By-Tor

First three reps I purchased were TT Subs, back in early 2004 when I first came to the community. I have owned 2 "TW Best" models of this watch, and also one very old CN model from Joshua. Our family friend owns a genuine TT "Serti" Sub, which I have handled many times. So I guess I have some kind of insight to write about this replica. I never wrote a decent article of those old reps of mine, and this is the watch that LOTS of members have asked me to review over the years. TT Sub is kind of a "newbie magnet" in many ways. This replica model is not new, but the factory has introduced one very dramatic change: Better (smaller) winding crown. This is much welcomed improvement, because the "Jumbo" crown used to ruin this rep competely. Other than the crown, this watch is basically a Noobmariner with gold parts. By many (including me) the Noobmariner is considered be the best ever-out-of-the-box Submariner replica. The crown guards and pearl are very reasonable, and good enough as they are. And once again, only the "Noob" Rolexes have the correct, thick cylindrical "front rehaut". The other factories (including MBW and TW models) aren't quite as good in this regard. However, the actual rehaut depth is about one millimeter too low on the "Noob factory" Submariners. In the "old days" the last link that connected the bracelet to the SEL used to be just layered with a thin surface of gold, and the side of this area was left "naked"... i.e stainless steel on the side was visible underneath the gold layer (on top). That was another serious flaw and "deal breaker" on this rep, which has been fixed for this particular model. Just like the SS Noobmariner, the lugs are beautifully finished. The usual question is: "How good is the blue"? Well, I can safely say it's pretty damn good. Older models used to bee too "purple", but this watch doesn't have the problem. Blue is deep and rich. Here's the rep and gen side-by-side. The following photo is courtesy by member "JNKAI" (thanks). This is the exact same replica model, but notice how awfully HUGE the winding crown was before the "update". Utterly ridiculous. Like I said, I'm glad it has been fixed. Oversized crown is very typical problem with most Rolex replicas, and frankly I don't understand why it is so difficult to get right. This brings us to the best part of this watch, which is the dial. Just like on its stainless steel counterpart it's virtually perfect. This factory really knows to get the dials correct, and regarding the Rolex reps it's once again in the league of its own. Just for fun, you can check how my "Noob factory" GMT Master II dial compares with the genuine HERE. The best dial photo of this watch is from John Holmbrook's Rolex Reference Page, which I used as a source once again. I tried to shoot my watch from the exact same angle and here's the result. (Genuine on the right). As you can see the only differences worth mentioning are the minute hand (gen has larger luminous area), and the datewheel (which fills the larger area of the cyclops). The gens come with two different bezel font colors (gold and plain yellow). Both are correct. You can't seriously except the rep dial to get better than this. I was also positively surprised that hands and hour markers have the same luminous abilities on this watch. Usually lume on the hands is much weaker. My intial impression of the bracelet wasn't great, as it was in dire need of oiling. That's very typical for the replica Rolex Oyster bands. The links were stiff, made noise and didn't feel smooth at all. Oiling, as usual, changed the feel immediately. After having the watch in my possession for a week, and after comparing it to countless of gen pics I began to appreciate the bracelet a lot more. The gold tone might be different from the 18K, but I doubt it could be detected easily. I was going to get a gen TT "Serti" Sub from my friend for the comparison for this article, but unfortunately his long business trip ruined this plan. Experts say that the 14K gold tone isn't quite as rich as the gen 18K. The gen (supposedly) has more "creamy" color, while the rep tone is more yellow. Eurotimez posted a thread about the bracelet, and according to him the middle links are solid 14K gold. According to Eurotimez, the gold in this particular TT Sub comes in three different qualities: Plated 18k (will fade and wear off quickly) Cheaper gold with a thin 14k layer that will eventually get off, leaving ugly black spots where it wears. Solid 14k gold (this particular watch in the review) = never wears off. As you can see the clasp has a gold layer all through its surface, and it's absolutely IMPOSSIBLE to keep scratch free. Gold layering on the clasp area (around the coronet) isn't quite as smooth on the rep, which could be detectable. Same can be said about the crown, the layer isn't perfectly smooth. But it's good to keep in mind that we're talking about rep of a $8K watch here. PS: What many people don't know is that all parts on the genuine 16613 aren't solid gold, either. The gen has plated crown and clasp area. Based on my experience, treating the rep TT Oyster bracelet with car wax is the best option to make it feel more substantial. It makes a difference. One annoying thing about the TT Oyster band (rep and gen) is how easily it collects microscopic hairline scratches. You only have to breath into its direction to get it scratched. Merely photographing this watch was enough to get a few of them here and there. Not that it would bother me, but I hope the customer who will receive this watch isn't one of those "anal types". Here's the traditional review wrist shot. This definitely is a pretty watch. Conclusion: Without a doubt this is the best TT Sub replica I have ever seen. And that's exactly why I wanted to review it in the first place. Now that the crown has been fixed, I seriously doubt this can be repped much better. I'm impressed how detailed the finish on this watch is. The dial is utterly amazing, and the plated bezel and pearl are very good as well. It would be very interesting to compare this against the new MBK version, and hopefully I have a chance to do that in the near future. Thanks again our new dealer, ***"Eurotimez"*** for borrowing this beauty. Good luck with your business ventures! Thanks all members for your continuous support, and I hope you enjoyed this another small pictorial of mine.

They actually ARE quite accurate. The model to buy is the Noobfactory version. There are other good models too, but this is the one to get (imho). Excellent value. Here's two reviews of that particular version: http://www.rwg.cc/members/index.php?showtopic=60984 http://www.rwg.cc/members/index.php?showtopic=52401 Happy hunting.

The Breitling and Navitimer Guides are already pinned. I will add this to the Breitling Guide as soon as possible, and I hope Andreww will link it to his Navi Guide as well. Fantastic article, much appreciated!

Well, not yet. Hmm... should I keep this?

The ETA Noob and Asian version are identical. The date window is placed too much on the left for your purposes. i.e it's identical with gen Rolex datewheel placement. What you need is the older version of the CN Sub, which has the date positioned more on the right. Those old Sub reps should be found cheap from the members. Check the Noobmariner review from my section. There is a picture of such 16610 rep in the article. Good luck !!!

This today.

Ah well... those Ferrari grid girls were so pretty, I didn't notice their watches at all. Guess I'm not Geek enough.

So... we finally found the best Sub. Congrats for this beautiful piece... and don't think about the costs too much (at this point). Just enjoy! Just like Ubi says: Building your own watch from the scratch: Priceless.

Raikkonen was wearing a TAG, because he's under a contract with them. I've seen him wearing the Formula model, but the one he had on today had the Aquaracer bracelet. Maybe it was some kind of new model? But it was a TAG without a doubt. Strange, because TAG has always been so closely connected with McLaren. Schumacher, Kimi's predecessor was under the contract with Omega. Kovalainen wore a TAG F1. Dunno about Kubica. How do I know? I've always been both watch & racing geek. PS: Brilliant race from the Iceman today. Enjoyed every minute of it... although the British homer ITV commentators saw nothing but Hamilton out there.

Neil's relationship with TT, Kenberg or me (or lack of) had absolutely NOTHING to do with his banning from this forum. How many times this has to be repeated? We were NEVER GOING TO BAN HIM from the forum. That wasn't even under the discussion, at any point. The Admin team only wanted to freeze his dealer account until all his transactions were solved. You can argue if freezing his account was a right decision or not, we had a long conversation about it, too... but it won't change the truth. How many times I have lied to members in this forum... or been dishonest? Or T? If you don't take our word for it... well, then don't. And since you brought my name into this conversation: You know full well that I'm 100% straighforward person. If Neil has some personal problem with me (which I seriously doubt)... or thinks that I have one with him, he can always contact me at the RepGeeks. It's not more complicated than that. All this gossiping... all these silly conspiracy theories... simply ridiculous. Looks like plain' ole trolling to me.

Very nice guide, thanks a lot man. I linked this article to the Omega Guide.

Phew... what a busy week. I barely had time to log in here. I'm wearing the same as Lanikai. But in blue.

This feels like a good watch today.

Yep, it's a rep... and a bad one at that.

We never delete threads, unless a member requests a sales thread to be removed. If something like that happens, it's most likely an accidental error.

Cool watches guys. I think that Tudor Monte Carlo absolutely has to be worn with the Oyster band. I'm wearing my white beauty today.

Weird. I've noticed this being exactly the opposite. My franken Explorer II (with gen dial and all), or those 10+ Submariners (that I've owned) have impressed NOBODY... while SFSO and Aquaracer collect lots of compliments from people. SFSO is very impressive watch, although people might not be aware of the Breitling brand. I like Rolex as well, but they're definitely NOT impressive watches to the general public (imho).

Wonderful pictures. The third one especially. I always wanted a ExpI... the rep being so great and all... I just wish it was a little bit bigger.

Brilliant. Thanks for posting this here as well. I saved the article on my hard disk of course. Amazing rep, amazing watch. Thanks again!

Ah... for some reason it doesn't look so huge in your pic. I thought it was a replacement. Yep, the "ring" as you say... or "front cylindrical rehaut" is very important detail, and only the reps from this factory (Noobmariner, GMT & Explorer II) have it done correctly. No other Rolex reps (except the WM9) come even close to the right look. That is much more important than the actual rehaut depth to me.

The Noob is still the best out there. The front appearance is almost perfect. However the crown is always too big, even this replacement crown. Much better than the original crown though... which is totally ridiculous. Thanks, great comparison shots.

That's the 42.5mm version. The pics look like they are of a genuine watch. Still, I don't like this sale. Besides the wrong size description (which is suspicious) the pics look like they might come from many different sources. Just a "hunch" though.

Happy Friday to RWG! I'm starting the weekend - and the new Formula-1 season with this one. Watching the Friday practice from Melbourne as we speak.

@All: Great watches! Wearing this one today.

I briefly owned the quartz version. Rather nice, but of course a decent 7750-version would be something else. See my review here: http://www.rwg.cc/members/index.php?showtopic=49640