Low Built quality on Highly rated expensive Swiss Watch brand!

[Alou]

I got a chance to have in my hand an Audemars Piquet offshore diver from a friend who owns own one,
I dont want to go into details but he built quality is so so low!Felt like it could easily break!

If i didn't know the brand as a name and how highly rated it is a would have said its a chinese watch !

How come they have this brand so highly rated i don't know ,
have a look at the crown of a watch supposed to be a 300m diver compared to a micro brand (Five Fathoms look alike with ETA 2824) watch.

And the 2824 is more accurate then the AP calibre 321 ,after watching them for 2 days.
I could compare with a higher quality watch like an Omega or a Pam but my friend happen to wear his everyday
micro brand watch ,so we compared these!

I have seen many micro brands (Swiss made or not) with way more build quality costing less then 1000$

I cant believe they sell this one for 20,000 $ (perhaps they charge you for the rotor inside wich is 22k solid gold)....still the gold grams
are not that expensive .

AP diver crown.jpg

[Nottingham]

I may be wrong but are you sure this is not a High end clone? No offense, i have a friend of mine who has à rlx sub and tells it is gen but i had it in my hand and can tell it is a rep. But it is possible, ratio money/built quality is unbeatable on some micros

[Alou]

No problem ,most of us have seen or handled a cloned or similar .
Have not seen an AP clone up close but ,
No this a a real one ,bought from local AD in Bern,we opened the caseback and its the real 321 cal,

My friend also wrote a review on the watch at watch collectors forum!

[bmsm]

Could you share the review url?

[Alou]

Will have to ask him ,but i dont think its in English.

[bmsm]

Google Translate can give an help. Never saw a review covering those details, normally only the WoW factor and luxury.

[Albatross]

I've handled a few Offshores, both my brother and father owned in the past. The real APs do not feel cheap. They have a weight to them and you can definitely feel the quality when you hold one, at least I did. Never had the privilege to open one up.

[Alou]

I guess most wow buy this watches only go for the wow factor and are not so "watch educated" ,
when i went to buy a Pam Rubber strap at the local AD ,someone who had purchased a daytona chrono from the store
some years back asked if they can replace the battery because the watch stopped working !He was surprised to hear the watch was
mechanical with a rotor inside winding the watch and the person replied that he occasionally heard a noise when moving his hand but thought it was the electron motor moving inside !!

[Alou]

I've handled a few Offshores, both my brother and father owned in the past. The real APs do not feel cheap. They have a weight to them and you can definitely feel the quality when you hold one, at least I did. Never had the privilege to open one up.

Well it no way feels like a 20,000 watch ,and now way built as "diver" ,its well made yes but i wouldn't call it high end!

Some vintage ones i have handles in the past were pretty good but back then in the 60-70s they were not so expensive,still pricey but not to the extremes!

[blueradish]

That AP name on the front is a big part of the price.