In pictures, the 16202XT, a new release with a satin-finished and polished titanium case, was one of my least favorite 1:1 fake Audemars Piguet Royal Oaks in recent memory based solely on the dial. With such a memorable, known design, the dial really can be the make or break (the 15202BC and 16202BC are perfect examples of archetypical dial design). The Swiss made replica Audemars Piguet 16202XT’s smoked burgundy dial, sunburst finish, and 18k pink gold hour markers and hands had me convinced that going so far with such a loud dial detracts from one of the strongest parts of the cheap copy Audemars Piguet Royal Oak, that the case itself should be the standout design element.
Turns out, you can have your cake and eat it too. The question is, do you like the flavor?
In person, you obviously notice the striking red dial of the aaa quality replica Audemars Piguet 16202XT. It’s still not my favorite choice, but I can see the variety it adds to the lineup, something that brands seem to be striving for in adding more breath to their lineups than I can remember in recent history. The sunburst isn’t as prominent in soft light (you’ll notice that it largely disappears in macro photos in my portable light box) but at certain angles pops out. Nitpicking, the red date wheel doesn’t work as well as color-matched releases because it sits right at the place where the “ombré” effect starts to fade to black.
But any distraction the dial provides fades pretty quickly and your eyes quickly go to the bezel and the bracelet studs, both polished to a level I’d be hard-pressed to find on another core release from Swiss made fake Audemars Piguet. That’s because the material used in both those locations and on the caseback surround and polished and satin-finished BMG caseback frame is made from glass.
Well, bulk metallic glass, that is. Swiss movement replica Audemars Piguet used the palladium-based bulk metallic glass (BMG) for the first time in their 2021 Only Watch release, the 15202XT, but BMG has been around since the 1960s and is used in microelectronics and golf, among other places. You can see the same alloy is used in the new AAA quality fake Audemars Piguet 16202XT (which bears a fineness mark of Pd500 under Titane on the back). But sure, that’s a bunch of mumbo-jumbo (no pun intended). So what does it mean?
When you cool metal, crystals form, which, in certain circumstances, can result in incredible patterns like you might see in meteorites. The faster you cool a metal, the smaller the crystals and the more dense the metal becomes. Cool it fast enough and crystals don’t form at all. Instead, you get a non-crystalline amorphous internal structure that is actually, by definition, a glass – a glass with incredible hardness and shine.
The benefit here is that the hardness counters one of the main issues of the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak replica online: the bezel is a scratch magnet. Sure, the first scratch on any watch hurts, but the high-polish bezel of the RO means that any scratch is essentially a massive scar that you can’t avoid looking at. Well, apparently, that issue just got a lot easier to avoid, though with a substantial price compared to other best quality fake Audemars Piguet 16202s (which have the same Calibre 7121). It’ll cost you $96,400 for the peace of mind of a more scratch-resistant “Jumbo,” which promises to be harder to get than the already nearly untouchable 16202 in steel.