On Wrist Review: The Blancpain Leman Moon Complete Calendar Automatic Replica Watches

A few weeks back, the folks at Govberg watches let me get some hands on with some of their pre-owned inventory. The first piece I chose to review is the stainless steel case Blancpain Leman Moon copy watches. As some of you may have seen on Instagram, Blancpain is a favorite of many of the members of Red Bar Crew. So reviewing this piece was a no brainer.

A Brief History of Blancpain

Since I don’t personally own a Blancpain, I figured test driving this piece would be a good way for me to get to know the brand. As some of you may know, Blancpain is one of the oldest brands still in operation. The brand started production in 1735 and is notable for making a wide range of watches, from highly complicated pieces to their popular Fifty-Fathoms dive watch. Blancpain also prides itself on never having produced a quartz watch. So having one of the brand’s complicated “complete” calendar (with moon phase!) in my possession was quite a treat.

One of my favorite things to do when reviewing a watch is to research the history of the brand. So a few highlights for me; the brand was largely independent until this century. In the 1950s, the brand was purchased by SSIH (later renamed to Swatch group). In 1983 the brand was sold to Jacques Piguet and Jean-Claude Biver. It wasn’t until 1993 that SSIH/Swatch purchased the brand back and appointed Jean-Claude Biver as CEO. The brand is now owned and controlled by Swatch Group.

Wearing the Leman Moon Complete Calendar

Case

The 38mm stainless steel case fit my wrist nicely. The solid caseback provides a smooth feel on the wrist and added to the mystery of piece. I couldn’t help myself to Google images of the movement (trust me, it’s a beaut). The 20mm lugs make the piece popular with collectors that want to change their straps. This piece looks great on the metal bracelet or a fashionable leather strap. The watch has a 100meter/330ft depth rating.

Dial

 

I found the dial to be very legible under a variety of lighting conditions. There was some glare under heavy sunlight, but the anti-glare crystal helped to make up for some of these effects.

Bracelet

 

The bracelet is a smooth interlocked type with a deployant buckle, you can really see the quality added with each screw. The thing is built like a tank and appears to be able to take a beating. Alternatively, the piece would look great on a leather strap.

Movement

The watch uses the Blancpain caliber 6763 automatic movement. The 31 jewel movement is rhodium-plated, with wonderful finishing (check out the details on Blancpain). I found the time keeping to be solid and watching the complete calendar go through it’s cycles was quite enjoyable. The movement has a 100-hour power reserve. The Wonderful black dial Blancpain copy watches  are those fine designed watches which special designed for men.

Final thoughts

Wear ability/Durability

The watch sits nicely on the wrist and under a cuff. The 38mm case provides a nice wrist presence and the bracelet feels very silky.

 

Verdict

For an under $10,000 complicated watch, this piece is a tremendous value. Govberg has many gems in their pre-owned collection and I consider this to be one of them.

Just a fun plug about the Govberg Pre-Owned Watch Collection – this Blancpain is one of over 1100 pieces Govberg has on-hand that you can discover in their store, on their website OR on their recently updated Govberg OnTime app. The latest generation delicate copy watches of the app includes secondary market valuation tools and thoughtful links to all of the pieces and brands that Govberg carries.

Tudor Heritage Black Bay Bronze Blue Replica Watches Hands On

ith the frenzy of Baselworld 2017 releases barely behind us, Tudor is at it again, this time partnering with storied Swiss watch and jewelry retailer Bucherer. Tudor’s Heritage Black Bay series, which already includes something like ten different variations, is being further expanded with the release of the new textile straps Tudor Heritage Black Bay Bronze Blue copy watches. This updated model is part of Bucherer’s Blue Editions collection, an ongoing collaboration between Bucherer and some of Swiss watchmaking’s heaviest hitters like Audemars Piguet and IWC. The Tudor Heritage Black Bay Bronze Blue is also the Bucherer Blue Edition collection’s first real diver’s watch.

The Arabic numerals Tudor Heritage Black Bay Bronze Blue fake watches are essentially the same watch as the existing Heritage Black Bay Bronze (which we covered here) but with a deep blue dial and bezel. The new edition has the familiar 43mm aluminum-bronze alloy case, aged leather and fabric strap options as standard, no-date, vintage-inspired dial and hands, and Tudor manufacture COSC certified MT5601 movement with 70 hours of power reserve.

This simple aesthetic update is in keeping with Tudor’s custom of releasing a new model and then updating it every year or so with changes in dial color, material, or more prominently with the addition of their new manufacture movement which is now seeing action in many of their watches. Tudor similarly updated their titanium Pelagos model with a blue dial and bezel in 2015 (in-depth review of the Tudor Pelagos here).

Tudor is no stranger to the use of blue in their watches, especially their divers. The Tudor Submariner, which was issued to and used by the French Marine Nationale (Navy) and other military organizations, has been available in blue since 1968. Tudor’s military heritage is represented in the Black Bay Bronze by the inclusion of a fabric strap inspired by the straps used by French Navy combat divers. The use of bronze, however, is something relatively new in the world of watches.

Bronze has long been used in a variety of maritime applications such as for boat propellers and diving equipment and naturally develops a unique patina over time. Bronze is catching on rapidly with the powerhouses of watchmaking, having been used by IWC and Panerai as well as many others.

Tudor and Bucherer’s new release of the Heritage Black Bronze Blue, while not earth-shattering, is a tasteful addition to their already extensive lineup of retro-inspired dive watches and represents Tudor’s willingness to follow watch industry trends. The use of blue will no doubt please a number of Tudor devotees because of the color blue’s historical significance to the Tudor name. The new Tudor Heritage Black Bay Bronze Blue unique replica watches will be available from Bucherer for 3,800 CHF and will be delivered with a fabric strap as well as an aged leather strap.

Panerai LAB-ID Luminor 1950 Carbotech 3 Days PAM 700 Replica Watches Hands-On

The use of novel and space-age materials in high-end watches is always fun to follow as a spectator, but it’s far more appreciated when their practical benefits might sometime soon be used in watches that a broader segment can enjoy. That’s rarely the case, but one watch that piqued my interest in this way was the transparent case back Panerai LAB-ID Luminor 1950 Carbotech 3 Days PAM 700 copy watches (debuted here). Utilizing an array of carbon composites and low-friction components that run without the need for any kind of liquid lubrication, the result is a watch that guarantees 50 years of service-free operation. There’s no way to know if the guarantee will hold but, limited in production to only 50 pieces, I can’t imagine that 50 Panerai enthusiasts and collectors, aka “Paneristis,” won’t want to engage in this long-term experiment with the brand.

Alongside the Panerai BMG-TECH which also centers around the use of fancy, high-tech materials, the black rubber straps Panerai LAB-ID Luminor 1950 Carbotech 3 Days PAM 700 fake watches demonstrates the capabilities of the Laboratorio di Idee (LAB-ID), which operates as Panerai’s R&D department based in Neuchâtel. Like some of Panerai’s previous timepieces (such as this Luminor Submersible 1950), the watch utilizes a material known as Carbotech that serves on both functional and aesthetic levels. While I can’t dispute the use of carbon composites for the sake of their mechanical advantage, I can’t help but notice just how well the deep shaded layers of the Carbotech interact with the minimal blue luminous dial and crystal Panerai incorporated here.

There are four innovations Panerai utilized in developing its caliber P.3001/C, starting with a set of mainplates and bridges constructed entirely out of tantalum-based ceramic, removing the need for any kind of lubrication. This oil-free concept also moves into the DLC-coated silicon escapement, which is second in the list of innovations. Thirdly, with the kind of ceramic and DLC use we see here, Panerai has eliminated the need for traditional jewels. Therefore, the movement uses a set of just four DLC-coated jewels that remove the need to lubricate the Incabloc shock system. Finally, the two mainspring barrels also operate without any grease or oil and do so with a multi-layer coating and a final layer of DLC.

It’s true that the low-friction, oil-free concept isn’t something new in watchmaking. Back in 2007, Jaeger-LeCoultre released the Extreme LAB followed by the Master Compressor Extreme Lab 2, another watch that could operate without lubrication for its lifetime. The same can be said about a watch like the Cartier ID Two Concept we covered previously. What these pieces didn’t have was the 50-year guarantee, and while the Cartier concept remained a concept, the JLC is designed to grab attention and reflect its “overengineered” attitude both inside and out. This Panerai, however, isn’t really that different-looking from any other watch they make, save for the use of blue and other subtle hints. I like that it’s a watch you can actually ostensibly wear every day for 50 years without feeling self-aware about it – if you have wrists like Sylvester Stallone, that is.

The Panerai LAB-ID Luminor 1950 Carbotech 3 Days PAM 700’s case is sized at a substantial 49mm. Much of the larger size is offset by the Carbotech’s characteristic lightweight features. It displays thick layers of the carbon fiber composite and, as I mentioned previously, this creates interesting visual effects with both the luminous blue and deep black tones on the dial. This layered effect even carries on into the crown-protecting device Panerai is known for. The matte finishing is also a nice inclusion to the watch’s stealthy and high-precision look. Additionally, the case boasts 100 meters of water-resistance.

On the dial, Panerai uses carbon nanotubes meant to absorb any trace of light that hits it, resulting in a deep, deep black. The blue Super-LumiNova used throughout the numerals and markers on the “sandwich-style” dial pops against the black tone and is also incorporated into the hands. It almost reminds me of single beams of light piercing through miles of deep oceanic abyss. Overall, I find the dial to be as legible as it gets considering its high contrast and massive size.

The crystal itself has the text “Luminor, Panerai, LAB-ID,” printed directly onto it, and I think this is where some people might find issues with the watch. Because the text is printed onto the crystal itself, it will inevitably get in the way of the hands, which could throw some people off when trying to read the time. Personally, I find that it serves as an interesting solution to the fact that Panerai could not print text on the carbon nanotube dial. Additionally, the crystal features double anti-reflective coating.

Taking a look at the case back, we find the caliber P.3001/C in all its deep, dark glory. One of my favorite features is the power reserve indicator that uses the same blue accents found on the dial. Power reserve is three days and the movement operates at 21,600vph. For convenience while time setting, Panerai included a seconds reset function that returns the seconds hand to the 12 o’clock position. It’s a feature that seems to grow increasingly popular and is definitely something I can appreciate.

No surprise here, the strap on the Panerai LAB-ID Luminor 1950 Carbotech 3 Days PAM 700 carries the black and blue scheme. The same dark tones found throughout the watch carry on all the way through the buckle and the blue contrast stitching ties together the look.

The use of innovative materials and movement architecture to cut down on the need for servicing is an area where the industry still has a long way to go before implementing these technologies on a larger, more accessible scale, but I think the Panerai LAB-ID Luminor 1950 Carbotech 3 Days PAM 700 marks a notable step. If my math is correct, routine and minor service costs for the average Panerai could potentially add up to around $8,000 over the span of 50 years. It’s a figure that falls way short in terms of justifying this particular watch’s price, and there are still a few areas (magnetization, for example) that I’m not sure about. But hey, I have a feeling that the buyers of these delicate copy  watches probably aren’t doing that math in their head to justify the cost, but rather enjoying the watch and tracking its 50-year promise.