Vietnam 1675 vs Old Crowns 1675
Time for another round of OC vs Vietnam. Here the differences are far more stark compared to the submariner cases. Vietnam case from Ruby. And note that different viet suppliers all have slightly different shapes.
I will say both cases have gen qualities and I would market them as gen spec for different reasons.
First off, the bezel inserts. Wow. Old Crowns 1675 inserts are pretty bad. These are both the Pepsi inserts and the OC case is too dark. The font is too thin, it looks closer to a 16750 insert but it’s still not the right serifs. The viet fat font insert looks excellent. Not a huge dealbreaker since I mostly replace the inserts regardless.
Lug chamfers are more pronounced on the viet case. The OC case has thinner lug chamfers that should be more pronounced.
Crown guard shape - very subjective - but I prefer the viet CG’s as they’re sharper, thicker and still have a nice rounding to them from the bottom of the case up. The OC crown guards are very softened and look like a polished case - which doesn’t look bad - just different.
Case sizes are similar, but the OC case is actually slightly thinner and I believe it’s more correct to gen. That’s great. They both measure 39mm with the OC case .1mm larger. Not noticeable in real life.
The OC case bezel housing is a little smaller so getting viet inserts or gen inserts installed may require some filing.
Plus that OC cases can slot a 3186 for a 16750 build perfectly while the 1675 case is actually made for the genuine movement. Both cases fit an ETA. With a spacer.
What do you notice? I’m sure I missed some details, so would love to open this up for discussion. Cheers!