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Maybe the second best ever rep Hulk bezel insert found on eBay

Tanya

You're Saying I Can Sell?
17/5/08
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Took a chance on an eBay ceramic insert and guess what, if my VRF ever cracks I think I found a hell of a replacement.
Now I’ve never owned the LocoLouie but from what I’ve seen the VRF is as good anyway and I’ve owned the gen.
The one on the bottom was $40 on eBay
The top is the ARF
Both are heading to Germany for Sputter coating for my franken build.
Thought I’d share
It even has better colored platinum paint, not applied that great but who cares if your having it plated
Before you ask it’s raining outside and dark I’m not going to go outside to take pics. They’re boxed up anyway now.
https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.com/ulk/itm/132694320331
952be54c93ad7255c22abd54bccb4020.jpg

3e7f5647a8ee12efed777b209dc94006.jpg




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Smoke

Legendary Member
18/3/13
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Interesting.i wonder what that looks like next to a gen
 

Smoke

Legendary Member
18/3/13
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It looks like you used the flash to take these pics.can you take normal pics no flash
 

Tanya

You're Saying I Can Sell?
17/5/08
69
41
18
First pic is no flash under desk lamp.
Boxed up already mang


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Princewilliam

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27/7/15
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Doesn’t look much better to me


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johnlogan

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18/12/15
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I own the VRF MAX Hulk and my insert numbers faded after 1 x year. So much so that there was nothing left.. I will try this.
 

KJ2020

Time Traveler
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12/3/18
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These aftermarket inserts are thinner than the rep factories/gens so the marker cutouts are shallow. The markers are usually white and they won't take a paint mod well unless you dig the existing paint out first. The bottoms of the cutouts are rough and I've seen what a sputter paint mod looks like. It's not worth it. Every effort I've tried or seen tried on one of these looks worse than just leaving it the way you get it from the vendor.
 

GingerBubba

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24/10/17
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Oh a slight tangent, has anyone had an ARF insert side by side with Gen? I wonder how it compares irl, with same lighting etc. It's so hard to guage in pictures.
 

johnlogan

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Oh a slight tangent, has anyone had an ARF insert side by side with Gen? I wonder how it compares irl, with same lighting etc. It's so hard to guage in pictures.

The ARF is very close to GEN, even that hint of peach tone! Hard to tell the difference.
 

Vvvlllooo

I'm Pretty Popular
13/6/15
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Oh a slight tangent, has anyone had an ARF insert side by side with Gen? I wonder how it compares irl, with same lighting etc. It's so hard to guage in pictures.

For hulk, not even close. Vrf looks the closest and occb2 said it’s not even close side by side
 
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71bucks

Active Member
18/5/10
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I wonder if there haven't been more than one ARF hulk insert: I was seeing pictures of early ARF hulks and they looked real close to genuine pictures, I ordered an insert and it was real dark with shallow engraving (didn't even put it on a watch), thought I got sold something other than an ARF insert but then I saw pictures of recent ARF hulks and they looked like the insert I received.
 

GingerBubba

SUPERLATIVE SUPPORTER I'm an angel
24/10/17
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I wonder if there haven't been more than one ARF hulk insert: I was seeing pictures of early ARF hulks and they looked real close to genuine pictures, I ordered an insert and it was real dark with shallow engraving (didn't even put it on a watch), thought I got sold something other than an ARF insert but then I saw pictures of recent ARF hulks and they looked like the insert I received.

That's exactly what I was thinking!!! Because mine seems fairly decent when comparing to the Gen pics in this thread - but it's so hard to say unless it's alongside the Gen in identical light. Oh well, it really doesn't matter either way - I'm such a baller, I'd pull it off if it was a $50 Canal Street special - it's just nice to know either way ;)
 
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rolexwatchfan

Put Some Respect On My Name
17/8/13
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Allright' gents! My "EBay" insert arrived today so I took a liberty of snapping few quick pictures in different light conditions in comparison with Noob V7 and Spongebob insert. Here it comes:

Overcast, indirect sunlight.
From left to right: NV7, SB, EBay.
VEBA9T.jpg

From left to right: SB, EBay, NV7.
VKDV6A.jpg

Indoors daylight.
Top NV7, bottom SB, left EBay.
VKDuTQ.jpg

Indoors closeup.
Top SB, center EBay, bottom NV7
VKDKCf.jpg

VKDp3X.jpg


Overall first impressions:
The color is much brighter than any of the rep LV inserts I've handled. Not even close to gen. It's light and vibrant but lacking that "candy apple" effect the GEN has.
Pearl is nice and bright but "feels" cheaper even than my NV7.
The numerals are straight cut, shallower than NV7 and not remotely close what SB offered. The "platinum" is solid but way too bright and flat. I wonder how it would look after proper "plating".

Conclusion:
As far as I can tell, the insert color is the best I've seen so far. I will be waiting for direct sunlight to see if we'd get the "candy apple" effect from this insert. So far is not comparable to GEN but again, so far the best I've seen. What that means, the factories could procure way better inserts for their LV Hulks, it would take more research and experimentation but the answer is out there. The prime example is the infamous EBay insert.
Let me know what you think.
 
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Vvvlllooo

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Allright' gents! My "EBay" insert arrived today so I took a liberty of snapping few quick pictures in different light conditions in comparison with Noob V7 and Spongebob insert. Here it comes:

Overcast, indirect sunlight.
From left to right: NV7, SB, EBay.
VEBA9T.jpg

From left to right: SB, EBay, NV7.
VKDV6A.jpg

Indoors daylight.
Top NV7, bottom SB, left EBay.
VKDuTQ.jpg

Indoors closeup.
Top SB, center EBay, bottom NV7
VKDKCf.jpg

VKDp3X.jpg


Overall first impressions:
The color is much brighter than any of the rep LV inserts I've handled. Not even close to gen. It's light and vibrant but lacking that "candy apple" effect the GEN has.
Pearl is nice and bright but "feels" cheaper even than my NV7.
The numerals are straight cut, shallower than NV7 and not remotely close what SB offered. The "platinum" is solid but way too bright and flat. I wonder how it would look after proper "plating".

Conclusion:
As far as I can tell, the insert color is the best I've seen so far. I will be waiting for direct sunlight to see if we'd get the "candy apple" effect from this insert. So far is not comparable to GEN but again, so far the best I've seen. What that means, the factories could procure way better inserts for their LV Hulks, it would take more research and experimentation but the answer is out there. The prime example is the infamous EBay insert.
Let me know what you think.

Thanks for your review
 

GingerBubba

SUPERLATIVE SUPPORTER I'm an angel
24/10/17
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What do you guys reckon to this insert? Good? Bad? I'm looking for some honest opinions and then I'll say more about it.

These shots were taken indoors, but next to a large window on a miserable, grey, overcast day.




 

dom1986

Renowned Member
20/1/15
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What do you guys reckon to this insert? Good? Bad? I'm looking for some honest opinions and then I'll say more about it.

These shots were taken indoors, but next to a large window on a miserable, grey, overcast day.





Is this an ARF? The insert looks too dull even in the poor lighting. Gen has a peachy tone in some lights and a bright apple green in others.


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dom1986

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20/1/15
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dc54fd2cb39d2f3916e50d773a649f25.jpg


This gives an indication of what i mean with the difference with the gen in green on the insert.

With the gen under natural light the “peach” tones appear to come from the platinum on the bezel. Believe me when i say, the ARF and the Noob v9 inserts although on pics look good and are really good reps, do not come close to gen. There are big differences. Moving in the right direction though. Platinum mods are also good, but still don’t change the fact that there isn’t a rep bezel out there that matches the correct colour of gen.

I opted for a noob GMT 2 CHS modded by johnny dep with a gen bezel assembly and gen xtal instead.
 

GingerBubba

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Is this an ARF? The insert looks too dull even in the poor lighting. Gen has a peachy tone in some lights and a bright apple green in others.

Well...... you're wrong, but you're virtually right.

My pics above are of the insert I bought from the eBay link OP posted in the first post.
So you're wrong, because it's the eBay insert.
However, it's identical in terms of green colour to my stock ARF insert. The only difference is the ARF platinum indices have a peach tone which, Gen like or not, I didn't like. In bright sunshine, my ARF indices seem almost yellow. I just didn't like it. So I swapped out the ARF insert for the eBay insert (and it's more traditional platinum indices). But I agree the green colour of the insert for is still not right so for me, I would not recommend the eBay insert over the stock ARF.

Pics below are of the eBay insert installed in the bezel ring (ie, at the top of the picture) and my stock ARF insert at the bottom of the picture.