I have never liked the green bezel on the Submariner 16610LV but somehow the green grows in me and I like it much better now.
Before I begin the review I want to list the problems with the LV Sub I got from my seller. For these LV Subs I'd just call it TC factory direct LV Sub. They are built by my seller's watchmaker, they are made in China, so "factory direct" suits the description the best.
First the original bracelet that comes with the LV Sub is bad. What you see in the picture is one of TC 93250 V2 bracelet. The lug width of the factory direct LV Sub is 20.06, TC V2 bracelet SEL width is 20.13 I couldn't fit the SEL onto the case in the beginning. I had to trim the SEL then get it fit. The fitment doesn't look bad at all.
The dial indices of 6 and 9 were crooked I had to bent it to alignment with a steel ruler. An easy task but takes extreme focus.
I bought 5 TC factory direct LV Subs back and all 5 have the same issues, bad bracelet, bad SEL, and crooked indices at 6 and 9 on the dial. Once getting rid off these ugly factors, the LV Sub actually looks darn good.
The crystal on the TC factory direct LV Sub is a 2.0 mm crystal. It's the same crystal I used on the M-series TC Subs. The clarity is not bad at all. People say rep crystal clarity is not as good as gen I think that's just because gen indices reflect much sharper brightness then rep indices. Top is TC factory direct LV Sub; bottom gen Sub without bezel insert.
I will talk about the dial print quality later. Let's take a look at the case and crown first. I believe the watch case maker somehow drilled the tube hole too deep. There must be a reason for this I will ask my seller the next time I meet him. Crown guard shape is alright, and from the back one could tell the watch case is very well machined. The back case teeth shape and depth are excellent!
TC factory direct LV Sub comes with TC's Date Wheel Overlay. I said somewhere before, there are thousands DWO maker in GD province, only a couple has the right equipment and skill to make a DWO like this.
Coolchu made a post about gen crystal height versus bezel insert. The M-series gen does have the most protrude crystal height than other gen series. That feature is on TC factory direct LV Sub as well.
The LV bezel insert is far better than the black bezel insert I have. The pearl is of the right shape, there's a clear coating over the lume. It actually looks better than Clark insert with WM pearl combo. The green color of this insert has excellent match to gen. It reflects a yellowish tint at an angle like a gen. I'm impressed by this as I have never seen one rep maker done it right.
Now let's check dial print quality. Notice print raised high gloss? Needless to say a gen feature that doesn't exist on other Rolex reps.
TC factory direct LV Sub's crown position sits just a tad lower than gen or TC Sub V-series crown position. My theory to this the case maker wanted to make a case could house also 2824 or 2836. The movement inside is a Sellita SW200. There is no stem tension when operation I'd say the case maker did a brilliant job!
Thanks for reading!
TC
