A historical thread, because the Nautilus 5711 is one of the cases where the scene changed fastest. In a short time it went from a version considered revolutionary to a three-way comparison. More on this in JF Royal Oak 15400: what QC checks looked like back then.
Let’s reconstruct in an orderly way what the community reported. Just one rule: facts from sources, no recollections from memory. And let’s keep in mind that we’re talking about older versions, no longer the reference ones.
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I’ll start from the starting point. In a community introductory guide, PF is described as the factory that “revolutionised” the Nautilus market with the first slim model, later overtaken by PPF and 3K. Certainty: high on the guide’s assessment.
For context: the same guide describes 3K at the time as a newer factory that had brought out a clone movement of the Patek calibre.
And that’s the technical turning point: until then people talked about Miyota-based movements. With 3K came a clone of the 324 calibre, so a caseback view much closer to the original.
Sorry for English! The big comparison thread on RWI, 3K vs PPF V4, is the one everyone linked back then. From it: 3K closer on case, thickness, chamfers and crown position. PPF V4 closer on date and fonts, but thicker, with a protruding crown and greenish lume.
And the community threads of that period mostly asked the same thing: PPF or 3KF? The recurring advice was that PPF V4 was the safer off-the-shelf pick, while 3KF was the more accurate base.
Which led to the hybrid builds. There’s a post combining parts from a 3KF V2, a PPF V4 and a PF into one watch. That tells you nobody had all the answers in one version at that point.
Exactly. No version won on everything, so the experienced people mixed parts.
Summary in chronological order, without precise dates:
First phase
- PF brings out a slim 5711 and is described as the version that changed the market.
Next phase
- 3K arrives, with the 324 calibre clone.
- The reference comparison becomes 3K vs PPF V4:
- 3K: case, thickness, chamfers and crown more faithful. (medium-high certainty)
- PPF V4: better date and fonts, but a thicker case, a protruding crown and greenish lume. (medium certainty)
- In the discussions of the time, the PPF V4 was often named the safer choice, the 3KF the more accurate base.
Finally
- Hybrid versions appear (3KF V2 + PPF V4 + PF), a sign that no version was complete.
[[PHOTO: Nautilus 5711 di profilo all’altezza della corona, per mostrare la differenza di spessore e di sporgenza della corona]]
Note: these are older versions, no longer produced in the form described. For a current comparison you need recent sources.
Good, and the last line matters most. Old verdicts shouldn’t be read as current ones.