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McGilli

McGilli's Rolex Explorer II Pro Hunter Stealth Review

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McGilli

ROLEX REVIEW PART I

I wanted to treat myself to a higher end replica. I actually treated myself to two. This is the first I am reviewing for a few reasons. First, I prefer metal bracelets or silicone. My other watch has a leather strap which always annoy me until I get them broken in. This was just much easier for me to put on and get going - plus being an automatic it’s just set and forget (my other watch needs to be wound which I’ll need to become accustomed to).

 

WATCH ORDERED:

This is what I sent to my TD of choice.

ROLEXP2035A - Pro Hunter Stealth Explorer II Asian 2836/3187

Prohunter Explorer II 42mm!!! Ultimate Version...  Made with a Genuine Fully Dissected... Blue Superlumed Dial and Needles... 1 : 1 Replication... Immediate Delivery 

MOVEMENT: Nickle Plated Asian Clone 2836-2 Modified to Rolex Calibre 3187 Markings and Bridges, Automatic Movement, 25J, 28800bph

CASE DIAMETER: 42mm

THICKNESS: 13.5mm (1 : 1 Dimension as per the Genuine)

DIAL COLOR:  Black Pro Hunter Dial, Superlume Blue Lume Dot Markers and Needles as per Genuine

CASE MATERIAL: Solid Stainless Steel 316, Thick PVD Black Coating

BRACELET: PVD Black Coated SS Brushed New Style Oyster Bracelet, Engraved ROLEXROLEX on rehaut with G Serial Numbers, Correct New Rolesor Clasp

FRONT GLASS: Sapphire Crystal, AR Coated on Cyclob as per Genuine.. Same Dimension and Thickness as per the Genuine... Etched Rolex Crown on Inner Crystal at 6:00

BACK GLASS: Solid caseback

BEZEL:  Fixed 24hours Indication Bezel

CLASP TYPE: Flip lock

DATE INDICATOR: at 3:00 (Correct Date Mag and Font)

GMT HAND: YES (Set via Crown)

PS: I am only showing that because there is one thing that later will come into play, and while it doesn’t bother me I’d be curious to see what some of you think.

 

UNPACKING THE WATCH:

Packaging was solid. Tightly packed and taped. It arrived from Hong Kong to BC Canada in just over 40 hours.

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ROLEX REVIEW PART II

RESIZING THE BRACELET:

The first thing to do was resize the bracelet. My wrist is 7.25” and I had to remove 3 links. This still allows just a bit of play which I like - I do not like tight watches. I love the screw in pins. Those just make it so much easier to remove and replace. I’ve never seen a Gen of this watch, so I can’t compare how accurate the markings are between the lugs, or anywhere else for that matter. I just love the look of this watch, period even if it’s not 1:1 in any way.

PHOTOS WITH BRACELET REMOVED:

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ROLEX REVIEW PART III

PHOTOS WITH BRACELET RESIZED:

I find the watch to feel solid. It has a nice heft to it, but isn’t ‘heavy’. The clasp has a superb click into locking position and feels strong, yet you don’t need to pry it off to open it. There are manufacturing issues when viewed closely, but overall I’m happy and once it’s on my wrist I don’t even notice them for the few seconds I look at the watch to see what time it is.

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Again, I love the fit. It will usually ride up and over my wrist, which I prefer as it puts the weight on the outside. Speaking of which, how much does it weigh?

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ROLEX REVIEW PART IV

THE NEXT DAY - BRACELET

So that first night I wore it, giving it a good shake now and then to make sure it would have enough power to get me through the night on my wrist. No problem at all, and one nice thing is I do not get any hair pulling from this bracelet. That was a huge issue with an older Seiko of mine so I am always paying attention for this. All good!

Until I looked and noticed this:

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It seems that all my shaking caused a pin to unscrew - and trust me - i made sure they were nice and snug the night before when putting the bracelet back together. Time to fix that :) Some loc-tite on every threaded pin should do the trick.

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No more issues since.

 

ROLEX REVIEW PART V

HOW DOES IT KEEP TIME?:

Well, after the first 12 hours, it was ticking fast by 30 sec/hour. I’ve read about work-in periods for new watches, but since I’d just bought a watch tool kit I decided I’d try and get the time a little more respectable right away.

Ok, do you remember what movement I ordered?

MOVEMENT: Nickle Plated Asian Clone 2836-2 Modified to Rolex Calibre 3187 Markings and Bridges, Automatic Movement, 25J, 28800bph

After the TD procured the watch for me, I emailed asking to verify the movement. I was told that the case back was too tight to open with a rubber ball, and therefore could not be opened to verify - however the TD was sure I got what was ordered. I rolled with it. True enough the back was really tight when I tried. I was using the duct tape method (I know I know I’ll get proper tools for that), and then decided the best way to open it would be to shrink the case back… With a quick freeze :) A one second blast of liquid air was enough to let me open it right away.

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Now - does the movement match what I ordered?

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Yes and no. It appears (to me) to be the correct movement - but there is no engraving like in the description. Now, I don’t really care since I’m never going to try and pass this off as a Gen at a shop, and with the closed back I will never see it. But would you care? Again, the TD said the back could not be opened to be verified. And, if it had been opened and I’d seen a photo of the generic movement - I would have been fine really. It’s water under the bridge. But - then again would the price normally be reduced to reflect the lack of engraving?

BTW - I have the watch at about .5 secs fast in 4 hours right now, so will keep adjusting as I enjoy tinkering now :)

 

ROLEX REVIEW PART VI

ETCHED CROWN AND LUME

The elusive etched crown at 6 o’clock on the crystal. I noticed that the best photo of it was when I was taking a picture of the engraved serial number on the rehaut at 6 o'clock. You can see it over top of the engraved # 4:

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The lume is great. It’s not the super brightest after an hour, however, it was glowing all night as I wake up multiple times every night (too much water) and every time I was able to read it in the dark.

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Finally - after reading so much about pubes, dust and other unholy impurities being spotted on watch dials - I decided to go and break out my UV lights. No problem, all looks clean!

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IN CLOSING

Thank you to the forum and the members past and present. It’s been a lot of fun gathering the courage to spend this kind of $, and then to get the balls to actually consider opening it and trying to expand my watch hobby into new territory. I genuinely am enjoying this watch and it will fit well into my dressed up and casual outings.

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GC

Now that is a review! 

Bravo and congratulations on that fine ass looking watch! Wear it in the rudest of health. 

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Glaude

Nice nice nice review my friend ! 

The watch is crap... send it to my address I'll get rid of it for you, trust me.... :fearlessleader:;) 

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NCRich

Nice review!  Enjoy!

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GenTLe

This is essentially a BP with a DLC treatment, so same watch as this: http://www.ttw-1388.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1_4&products_id=16810&zenid=f77ae4181ed1b5104f844a8807e69455

The movement you got is fine, it's the standard GMT based on the 2836. Also called Hangzhou 6460 (but I don't know if there are other movement factories doing it).

Just a word of care: you can regulate it by the eccentric screw on the balance cock (in red), or you regulate it by removing the counterweight and the autowind bridge (removing those 2 black tiny screws on it and lifting it) and acting on the hairspring regulator arm (in green).

Do NOT act on the hairspring stud arm (in blue) because that's only to regulate the beat error and not the speed of the watch.

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McGilli
21 minutes ago, GenTLe said:

Just a word of care: you can regulate it by the eccentric screw on the balance cock (in red), or you regulate it by removing the counterweight and the autowind bridge (removing those 2 black tiny screws on it and lifting it) and acting on the hairspring regulator arm (in green).

Do NOT act on the hairspring stud arm (in blue) because that's only to regulate the beat error and not the speed of the watch.

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Thanks for that info on the movement - still learning - slowly in that area. For the regulating, luckily - I've been scouring Youtube for videos on this topic before I made any adjustments - and have only used the "eccentric screw on the balance cock (in red)". I'm at the point where any adjustment are so micro - I think I need to wait until I have no caffeine in my body to make that small of a move with my hand :) Thanks again

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McGilli
33 minutes ago, GC said:

Now that is a review! 

Bravo and congratulations on that fine ass looking watch! Wear it in the rudest of health. 

Thanks! I hoped to cover all the bases!

21 minutes ago, Glaude said:

Nice nice nice review my friend ! 

The watch is crap... send it to my address I'll get rid of it for you, trust me.... :fearlessleader:;) 

If I'd found a pube on the dial - it would already be over the Atlantic ocean on its way to you ;) 

20 minutes ago, NCRich said:

Nice review!  Enjoy!

Thanks! First review here - but not the last!

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Explorr

Wonderful review! Thanks for sharing.

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Replica01

Great review, enjoy the watch!

Verstuurd vanaf mijn F5321 met Tapatalk

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gmchris

Nice! The Explorer ll is the best un-rolexy Rolex and really subtle.

Don't forget it will gain 5-10 secs a day lay flat on it's back and loose 5-10 sat edgeways on the case. 

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McGilli

UPDATE:

I wanted to get the time keeping a little more accurate on this watch - so I played with the regulator a few times - and each time I would just do a real world test using the stopwatch on my phone. I'd do a minimum of 12 hours - wearing it on my wrist all day including sleeping - only taking it off for shower - see what the difference was in seconds. When I had to what I figured was 1.5 seconds/day I decided to try an app that could verify that for me.

PS. Going forward - seeing how accurate this app was using only 10 second samples compared to my 12 hour sample - I'll just use this app from now on to regulate the time.

Set the watch up with my phone:

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It takes up to a minute for it to start calculating the accurate beat rate (this is fun to watch):

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It will show you your beat rate +/- over a 10/30/60 second window:

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If anyone is interested in trying the app it's called Wild Spectra Mobile Lite. I just used the free version, works perfect for what I need.

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Glaude
1 hour ago, McGilli said:

If anyone is interested in trying the app it's called Wild Spectra Mobile Lite. I just used the free version, works perfect for what I need.

Tried on my A7750 (Navitimer) not able to detect any bitrate, I'll try it later in an other config to see, did you do anything special with the app before the measurement ?

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Mr Stubbs

Nice updates to the review.  And I'll try out that app when I get home!

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McGilli
4 hours ago, Glaude said:

Tried on my A7750 (Navitimer) not able to detect any bitrate, I'll try it later in an other config to see, did you do anything special with the app before the measurement ?

Oh right. Yes there was one setting I had to change otherwise it never detected anything. It was the sample rate. From 8khz to 48kgz and after that worked great! 

I think that was the only one. If doesn't work let me know and I'll set mine up again.

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Glaude
41 minutes ago, McGilli said:

Oh right. Yes there was one setting I had to change otherwise it never detected anything. It was the sample rate. From 8khz to 48kgz and after that worked great! 

I think that was the only one. If doesn't work let me know and I'll set mine up again.

Thank you, my friend ! That has done the trick ! Instant detection, but even after a minute in comparison to my own measurement, the app is completely wrong, maybe the position of the watch for measurement isn't ideal but the app tells me I'm more than a +1 min/day but with my measurement from a couple of days I'm at Max +7sec/day (closer to 3sec/day).

I'll continue testing with this app to see if there's a parameter to adjust.

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Thommo82

Looking good my friend!!

Im looking at getting a black milgauss at some point in the future

Grwat looking watch you have there, awesome lume too

I’d Pair this watch with a pint of Guinness 

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Mary Watch

Nice review,  and Glad to hear u like this watch from me. 

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McGilli
11 minutes ago, Mary Watch said:

Nice review,  and Glad to hear u like this watch from me. 

I love it! Thank you again Mary. You were the first RD to send me QC photos, and send me a watch. I learned a lot from it and feel great about ordering more In the future.

I told my friend about you and he has been in contact with you about ordering a watch also. Thanks!

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McGilli
6 hours ago, Mr Stubbs said:

Nice updates to the review.  And I'll try out that app when I get home!

Let me know if it works. Don't forget to set the sample rate in the settings to 48 or as high as you can. That worked best for me.  Lower would not detect the ticks.

 

1 hour ago, Glaude said:

the app is completely wrong, maybe the position of the watch for measurement isn't ideal but the app tells me I'm more than a +1 min/day but with my measurement from a couple of days I'm at Max +7sec/day (closer to 3sec/day).

I'll continue testing with this app to see if there's a parameter to adjust.

Interesting! At least it's hearing the watch. Maybe even a different surface or room? Let me know how it goes.

 

1 hour ago, Thommo82 said:

Looking good my friend!!

Im looking at getting a black milgauss at some point in the future

Grwat looking watch you have there, awesome lume too

I’d Pair this watch with a pint of Guinness 

Thanks. Yeah for my first replica order I'm super happy. It's given me the confidence in the quality. Too funny I don't go out much. Not enough time but I've been asking people to go out for beers so I can take it out on the town. A pint of Guinness is like $10 here and now I look like I can afford it Haha! 

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tabuktime
1 hour ago, Thommo82 said:

Looking good my friend!!

Im looking at getting a black milgauss at some point in the future

Grwat looking watch you have there, awesome lume too

I’d Pair this watch with a pint of Guinness 

Only one pint?

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Thommo82
6 minutes ago, tabuktime said:

Only one pint?

That’s all you could handle 

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tabuktime

 

2 minutes ago, Thommo82 said:

That’s all you could handle 

:beer2::beer3::beerfunnel::vomit:

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Mr Stubbs

:beerjump:

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Griffo

Not my cup of tea, but fantastic review!

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Glaude
10 hours ago, McGilli said:

Let me know if it works. Don't forget to set the sample rate in the settings to 48 or as high as you can. That worked best for me.  Lower would not detect the ticks.

 

Interesting! At least it's hearing the watch. Maybe even a different surface or room? Let me know how it goes.

 

Thanks. Yeah for my first replica order I'm super happy. It's given me the confidence in the quality. Too funny I don't go out much. Not enough time but I've been asking people to go out for beers so I can take it out on the town. A pint of Guinness is like $10 here and now I look like I can afford it Haha! 

I will let you know how it goes on other surfaces, room and after playing with some of the settings.

As for going out with your watch, you could try a pin of Guinness or you could try with a better thing, like beer, for example... ;) 

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