So AP showed their revamped ROO in the beginning of the year. Initially, I didn't care too much about them since I felt they were just so-so. But apparently I was smitten by one of them in the end. Thus this is my AP 2014 Safari from Noob.
This review will compare some of its features to the gen as well as J12 version. My Safari here is on an oem hornback.
Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore 2014 Safari Ref. 26470ST.OO.A801CR
The Watch
Some details about the watch:
- Size: 42mm
- Hardware: Ceramic pushers and crown
- Movement: A7750
- Strap: Brown hornback
- Buckle: New 20mm tang buckle
- Maker: Noob
What's new on this 2014 AP compared to the old ones? As we all might have known, it has new dial and hands, new shaped pusher guards, ceramic pushers and crown, smaller caseback screws and a new size tang buckle. When J12 released their 2014 Safari, I was really disappointed that they did most of the new features wrongly, mainly the curved pusher guards and the long pushers/crown. They still are though, so I hope they would fix these in the future with their 2014 Navy and Grey Theme.
Then Noob came in the picture and their 2014 Safari seemed to nail most things right. So I decided it was the time to get one.
And I was right. It has all the features right.
Case brushing is nice. The bezel screws are evenly sunk in while the slot in the centre of the screws is nicely straight. The overall finishing is nicely done I'd say.
The pusher guards are straight and extended out just enough. This is the second most important thing to me, next to the dial. Although I did notice uneven surfaces at the top (@1) and bottom (@5) edges of the pusher guards where they meet the case.
Crystal is a typical Noob crystal I guess. I'm not bothered by it since AP shouldn't have double AR crystal imo lol. Cyclops is mediocre though and it's a bit cloudy. Date font is completely wrong since AP has been using their new font on these 2014 AP.
Strap is crappy as always. It's a Noob signature :lol:. So you must change the strap. OEM strap is still the best though. Haha.
All in all, Noob does still make a great watch.
The Dial
Nothing much to say about the dial actually. It seems Noob uses the same dial factory as J12. No difference whatsoever that I can see.
It's a nice dial with the ivory colour. The color has a metallic effect on it when viewed at a certain angle. Correct AP logo and subdials. It's also quite hard to capture the dial colour on camera.
One thing though, the colour on the minutes and hour hands are brown, the same as the brown on the numerals. While on J12 2014 Safari, the hands colour seems to be more like grey, not brown. You can check and confirm it yourself (for those who care of course
)
The Pusher Guards, Pushers and Crown
AP decision to update the pusher guards shape as well as pushers and crown material is a welcome change. Together, these new features give the new ROOs a more masculine look, as said by LW's cofounder Morten Linde on the subject of angles on their watches (not that it's relevant here :lol.
The pushers and crown are now made from ceramic, as opposed to rubber on previous ROOs. A very nice update from AP since the rubber material might wear down with usage down the road. Also, the angular and bulked up pushers remind me of the piston-like pushers on the HBB Unico.
Comparison: Noob vs J12 vs Gen
As you can see, Noob is closer to the gen than J12. Noob's pushers are shorter and wider in diameter (even if not by much) while the crown is thicker. The pusher guards are straight and more extended out as well.
However, it doesn't mean there's no flaws though. The underside of the pusher guards are sloped, near where the crown is. The old ROO case has this as well but not on the gen 2014 ROO.
The Heart and Caseback
In the movement department, Noob uses the sec@12 A7750 with silver screws now, as opposed to the blue screws in their last generation of ROO. Winding the movement is very smooth. Small seconds hand isn't stuttering while I got almost 2 days of power reserve. Pretty good, or I'm just lucky. I'd rate it at the same lvl as J12 sec@12 A7750 movt this time, in terms of performance. They also install some kind of plate on the rotor screw in order to make it closer to the gen movement. I'm not a fan of it to be honest since it sits on top of the actual rotor screw, not replacing the screw. I also noticed the Noob rotor screw is smaller than J12's.
The rotor though, I'm a fan of. Noob uses a rotor that is closer to the gen rotor. They make the surface with the engravings smaller, while the polished part is bigger. The result is, the polished part of the rotor now can be seen through, similar to the gen. You can see the comparison below.
On the other hand, J12 has been using the same rotor with a tad larger engravings surface, so the polished part is always hidden by the caseback.
As for the caseback, the caseback screws on Noob 2014 Safari are smaller than the old ROO. The gen has smaller screws as well. So this is another plus. J12 is again, has been using the same size caseback screws across their 42mm ROO. So they're a tad bigger as well on theirs.
EDIT: J12 has now updated their 2014 AP caseback to have smaller caseback screws.
Comparison: J12 Buemi vs Noob 2014 Safari vs Gen 2014 Safari
Conclusion
I think Noob has made the best AP 2014 Safari out of the box so far (excluding strap). It has the correct 2014 features, which are important btw since it's not a 2014 AP if one of them is wrongly made. The watch is nicely made overall. Brushing is great, colours are great. However, Noob can start to fire their cyclops as well as the date wheel suppliers. It's high time that they change these two things. I know that they won't care about it but let's hope.
Pros:
- Great case;
- Good dial and hands (correct hands lume color);
- Great pusher guards shape;
- Great crown and pushers thickness/length;
- Nice and correct size rotor.
Cons:
- Wrong date font;
- Bad cyclops;
- Crappy strap.
All in all, if you're looking to get either 2014 Safari or Black Theme, I'd recommend Noob version. However, if you want to get the best 2014 Safari or Black Theme and you also have a deep pocket, I recommend you to get both Noob and J12 and mash them up. You only need to take J12 date wheel and cyclops. Maybe crystal as well. The result will be the best version possible.
Thanks for your time and for reading.
This review will compare some of its features to the gen as well as J12 version. My Safari here is on an oem hornback.
Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore 2014 Safari Ref. 26470ST.OO.A801CR
The Watch
Some details about the watch:
- Size: 42mm
- Hardware: Ceramic pushers and crown
- Movement: A7750
- Strap: Brown hornback
- Buckle: New 20mm tang buckle
- Maker: Noob
What's new on this 2014 AP compared to the old ones? As we all might have known, it has new dial and hands, new shaped pusher guards, ceramic pushers and crown, smaller caseback screws and a new size tang buckle. When J12 released their 2014 Safari, I was really disappointed that they did most of the new features wrongly, mainly the curved pusher guards and the long pushers/crown. They still are though, so I hope they would fix these in the future with their 2014 Navy and Grey Theme.
Then Noob came in the picture and their 2014 Safari seemed to nail most things right. So I decided it was the time to get one.
And I was right. It has all the features right.
Case brushing is nice. The bezel screws are evenly sunk in while the slot in the centre of the screws is nicely straight. The overall finishing is nicely done I'd say.
The pusher guards are straight and extended out just enough. This is the second most important thing to me, next to the dial. Although I did notice uneven surfaces at the top (@1) and bottom (@5) edges of the pusher guards where they meet the case.
Crystal is a typical Noob crystal I guess. I'm not bothered by it since AP shouldn't have double AR crystal imo lol. Cyclops is mediocre though and it's a bit cloudy. Date font is completely wrong since AP has been using their new font on these 2014 AP.
Strap is crappy as always. It's a Noob signature :lol:. So you must change the strap. OEM strap is still the best though. Haha.
All in all, Noob does still make a great watch.
The Dial
Nothing much to say about the dial actually. It seems Noob uses the same dial factory as J12. No difference whatsoever that I can see.
It's a nice dial with the ivory colour. The color has a metallic effect on it when viewed at a certain angle. Correct AP logo and subdials. It's also quite hard to capture the dial colour on camera.
One thing though, the colour on the minutes and hour hands are brown, the same as the brown on the numerals. While on J12 2014 Safari, the hands colour seems to be more like grey, not brown. You can check and confirm it yourself (for those who care of course
)The Pusher Guards, Pushers and Crown
AP decision to update the pusher guards shape as well as pushers and crown material is a welcome change. Together, these new features give the new ROOs a more masculine look, as said by LW's cofounder Morten Linde on the subject of angles on their watches (not that it's relevant here :lol
.The pushers and crown are now made from ceramic, as opposed to rubber on previous ROOs. A very nice update from AP since the rubber material might wear down with usage down the road. Also, the angular and bulked up pushers remind me of the piston-like pushers on the HBB Unico.
Comparison: Noob vs J12 vs Gen
As you can see, Noob is closer to the gen than J12. Noob's pushers are shorter and wider in diameter (even if not by much) while the crown is thicker. The pusher guards are straight and more extended out as well.
However, it doesn't mean there's no flaws though. The underside of the pusher guards are sloped, near where the crown is. The old ROO case has this as well but not on the gen 2014 ROO.
The Heart and Caseback
In the movement department, Noob uses the sec@12 A7750 with silver screws now, as opposed to the blue screws in their last generation of ROO. Winding the movement is very smooth. Small seconds hand isn't stuttering while I got almost 2 days of power reserve. Pretty good, or I'm just lucky. I'd rate it at the same lvl as J12 sec@12 A7750 movt this time, in terms of performance. They also install some kind of plate on the rotor screw in order to make it closer to the gen movement. I'm not a fan of it to be honest since it sits on top of the actual rotor screw, not replacing the screw. I also noticed the Noob rotor screw is smaller than J12's.
The rotor though, I'm a fan of. Noob uses a rotor that is closer to the gen rotor. They make the surface with the engravings smaller, while the polished part is bigger. The result is, the polished part of the rotor now can be seen through, similar to the gen. You can see the comparison below.
On the other hand, J12 has been using the same rotor with a tad larger engravings surface, so the polished part is always hidden by the caseback.
As for the caseback, the caseback screws on Noob 2014 Safari are smaller than the old ROO. The gen has smaller screws as well. So this is another plus. J12 is again, has been using the same size caseback screws across their 42mm ROO. So they're a tad bigger as well on theirs.
EDIT: J12 has now updated their 2014 AP caseback to have smaller caseback screws.
Comparison: J12 Buemi vs Noob 2014 Safari vs Gen 2014 Safari
Conclusion
I think Noob has made the best AP 2014 Safari out of the box so far (excluding strap). It has the correct 2014 features, which are important btw since it's not a 2014 AP if one of them is wrongly made. The watch is nicely made overall. Brushing is great, colours are great. However, Noob can start to fire their cyclops as well as the date wheel suppliers. It's high time that they change these two things. I know that they won't care about it but let's hope.
Pros:
- Great case;
- Good dial and hands (correct hands lume color);
- Great pusher guards shape;
- Great crown and pushers thickness/length;
- Nice and correct size rotor.
Cons:
- Wrong date font;
- Bad cyclops;
- Crappy strap.
All in all, if you're looking to get either 2014 Safari or Black Theme, I'd recommend Noob version. However, if you want to get the best 2014 Safari or Black Theme and you also have a deep pocket, I recommend you to get both Noob and J12 and mash them up. You only need to take J12 date wheel and cyclops. Maybe crystal as well. The result will be the best version possible.
Thanks for your time and for reading.
