Building the perfect Rolex Daytona 116500LN franken :) Gen vs Rep (Pic Heavy)

[2841]

The perfect Rolex Daytona 116500LN franken build

The panda Daytona, has been my favorite Rolex since I got into high end watches. The chances of getting one at the AD was pretty slim (Although he said within 2 years) I took that with a grain of salt, and stumbled upon RWI and the forum in 2019.

After reading up on the Noob (at the time v.2.2) I bought my first rep. I modded it with a gen spec crystal gasket, CF bezel and a ARF bracelet. (I still have that watch)

After a while, I wanted to build my perfect Daytona (Without breaking the bank) The build would be:
Noob v4, Gen hands, CF bezel, gen spec crystal gasket, ARF bracelet, ARF dial (A few exists with perfect sized subdials and subdial text placement)

The hardest part was finding the dial. I bought 2 complete ARF watches on m2m just for the dials, and had them shipped to my modder, I then found 2 extra dials and had one of them sent to my modder, hands ect. was also sent. After basically wasting my time and stalling me for 2 months, the modder suddenly couldn’t do the project. After finally (with some assistance from the RWI mods) getting him to send everything to a new modder, I got the project completed last year in December 2020.

My package was then seized by Mexican customs….. After wrestling with customs for about 6 months, I gave up.
2 months later, out of the blue, the customs decided to return the package to sender, and my modder was finally able to send the package to me in Europe ???? I couldn’t believe it worked out in the end ????

In the meantime, my AD called, and told me that they had a Panda ready for me ???? No need to say, I jumped on that in a heartbeat ???? I now finally have the gen version of my favorite Rolex, and the only non gen Rolex I have left is a Hulk build.

I’m not quite sure if I’m going to keep the last build, or sell all 4 rep Daytona’s, not much point in keeping the rep, when I have the gen.

After studying the gen for a while, (and I have had pretty much every newer variation of the reps in my hand) the best build, without gen dial and bezel, is still: The correct/good ARF dial, gen hands, CF bezel, correct spec crystal gasket and ARF bracelet.

Having the rep build and the gen next to each other, its pretty obvious what's what. Pretty much every detail on the rep is off. The case shape, the details on the dial, the luster of the bezel, the crystal, the bracelet ect. BUT it is damn close ????

Will someone spot this as a rep on your wrist? probably not, but don’t post pictures, then I gets pretty easy ????

All and all, the Noob, with some modifications, is a beautiful watch, and it will probably scratch your itch, well at least until you get a gen ???? For me, it took me well over a year to build a watch I didn’t even need ????



Below are some pics of the new and old builds, and some comparison shots with the dials and my gen Panda

Gen - New build - Old build

New build (Noob v4, ARF dial, CF bezel, Gen hands, gen spec crystal gasket, ARF bracelet/clasp, serviced)

Old build (Noob v2.2, Noob dial, CF bezel, gen spec crystal gasket, ARF bracelet/clasp)

Gen vs ARF dial

Gen vs Noob v4 dial

Thanks for reading, let me know if you have any questions

 

[Robin.Hood]

Wow. Am I reading a Ph.D thesis paper?

Wonderful research with full of details and information.

I am in !!

 

[domiffm]

Great! Thanks for the comparison and congratulations on the Gen!

 

[Plaasbaas]

Awesome write-up! Especially because it's one of my grail watches, too. Bookmarked this thread and keep it as eyecandy to go back to and enjoy, when the desire gets unbearable

 

[btrizzy1]

Great comparison. A rep would be impossible to call out on the wrist. It would be hard to call out even in hand and under scrutiny. Definitely does crumble when you have a gen side by side though.

 

[g-yice]

Wow What a really nice Story to read on an evening Congratz on the gen ! If you ever consider selling your perfect rep let me know !!! cheers and enjoy !!!


Gesendet von iPhone mit Tapatalk

 

[p0pperini]

What a great story. A successful outcome on all counts, with the ultimate prize of a gen at the end of it. Congratulations!

And as a bit of a hoarder, I love seeing that lineup of pandas!

 

[2841]

What a great story. A successful outcome on all counts, with the ultimate prize of a gen at the end of it. Congratulations!

And as a bit of a hoarder, I love seeing that lineup of pandas!

It has been a crazy ride for sure

You cant stop at just one Panda :thumbsup: It kind of became an obsession to hunt for those dials. The first thing i notice on a rep Daytona is the subdial size and hands, so i wanted that part to be as flawless as possible.

 

[MIA6268]

Thank you so much for the review. What a great story and an amazing journey.

 

[LaraA]

Amazing, thanks for this!

 

[gpvecchi]

Do you suggest just half ARF bracelet or whole?

 

[2841]

Do you suggest just half ARF bracelet or whole?

Every Noob bracelet ive seen from v2 - v4 has wrong end links, so i would suggest the whole ARF.

But many ARF end links are a fraktion of a mm under the 20mm lugs, so you have to be lucky to find a good ARF bracelet as well I've had maybe around 8 ARF bracelets in hand, and its roughly 50/50 if the fit is perfect or not.

 

[Duckber]

Nice write up. Very true about the case. I have never seen a polished case that are as angular and sharp as gen from any factory. Noob, ARF, VSF, GMF, etc all have soft round lugs on polished cases. Just seems to be an issue for Chinese factories.

 

[gekkehenkie]

Every Noob bracelet ive seen from v2 - v4 has wrong end links, so i would suggest the whole ARF.

But many ARF end links are a fraktion of a mm under the 20mm lugs, so you have to be lucky to find a good ARF bracelet as well I've had maybe around 8 ARF bracelets in hand, and its roughly 50/50 if the fit is perfect or not.

Are you sure its the end links and not the case?
Did tou try to fit the gen bracelet to the noob case. And the rep bracelet to the gen case?

 

[BoulderJ]

Thanks for a great post. I'm waiting for my 116520 franken build from my watchmaker (I prefer the SS bezel). It's a Noob v4, gen dial, gen hands, CF bezel. My bracelet is from londonwatchparts. Don't know where it was manufactured, but it's definitely a step above the Noob bracelet. We'll see how it all turns out.

Could you possibly post a side-by-side of your gen and your chosen rep? Thanks again.

 

[Duckber]

Here is a question I had though. Yes everything about the rep is off. However, does it feel as quality? Or near it? Or does it feel cheap in comparison to gen, slight variant changes aside? Basically can your build feel like Rolex made it with some changes or does it just feel less quality in comparison?

 

[Tione12]

Amazing post with a lot of useful information for the forum.Thank you for sharing and congrats for that gen grail!

 

[2841]

Here is a question I had though. Yes everything about the rep is off. However, does it feel as quality? Or near it? Or does it feel cheap in comparison to gen, slight variant changes aside? Basically can your build feel like Rolex made it with some changes or does it just feel less quality in comparison?

Wearing the new build and the gen, you don’t feel a difference. The ARF bracelet needs a bit of love (I rebrush is, and soften out the edges.)

when you handle the crown, yes there is a difference even with the rep being serviced.

Day to day wear, you won’t fell the difference on your wrist, but when you look at the gen, everything just looks a bit better, sharper and you can definitely see the difference in quality.

The new build is a damn fine watch, just not when it’s laying next to my gen

 

[1luzion]

Every Noob bracelet ive seen from v2 - v4 has wrong end links, so i would suggest the whole ARF.

But many ARF end links are a fraktion of a mm under the 20mm lugs, so you have to be lucky to find a good ARF bracelet as well I've had maybe around 8 ARF bracelets in hand, and its roughly 50/50 if the fit is perfect or not.

Very interesting because many have said in the past that the hybrid solution was the other way around meaning ARF bracelet with noob end-link.
Just curious here.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[2841]

Very interesting because many have said in the past that the hybrid solution was the other way around meaning ARF bracelet with noob end-link.
Just curious here.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Noob end links are not the correct shape, never have been. The middle part of the end link (polished) is just plain wrong. And I would never use it on a build.

But finding a ARF bracelet that has a good fit, can be tricky aswell, I’m guessing some people find it easier to go the hybrid way, instead of buying multiple ARF bracelets