ARF 116613LB Bluesy Submariner Ceramic - quick review / impressions vs gen parts

[mega12]

Hi guys,
this is not a detailed review as I did in the past but I thought sharing some quick impressions from an ARF Bluesy Sub C which I recently aquired.

Overall, ARF watches get a lot of good reviews about its OOB quality. I cannot agree for this model 100%.
Bracelet is not as good as I know from other ARF SS Submariner or Daytona models.
Bezel is slightly misaligned and it’s very easy to turn. Compared to gen, there should be little bit more tension.

However, I changed bracelet to a rubber one. This solved the quality issue of ARF links and puts very little tension on my bezel. I think it’s a win win and I’m very happy about it.
The crystal and cyclops is pretty nice.
Date disc varies from very nice numbers to certain bold or little blurred numbers. As I have many other watches to chose, I can live with this date disc to wear it on certain days only.

As many people talk about the wrapped or non wrapped bracelet of two tone ARF Submariner: mine was / is wrapped and came directly with the watch from factory. It was not a separate bracelet order.
Nonetheless, the wrapping is a very thin layer only. Nothing compared to my professional wrapped GMF bracelet from a GMT.
Also end links doesn’t look that professional as GMT end links do. Therefore, I would recommend changing bracelet. I was supposed to wear it on rubber band anyway so I’m happy.
Watch had with dial, hands and insert is very good!! I took some pictures compared to gen parts and honestly, I’m not sure if I should switch those parts to gen. My gen parts are used while the ARF parts look quiet nice.
Nevertheless, gen parts have better details (as always) and are much more crisp (like gold plating on insert, Submariner printing on dial, 3D effect on gen hands. You won’t notice this in every angle, but once you come into situations with more or less light, gen looks always more perfect.

Now onto the pictures

 

[mega12]

For Tapa

 

[watchguyusa1]

mega12 can you provide the link of the actual model this is? the new 2824 or the 3135? I assume this has the 3135 ? as you have the gen hands?

 

[T&E]

Really nice comparison

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[mega12]

mega12 can you provide the link of the actual model this is? the new 2824 or the 3135? I assume this has the 3135 ? as you have the gen hands?

Yes, it’s ARF 116613LB SH3135 v2
You will find it on any TD site like intime, puretime...

 

[mega12]

After wearing it for one day I decided to change insert instantly (dial, hands, crown will follow). Although my gen insert has a crack and no pearl (I will order one), the look and feel with gen insert compared to stock ARF is immense. I didn’t realize at the beginning, especially if you don’t have a gen insert aside, but once you see how gen gold plating looks compared to ARF, you think it’s a poor watch.
Therefore, I would always recommend a gold mod to the stock insert. The blue color is quiet ok and no need to purchase a gen. But definitely gold mod required.

Gen on the right

Gen on top

Gen mounted

 

[KJ2020]

Great review and pics bro. Thanks for taking the time. It's a great watch but wow it sure seems like factories are cutting corners these days. Guess that's what gen parts are for. It's going to be awesome when you're done!

 

[mega12]

Great review and pics bro. Thanks for taking the time. It's a great watch but wow it sure seems like factories are cutting corners these days. Guess that's what gen parts are for. It's going to be awesome when you're done!

Thanks bro.
Yeah sometimes it seems that they improve something but then they intend to fail something else. Maybe they did not understand so far, that if they would do a perfect watch, they could easily sell the same model for many years. Like Rolex does as well

 

[mega12]

Hi guys, just a short update.

My original modding idea was as follows:
Gen Crystal gasket
Gen bezel gasket
Gen gold crown
Gen tube
Gen insert
Gen dial
Gen hands
Gen Everest Rubber strap
Noob v9 DateDisc

ARF case, Clasp, bezel assembly, case back
SH v2 movement

While changing parts it turned out, that the following didn’t work:

V9 date disc didn’t fit. It’s diameter is too large and requires sanding. I suppose gen date disc won’t fit without sanding as well.

After changing dial to gen, dates where centered to the right. More obvious on certain 2 digit calendar days but unfortunately there. Drives me crazy as I’m very sensitive about date disc and need to source a gen one to sand it. Hope it will be solved then.

Gen tube didn’t fit. I removed a gen tube from another case but it turned out that this was shortened and glued before. Therefore I understand that it didn’t fit. However, couldn’t try if a not damaged gen tube would have fitted. Anyway, different to Noob tubes the ARF is quiet good and works smooth in combination with gen crown. That’s why I can live with it.

Gen second hand didn’t stay strong in place and was spinning around all the time. Either it’s because the hand was heavily used before or it is in general. I don’t know. Therefore I installed gen hour and minute hand together with ARF second hand.

Gen crystal gasket didn’t hold strong in place. I was able to push crystal ring with my fingers only over it. Usually you need a press for this. I installed ARF again and it holds strong in place now.

ARF crystal has very obvious LEC. I installed a VRF crystal. Has also little bit less magnification. Not perfect, but ok for the moment.

Gen bezel gasket makes bezel turn very strong. It’s thicker than ARF gasket. Maybe I will sand it down a bit. ARF bezel turn is a bit too soft IMO. But gen is too strong so I used ARF again. Bezel turn sounds a bit cheap, but ok.

Insert
Used a eBay 116619 insert in one pic - just for fun. Then I replaced by a gen one.
Tried to show in pictures comparison between 3 gen inserts and ARF. With light it’s not that obvious, but once it’s getting a bit darker you can directly see the difference to ARF and gen.

Bracelet
Installed a rep orange rubber B and waiting for my gen blue Everest.
Did a paint mod to the inner side of the flip lock as it was only half plated.

 

[mega12]

Which bracelet do you prefer

 

[mega12]

Love it

 

[Rawbe]

Looks great on the blue Everest! How much did your inserts run you? After seeing this it makes me want to try a bluesy build.

 

[mega12]

Looks great on the blue Everest! How much did your inserts run you? After seeing this it makes me want to try a bluesy build.

Yeah love it.
I might have one insert leftover, but they do all have different flaws / cracks. You can PM me if you like more details but this is just interesting if you don’t mind having not a perfect watch

 

[Ulfred55]

Thank you for the review! Appreciate the many pictures and detailed comparisons. I've also been working on a bluesy build and unfortunately one of the gen click springs got stuck and and so I'm looking for a new base for a franken with mostly gen parts. Do you think the ARF is the best case for this franken project?

 

[JDM180]

Thank you for the review! Appreciate the many pictures and detailed comparisons. I've also been working on a bluesy build and unfortunately one of the gen click springs got stuck and and so I'm looking for a new base for a franken with mostly gen parts. Do you think the ARF is the best case for this franken project?

No , Noob case is better imo

I would use :

Noob 3135 Sub case
ARF or VR 3135 movement
ARF Dial and hands
Noob wrapped bezel
Gen glass
ARF insert
Noob or ARF bracelet depending how much you value colour vs sel plating

I've got both but it comes down to if it's worth it , I've had both sitting there and cant decide !

 

[Ulfred55]

No , Noob case is better imo

Thanks for your reply! Is the latest version (v9 I think?) ok? Also do you know if the case will fit the ARF wrapped bracelet especially at the SEL?

 

[Voo-doo]

Where the hell did you source an original blue dial, those guys are just as rare as kryptonite.

Looks good btw !!

 

[mrsullivan]

Great review, I love this model and you give great infos here, thank you.

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[mega12]

Where the hell did you source an original blue dial, those guys are just as rare as kryptonite.

Looks good btw !!

It’s used but was a great catch


Time doesn’t exist, clocks exist.

 

[mega12]

Great review, I love this model and you give great infos here, thank you.

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Thanks, happy to support