By-Tor

I agree, the Noob YM is very good replica. The one thing that makes the gen shine out though... is the "sparkling effect" on the dial, it's not as strong on the rep. It's not bad, but not quite there in certain lighting. Here's my closeup photo of the rep dial. Good quality dial (as all the Noob Rolex are), but the sparkling effect should be a bit more noticeable.

Rolex has always been inconsistent with those changes. That dial variation might have been in the older models as well. There's no logic there, just inconsistency. Similar example is the bezel insert on the red/black GMT... on some red/black versions the red is extremely dark (maroon, almost no red at all) and it's a bit lighter and more "colorful" on the other ones. I've seen 2 brand new red/blacks in the AD and the inserts had different tone. Same thing with the Sans Serif font on the insert, versus the standard font (that this watch uses).

That watch looks 100% genuine, and it's just a rare II font variation. And these weird II's have been around a few years, they're not only on brand new watches. The model with lugholes and SELs was briefly available in the early 2000's, but lugholes disappeared already in 2001 or 2002. Everything is correct on that watch, it's a beauty!

One thing that's weird on the Rolesium YM is the variation of dials it uses. When I wrote my review of the Noob YM, I found out that there are many different coronet & ROLEX combinations, the red YACHT-MASTER font is sometimes printed very bold, sometimes very shallow, and the font varies too... and there's also two kinds of datefonts. The thin one is the most common, but there's a slightly fatter variation as well. The SWISS ' MADE and SWISSMADE at '6 is yet another thing that varies on them. Sometimes it's very hard to point out the "flaws" on the YM. The cg's is the easiest method.

Bad pic, but looks gen.

I'm starting the new week with this classic.

This all sucks of course, especially for the noobs who are still building up their collections. For us older members this is one more reason to treasure our old reps with genuine Swiss ETAs.

LOL! Hey guys, you can use tinyurl.com to link long Ebay links here (and other forums). I edited the initial post.

The bezel looks good and thick. Perhaps a gen bezel? The crown guards aren't bad at all. But they're not 100% correct. That's why it got called out mate. They're still a bit too thick from the very bottom.

I agree it's a rep... but I don't think it's wokky at all. Probably just a closeup photo that distorts the view.

Crown guards and crystal/rehaut give it away. Not quite deep and shiny enough. Very good replica though. A Noobmariner based one?

I'll give this suit 90 out of 100 points too. "Luke, I'm your Mother!" Seriously: The new YMII is probably a fine watch, technically speaking. It just looks funny... just like this "Trans Vader" suit.

Here's two quick and dirty photos of my franken ExpII crown (sorry it's getting dark outside). I don't know how they did it, but the position is correct. It's 99% correct on my correct stack GMT as well.

Here's bklm1234's black ExpII rep (the same one that's for sale). I mean... how close must a Rolex rep be without being a "super rep"? Here's gen: I dunno about the crown position... but it definitely is correct. I can post pics of mine. Hold on...

Ah... I wasn't aware that River can still get this. So WTF aren't everybody buying it then? Best Rolex rep ever, it even has the winding crown positioned correctly.

Euro 260 now. Yeah, it's pricey but it's all relative, isn't it? People have

Speaking of ExpII Noob... here's one for sale at the RepGeeks: http://www.repgeek.com/showthread.php?t=20126 This is the best version ever. Correct datewheel & cyclops position. But I suspect that particular watch is from the newer batch and the gen dial doesn't fit. But it's the black version, which has very good rep dial without any mods. I'm quite amazed it's still available.

If you look at 1680 and 16610... or 1675 and 16710: there's 40 years between the models. No big changes at all... both watches still have the same "spirit". They could have reissued the "Red" Submariner for example... to celebrate the 100th anniversary. And add antireflective coating to their lineup. Why change design of something that's already an icon? And coming up with something as disgusting as YMII requires skill. That watch is a complete disaster. And who wants to have a Submariner that looks like Invicta?

It looks like the brand new (gen) Link Chrono models (automatics) have a see-thru caseback and antireflective coating. Both are welcome additions, imho.

Speedy Date is very good replica. See this and this for more.

The new models are highly unattractive. The ceramic GMT is an exception... it's a fine looking watch in its own merits, but then again all the spirit and tradition of the original GMT is lost. The new DeepSeaDweller is just silly, Yacht-Master II is one of the worst looking watches ever made, and the new Submariner is another step backwards. I'm afraid they're going to ruin the Explorer II next, which is currently an elegant, understated and classy watch. Those three things seem to be completely missing from the new Rolex design philosophy. Perhaps the only sensible upgrade was the bigger (40mm) DateJust/DayDate line. But then again I have never cared about them. New Milgauss ain't all bad, either.

Besides my all time favorite program MAME, I've been playing lots of sports games lately. Actually I have always been a hardcore hockey & soccer games fan. The best hockey game for PC is NHL 2004. I have all versions from NHL '94 to 2008 and NHL 2004 is the best and most realistic of them all. There are some real hardcore tweaks and addons available for this game and it's terribly addictive. I've been playing it for years, and I always have a season going (playing 3-4 games every week). Amazingly realistic hockey game... but ONLY if you apply the tweaks that the hockey gaming community created for it. Best soccer games are Pro Evolution Soccer 5 and 6. I got the new one, PES 2008 but it's way too easy and the engine is a step backwards. Personally, I prefer PES5 because it's the most realistic and most difficult. It's really possible to play defensive, tactical game on that version. Took me a year to master it completely and it's one of the few games where CPU opponent is still tough to beat. I have the classic "retro" teams installed on this one. I don't like the FIFA series at all. Played the new driving game, Flatout 2 too... it's really nice. I've always played lots of driving games. Test Drive: The Hot Pursuit and Sega Rally 2 (arcade perfect PC version) are among my favorites. What are you guys playing? Any other NHL / PES fans here?

This excellent post deserves to be sticky in the "my collection" forum. It's, afterall, the best rep Rolex collection in the community.

You're correct... it's definitely not very noticeable on the black version. When I was writing my review of the black one, I didn't notice it either. No big deal. What there is to modify with those cg's? They're decent on that particular model, imho.

Lovely watch man... and nice looking kid too.