Philippe Aquanaut 5167 of the 324k factory. It makes it a little thinner than other factories; The main reason is that it doesn't use an additional plate, so it's better. 3K Factory's Aquanaut movement is not made by modifying calibers like the 9015; It was probably produced as a special order directly from a mechanism factory. I think the era of self-made movements will come very soon.

The fourth is a 3186 from VR Factory; Others like 3285 are the same way. Rolex GMT. 'Doesn't N Factory do the best?' you can say. Yes that's true; N Factory does it better in terms of case workmanship and similarity to the original.

However, in terms of mechanism, N Factory is now a bit behind. Why am I saying this? Because the VR factory has now released a 3186 movement and it can set the date backwards. N Factory still can't set it back; can only adjust forward. The original can be adjusted both forward and backward. But there is still some flickering when adjusting.

Currently N Factory's 3135 and AR Factory's 3135 movement can now set the date back. But N Factory's movements such as 3186 and 3285 still cannot set the date back. Currently, the VR factory's 3186 movement can set the date back; This is considered a small breakthrough in this mechanism. Although it is a small function, VR is still a little immature in terms of overall workmanship.

There is a factory that we are waiting for in the future: AR Factory will also release a 3186 that can set the date back. It will probably be released only after the New Year's holiday.

Fifth, let's talk about the tourbillon. BBR factory, JB Factory, KV Factory, eur factory and BBR Factory do a really good job on the movement side. It is produced in a completely skeletal structure and the entire form is processed. These are produced entirely by special order from a factory, that is, in a factory in Shenzhen. It was even exhibited at a watch fair when it was produced; however, it was exhibited under an independent brand name. Many competent people knew at first glance that this was Richard Mille or Roger Dubuis.

That's why it made a lot of noise at that time; Even many reviewers who reviewed original watches within the country followed this mechanism. The tourbillons of places like BBR factory, JB Factory, KV Factory, eur factory are very well made; There are aspects of the mechanism where progress has been made. Although in some respects, compared to XXX watches, the workmanship seems a little uneven, or the similarity to the original is not that high, but in terms of the mechanism, such technology never existed in the past. There will be even greater advances in the future.

Now let's talk about some minor changes in replica factories.

Let's talk about N Factory as the first factory. After all, N Factory is still number one in the replica world, right? But this number one feels a bit old now. Why am I saying this? This year he completely discounted the 127, the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms, the Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Compressor and the 15703. Panerai models such as 005 and 111 are still sold; However, these were transferred to others for resale in bulk packages. In other words, tapes and cards are added to it and the price increases. Therefore, many of N Factory's products are becoming scarce. The only ones left are the Daytona, Submariner, Yacht-Master and GMT. In the past, it was always said that 'N Factory is good like this, good like that'; If we count now, N Factory's products really do not exceed ten fingers. If it doesn't fix GMT as well, it will be swallowed by AR. For this year, there are still aspects where N Factory has made progress; The thing that changed the most was the bezel.

It seems that for all these years, N Factory has not been able to overcome the problem of paint peeling on the ceramic bezel.

The overall workmanship and date printing are fine on the print. The only problem is the bezel; This is a pain point for many people. This year the Rolex Daytona was upgraded to v3, the green and black Submariner was also upgraded to v10; They are all upgrades on the bezel. Now they have switched to a completely different material and it is said that the paint will not peel off; This compensates for the previous situation. However, it was not previously stated that if the paint spilled, it would be replaced free of charge; This is a little sad. There is also a big factory-specific atmosphere here; Not as careful as AR Factory. If the paint spills, AR Factory replaces it free of charge. In this respect, N Factory still falls a bit short. Only these few products are sold; Other than that, there is no new product.

Okay, let's talk about the second factory; He is also in the position of an older brother. I would like to share this with you: these two come from the same factory. This year has been ordinary for both factories, there is no new product. All his so-called upgrades are to respond to N Factory. N Factory releases v10, which immediately releases the AR v3 edition black and green Submariner. Honestly, his upgrades are, the first is to raise against the opponents' upgrade, and the second is to raise. After all, it increases by XXX per level with each upgrade. This factory can't do anything either; because his opponents are not as strong as him. That's why there is a feeling of looking down from the top and looking down on other mountains, a little bit of that older brother atmosphere; what should he do? In addition, AR Factory JF Factory products are very numerous and very rich; The workmanship of most of them is quite good and they are worth their price.

It doesn't have a new product this year; They are all minor upgrades of older products or switching to 904 steel. There is no breakthrough on the mechanism side either; There is no breakthrough for Audemars Piguets either. It still has not produced a movement of its own production for the chronograph; No self-made movement was released for 3120 and 3126. So this year has been very ordinary; It was always done to upgrade the product against competitors' upgrades, and there were not many new products to enrich the product range. We can say that 2019 was an ordinary year for replica watches.

We came to the third factory: the vs factory. Everyone finds this factory very conscientious and close to the people; Because the prices it produces are not very expensive, its price/performance is very high.

There weren't many products in the vs market for this year either; It mainly revolved around its own 8500 movement.

This year, he built all the Seamasters one by one, slowly, as if squeezing toothpaste; He also overhauled women's watches once. Thus, it beat other factories making Seamaster and Omega in the market.

Places like 3s factory and OM factory can't do anything; Because they do not have their own production mechanisms, therefore they do not produce many new products. From now on, when Panerai is mentioned, the vs factory will come to mind, and when Omega is mentioned, buying from the vs factory will come to mind. VS Factory is pretty good at making these two brands. However, it is necessary to criticize Panerai a little; It's the old story again, using the p9000 mechanism.

p9000 and p9001 are actually the same; There is only one GMT function extra. Because p9010 is now available in the new model. This doesn't exist in the vs factory, nor does opxxxiv; It is still made with the p9000 mechanism. Although not visible from behind the closed case, the original P9000 and P9010 also set the date by moving the time and turning it two turns. However, the original of this opxxxiv has a quick date setting; If you still use slow date setting, it will not match the original. Therefore, Panerai has not made any progress in this regard. In my personal opinion, there is even a slight regression in terms of this mechanism; It also makes it a little thicker than the original.

The fourth is GF Factory. Since that incident happened to him last year, he has not had a new product this year either; There is only Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Moonphase. Other than that, they are always upgrades of old products; i.e. upgrading previous v1 to v2 or moving from 9015 to 2824. These were also made for silence, so there is not much change. Only two or three were released as new products; like GF Factory's Breitling Hurricane series chronograph that I just mentioned. There is nothing other than that.

Fifth, V6 Factory. There was no new product released this year either; There are the three familiar Ballon Bleu classics again.

As I just mentioned, GF Factory's best sellers are Blackbird and Avenger; These are models that have been established over time.

He doesn't even need to show up on social media; Many people already know it. V6 Factory's Ballon Bleu is the same; Most people choose V6 Factory as their first choice when buying Ballon Bleu. This year, V6 Factory released a Hublot chronograph model; These are limited edition. However, the quantity it produces each time is quite small, around 50-100 pieces. It doesn't stay when it's finished; Even if you want to order the next day, you cannot find it. It's a bit like scarcity marketing.

Personally, I think the new product should be something that people can remember; they should be mentioned. There is no need to even mention the likes of Blackbird and Ballon Bleu; everyone already knows it's done well.

There is also the fk factory and the v7 factory. These two are in that category of classic watches that mks had made before; Models such as Portofino and Mark XVIII have always gravitated towards this classic watch line. The products are very well made.

V7 Factory released Portofino this year. Before this, mks was doing this best; It was very similar in appearance to the original. Afterwards, what fk did was even better than mks; The v7 factory is also much better than this. Where Mks really lost and gained was 9015. Because the original uses the ETA 2892 movement; When they switched to the MKS 9015 movement, many people thought that the sound of this movement was quieter, and some could not accept this. Also, the date setting direction is different from the original. In contrast, the fk and V7 use the Factory 2892 movement; so it's definitely more in line with the original. Moreover, there are also versions with a Swiss mechanism installed; Movement 2892 is almost identical to the original. Therefore, the products of these two factories are worth mentioning.

MKS doesn't seem to have a new product. Only Piaget released it this year; she was also a very niche model, she was also made as a women's model. There were also De Ville women's models and a Longines; There is nothing outside of that. He had very little new product this year, focusing mainly on De Ville.

The sixth is KRF Factory. This factory has only one product: Tudor 79500, the model nicknamed 'little potato'. However, after the new year, Rolex will release the Oyster Perpetual; It also makes it 36 ​​mm, which is a little more niche. Standard versions currently only have 40mm, 41mm, 39mm; Instead of making them, he always made them in 36 mm. This is something worth mentioning. The similarity of 'Small Potato' to the original is quite high.

Seventh, let's talk about the bbr factory. I always feel like this: BBR factory and JB factory, both of these factories make such tourbillons and many of their models are similar to each other. Because I guess they both get their mechanisms from the same place. There are many watches for you to choose from these two factories. When it comes to which of the two factories you prefer, they both have good and bad aspects; This is entirely up to your preference. There is also EUR Factory Richard Mille; It is also very well made and has a mechanism that can be considered a breakthrough and is making progress.

Eighth, let's talk about PPF Factory. In fact, most of the time there is no need to know which factory it is; as long as the product is well made. PPF is a new factory, but when its products are good, people appreciate it. For example, Patek Philippe Nautilus 5711 has now reached version v3. The upgrade in the V3 version doesn't seem to be too big. The mechanism is called a one-piece integrated mechanism; There are parts that are well done, and there are parts that are poorly done. We've talked about this with you before. For now, it's 5711 and those women's watches, namely PPF Factory's grenade women's watch...

Also, this year, the KV factory produced models such as Richard Mille RM35, RM55 and upgraded them to the v3 version. The apparent fidelity is also quite high; Additionally, the carbon fiber texture has undergone a significant change.

Ninth is XF Factory. I feel like he's been busy destocking almost all year this year. Their new products are XF's replica AP15202 and Chanel J12. The realism and workmanship of these two models can be said to be one of the best.

One of the best made ones on the replica market right now is the J12. There are a group of people in the market now, they call it so-called special channel or customs goods; Since the mechanism is the same as the original, they put a box on all of them and sell them for a little more price. Last year, they bought V6 Factory's Ballon Bleu, small balloon, medium size and 36 balloons and sold them expensively again, calling them so-called channel goods.

That's why everyone needs to learn a little discrimination. Once you have determined a detail thoroughly, it is enough to know which factory it came from. For example, in Ballon Bleu, after distinguishing the small details, you can clearly understand that it belongs to V6 Factory; It is not channel property as they say. They sell for a little more expensive; Words such as customs goods are completely deceptive. Keep this in mind.

The tenth is ZF Factory. There are really many new products this year. Besides the Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Geographic I just mentioned, there is also the AP15400. The workmanship, movement, thickness and steel bracelet of the 15400 are one of the best. As of now, JF Factory's v5 version has even surpassed 15400. Think about it, the greater your flaw, the more likely it is that others will defeat you. What can you do, they made yours too thick, there is no solution. The market only looks at the product, not the factory.

Eleventh, ZZF Factory's undated black GMT and black Submariner, yes. He accomplished a small detail that others either did not dare to do or never did: the machining of 69 nails and the solid center shaft. A very admirable job. Although its sales figures were not as good as AR Factory and N Factory, it broke new ground in this regard. I hope AR Factory and N Factory do the same in the future, then it would be great.

Twelfth, V9 Factory released the Russian gold-embroidered joker model this year; It has real moon phase function, very good. He also released a 40mm Longines Master.

To be honest, many factories have not produced Longines Master in the last year or two. For example, the previous LG Factory has similarly stopped production, and JF Factory's Master is almost never produced. Currently available for purchase are KZ's double calendar Master and MK Factory's 38.5 single calendar Master. There are not many factories left producing this anymore.

Finally, let me tell you about the original mold; It's a question that many watch enthusiasts ask me. This is not the original original mold. The original mold is also a small factory, actually an unnamed factory; They produce it in their own factory in Shenzhen-Dongguan, attach the box, put the Swiss mechanism and then call it the original mold. These do not have original parts, they are all replicas. Some of them are not as well made as advertised. That's why such goods are a little more expensive.

However, its accuracy is relatively high; But it is not as miraculous and not as original as it is described in advertising texts. Despite this, many people buy this product and sell it for a few thousand or even tens of thousands of lira; They pass off those around 10,000 as originals. Everyone really needs to make some distinction. When you open the mechanism, it does not have the engravings that should have been in the original; It is a replica after all. So don't ask anymore whether this original mold is original. Remember, the original mold is also a replica; Only the workmanship is a little better. The box and Swiss mechanism are installed and sold for a little more, that's all.

2019 was a relatively quiet year. There haven't been many updates on new products, nothing dazzling. There were always those old products, the same familiar classics or minor upgrades.

Thanks for watching, I wish everyone good luck in the Year of the Rat. See you in the next episode!