Some Nuances on two 15300ST watches from G series!!! Any Thoughts???

[Submarino]

So today I decided to have lunch with a good friend that also owns a 15300ST. When looking at our watches we noticed that certain things seem quite odd as there were differences on certain aspects of the watches. Both are G series but mine is earlier than his.

1. The flange on his watch has a somewhat different shape than mine. While mine starts more curved and then flat, his is flatter and slightly curved towards the bottom.

2. The font on the letter G of his serial seems slightly different to mine. More straight edges and less rounded than mine.

3. The letter "O" on the word Oak engraved on the case back seemed more oval on his and perfectly round on mine.

4. The security engraving on the inside of the last link of the bracelet seemed finer on his than on mine.

5. His is slightly lighter than mine at 134.4 grs vs. 140 grs on mine. Both have the exact same number of links on the bracelet and no visible over polishing on one vs. the other.

6. The sapphire on the case back protudes slightly more on his case back than on mine, where it appears more flushed.

7. His sapphire crystal appears to be more blueish than mine.

It is important to mention that both watches come from trusted sellers on TRF and that serial numbers have been checked with APSC. But I am still quite concerned.

Any thoughts why this is happening?

Has anybody else noticed these type of differences in same references from different time periods within a series?

[Auragentum]

FWIW I have only seen 15300s with a round O in the "Oak" and a relatively flush crystal caseback.

I even had a look in the FS section on TRF and another site and the listings I could find also confirmed the above.

Sounds like AP has naughty elves just like at Rolex where they mess with the consistency

Does his movement look right otherwise?

As I'm sure you know G-serials (just like the rest of the letters) spanned for quite a number of years. Hence could be that your friend's watch is an early G-serial and yours a late G-serial or vice versa and there could be plenty of time in between where the AP elves could have fooled around.

In addition, could be they use different machines simultaneously with slightly different fonts. Or I could imagine that when assembling they might just grab pre-stamped/engraved casebacks from the sparepart box (which might have older versions, mixed with newer ones)... wouldn't quite explain the different "G" font though In any event, you see it on Rolexes all the time with differences in font thickness and font type on dials and bezels, so I wouldn't be surprised if this is seen on APs as well. Just a guess.

[Submarino]

Chris, thanks for chiming in. His movement looks perfect just like mine. The weirdness is that the font looks quite different. Unfortunately it's hard to capture it with camera because of the angle. The flange situation is also weird!

[Auragentum]

Could it be as simple as differences due to everything being hand made/finished? Human made = human inconsistency?

Otherwise:
Even if you mention that there is no over polishing on one over the other, are you positive that e.g. your friend's watch hasn't had the case and bracelet polished/refurbished? I guess it could explain why his is flatter and weighs less overall. And if indeed the steel caseback for some reason was polished as well, I guess that could explain the slightly more protruding crystal?

I know it is a long shot and looking forward to others chiming in...

[Submarino]

Originally Posted by Auragentum

Could it be as simple as differences due to everything being hand made/finished? Human made = human inconsistency?

Even if you mention that there is no over polishing on one over the other, are you positive that e.g. your friend's watch hasn't been polished/case refurbished? I guess it could explain why his is flatter and weighs less overall. And if indeed the steel caseback for some reason was polished as well, I guess that could explain the slightly more protruding crystal?

I know it is a long shot and looking forward to others chiming in...

I completely agree that the difference in weight could be due to polishing and that would explain the sapphire on case back protruding even more than on mine. However, the drastic difference in the font and the different shape on the flange (rehaut) is really weird!!!

[Hairdude1]

Does anyone know how can there be that many discrepancies between two G series that are so close in production periods? This does make me raise an eyebrow.... Full discloser I have the other 15300

[Submarino]

Anyone else???


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk. Watches are the new currency!

[dddrees]

Changes in some of the processes to a degree over a period of time and a difference in some of the parts they use. Doesn't their serial numbers tend to be used for a longer time than what Rolex used to? When Rolex was using a letter in the beginning it might last for about two years, doesn't Audemars Piguet run for a longer period of time?

[Submarino]

Yes, a letter last a longer period of time compared to Rolex but IMHO changes to fonts or flanges seem quite odd. Especially the flange because that is an intrinsic part of the watch design.

[TSW]

I'm sure it's just some differences in the production as other high end watch brands.
AP has changed various things like gaskets,wheels and other parts in their watches over the last years.

I have seen difference in the engravings on the back on different ROO's, The flange I haven't noticed though.
Will have a look into it.