jmb Posted August 31, 2009 Report Share Posted August 31, 2009 (edited) I received the noobmariner I ordered from watchwoot/D4ME today and thought I'd give my first impressions. The watch feels good and quite substantial, fit and finish seem to be very nice - good attention to detail. The only thing that detracts from the item is the band/bracelet. It feels rather cheesy, flimsy, and rather rattly - but, considering the price point of the watch everything can't be perfect and I'm told even plagues the gen version. I have read that a lot of the reps have a bezel insert that is not properly "sunk" into the bezel, the fit of this insert seems very good to me and only stands a couple thou proud of the metal bezel - really only noticeable under magnification. One thing that might make some feel better is no engraving on rehaut. I remember reading posts with grumblings about the "new" version having the incorrect engraving. I am by no means anything other than a "noob" but I feel this is a great watch for the money. Here are a couple of pics: Edited August 31, 2009 by jmb 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alligoat Posted September 1, 2009 Report Share Posted September 1, 2009 Very nice. The rehaut actually looks pretty good. I think the new crown on these is closer to the gen- maybe a copy of it. With a watchmaterial pearl it would be a great beater. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jkay Posted September 1, 2009 Report Share Posted September 1, 2009 The only thing that detracts from the item is the band/bracelet. It feels rather cheesy, flimsy, and rather rattly - but, considering the price point of the watch everything can't be perfect and I'm told even plagues the gen version. You are perfectly correct. The Submariner's bracelet is like this .. not luxury .. a tool. If you lubricate it with a dry bicycle chain lubricant it will improve the feel a LOT! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanH Posted September 1, 2009 Report Share Posted September 1, 2009 Just received mine today too. Mine's got the Asian 21J movement with a very noisy rotor. I'll sort that out later on this evening! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmb Posted September 1, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 1, 2009 D4ME posted (on a different forum) that the supplier might have goofed on mine. He said the pictures of mine look like a VIP mariner instead of a noobmariner and he would check with them to see if the noob was again being produced without rehaut engraving. As far as rotor, mine has the A21J as well, I can hear it if I rotate my wrist and hold the watch right up against my ear but I don't consider it loud. But, then again, I don't really know how loud LOUD is! This is about the same volume level as the one in my low-end Daytona... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yaron Posted September 1, 2009 Report Share Posted September 1, 2009 Looks very good, especially the dial and date font , if just change the pearl and shave the CG's it would become a great sub for the price. Enjoy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alligoat Posted September 2, 2009 Report Share Posted September 2, 2009 You can check the SN on your sub- F520117 is the old noob SN, new SN is something like M09x117- but it's printed on the rehaut also. I worked on a friends VIP Mariner awhile back- seems like the SN was F458xxx or something like that. Take the bracelet off and check between the lugs at 6 o'clock. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmb Posted September 3, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 3, 2009 I'll maybe do that this weekend if I have time. I'll do a search on how to do this so I don't tear something up - I don't think this bracelet is the most heavy-duty thing in the world... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmb Posted September 8, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 8, 2009 alligoat, I had the band off today to oil the rotor bearing and the S/N between the lugs on mine is F520117... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lanikai Posted September 8, 2009 Report Share Posted September 8, 2009 Congrats !!! the genuine bracelet has larger holes for the screw (pins) ergo they have more play in the links .. the genuine is very silky .... oiling the rep bracelet will help.. but mainly just strap it on and enjoy !! Live Strong and Wear it Well A~C Lani Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alligoat Posted September 8, 2009 Report Share Posted September 8, 2009 alligoat, I had the band off today to oil the rotor bearing and the S/N between the lugs on mine is F520117... Yup, that's the old Noob SN. Trim the cg's and put a WM pearl on and you've got a great beater. Congrats. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmb Posted September 8, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 8, 2009 That's interesting, do you think I got this through the "luck of the draw" or maybe the factory decided the "old" one was better? So far, after Tri-Flowing the rotor bearing and manually winding the crap out of it, it hasn't quit running in almost 24 hours so I may have dodged the bullet. I will, however, probably put in the DG4813 movement I ordered just to get the smoother sweep... I also ordered a watchmaterial pearl and insert as the current pearl looks pretty crappy even to a total noob like me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P4GTR Posted September 8, 2009 Report Share Posted September 8, 2009 The rehaut is that of a noobmariner. I think its fine. You lucked out not geting the engraved rehaut. Nice! The bracelet feels flimsy but so does the gen. It does not mean it is fragile. Heres my how-to for fixing bracelet rattle. Should make for a much more gen like wear. watch material pearl, sand the bezel insert down. sand down those CG's a bit. bracelet rattle fix. install a DG high-beat, and you have much more than a beater in my opinion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmb Posted September 8, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 8, 2009 I'm having a very hard time finding anything more than minor variations in the CG shape in this noob compared to pics I've harvested for several gens. Maybe somebody could take the last pic from bottom and point out what needs to be changed. I overlayed this pic on that of a gen (in photoshop)and couldn't see enough difference to mess with - or maybe my eyes are just shot... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alligoat Posted September 8, 2009 Report Share Posted September 8, 2009 Noob crown guards aren't too bad, they just need to be trimmed on the inside edges maybe a 1/2 mm. Here's a 16610 from ebay- look at about the 3rd pic down- there's a little bit of daylight between the crown abd the cg's- not much and you have to keep the same angle that the noob already has. http://cgi.ebay.com/Mens-Rolex-Submariner-Stainless-Steel-16610-Date_W0QQitemZ380154567839QQcmdZViewItemQQptZWristwatches?hash=item5882fa5c9f&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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