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GingerApple

Noob v8 Subc 904L First Impressions

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GingerApple

Alternative title: 'I'm an idiot part 247'

Today I picked up a very speedily delivered Sub from my fave TD.

I'd only just sold my Noob v7 on the basis I wasn't wearing it much, but then panicked that I didn't have a sub and so spent way too much money on a nigh on identical replacement.

The 904L bracelet and an improved bezel insert seem to be the expected pros and they both seem decent. It's hard to say for sure until I see them both in natural light, but they look better so far. The bracelet however doesn't have that game changing feel that the ARF bracelets do IMO. As to the case shape and all that stuff, I'm afraid I haven't a clue; I'll leave that to the Rolex experts out there.

This isn't a proper review - I've not had the watch long enough for that - but first impressions are that it's good, but probably not worth the money to upgrade from the v7. If you've not got a sub yet, I'd say this is the one to go for.

Anyway, that's it, but of course this thread would be (even more) useless without pics, so here's a few. All are indoors in crappy, normal room lighting.

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Luxuracer
12 minutes ago, GingerBubba said:

Alternative title: 'I'm an idiot part 247'

Somehow ... even with your shitty pictures ... it does look better than the V7.

My main concern is the insert number marker's color. I do not really want to spend another $200 to get my sub-c Spongebob mod!

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Joyjoyk

Does the bracelet feel sharp on the edges? Comparing my noob v5 subC to my ARF DJ 36, its day and light.. with the ARF bracelet being silky smooth with no rough edges..

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GingerApple

No, is really pretty smooth. It's definitely better than the v7 bracelet, I'm just not sure it's quite as good as the ARF ones. But I suppose I'm not comparing like to like - I should be comparing the Noob bracelet to the Gen - but I don't have one unfortunately!

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Mr_B

Is the metal brushed to gen spec? :bugeyes:

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GingerApple
2 minutes ago, Mr_B said:

Is the metal brushed to gen spec? :bugeyes:

By jove, I think it is!!!

17 minutes ago, Luxuracer said:

Somehow ... even with your shitty pictures ... it does look better than the V7.

My main concern is the insert number marker's color. I do not really want to spend another $200 to get my sub-c Spongebob mod!

Yeah, I don't think I'd bother upgrading from the v7. Except I effectively did. Like a twat.

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RepGuy

The watch looks good, but only one thing matters... is it brushed as per gen?

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deju

I always wondered with tooling cost on 904l if noob and ARF might be using the same sources, just after so long is all banging on it be hyper expensive and what not that two factories now have these. 

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MetalMickey
2 minutes ago, deju said:

I always wondered with tooling cost on 904l if noob and ARF might be using the same sources, just after so long is all banging on it be hyper expensive and what not that two factories now have these. 

Wouldn’t it be hilarious if all these different factories were using exactly the same parts and we are all poring over them trying to find minute differences that aren’t there :lol: 

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deju
9 minutes ago, metalmickey said:

Wouldn’t it be hilarious if all these different factories were using exactly the same parts and we are all poring over them trying to find minute differences that aren’t there :lol: 

Wouldn’t surprise me, end of the day it’s good business. The factories buy in all the parts to make the final product.

its just very coincidental that out the blue 2 factories are supplying it straight off the bat. If you follow watchbus the 904l prototype from noob was kicking about at launch of ARF 

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MetalMickey
3 minutes ago, deju said:

Wouldn’t surprise me, end of the day it’s good business. The factories buy in all the parts to make the final product.

its just very coincidental that out the blue 2 factories are supplying it straight off the bat. If you follow watchbus the 904l prototype from noob was kicking about at launch of ARF 

Yeah. From realising a rival has this whole new product that supposedly needs special machinery it didn’t take them long to acquire that same machinery (and the less common material itself)

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RUSH2112
19 minutes ago, metalmickey said:

Wouldn’t it be hilarious if all these different factories were using exactly the same parts and we are all poring over them trying to find minute differences that aren’t there :lol: 

How would one go about actually proving this is 904L steel, for example?

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MetalMickey
8 minutes ago, RUSH2112 said:

How would one go about actually proving this is 904L steel, for example?

Apparently someone at RWI has access to a special machine and tested it. Not that there is a massive visible difference. 

I think we reached the point of reps being indistinguishable from gen when the makers started changing shit you can’t even see like movements, type of steel etc. 

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GingerApple

I've just had a bit of a scare.

The crown wouldn't screw in all the way until it's flush with the case (like I'm used to on all my other Rolexes).

I assumed something was wrong - in my noob brain, I thought the stem was too long perhaps or the screw thread badly machined or something like that. A fault at least.

I googled something like 'Rolex crown not screwing in properly' and all the useful hits came from genuine Rolex forums.

I had to sign up to those fora to read the threads, but apparently, it's a design thing! All the old hands on those threads are explaining that the Crown isn't supposed to screw flush with the case, but it's meant to leave a gap (that happens to be easily visible, especially when you hold it up to the light). The old hands are posting pics like this one:

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So it's not a fault. It's accurate to Gen! So, does this mean the v8 is even more gen like?

Discuss.

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NCRich

Discuss???????

Eh, its a sub.  It costs too much for a rep. (I hope you got the 28xx clone)

Anything else?

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MetalMickey
6 minutes ago, NCRich said:

Discuss???????

Eh, its a sub.  It costs too much for a rep. (I hope you got the 28xx clone)

Anything else?

^^^ this

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GingerApple

I just meant the Crown not flush with case thing. Have you guys got/had gens? Were the Crown's flush with the case when screwed in?

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blehbleh215

After the release of V8, will Noob discontinue the production of V7?  The extra $200 may not worth if Noob use that insert on future V7 batch.....

Edited by blehbleh215

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Glaude

Thanks for sharing your though and the pics @GingerBubba ! (Much prefer you alternate title... :D )

3 hours ago, metalmickey said:

Apparently someone at RWI has access to a special machine and tested it. Not that there is a massive visible difference. 

I think we reached the point of reps being indistinguishable from gen when the makers started changing shit you can’t even see like movements, type of steel etc. 

Yep, @2fake4u posted a metal analysis done by a lab on the ARF version, it was indeed 904L, low grade but still 904L.
The changing tool and investing in new tools regularly surface when discussing this 904L steel, but if it's a low grade one (and even a higher grade one) you can find 316F & L that has practically the same hardness, they will use the tools the same way a low grade 904L could.
Perhaps our chinaman just figured out that the added value at resell is worth using tool bits faster, if this even happen with this 904L quality.

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GC

@GingerBubba, I only have one little question... how did you manage to order and get a watch that hasn’t been released yet? 

Who is your TD? Because that mofo is a NINJA!!! 

Well done, and at least you have bragging rights for owning the absolute newest latest greatest toy Rolex available! 

55_F33_CA8-3_ACB-4_D71-9_A6_B-_FD2275_E4

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GingerApple
55 minutes ago, GC said:

@GingerBubba, I only have one little question... how did you manage to order and get a watch that hasn’t been released yet? 

Who is your TD? Because that mofo is a NINJA!!! 

Well done, and at least you have bragging rights for owning the absolute newest latest greatest toy Rolex available! 

Yeah, those bragging rights aren't endearing themselves to me at the mo. I think I'd have been better off not selling my v7 and saving myself a fortune. It is a good Sub though - I am happy with it and the bracelet in particular is a noticeable improvement. The bezel's better, but I'm not sure it's perfect; I'm still thinking to paint mod it. Although I've not seen it in natural light yet so I'll reserve judgement for now.

My TD for this particular transaction was the one and only Sead - but what makes you say it's not released lol? Puretime had it listed a good few weeks ago. Sead did get it to me very speedily though, posting it just being the CNY madness.

Overall I think this is a great sub if you've not got one, but if you've got a v7 or modded alternative, the upgrade isn't so justifiable.

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peppercorn

Thanks for posting your first impressions.....now, let's see some outdoor/natural light goodness.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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GingerApple
3 hours ago, peppercorn said:

Thanks for posting your first impressions.....now, let's see some outdoor/natural light goodness.

Unfortunately mate, I'm in England. We had glorious sunshine over the weekend which means it will rain solid for the next few weeks. I'll try and get you a natural light shot by early March.

In the meantime I decided I was not happy with the bezel - it's still too dark. So I've modded it with the 'GB Trademarked Molotow MoFo Paint Mod'. I took a quick pic halfway through. It's looking much better already IMO.

257ekc1.jpg

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peterpl

Whats this GB Trademarked Molotow MoFo Paint Mod you talk about? 

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ShovelnTC

Thanks for your review, I know what you mean about selling and then "needing" it back again, I've done it multiple times with several watches.

The only thing that I wasn't happy about with my V7 was the insert number brightness which wasn't a problem for most of the time I owned it but it was getting darker with time and that made me more aware but I've never seen a paint mod that I would have been happy with and there's no way I was going to pay $200 to get some extra brightness in tiny numbers on a Rep so in the end I lost interest and sold it.

I'm sure that this new version is better in one or more ways but likely not enough for the extra cost IMHO BUT you have a beautiful Sub there so enjoy.

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