- 12/3/18
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My Noob Skydweller arrived today and it is indeed a beautiful watch.
I'll just make some quick comments right now and add more later. But I wanted to get some pics out and an initial overview right away.
The watch is heavy and solid. It's 42mm and wears like a 216570 Exp II - BIG, if you are used to a 40mm Sub or GMT or a 39mm Daytona. The bracelet comes with 12 links plus an Easylink but surprisingly it was a nearly perfect fit (slightly loose) on my 7.25" wrist meaning if you have a big wrist you might need an extra link. I can't tell if this is 904L or not, ones ordered after mine have a 904L sticker on them at no additional cost so I'm guessing they all are or they all aren't and some just have the sticker, lol.
The bracelet is standard Noob quality, decent enough with nice brush and polish. It's no ARF but I can easily live with it. The clasp closes well and stays shut. Three out of four SEL corners have a slight recess. One of them sticks up slightly. I'll have to see what I can do to improve that (swap bracelet halves, adjust springbar, etc.). The lug width is 22mm, same as gen. This means no jubilee swap unfortunately.
The blue dial is gorgeous and changes hues and rays constantly. I measured the crystal at 34.5mm. The gen is 33.0mm - I have an aftermarket gen spec crystal. So this rep is not going to take a gen or aftermarket gen-spec crystal. That's not a huge deal to me, the crystal is not bad at all. Also it means not having to figure out how to remove the functional bezel, which could be a big headache. It looks to me like the Noob dial is larger than the gen, based on the crystal being larger. This would explain the normal size date window on the Noob when it also has a larger diameter GMT wheel - there is more dial space for these larger components. The tradeoff is the bezel looks narrower on the Noob. Overall it's a very nice presentation IMO.
As discussed in the other thread the GMT wheel numerals are aligned straight and not curved to align to the wheel. This makes the 20, 22, and 24 in particular appear to be "crooked", or each digit leaning in toward the other to some degree. They do not lean in, it's an illusion and it really is not very apparent on the wrist. In magnified pics it is definitely visible.
Noob
Gen
The hands and datewheel are both very good IMO. The movement winds smoothly and the date changing and GMT wheel functions work nicely. In case you didn't know, the movement is a DG5833, which is low beat. The bezel turns firmly to set the month indicator, it should not get knocked out of position easily.
Here are some pics indoors and outdoors
Now for some bad news. Mine came with a tube that is split almost completely through. I've emailed the TD to ask for a new tube from Noob as finding an aftermarket to fit the case and the crown is not going to be easy, We'll see what happens. Real bummer because the tube could give way completely into the crown any time so I really can't continue using it normally. I can put it on a winder and get some use out of it but it isn't waterproof or dustproof atm.
Overall a really nice upgrade from the previous offerings. I will get the tube issue sorted one way or another. The watch really looks great on the wrist and does not look or feel cheap. An easy 8.75/10.0 for me - I don't mind the low beat YMMV.
I'll just make some quick comments right now and add more later. But I wanted to get some pics out and an initial overview right away.
The watch is heavy and solid. It's 42mm and wears like a 216570 Exp II - BIG, if you are used to a 40mm Sub or GMT or a 39mm Daytona. The bracelet comes with 12 links plus an Easylink but surprisingly it was a nearly perfect fit (slightly loose) on my 7.25" wrist meaning if you have a big wrist you might need an extra link. I can't tell if this is 904L or not, ones ordered after mine have a 904L sticker on them at no additional cost so I'm guessing they all are or they all aren't and some just have the sticker, lol.
The bracelet is standard Noob quality, decent enough with nice brush and polish. It's no ARF but I can easily live with it. The clasp closes well and stays shut. Three out of four SEL corners have a slight recess. One of them sticks up slightly. I'll have to see what I can do to improve that (swap bracelet halves, adjust springbar, etc.). The lug width is 22mm, same as gen. This means no jubilee swap unfortunately.
The blue dial is gorgeous and changes hues and rays constantly. I measured the crystal at 34.5mm. The gen is 33.0mm - I have an aftermarket gen spec crystal. So this rep is not going to take a gen or aftermarket gen-spec crystal. That's not a huge deal to me, the crystal is not bad at all. Also it means not having to figure out how to remove the functional bezel, which could be a big headache. It looks to me like the Noob dial is larger than the gen, based on the crystal being larger. This would explain the normal size date window on the Noob when it also has a larger diameter GMT wheel - there is more dial space for these larger components. The tradeoff is the bezel looks narrower on the Noob. Overall it's a very nice presentation IMO.
As discussed in the other thread the GMT wheel numerals are aligned straight and not curved to align to the wheel. This makes the 20, 22, and 24 in particular appear to be "crooked", or each digit leaning in toward the other to some degree. They do not lean in, it's an illusion and it really is not very apparent on the wrist. In magnified pics it is definitely visible.
Noob
Gen
The hands and datewheel are both very good IMO. The movement winds smoothly and the date changing and GMT wheel functions work nicely. In case you didn't know, the movement is a DG5833, which is low beat. The bezel turns firmly to set the month indicator, it should not get knocked out of position easily.
Here are some pics indoors and outdoors
Now for some bad news. Mine came with a tube that is split almost completely through. I've emailed the TD to ask for a new tube from Noob as finding an aftermarket to fit the case and the crown is not going to be easy, We'll see what happens. Real bummer because the tube could give way completely into the crown any time so I really can't continue using it normally. I can put it on a winder and get some use out of it but it isn't waterproof or dustproof atm.
Overall a really nice upgrade from the previous offerings. I will get the tube issue sorted one way or another. The watch really looks great on the wrist and does not look or feel cheap. An easy 8.75/10.0 for me - I don't mind the low beat YMMV.
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