- 25/9/22
- 6,100
- 16,689
- 113
Foreword
Let’s cut the crap and get straight into it. First of all, I do NOT have the $2,000,000 gen of this watch, so unfortunately all comparisons to “gen” will be with pictures. Additionally, this is a fake watch of a “custom watch” (a nice way of saying a “fake watch” in Rolex’s eyes). With that in mind I think we can bear with the watch itself. I'm not a professional reviewer so excuse me if I missed anything
Background
This watch first fell into my radar when it appeared in Adam Levine’s “Talking Watches”. I’m not a big writer, you can read these articles for background. What really hit me was the vintage subdials with the vintage markers, combined with an all brushed bracelet, no crown-guard case, and an imposing dial that is fully lumed. It smacks you right in the face. It’s loud, and brash, a modern sports watch with a splash of vintage features that flesh out an interesting personality for this watch.
For more reading :
https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/talking-watches-adam-levine
https://www.artisansdegeneve.com/en/challenges/neon-for-adam-levine/
www.fratellowatches.com
Replica
There are two variants of this replica, the “steel” and “gold” variant. I opted for the steel, not a fan of gold watches, but please note that this is even more “fake”, since there is no steel variant of this watch that has ever been seen before in the wild. I know @VenomGT3 owns the gold one.
It belongs to a new factory, “ADGF” (very original name, I know). Previously ADGF only worked on Daytonas with 7750s, but with this new one, they’ve stepped it up. I’ve been impressed and I hope they release the other ADGs in their line with a 4130 (I would pick up the “Rusty” and “6263 modern vintage” from them!
Movement
Let’s get this out of the way. I have been seeing a lot of people claim this out as a “4130” clone or “true clone” or some “skeletonized” variant of the 4130. This is false. This is the SL-4802 “Peacock”, or the skeletonized variant of the SL-4801, or the “legal 4130” clone.
https://www.cpeacockmovement.com/Movement_detail/4.html
In fact, you can see some legal Chinese homages using this movement in their Daytona, look at this “Cronusart”.
https://www.watchuseek.com/threads/impressed-with-my-aliexpress-purchase-cronus-art.5532109/
Another watch that uses this movement is the GETF Factory Daytonas.
forum.replica-watch.info
Thanks to @dogwood for the first one to recognize it!,
The two easy tricks to differentiate this is first of all, on the 30 minute subdial – there’s a gear missing on the SL-4802 movement.
Second of all, the rotor is unidirectional, not like 4130 style rotor.
I won’t make a comparison to gen – if you know anything about skeletonized movements, you should know that a $700 replica isn’t going to even touch a $100k+ custom skeletonized movement. It’s passable for what it is. I would strongly suggest looking at Sonic or Oascam’s skeletonized Daytonas if you are interested in this stuff.
Despite all of this, I would happily take a SL-4801 or SL-4802 in a clone Daytona. It’s cheaper, it’s reliable, in a closed caseback you would never know, and if it breaks you can source on on Aliexpress easily unlike the 4130 which is a headache to source. The thickness is exactly the same as the 4130. It has a vertical clutch. So in terms of spec, we’re not losing anything except Power Reserve (which is the most overrated aspect of a movement, especially if you own a collection).
My movement is holding strong at +7s/day, crisp chronograph button action, and no issues with resetting. I’ve already run the chronograph for 6 hours straight with barely a hiccup.
Dial
The dial is extremely unique and reminds me of the vintage “Blaken” IPKF variants. I love the see through subdials, and the gentle transparent edges are a very nice touch. I love the subdial markers that are vintage, it's what drew me to the watch.
The unique layout of the dial with the thick bezel actually makes the watch “wear” smaller than it looks somehow. It feels like a 38mm because the transparent rims of the dial actually trick our brain in making the dial look smaller….
The printing is very crisp, so is the Daytona printing. The subdials are well printed and aligned. So is the swiss made. There are no complaints from me about this printing.
The coronet is three dimensional and sharp, well finished, and glistens in the sunlight.
Unfortunately, on my watch there’s a slight dark patch (I assume from the uneven application of lume across the dial), so I would suggest you look out for this for QC.
Additionally, a minor nit pick but you can see some of the lume dots are very drunk, but these are so tiny they are not noticeable for me.
The only thing I will condone on the gen and replica is defacing the dial symmetry with two out of place screws (why!!!!!). But that’s not a replica fault so I’ll leave it at that.
Hands
Nothing to say. The main hour and minute hands, they’re well finished and well done, no complaints from me. The subdial hands are painted green and nicely done. The subdial hands, in comparison to gen they’re a little skinny – but forgivable. I actually think the skinny hands work better than the thick “gen” hands.
LEFT - REP, RIGHT - GEN
Crystal
Vintage style boxed crystal, with great AR. Can’t complain. Better than both BTF and Clean crystals, with the boxed crystal giving a slight distortion on the edges, just like the vintage. Very nice.
Bezel
The bezel is gorgeous. It’s partially what attracted me to this watch. It’s a vintage style bezel – the way the numbers are laid out, the “UNITS PER HOUR” location, etc.
It has a sapphire overlay on top of the bezel – similar to the Blancpain Barrukda 40mm “Sapphire” bezel. The sapphire crystal over the bezel gives a distortion at the edges, which makes it very unique. The metal rim outside of the bezel gives it a vintage look. Overall, very cool.
Did I mention it’s fully lumed?
Let’s cut the crap and get straight into it. First of all, I do NOT have the $2,000,000 gen of this watch, so unfortunately all comparisons to “gen” will be with pictures. Additionally, this is a fake watch of a “custom watch” (a nice way of saying a “fake watch” in Rolex’s eyes). With that in mind I think we can bear with the watch itself. I'm not a professional reviewer so excuse me if I missed anything
Background
This watch first fell into my radar when it appeared in Adam Levine’s “Talking Watches”. I’m not a big writer, you can read these articles for background. What really hit me was the vintage subdials with the vintage markers, combined with an all brushed bracelet, no crown-guard case, and an imposing dial that is fully lumed. It smacks you right in the face. It’s loud, and brash, a modern sports watch with a splash of vintage features that flesh out an interesting personality for this watch.
For more reading :
https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/talking-watches-adam-levine
https://www.artisansdegeneve.com/en/challenges/neon-for-adam-levine/
Artisans De Genève Goes Luminescent With The Bespoke Neon Daytona 116508 For Adam Levine
✓ Artisans de Genève goes luminescent bold with the Neon Daytona ✓ A dazzling, irreverent take on a grail watch for Adam Levine ✓
www.fratellowatches.com
Replica
There are two variants of this replica, the “steel” and “gold” variant. I opted for the steel, not a fan of gold watches, but please note that this is even more “fake”, since there is no steel variant of this watch that has ever been seen before in the wild. I know @VenomGT3 owns the gold one.
It belongs to a new factory, “ADGF” (very original name, I know). Previously ADGF only worked on Daytonas with 7750s, but with this new one, they’ve stepped it up. I’ve been impressed and I hope they release the other ADGs in their line with a 4130 (I would pick up the “Rusty” and “6263 modern vintage” from them!
Movement
Let’s get this out of the way. I have been seeing a lot of people claim this out as a “4130” clone or “true clone” or some “skeletonized” variant of the 4130. This is false. This is the SL-4802 “Peacock”, or the skeletonized variant of the SL-4801, or the “legal 4130” clone.
https://www.cpeacockmovement.com/Movement_detail/4.html
In fact, you can see some legal Chinese homages using this movement in their Daytona, look at this “Cronusart”.
https://www.watchuseek.com/threads/impressed-with-my-aliexpress-purchase-cronus-art.5532109/
Another watch that uses this movement is the GETF Factory Daytonas.
GET factory skeleton Daytona
Apparently a new factory coming with a bunch of new skeletonised Daytonas (source Biao) Link : https://biao6688.com/234544.html
forum.replica-watch.info
Thanks to @dogwood for the first one to recognize it!,
The two easy tricks to differentiate this is first of all, on the 30 minute subdial – there’s a gear missing on the SL-4802 movement.
Second of all, the rotor is unidirectional, not like 4130 style rotor.
I won’t make a comparison to gen – if you know anything about skeletonized movements, you should know that a $700 replica isn’t going to even touch a $100k+ custom skeletonized movement. It’s passable for what it is. I would strongly suggest looking at Sonic or Oascam’s skeletonized Daytonas if you are interested in this stuff.
Despite all of this, I would happily take a SL-4801 or SL-4802 in a clone Daytona. It’s cheaper, it’s reliable, in a closed caseback you would never know, and if it breaks you can source on on Aliexpress easily unlike the 4130 which is a headache to source. The thickness is exactly the same as the 4130. It has a vertical clutch. So in terms of spec, we’re not losing anything except Power Reserve (which is the most overrated aspect of a movement, especially if you own a collection).
My movement is holding strong at +7s/day, crisp chronograph button action, and no issues with resetting. I’ve already run the chronograph for 6 hours straight with barely a hiccup.
Dial
The dial is extremely unique and reminds me of the vintage “Blaken” IPKF variants. I love the see through subdials, and the gentle transparent edges are a very nice touch. I love the subdial markers that are vintage, it's what drew me to the watch.
The unique layout of the dial with the thick bezel actually makes the watch “wear” smaller than it looks somehow. It feels like a 38mm because the transparent rims of the dial actually trick our brain in making the dial look smaller….
The printing is very crisp, so is the Daytona printing. The subdials are well printed and aligned. So is the swiss made. There are no complaints from me about this printing.
The coronet is three dimensional and sharp, well finished, and glistens in the sunlight.
Unfortunately, on my watch there’s a slight dark patch (I assume from the uneven application of lume across the dial), so I would suggest you look out for this for QC.
Additionally, a minor nit pick but you can see some of the lume dots are very drunk, but these are so tiny they are not noticeable for me.
The only thing I will condone on the gen and replica is defacing the dial symmetry with two out of place screws (why!!!!!). But that’s not a replica fault so I’ll leave it at that.
Hands
Nothing to say. The main hour and minute hands, they’re well finished and well done, no complaints from me. The subdial hands are painted green and nicely done. The subdial hands, in comparison to gen they’re a little skinny – but forgivable. I actually think the skinny hands work better than the thick “gen” hands.
LEFT - REP, RIGHT - GEN
Crystal
Vintage style boxed crystal, with great AR. Can’t complain. Better than both BTF and Clean crystals, with the boxed crystal giving a slight distortion on the edges, just like the vintage. Very nice.
Bezel
The bezel is gorgeous. It’s partially what attracted me to this watch. It’s a vintage style bezel – the way the numbers are laid out, the “UNITS PER HOUR” location, etc.
It has a sapphire overlay on top of the bezel – similar to the Blancpain Barrukda 40mm “Sapphire” bezel. The sapphire crystal over the bezel gives a distortion at the edges, which makes it very unique. The metal rim outside of the bezel gives it a vintage look. Overall, very cool.
Did I mention it’s fully lumed?
