Ultimate AP 15400 guide

General Information

Honestly just a bit triggered seeing all the people give blatantly incorrect information to new users regarding AP 15400 reps (and even gen) so this post can be a guide for any new, or current users looking to buy AP.

###Post in question that got on my nerves

For the purposes of this guide, only the 15400 will be covered. I’ll make one for the 15202 and possibly the 15450 (there isn’t much to be said about the later so maybe I’ll just combine the two).

#Audemars Piguet 15400

Case size: 41mm
Case thickness: 9.8mm
Dial colours: Blue, black, white & grey
Case colours: Stainless steel, rose gold & yellow gold

There are two notable manufactures for a 15400, JF and OMF. Both factories have taken great lengths to produce a watch that is close to the gen and both have strength and weaknesses.

#JF vs. OMF

I would choose JF over OMF, purely because JF 15400s are proven to be a refined rep over many versions compared to OMF’s first and only AP rep so far. The only thing that I would rate the OMF over the JF would be the dial pattern as it doesn’t have sharp tapisserie squares unlike the JF. Everything else has kind of been skimped on to try to compete against the JF. Therefore, this guide will focus on the JF APs.

JF has been in the AP game the longest and specifically for the 15400 there have been 5 versions. V5 is the latest model which can be purchased from most TDs and V4s are still floating around depending which colour you get, usually gold. They sell less gold models so they tend to have more stock leftover.

##Version breakdown starting at V3:

Updated printing (honestly wasn’t that much of an improvement. Some watches still came out with blotched printing)

Updated dial tapisserie pattern

Updated date wheel font (1:1 with gen)

Updated printing (50% of the watches I saw had almost perfect ‘Swiss Made’ printing)

Improved brushing

Improved engraving on steel bracelet and crown

$50 price increase lol

##Flaws:

The JF case has one major flaw, the thickness.

10.5 - 11mm (rep) vs 9.8mm (gen)

It may not seem like a huge difference but for those that have the pleasure of wearing a gen OR wearing a thinned rep vs a stock rep can definitely feel the difference. It changes the overall way the watch sits on your wrist and compliments the dial size incredibly. Only other minor flaw are the serial numbers which for obvious reasons, are not all unique. Everything else such as the metal brushing and steel colour is indistinguishable from reps.

######Dial:

Dial consists of printing (‘Audemars Piguet’, ‘Swiss Made’ and minute markers), hour markers, AP logo, tapisserie pattern and you can also include the hour, minute and seconds hands. The V5 has corrected the ‘Audemars Piguet’ surface(?) that it is printed on. Previous versions would have an extended area on which the AP text was printed on, later version have reduced this to just where the text is printed to. Minute markers have never really been a QC issue but the ‘Swiss Made’ is probably one of the most obvious and glaring flaws that is noticeable. Imo it’s one of two things that once you see, you can’t unsee; the other being the dial pattern.

Rep dial: see how the squares are raised out of the dial without a smooth transition vs Gen dial:tapisserie squares are raised but have a gradual rise that isn't a sharp edge

For some reason, rep factories have always had an issue with printing the ‘Swiss Made’ at the bottom of the dial properly. It would either have mismatched font sizes or the ink would be blotches and certain letters would be faded. Ultimately, some V4 watches and now most V5 models have a much improved printing which is clear. If you’re super picky, the rep printing is ever so slightly thinner than gen printing. Almost like regular vs bold font types.

Hour, minute and seconds hands are very close to gen. I usually need a side by side picture to be able to tell the difference so no one is going to be able to spot this flaw on your hand.

######Dial Colours:

Blue: The V2 JF blue dial had the best colour and sunburst effect, on par with the boutique blue 15400, minus the tapisserie pattern on the reps. Starting from the V3, the blue dials were updated to a more muted blue, sometimes even appearing slightly grey under poor lighting which more closely resembles the current gen blue dial. Gen dials do have a similar blue hue but a more pronounced sunburst effect. In darker lighting the blue dial will appear more navy compared to the slightly greyish blue on the reps.

Black, grey & white: These colours haven’t changed much throughout the versions besides the tapiserrie pattern. A lot of people say the black dial is the most accurate due to printing (white text on black dial) but I disagree. With V4/V5 mostly fixing the printing issue and having much clearer text, the white dial is now the most accurate imo. It has a nice sunburst effect, clear black text printing and if you’re lucky - a dial where the tapisserie squares are flat and not as raised.

######Bracelet: Identical in looks to the gen, especially with the new updated V5 engraving and while the rep bracelet in itself is quite comfortable, it does not compare to the gen in terms of flexibility and fitment. Refer to this picture

######Movement: Reps use a decorated Miyota 9015 movement. Have to give props to them for making it reasonably identical to a gen. Again, you can tell from a rep that there are certain edges or parts in the movement that look like they should be better finished or improved upon. After all, the rotor on a gen is solid 24k gold that is hand carved with bezel polishing on every part of the movement. One other flaw I should note with the Miyota 9015 is that the date wheel doesn’t flip instantly at 12am unlike the rep. It takes about 15 minutes, starting from 11:45 for the date to completely flip over.

######Modding:

######Thinning case back: Thinning the case back is the most common mod to get your watch feeling like a gen and most modders can be found on RWI (Replica Watch Forum).

######AR Crystal: The stock rep crystal JF uses is pretty good and roughly 0.9:1 to gen. Again, a few modders on RWI can source an AR (anti-reflective crystal) which reduces the glare the crystal gives off when looking at the watch from an angle. 1XAR, AR coating on one side of the crystal is the most gen-like but a few people, including myself in the past have fitted 2XAR which makes the crystal look almost invisible. 2XAR crystal

######Franken:

One step further is starting to fit gen parts to your rep watch. If you can source a gen dial, they usually pop up on eBay or Chrono24, a modder can fit that gen dial into your rep along with a thinned case back and you’ve got yourself a rep that would be indistinguishable to a gen on the face.

Other people have also swapped over minor parts such as a gen bracelet, hour/minute/second hands and even a genuine calibre 3120 movement into the rep case back.

tl;dr

####Want the best AP 15400 rep? Get a JF V5 ($458USD on TD sites). Want to go even further and make it more gen-like? Get a modder to thin the case back and slap in a gen dial.

Posted Apr 5, 2019, 1:52 PM UTC

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