Anybody have experience with Sofly for buying parts?

[Birbdad]

There is bizarrely little info out there about them. When i google if they're legit i find people asking people if they're legitimate and nobody answers and nobody has ever purchased anything from them. I also find a half dozen obviously fake ai written fake "articles" about them about how they manufacture their own parts and watchmaking is an art blahblahblah. Just obviously ai written tripe. 

They seem to sell parts REALLY cheap, like the balance complete i need seems to be in a generic packaging yet says genuine seiko part on it. There's also genuine eta parts that are in the same generic packaging and the company is in china. Don't get me wrong, the cheapest way to get genuine seiko nh3X movements is from china where seiko does have factories and a lot of wholesalers.

The balance completes i need are literally 1/5th of the cost of anywhere else at 7 dollars. They do also sell chinese knockoff stuff but do specify it's not the real thing and is made in china and they take paypal for payment which makes it pretty difficult for them to scam people.

Anybody ever used these guys?

[Waggy]

I hadn't heard about them until I read your post, I just had a quick look around their site and the parts and tools seem to be on-par (price wise) with sites like Ali Express, so, just a guess, I would assume that the quality etc is similar to what you would find on there? However, the site seems to be better organised than Ali sellers who often have no idea what they are selling so it is hard to find something and then be sure you are getting what you think you are getting.

I would be willing to give them a try as I don't have any hang-ups about buying from China, my reasoning is that >>90% of what you buy is manufactured in China anyway and then marked up and re-packaged and/or sold on by a 3rd party to you. Hence, they can and do make high quality equipment as well as junk of course.  A little off topic, but then there is India which is becoming the newest manufacturing hub, even apple are shifting production to India ramping up from 5-7% up to 25% of Apple products manufactured there (reference here).

[Birbdad]

17 minutes ago, Waggy said:

I hadn't heard about them until I read your post, I just had a quick look around their site and the parts and tools seem to be on-par (price wise) with sites like Ali Express, so, just a guess, I would assume that the quality etc is similar to what you would find on there? However, the site seems to be better organised than Ali sellers who often have no idea what they are selling so it is hard to find something and then be sure you are getting what you think you are getting.

I would be willing to give them a try as I don't have any hang-ups about buying from China, my reasoning is that >>90% of what you buy is manufactured in China anyway and then marked up and re-packaged and/or sold on by a 3rd party to you. Hence, they can and do make high quality equipment as well as junk of course.  A little off topic, but then there is India which is becoming the newest manufacturing hub, even apple are shifting production to India ramping up from 5-7% up to 25% of Apple products manufactured there (reference here).

I have no issue buying from china, most of the nh36 movements i get are from china, but they're REAL seiko movements. What i'm concerned about is chinese knockoffs. There's people on ali that sell generic balances for this movement and i've not heard great things about them.

Edited February 16, 2024 by Birbdad

[Waggy]

18 minutes ago, Birbdad said:

What i'm concerned about is chinese knockoffs.

Point taken, on my quick look around the site they highlighted non EOM products saying things like "Generic Rolex xyx..." so it wouldn't appear that they are trying to be deceitful, but you can't be sure of course. Unless I hear any credible horror stories, I think they would be worth a try, maybe one or two items at first just to build up confidence? Failing that you can always try Wish.com........kidding of course 

[Birbdad]

Just now, Waggy said:

Point taken, on my quick look around the site they highlighted non EOM products saying things like "Generic Rolex xyx..." so it wouldn't appear that they are trying to be deceitful, but you can't be sure of course. Unless I hear any credible horror stories, I think they would be worth a try, maybe one or two items at first just to build up confidence? Failing that you can always try Wish.com........kidding of course 

Yeah, i looked around and did see that, they even would specify a genuine vs generic of hte same part side by side. They sell real and often obscure movements. The ONLY single instance on the entire internet i could find was a guy ordering a chinese knockoff movement from them and he did receive it and said it ran ten minutes fast per day but it was the real thing.  Shipping is high but i took a chance. Ordered 3 of em for what it would cost for one from cousins. Part of me wonders if they just get a lot of stuff from the chinese seiko factories that "fell off the truck". 

So i took a shot and ordered 3. I can easily compare them to the real thing and then report back.

[Waggy]

3 minutes ago, Birbdad said:

I can easily compare them to the real thing and then report back.

Will be interested to see  the results, thanks for letting me know about this place

 

[Zandr]

I have placed several orders with them, primarily for NH movements, though I think I've bought a few tools from them as well. No issues, and the product is genuine as far as I can tell.

[Birbdad]

16 hours ago, Zandr said:

I have placed several orders with them, primarily for NH movements, though I think I've bought a few tools from them as well. No issues, and the product is genuine as far as I can tell.

Yeah, part of me is wondering if the reason the packaging is generic is because they just part out some of their movements and sell parts individually for extra profit. China is the place to get cheap real nh movements. 

[Birbdad]

Ok, just got the parts from Chyna. Gonna do my analysis shortly. Packaging is very sus but i can think of any number of good reasons they might get deals on individual parts and package them up themselves. 

That said there are generic nh balances on ali that i have not heard great things about. If these are fake it should be pretty easy to tell when i do a side by side under the scope.

 

Edited March 8, 2024 by Birbdad

[Birbdad]

Ok. Lot's of pics incoming....not what I expected...I'm basically convinced these are genuine seiko balances for only 7 dollars. Wont' know for sure till i see how they run but if these are fake they went so above and beyond i cannot fathom why on earth anybody would go through the effort on a fairly low cost part. Every single bevel, line and detail is exact and perfect between them even some oddities i've noticed in the past that have to be a product of the specific tooling seiko uses.. 

It is note worthy that the "question" wheel has a fricking black thread sandwiched between the collet and the spring lol. I tried to pull it out and it just broke so it's there to stay. I doubt it will affect anything. So lots of pics incoming. 

For the side by sides the genuine is on the left and the question wheel is on the right. 

Note the texture of the inside spoke of the wheel. It's identical and a little rough. 

This really caught my eye as it's just a thing i've noticed on seiko studs to various degrees is a sorta nipple mark on the top of the stud that I assume is a result of the tooling used to create it. It's there on the question wheel as well.

Another thing that caught my eye was the rounded edge of the impulse jewel. It's identical on both. Doesn't come through great in photos but both have the exact same rounded edges. Also note the shape of the underside of teh stud, every angle and bevel and cut appears to be exactly the same. 

This also stood out. Look at the fine grained mill lines of the cross spoke of the wheel. They appear identical in every way to the question wheel, even tapering off as it slightly rounds over near the edge. I Don't know a lot about manufacturing but this seems like something that would probably only occur if they were made on the same machines.

So what do you guys think? I guess i won't know for sure till i install one but best i can tell these have to be genuine. This part costs about 33 bucks from cousins and it's 7 dollars from Sofly. I have seen the HIGHEST end rolex and PP fakes that do not copy details like mill marks and things as good as these do if this is a fake.

 

Would love people to weigh in and if you all agree i'm gonna order like 8 of them.

[Waggy]

They look like the real thing to me, maybe the shop that makes them send 100 out the front door to Seiko and then send 100 out the back door to these guys? They look so similar, the only issue would be if they use sub-standard materials, but as the rest seems 100% spot on so I would be surprised if they messed up on this step after getting everything else right. based on your pictures, my gut is telling me that you have the genuine item for a great price!

[Birbdad]

2 minutes ago, Waggy said:

They look like the real thing to me, maybe the shop that makes them send 100 out the front door to Seiko and then send 100 out the back door to these guys? They look so similar, the only issue would be if they use sub-standard materials, but as the rest seems 100% spot on so I would be surprised if they messed up on this step after getting everything else right. based on your pictures, my gut is telling me that you have the genuine item for a great price!

So somebody floated an idea that makes sense. The thread stuck under the hairspring and a little white blemish you can see on the bottom of the wheel. 

These might be factory seconds.  If they are and they work i do not care haha. At this point though i cannot fathom with all the little details that could only come from the same tooling that they arent' the real deal.

[Waggy]

1 minute ago, Birbdad said:

These might be factory seconds.  If they are and they work i do not care

Makes sense, and as long as they work or can be made to work I agree with you 100% about not caring if they are seconds.

[Neverenoughwatches]

4 hours ago, Birbdad said:

So somebody floated an idea that makes sense. The thread stuck under the hairspring and a little white blemish you can see on the bottom of the wheel. 

These might be factory seconds.  If they are and they work i do not care haha. At this point though i cannot fathom with all the little details that could only come from the same tooling that they arent' the real deal.

As far as i know Seiko are fully in house and have been for a long time, so its probable that these are seconds sold by Seiko to various outlets, passing any comeback onto them. If they can sell thier mistakes instead of binning them then hats off to Seiko.

[tomh207]

15 minutes ago, Neverenoughwatches said:

As far as i know Seiko are fully in house and have been for a long time, so its probable that these are seconds sold by Seiko to various outlets, passing any comeback onto them. If they can sell thier mistakes instead of binning them then hats off to Seiko.

Most NH3X movements we will see are manufactured/assembled in seiko’s Malaysia factory and are usually marked as such., though not always. I wouldn’t be surprised if some components are made in china. Having worked for a global manufacturer with a lot of sites and people in china it is not uncommon for western QA rejected items to be sold out of the back door as they work fine as far as they are concerned.

 

Tom

[Birbdad]

8 hours ago, tomh207 said:

Most NH3X movements we will see are manufactured/assembled in seiko’s Malaysia factory and are usually marked as such., though not always. I wouldn’t be surprised if some components are made in china. Having worked for a global manufacturer with a lot of sites and people in china it is not uncommon for western QA rejected items to be sold out of the back door as they work fine as far as they are concerned.

 

Tom

Iirc seiko also has factories in china.

[franky]

Hi Birbdad,
I have ordered some ronda 585 parts and a few tools from sofly some two weeks ago, they just arrived neatly packaged, everything looks fine.
At first I was somewhat hesitant to order but then decided to go for it. 
Result: for me sofly is a decent company.
Order processing will take some time (expect at least two weeks), but wordwide shipping and even direct bank transfer works out perfect.

Franky

[toine]

Im not sure if they are legit yet...The only reason I think this was because I was going to buy a Sellita SW200-1 Mechanical Movement. But it seems the movement usually goes for around 180$ but im seeing it on sofly for 135$. I dont know if this is a major dip in price, still around that price. I guess im just worried im not going to get an authentic swiss made movement.

[Nucejoe]

 Not all balance completes come in same grade,  but different material and workmanship. 

You might pay different prices for two balance completes of same caliber to same supplier. An ETA 2879 can be had for 20 bucks, but you probably pay 200 to 250 bucks for an ETA 2879 which comes in a Tudor, as Tudor's is likely to be COSC approved.

Workmanship, however , can get real expensive, a master watchmaker may have a watch on bench as long as two weeks to adjust its escapement in six positions. 

The price usually introduces the grade, some chinese balance completes probably won't qualify for lowest grade.

Rgds

 

 

 

[Birbdad]

So, I said when i used one of these balances I would provide an update. Do they work? Are they legit? I'm still almost 100% confident they are real just based on clearly being from the same tooling but possibly factory seconds likely with minor cosmetic defects. The one in the photo here which has a little hair trapped under the hairspring is the one i used. 

Did it work? Boy did it...

So the 7s26 is not exactly famous for being a high accuracy movement. From the factory a delta of 10 to 20 is not exactly uncommon. I put the balance in and the bone headed design of how seikos stud is made it's almost a guarantee you'll put a slight twist in it when you install it that you have to correct and that's what happened. I corrected the twist and like with all seiko balances had to do a tiny bit of correction on the terminal curve to make sure it perfectly tracked the open regulator pins and stayed centered. 

I then closed them up and did my final timing and adjustment. 

On a 7s26C with the balance from sofly i got a six position delta of ONLY FIVE SECONDS. Which is a tie for the smallest delta i've gotten on one of these movements. 

It's been in a 7s26 on my wrist now for 8 days and has lost three seconds. Not PER day, 3 seconds in 8 days total. Based on my experience now i'm confident enough to buy these and I will likely order some more very soon.

Edited September 10, 2024 by Birbdad