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New Noob Daytona 116520 4130 clone build thread.

bill33

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Hi everyone,

Just thought I'd post a review/build thread for the new Noob 4130 clone as looks like I'm one of the first on here to receive the 116520.

This will start as a review and follow up on my build.

First impressions out of the box were very good.

I'll discuss the pros and cons of the watch, then update when the real parts arrive and are fitted.

The build plan is to turn this into an early/mid 2000's thin hand model.

Plans for this are as follows:

Remove rehaut engraving.
Remove noob lug engravings and re-engrave with a Y serial to be period correct.
Replace dial with a real white 1166520 dial. Early 2 tick if I can find one.
Replace the bezel with a real Rolex bezel.
Replace the hands with real rolex thin hands.
Replace the clasp with a 78490 'hole' clasp. Already sourced from Phong.

Now onto some pictures.

The watch:

U2B9vIV.jpg

Jw3x857.jpg



BEZEL. In my opinion this could be improved. The are too thin and not deep enough. Having said that I've had a genuine bezel that was also not engraved very deep, the markings were slightly thicker however. It looks to be not as flat as a genuine bezel. I don't have a real bezel at the moment to compare it to, as soon as it arrives I'll update this.Also the 120 mark doesn't line up perfectly with the 6 o clock dial marker. I haven't pulled the bezel off yet but I'm hoping there's no lip under there like on the Noob 2824 version. This will be getting replaced with a genuine bezel.

gBqcK82.jpg



CASE SHAPE AND THICKNESS. The case shape isn't perfect. When viewed side on its almost flat on the underside, needs more of a curve on the lugs. Nice shape to the side though (
The thickness comes in at 12.8mm including the crystal. Rolex gives the Daytona thickness measurement at 12.2mm. 0.6mm difference. This may be in the crystal, caseback, rehaut etc. I don't know. Crown is excellent as usual from Noob.

jpYwktN.jpg

MoEYxAH.jpg


CASEBACK. Very good, nice and thin, stampings are very good.

adAm9oc.jpg


CROWN GUARDS. Again very good. No complaints here, no shaving or mods required imo. PUSHERS. These are very good. Not perfect, but the best ones I've seen on a rep. These are fully screwed in.

jpYwktN.jpg

dvTs2xe.jpg

uu5FdhK.jpg


REHAUT/REHAUT ENGRAVINGS. The rehaut is a little tall. Fractions of a mm. Engravings are superb...if this was a 116500. It's 'matrix' style when it should be the 'double outlined' on a 116520. All letters line up very well with the dial markers. These are far better than the ARF. The pictures do these no justice

c0bivCT.jpg

0CrDceu.jpg


SEL. This is a let down. The SELs are the worst part of this watch. They're shit. This example was the best I could find. Others were far worse. I'm hoping this is a bracelet issue, and not the lugs being out of spec. I'll swap this bracelet over for an ARF and see if that fixes the issue. The photos do exaggerate the gap though, it's not that noticeable on the wrist.

41ld9xA.jpg

rVPOHMn.jpg

RG6a1AB.jpg


BRACELET. Good feel to it, nice engravings on both the clasp and SEL. cClasp and flip lock nice and snappy. Can't feel any difference between this and my last ARF bracelet to be honest. Polishing is superb and the brushing isn't bad, could be a little courser if I'm being fussy.

Zkanyn6.jpg

M8d1WoM.jpg


LUG ENGRAVINGS: Standard Noob engravings here. The best in the rep game IMO. Nice and light, fonts are spot on. However, this is a 116520, the engravings are for a 116500. Poor form from noob for using the same cases for both the 116500 and the 116520.

tukuyAX.jpg


DIAL: A fantasy. 2 tick dial on a supposed 2016 model watch. 116520 of this era should have a single tick dial. Text spacing is also from that of a 116500. Looks like noob used the same pad printers on both. The font is also crap, and the R O LEX spacing isn't right. The 'DAYTONA' text colour is also off. Too bright. The subdials have a nice shine, and the printing isn't bad. The markers however are a bit flat.

0CrDceu.jpg

pBnS8ZR.jpg


HANDS: Standard rep hands, a little rough on the edges.

jkutonO.jpg


MOVEMENT: The pièce de résistance! I've opened the back up on this and studied it very carefully against genuine picture. It looks to be a complete clone of the 4130. I'm pretty sure it will take real Rolex parts bar the balance assembly. All parts are in the correct position, screws, jewels all look exactley the same. This looks more of an SH4130 than an SA4130. The finishing is very very good for a Chinese clone. Obviously not to Rolex standards, but close.

IYd35xd.jpg

Ag4RDs6.jpg


A good base for a franken, not perfect, but what rep is? For me this is worth the price tag just for the movement alone. If your not fussed about the movement, buy an ARF. It's a much better finished watch out of the box.

I'll update this thread as the parts arrive and when it's back from the engravers. Cheers
 

Ace0nBase

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Very exciting! Thank you for sharing and look forward to your progress.


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antotony0203

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Nice thread man !!!! Thinking of building one too haha

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botsyboy

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Here is the dimension of a gen 2004 bezel buddy.
a0b5b6ea0a5736f755eaa9db87c1af8e.jpg

6d8fd43ad35b8b2c860086835b63deec.jpg



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botsyboy

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I think with a gen bezel and slightly lower crystal gasket the overall thickness will be very close.


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pompompurin

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from the pictures, i think noob factory drilled the pair of lug holes slightly off from each other:
1. you can tell from the SELs which sits slightly diagonal with more shadows on one side
2. the jig/tooling used for drilling lug holes mirrors one pair of lug holes to the other pair of lug holes on the opposite end

Picture below: the slightly diagonal SEL that mirrors the bottom slightly diagonal SEL. This can be explained by the same incorrectly setup jig/tool that was used to drill the lugs holes on both sides
rVPOHMn.jpg

41ld9xA.jpg
 

bill33

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botsyboy Thanks for that, I’ll measure the noob bezel when I get a chance.

pompompurin yes I see what you mean. The spring bar holes seem off on each opposite sides.
The spring bars are loose through the SEL though, it may just be play in them giving that effect, I’ll try some thicker spring bars and see if that helps. If not A crude solution may be to bend the spring bar ever so slightly on one side. I’ll have a think to see if there’s another way to rectify.
 

guru

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@bill33
thanks for the review.
Can you check the powerreserve of the movement?



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bill33

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Sure thing, I’ll get back to you on that.
 

rolexwatchfan

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Subscribed as well. I need to start negotiating my dial deal pretty soon. That movement is just something else. Fingers crossed for OEM CP specs. OP thank you for the writeup! Keep us posted on the process.