Patek Philippe Aquanaut 5168G ZF Factory Review

Patek Philippe Aquanaut 5168G model is produced by ZF Factory with a solid stainless steel case, standard case diameter and high-precision automatic Super Clone movement architecture. It is among the most successful 1:1 super clone watch reviews on the market, with its sapphire crystal AR coating glass, original case tolerances and detailed workmanship.

Movement and Caliber Performance

As of 2025, the 324 movement is no longer exclusive to the 3K factory, and many new names have appeared in the replica Patek Aquanaut field, such as BBF, DDF, APW. These factories produced 5167 and 5168 Aquanaut replicas, and in the Aquanaut replicas from them we can see that they have indeed corrected the flaws that can be seen in the 3K Aquanaut; It is possible to see this especially in the 5168G green Aquanaut. You can look at the photo below, this is Aquanaut from BBF; The color looks much better and is pretty close to the original.

Dial and Hand Details

Perhaps sensing the pressure, 3K Factory made improvements to the movement engraving and the color of the lume fill on the dial in 2025, but it still didn't do as good a job as BBF in those two regards. I don't want to say that the BBF Aquanaut is perfect, no replica on the market is perfect; If you compare it with the original, you can also find flaws in the BBF, for example, the hour and minute hands are a little thinner, the engravings on the lugs are not as smooth as in the original, and there are some differences in the dial.

These flaws were inevitable in a replica watch. I used to recommend replacing the dial with SW's dial and date wheel, but I don't think that's necessary anymore because some of the date fonts don't line up very well after replacing it with SW's date wheel.

The original Aquanaut 5168G is made of white gold, so there is a weight difference whether the replica is made by 3K or BBF. The weight of the watch from BBF is approximately 103 grams. There are indeed weight-increased versions of the 5168G Aquanaut; these are produced by three factories including DDF, APW and Victory. Their prices are very expensive; For example, the price of the watch from APW is almost 300 USD higher than the BBF model, and its weight is about 120 grams. Now I understand that the profits of the factories producing these weighted watches are truly enormous.