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wm9 or bk sub

signumboy

By signumboy
in The Rolex Area

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Dizzy Newbie

Dizzy

Posted
Posted

How much $ do you want to spend???

BK's original offering of the Noobmariner is an accurate and reasonably priced sub replica. BK also mods and distributes the WM9 submariners as well, but they are twice the price of the Noobmariner but very very accurate.

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george84 Newbie

george84

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Posted

Hi Its not so much about money , more availability . I get the impression they are very hard to come by

You can order both from BK...if you mean rare as in rarely come up on the for sale section then ya. You have to wait for them to pop up and then usually be pretty quick to purchase.

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ubiquitous Rookie

ubiquitous

Posted
Posted

Personally, I love the WM9; fantastic watch with lots of building potential. I owned one of the early V1's, purchased directly from WM9 and modded it with gen crystal, bezel complete, crown, etc. However, the economics of such a project may be something you want to keep in mind if considering such a build. Depending on how far you go, the boundaries between franken build and pre-owned gen may become quite close. For that reason, if you are really considering a WM9 and want to add things like a gen crystal ($250 +/-), gen bezel ($400 +/-), gen dial ($300 +/-), gen bracelet ($750 +/-)... Maybe take it to the next level with a gen 3135 ($1800 +/-) to go with the gen dial and a set of gen hands... Well, you're either at the cost threshold of a used 16610 or possibly even over that figure depending on how much you pay for the individual parts and basis watch.

Don't get me wrong- If you stick with the minimum of mods, it's possible to stay within 25% - 30% and still have a great watch! I suppose that's the key with such a piece; there are certainly areas where the watch would benefit upgrades and the sort, but you have to be willing to accept other aspects of the watch as-is. A lot of that depends on your level of expectation and how particular you are when it comes to such things. Because the 16610 is not a terribly expensive gen pre-owned, I often suggest the gen to anyone that seriously wants a 16610; the reps can get very close, but will never be 100%. With the cost to build one out... The math is easy :)

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panerai153 Apprentice

panerai153

Posted
Posted

I have to agree with Ubi. If you are looking for a platform to build a super franken, the WM9/BK is the way to go. unfortunately, I don't think building a franken or super franken of a contemporary watch like the 16610 is practical from a financial standpoint. As Ubi said, buying a sack full of genuine parts and the cost of getting everything assembled will get you in the range of a genuine if not over the cost. This is a poor decision for two reasons, one it will not be a genuine, and thus your resale avenues are very limited, the second and probably the most important, you will NEVER get your money back!! Try posting a franken 16610 on the rep forums for a price of 3000.00 USD and see how many responses you get, no matter how many genuine parts it has.

If however you are looking for a really nice rep that you can wear right out the box, either of these are pretty nice. Irecently bought a BK noobmariner for my son. It's only mods are a Clark's crystal. I think i paid around 175.00 USD for it. It passed a 4 bar pressure test and is a real bargain for the money. I was also fortunate enough to get a WM9/BK 16610 Sub for myself a few weeks ago.The only mods are a Clarks Crystal and a genuine insert. honestly, unless you are a Rolex purist and are very knowledgable about Submariners, you can't tell this watch from a genuine. Iknow that there are quite a few folks here on the forum that can pick any rep apart with little details, but 99.99999% of the public couldn't tell this one from a genuine. So my feelings are if you are looking for a really ,really nice sub, to wear and niot spend a fortune modding, get a WM9/BK. If you want one almost as nice but much cheaper, go for the BK modified noobmariner

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signumboy Newbie

signumboy

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Posted (edited)

Thanks for such detailed reply's . I'm not looking to mod it, as I think they are very good out of the box . I already have a noob from narikka and apart from the movement, it is a excellent watch . So I'm guessing the bk would fit the bill very well. I assumed that bk and wm9 were hard to get.

Edited by signumboy
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Star69 Newbie

Star69

Posted
Posted

try the PT Supreme = WM9 V1

its still available - i just got mine today :)

with some basic mods - gen insert,gen crown and clarks crystal it cost you around 400 Euro.

sadly the WM9 V3 has some problems - so i went this way.

cheers,

Frank

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Jkay Newbie

Jkay

Posted
Posted

Hi DJ360 ~ welcome to the forum!

You are a little confused over BK's products. He sells a NoobFactory submariner, and he sells a WM9 submariner. One is a very inexpensive watch and the other is a very very expensive watch. They are not the same thing.

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mjmurphy926 Newbie

mjmurphy926

Posted
Posted

try the PT Supreme = WM9 V1

its still available - i just got mine today :)

with some basic mods - gen insert,gen crown and clarks crystal it cost you around 400 Euro.

sadly the WM9 V3 has some problems - so i went this way.

cheers,

Frank

Wow Frank, I didn't realize these were still available. How does your case look?

I ask because I bought one, second hand, from a forum member a couple years ago. It was one of the originals with no rehaut engraving. I was very impressed by the quality and accuracy of the case, but the one I got had the top CG quite a bit fatter than the bottom. I had to remove some material from the outer portion of the CG and also reworked the inner part of both CGs. I also did a little cleanup on the rehaut as there were a few tooling marks. But once I completed all the work, I ended up with a spectacularly accurate watch. I also swapped out the original dial for a noob dial, installed a Clark's crystal and installed a gen pearl in the stock bezel insert. I've been looking for a decent gen insert ever since.

I lost this watch several months ago while moving, but just found it a couple days ago. It's still my favorite watch.

You can't go wrong with this version. I agree with you Frank. Highly recommended!! :thumbsupsmileyanim:

My result:

IMG_0194_edit_color_small_1.jpg?t=1284739073

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Star69 Newbie

Star69

Posted
Posted

Wow Frank, I didn't realize these were still available. How does your case look?

I ask because I bought one, second hand, from a forum member a couple years ago. It was one of the originals with no rehaut engraving. I was very impressed by the quality and accuracy of the case, but the one I got had the top CG quite a bit fatter than the bottom. I had to remove some material from the outer portion of the CG and also reworked the inner part of both CGs. I also did a little cleanup on the rehaut as there were a few tooling marks. But once I completed all the work, I ended up with a spectacularly accurate watch. I also swapped out the original dial for a noob dial, installed a Clark's crystal and installed a gen pearl in the stock bezel insert. I've been looking for a decent gen insert ever since.

I lost this watch several months ago while moving, but just found it a couple days ago. It's still my favorite watch.

You can't go wrong with this version. I agree with you Frank. Highly recommended!! :thumbsupsmileyanim:

yes - thats the same watch but sadly with rehaut engravings -

but still perfect SELs, good crown position and gen parts drop in ;)

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DonJuan360 Newbie

DonJuan360

Posted
Posted

Hi DJ360 ~ welcome to the forum!

You are a little confused over BK's products. He sells a NoobFactory submariner, and he sells a WM9 submariner. One is a very inexpensive watch and the other is a very very expensive watch. They are not the same thing.

no, one is a very good rep and the other is 1:1 rep, you can use gen parts on it

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mjmurphy926 Newbie

mjmurphy926

Posted
Posted

What do you guys think about the ultimate submariner from Josh? I've been looking at it this morning, not sure if I can get the clark crystal installed on it. Any experience with it? The two tone version also looks very nice.

I'm pretty sure all of Josh's subs come from the noob factory. You can get it for around $100 with 21j movement or $250 with ETA (clone?) 2836-2 movement. It's a nice watch, but not as accurate as WM9/PT.

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Star69 Newbie

Star69

Posted
Posted

Do you think the WM9/PT is equal or better than WM9/BK?

NO - depending what you want to do - i don't like the crown position on the WM9 V3 but its already nice and wearable -

if you want to do some modding - the V1 has more potential and saves a few $$$s ;)

found these old pics V1 vs GEN :)

DSC03241.jpg

DSC03243.jpg

DSC02853.jpg

DSC02847.jpg

DSC02851.jpg

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