A comprehensive comparison of genuine 4130 movement and Dandong 4130

ello everyone, I'm Steve and I'm back again (it seems to be the same opening line every time, I'm always here, why I talk about coming back, haha)

Back to the topic, this time we disassembled the 4130 movement from the clean factory and the BT factory (both factories use the Dandong 4130 movement) to make an in-depth comparison with the genuine 4130 movement. Without further ado, let's get started!

Mainplate of the movement

The mainplate structure of the movement of the Dandong 4130 and the genuine one are identical, which is the most basic requirement as a super clone.

The only thing missing is that there is no movement code engraving on the bridges. The movement released from the Dandong movement factory without engraving, and apparently both Clean and BT neglected to do the engraving later.

winding mechanism

A great treasure of Rolex 4130 is its automatic rotor using ball bearing type (marking position), so greatly improve the efficiency of the movement winding, Danton 4130 also very good that has synchronized to do this detail.

In addition, you can see that the engraving on the automatic rotor and the engraving on the bridges of the automatic winding mechanism are engraved by the factories after they sourced, so Clean and BT are different, and there are differences in color from the genuine ones.

We have completely disassembled the GEN automatic winding inside mechanism, while for the replicas we forgot to disassemble, so the internal gears will not be compared.

In fact, the only difference between two factories 4130 (Clean and BT) is that the engraving is different, the other are the same, so in the follow-up commentary I won’t put BT's picture, we directly use Clean's picture as a reference and compared with the gen one.

The Rolex 4130 movement is actually based on main body of the 3135 movement, has increased the chronograph function, so we will focus on the chronograph accessories.

chronograph assembly cleat

Timing hour wheel

over wheel of timing hour wheel

timing minute wheel

over wheel of timing minute wheel

positioning spring of timing minute wheel

timing second wheel

In addition to the chronograph seconds wheel, the teeth of the other chronograph wheels of Dandong are consistent with the GEN, and the polishing treatment is also relatively fine.

Then the focus is on the GEN chronograph seconds wheel, which is an important technology of Rolex's 4130 movement, using microelectromechanical technology to manufacture the chronograph seconds wheel.

We can zoom in on the picture to observe the chronograph seconds wheel teeth in the middle of the main body, the left and right flaps are flexible (similar to a spring), when the gears mesh with each other, the left and right flaps can be bent inward to ensure that when the gears bite together, full contact, no gaps.

The advantage of this is to ensure that when the chronograph function is activated, there is no "chronograph seconds hand jitter".

The shape of the teeth of Dandong and GEN is still significantly different, but we cannot ask too much, after all, we can’t ask replica to do this so advanced technology, that is really a bit too much, as long as this part does not affect the overall stable operation of the movement, it does not need to care.

Vertical Clutch Wheel

The 4130's vertical clutch wheel is the core device of its timing assembly, responsible for controlling the start and pause timing device, compared to the early horizontal clutch wheel, the integrated design of the vertical clutch wheel makes the assembly more simplified, Long-term start and pause operation of the chronograph function are without wear and tear on the gears. And Dandong take enough care in this core part, the structure is identical to the GEN, the upper and lower gears are also polished very good. The upper yellow wheel engages with the chronograph large seconds wheel, while the lower silver gear engages with the seconds wheel.

Column Wheel

The opening, stopping and zeroing of the timing work is conducted by the column wheel. The structure of the upper and lower, with gears below and cams above, Dandong structure appearance is also the same as GEN, the surface is slightly rough, But there is no substantial impact

Clutch lever kit

Zeroing lever for section 3

Zeroing Lever

finger stop

Zero button

Reset button for zeroing the key

compression spring (Above are all the parts that for the zero component)

As you can notice, no matter the clutch bar assembly or the zero assembly parts, except the shape and size are consistent with the GEN, the GEN has done the bevel polishing, Dandong also has done the synchronization treatment. This shows that Dandong is extremely meticulous in replicating the 4130. The manufacturer's propaganda that some parts can be interchanged with the genuine product is not a false statement.

Start lever

reset spring

Here we talk about the feel of the Daytona chronograph pushbuttons when pressed and rebounded. When we did the comparison between the genuine 116500 and the replicas, we noticed that there was a significant difference between the feel of the replicas and the genuine ones, which is mainly depends on the strength of the rebound spring after being compressed. The genuine rebound feel is very adequate, while the Dandong reset spring elasticity is weak. Therefore, it is reasonable that the 4130 replica version of the Daytona is different from the genuine one in terms of the feel of the press, so we do not need to pay too much attention to it.

"After all, want me to look the same, but also require me to feel the same", this is really a bit too much to require, what do you guys say?

Well, the above is a comparison of all the components of the timing module, as we have previously done a comprehensive comparison of the genuine 3135 movement and VS3135, VR3115, and other components of the 4130 movement devices are basically along the 3135 movement, so we will not do too much commentary, you can watch the comparison chart below.

Wheel Clamp

Center wheel

third wheel

fourth wheel (second wheel)

The upper Gear of the seconds wheel is also made of microelectromechanical technology.

Balance wheel mechanism

Escapement fork cleats

Escapement fork

Escapement Wheel

Clockwork clipboard

Outline Whee

Clockwork Box

Clockwork Wheel

stop-second spring

Time Wheel

Friction splitting wheel

Cross-wheel cover plate

Cross-wheel

Center shaft spacer

Standing Wheel

Clutch Wheel

Pressure plate rod spring

Pin Wheel Press plate

Screws

The above is a comparison of all parts, thank you for watching, please criticize and correct any errors in the text. Overall, the Dandong 4130 movement has a very high degree of reproduction, although some parts are slightly different from the GEN because of the material and process, but is already very powerful for them to reproduced to this point. And the stability of the chronograph function is also proven by the market, of course, thanks to the gen 4130 movement modular movement construction.

The 4130 version of the Daytona has become the hottest model in the replica watch market also thanks to the Dandong 4130 movement. Although NOOB, the forerunner of the 4130 version of Daytona, has now faded from the market, and some factories such as clean, BT and QC have adopted the Dandong 4130 movement to assemble to their Daytona models, I think the big brother NOOB factory has always retained an indelible position in the hearts of the guys, what do you think?

There is no perfect replica, only your favorite replica.

Steve