Noob LN v8 / v9 LV / Regmariner Hulk comparison / Submariner 116610 review
Hi folks, I neither planned to do this review nor the builds itself, but all started as I catched some stuff in parallel. Therefore, I thought to share some quick thoughts, as I was not able to find lots of reviews back then - neither on Noob v8 nor on a Regmariner. Of course, on v9 there is lots of reviews but I just added some comments on this.
Regmariner LV
Starting with the lowest budget one...
As far as I learned, Regmariner is a Thai-based manufacturer and is mainly distributed by Narikaa.
I would say, Regmariner is on a similar level like my Noob Explorer II 216570 with DG2813 movement (~150€).
However, compared to my Noob Explorer the Regmariner movement (2813) makes definitely more rotor noise.
Compared to a Noob Sub, and obviously other high end Sub models, the bezel turn is awful on Reg. It sounds very cheap. Construction is not gen like and it produces „more“ clicks than gen. If I remember correctly, it has 4 clicks per minute, while Noob and gen have two clicks only = total of 120 clicks per hour.
In addition, and as already mentioned, it makes some noise while wearing on the wrist.
Apart from these two flaws, it’s a beautiful watch considering the price point of 120€.
It has nice Date alignment, very good cyclops, good (of course not perfect) SELs and ok clasp. I think, compared to the Noob LV version, the dial has a bit less sunburst effect, but is nice for the price. Color of the Bezel insert looks quite good compared to all the other high end reps which fail this part regularly. Pearl is not as good, but could be replaced. Platin Paint was also on eye-level, or sometimes even better, than on some high end inserts. All in all, definitely a good watch to go for the money and beautiful to wear on a sunny day at the beach w/o caring about sand that might destroy something because it's just 100 bugs.
Noob v8 2836 with gen DWO
Noob v9 with regular DateDisc
Picture I found once from @thickleshoes. Hope it’s ok to use here for comparison reasons
I was a bit cautious and did not try to mount gen parts on Regmariner because I destroyed a v8 ceramic insert on a spare assembly some days before - you have to be very careful. However, I read somewhere that gen insert and bezel won’t fit - because of different construction and I’m not sure if sizes would match. Otherwise, I would have tried to swap with my spare Noob v8 bezel assembly. I read somewhere that a user switched his insert (from reg to Noob) and this seemed to work - maybe with little glue, as they are glued anyway on Noob...as far as I know, ARF uses friction based inserts. This is more gen like. Because gen never uses glue and inserts are snapped in perfectly.
I didn’t try to swap movement from 21j to a 2836 but this should work, as my watch smith did the same on my Franken Noob Explorer. Nonetheless, you would have to purchase a new hand set to make it fit.
By the way, 2813 Explorer case is the similar as high quality Explorers with 2836 and it accepts gen parts like bezel, glass... IMO, the „Franken Part“ is a big advantage on the Noob Explorer, which is on similar price level. But to explore more details about Explorer 42mm, you can have a look on my other review:
https://forum.replica-watch.info/fo...nken-explorer-ii-216570-bd-42mm-guide-noob-bp
Overall, I would consider Noob Explorer as the better alternative to go for the money. It has no turning bezel, so one tell less, the 2813 movement, at least the one I had, was much more quiet and you have less problems with wrong dials/insert colors etc.
Nonetheless, Regmariner has a better DWO and is pretty nice for enjoying at the beach.
Noob v8 LN
Originally, it was my idea to purchase a VRF or ARF Hulk. However, I catched a v8 LN. While I’m owning a gen GMT 116710LN, I was not really interested in the most typical Submariner. Nonetheless, after wearing this watch for some days, I had to admit that I like it a lot. The shiny bezel and the insert is really nice. It turns like gen and produces proper clicks. Whereas you might have so many different advantages and disadvantages on the different Hulk models, this LN model seems to be very good out of the box. I catched the 2836 version which was a bit noisy and replaced the Asian rotor by a Swiss ETA one. This was much more quiet and fine for me. Usually I’m sensitive if it comes to rotor noise... I learned from member smoke, that the 2836 case is different than the 3135 case in terms of crown positioning, lug shape, CGs and total heights. However, we are talking about nuances and if you don’t know them, you won’t spot them - IMO. It’s not like thick eta 7750 Daytonas that can be spotted from 10m or bad crystals / cyclops...
On another forum I saw a very good explanation by a well known member who explained, that Noob 3135 cases are shaped by hands. Means, to ensure correct lug and CG shape it needs some manual craftsmanship. However, those Chinese guys have different skills and different levels. Some do better than others and this leads to the fact, that majority of Noob 3135 lugs have uneven thickness (same goes for my v9 case). It seems that the right sided lugs (where crown sits) are harder to shape and therefore this one is mostly thicker than the left side. Good side of the story, you can still mod and reshape this afterwards. Also on 2836 there seems to be better and not so good shaped versions (v8, v9) and most probably all of the better ones will be handpicked by guys like BK. So it’s very unlikely, that you will receive a good 3135 or really good 2836 (v8, v9...). So if this mattets to you, you should rather look into an ARF which comes with symmetrical lugs directly out of a CNC machine.
V9 3135 w/o bezel
V8 2836 w/ bezel
CGs: Green Regmariner, Black 2836 v8
In general, I like 2836 a lot, because IMO and cause of past experiences, you need to invest a lot to make a SH3135 reliable or to replace an SA. Don’t know about VR newest movement but read that this needs also some gen parts to replace. I have a 80% gen / 20% yuki hybrid and it just stopped running a month ago, while I have Serviced Swiss ETAs which never made any problems. Only disadvantage on every eta is that they produce little rotor noise. This is based on the construction itself. 3135 movements (gen, SH, VR but not SA) use jewel based ball bearings while eta uses mechanical ball bearing. Because of the mechanical parts inside they produce more noise by its nature.
Although I’m having a gen crystal and date disc laying around, I was not sure if I should to replace the v8 one... The out of the box quality is very good.
Date alignment is awesome, just two days (I think 9 and 10) did not fit very well. All other dates were well aligned. For sure, AR effect is not gen like, but it’s good enough that no one will recognize. Apart from us freaks here - of course...
2836 on the wrist
Clasp is ok, but flip lock is a bit too strong. Maybe sanding it down and polishing the edges could make it more soft and gen like. Flip lock has little play from left to right and you can move it like 0.3 mm. This leads to the result, that it stays sometimes very very little misaligned compared to the rest of the clasp. Bracelet has a nice feeling overall. Needed a little oil bath but now all links are very smooth. SEL gap on one side was perfect and very good. Other side had a little gap. This annoyed but you can also change Bracelet by yourself. Just bear in mind, due to the different handcrafted versions and different shapes of the Noob cases (v8, v9), on some Noob the ARF bracelet won’t stay strong in place.
This has also happened to me. I tried to mount an ARF bracelet on my v9 3135.
SEL gaps are no problem but you can lift SELs up and down for 1mm or so because it’s not really fixed by the watch case itself. On some other v9 this seems to fit perfectly w/o causing any problems...
Green one Regmariner (R), Black one 2836 v8 (N)
Dial, hands, crown are very good. No need to comment on anything here - apart from little different specs as 3135 version, which didn’t bother me at all.
Green one Regmariner, Black one 2836 v8
As I had another spare v8 2836 case, I built a second Sub with Hulk v9 dial, Swiss movement and gen 3135 DateDisc Overlay. But let’s move to the 3135 v9 Hulk.
Noob v9 Hulk
By coincidence, I managed to purchase a Noob v9 Hulk. Based on smokes recommendations I went with the 3135 model.
In parallel, I purchased one of those really rare v6s clasps (also with support of smoke - they are supposed to be the most gen like you can get). And I got my hands on a BP Hulk dial (which is considered to be the best apart from gen) and I purchased a gen bezel assembly w/o insert.
Now you might be jealous, but I can ensure you, it was not that exciting...
First of all, at that time and as already mentioned above, I didn’t knew that case shapes vary that much and based on this, ARF bracelets (SELs) might stay little lose plus lugs on 3135 cases might not have same thickness. Obviously, my version had all those flaws...
Next, v6s clasp is pretty nice and yes, it’s definitely different than the ARF (which is considered to be best available at the moment).
While ARF opens and closes very smooth and diver extension can be adjusted butter like, v6s is still more close to gen. V6s is not that smooth in every aspect, but even gens are not that smooth. The weight, the crown, the flip lock, the engravings, the clasp shape itself is definitely more gen like on v6s. However, if you don’t have them next to each other and you won’t be that deep into this topic, I would recommend to everyone to go with the ARF and never try something else because you won’t be disappointed!! My biggest problem, the shape of the v6s is little uneven at one part. You could fix it, but you need to be very cautious not to remove too much steel. And this takes me now hours and hours to sand it perfectly. Thus, I’m having the most gen like clasp, but with this little imperfection, it annoys me more than ARF one...
Then the BP dial: again, yes it’s wonderful. The print is very crisp and white. The sunburst is amazing. The lettering is correct. But, if you never had a BP to compare, the v9 is good as well and no one will ever spot it. Even if there is a gen next to you it took me a while to compare thickness and crisp of the fonts to understand the differences. Of course there is some, but again, it’s a good out of the box dial. Most biggest issue with the BP dial (commonly known), the lume is very poor. While the v9 dial glows very bright in darkness, the BP seems like it lost its energy... So if you search for perfection, these flaws drive crazy (uneven v6s clasp, dial that is poorly glowing...).
But that’s not the end. Let’s have a quick look on the gen bezel assembly. I was so happy that I catched a gen bezel, bezel insert ring and gasket. However and
most important learning for me was the fact, that noob Bezel can’t be easily replaced by a gen one - only as a total. And all inserts on Noob are glued in, while gen never uses glue. Although sizes might match, in detail it’s not like gen. Means, replacing bezel only by a genuine one won’t work, because the rep retaining ring seems not to be manufactured like the gen one. The rep Noob bezel stays strong in place and lines up perfectly with the case, the gen one leaves a gap between bezel and case and bezel ring can be removed easily with your hands... I figured out that you can either sand the heights of the rep one down (which still leaves the option to remove the bezel with your hands), or replace it by a genuine one. So I had to purchase a gen retaining ring as well, which was not that easy to find for a reasonable price... Just for informationanl purpose, there is a separate steel Bezel insert ring below the ceramic insert which is a fixed part on rep bezels while it is a removable separate part on gen bezels.
Now I’m still waiting for my crystal retainer ring to arrive and I’m pretty sure I will figure out something new that won’t work.
Not my picture. Found online from another member - don’t remember, but think also helpful to compare here:
To keep it short with regards to Hulk inserts: there is no rep one out there which is accurate enough. Neither VRF, ARF, Noob, Aftermarket, CeraMeister, Raffles, Spongebob, or however you call them. Some have better engravings and paint than others, but none of them has the nice apple green as per gen. It seems that there were some early v6s or v7 batches or some LociLoue out there, which were better. Nonetheless, from what I have seen, gen is gen.
Also found online - just for comparison reasons
Finally, the v8/v9 bezel assembly seems very solid and good to me. Honestly speaking, there is some minor differences between rep and gen, like different construction, but I would never again invest 500€ for a gen one (w/o insert). Rather get your hands on a gen LN insert. Sometimes you can find them for around 500€ (LN). It’s more worth to invest in here instead of the assembly itself. Just bear in mind, that it might need some little mods to fit a gen insert into rep bezel.
My conclusion: I will replace DateDisc by gen one and mount gen bezel assembly on my v9 because I have them already. However, if you like a hulk, go and get the gen one or stick to a cheap regmariner. Everything in between is a waste of time and money. In addition, I don’t know, why there is not more people talking about the v8. It’s a solid 316L Sub for ~300€ and you could easily upgrade or Franken it.
I think I will switch my v6s clasp, gen crystal and BP dial to my v8 2836 case and that’s fine for me then, because it will never become perfect anyway.
V9 pics
Some more pics
Thanks for reading and have fun.
„Time doesn‘t exist. Clocks exist.“
Hi folks, I neither planned to do this review nor the builds itself, but all started as I catched some stuff in parallel. Therefore, I thought to share some quick thoughts, as I was not able to find lots of reviews back then - neither on Noob v8 nor on a Regmariner. Of course, on v9 there is lots of reviews but I just added some comments on this.
Regmariner LV
Starting with the lowest budget one...
As far as I learned, Regmariner is a Thai-based manufacturer and is mainly distributed by Narikaa.
I would say, Regmariner is on a similar level like my Noob Explorer II 216570 with DG2813 movement (~150€).
However, compared to my Noob Explorer the Regmariner movement (2813) makes definitely more rotor noise.
Compared to a Noob Sub, and obviously other high end Sub models, the bezel turn is awful on Reg. It sounds very cheap. Construction is not gen like and it produces „more“ clicks than gen. If I remember correctly, it has 4 clicks per minute, while Noob and gen have two clicks only = total of 120 clicks per hour.
In addition, and as already mentioned, it makes some noise while wearing on the wrist.
Apart from these two flaws, it’s a beautiful watch considering the price point of 120€.
It has nice Date alignment, very good cyclops, good (of course not perfect) SELs and ok clasp. I think, compared to the Noob LV version, the dial has a bit less sunburst effect, but is nice for the price. Color of the Bezel insert looks quite good compared to all the other high end reps which fail this part regularly. Pearl is not as good, but could be replaced. Platin Paint was also on eye-level, or sometimes even better, than on some high end inserts. All in all, definitely a good watch to go for the money and beautiful to wear on a sunny day at the beach w/o caring about sand that might destroy something because it's just 100 bugs.
Noob v8 2836 with gen DWO
Noob v9 with regular DateDisc
Picture I found once from @thickleshoes. Hope it’s ok to use here for comparison reasons
I was a bit cautious and did not try to mount gen parts on Regmariner because I destroyed a v8 ceramic insert on a spare assembly some days before - you have to be very careful. However, I read somewhere that gen insert and bezel won’t fit - because of different construction and I’m not sure if sizes would match. Otherwise, I would have tried to swap with my spare Noob v8 bezel assembly. I read somewhere that a user switched his insert (from reg to Noob) and this seemed to work - maybe with little glue, as they are glued anyway on Noob...as far as I know, ARF uses friction based inserts. This is more gen like. Because gen never uses glue and inserts are snapped in perfectly.
I didn’t try to swap movement from 21j to a 2836 but this should work, as my watch smith did the same on my Franken Noob Explorer. Nonetheless, you would have to purchase a new hand set to make it fit.
By the way, 2813 Explorer case is the similar as high quality Explorers with 2836 and it accepts gen parts like bezel, glass... IMO, the „Franken Part“ is a big advantage on the Noob Explorer, which is on similar price level. But to explore more details about Explorer 42mm, you can have a look on my other review:
https://forum.replica-watch.info/fo...nken-explorer-ii-216570-bd-42mm-guide-noob-bp
Overall, I would consider Noob Explorer as the better alternative to go for the money. It has no turning bezel, so one tell less, the 2813 movement, at least the one I had, was much more quiet and you have less problems with wrong dials/insert colors etc.
Nonetheless, Regmariner has a better DWO and is pretty nice for enjoying at the beach.
Noob v8 LN
Originally, it was my idea to purchase a VRF or ARF Hulk. However, I catched a v8 LN. While I’m owning a gen GMT 116710LN, I was not really interested in the most typical Submariner. Nonetheless, after wearing this watch for some days, I had to admit that I like it a lot. The shiny bezel and the insert is really nice. It turns like gen and produces proper clicks. Whereas you might have so many different advantages and disadvantages on the different Hulk models, this LN model seems to be very good out of the box. I catched the 2836 version which was a bit noisy and replaced the Asian rotor by a Swiss ETA one. This was much more quiet and fine for me. Usually I’m sensitive if it comes to rotor noise... I learned from member smoke, that the 2836 case is different than the 3135 case in terms of crown positioning, lug shape, CGs and total heights. However, we are talking about nuances and if you don’t know them, you won’t spot them - IMO. It’s not like thick eta 7750 Daytonas that can be spotted from 10m or bad crystals / cyclops...
On another forum I saw a very good explanation by a well known member who explained, that Noob 3135 cases are shaped by hands. Means, to ensure correct lug and CG shape it needs some manual craftsmanship. However, those Chinese guys have different skills and different levels. Some do better than others and this leads to the fact, that majority of Noob 3135 lugs have uneven thickness (same goes for my v9 case). It seems that the right sided lugs (where crown sits) are harder to shape and therefore this one is mostly thicker than the left side. Good side of the story, you can still mod and reshape this afterwards. Also on 2836 there seems to be better and not so good shaped versions (v8, v9) and most probably all of the better ones will be handpicked by guys like BK. So it’s very unlikely, that you will receive a good 3135 or really good 2836 (v8, v9...). So if this mattets to you, you should rather look into an ARF which comes with symmetrical lugs directly out of a CNC machine.
V9 3135 w/o bezel
V8 2836 w/ bezel
CGs: Green Regmariner, Black 2836 v8
In general, I like 2836 a lot, because IMO and cause of past experiences, you need to invest a lot to make a SH3135 reliable or to replace an SA. Don’t know about VR newest movement but read that this needs also some gen parts to replace. I have a 80% gen / 20% yuki hybrid and it just stopped running a month ago, while I have Serviced Swiss ETAs which never made any problems. Only disadvantage on every eta is that they produce little rotor noise. This is based on the construction itself. 3135 movements (gen, SH, VR but not SA) use jewel based ball bearings while eta uses mechanical ball bearing. Because of the mechanical parts inside they produce more noise by its nature.
Although I’m having a gen crystal and date disc laying around, I was not sure if I should to replace the v8 one... The out of the box quality is very good.
Date alignment is awesome, just two days (I think 9 and 10) did not fit very well. All other dates were well aligned. For sure, AR effect is not gen like, but it’s good enough that no one will recognize. Apart from us freaks here - of course...
2836 on the wrist
Clasp is ok, but flip lock is a bit too strong. Maybe sanding it down and polishing the edges could make it more soft and gen like. Flip lock has little play from left to right and you can move it like 0.3 mm. This leads to the result, that it stays sometimes very very little misaligned compared to the rest of the clasp. Bracelet has a nice feeling overall. Needed a little oil bath but now all links are very smooth. SEL gap on one side was perfect and very good. Other side had a little gap. This annoyed but you can also change Bracelet by yourself. Just bear in mind, due to the different handcrafted versions and different shapes of the Noob cases (v8, v9), on some Noob the ARF bracelet won’t stay strong in place.
This has also happened to me. I tried to mount an ARF bracelet on my v9 3135.
SEL gaps are no problem but you can lift SELs up and down for 1mm or so because it’s not really fixed by the watch case itself. On some other v9 this seems to fit perfectly w/o causing any problems...
Green one Regmariner (R), Black one 2836 v8 (N)
Dial, hands, crown are very good. No need to comment on anything here - apart from little different specs as 3135 version, which didn’t bother me at all.
Green one Regmariner, Black one 2836 v8
As I had another spare v8 2836 case, I built a second Sub with Hulk v9 dial, Swiss movement and gen 3135 DateDisc Overlay. But let’s move to the 3135 v9 Hulk.
Noob v9 Hulk
By coincidence, I managed to purchase a Noob v9 Hulk. Based on smokes recommendations I went with the 3135 model.
In parallel, I purchased one of those really rare v6s clasps (also with support of smoke - they are supposed to be the most gen like you can get). And I got my hands on a BP Hulk dial (which is considered to be the best apart from gen) and I purchased a gen bezel assembly w/o insert.
Now you might be jealous, but I can ensure you, it was not that exciting...
First of all, at that time and as already mentioned above, I didn’t knew that case shapes vary that much and based on this, ARF bracelets (SELs) might stay little lose plus lugs on 3135 cases might not have same thickness. Obviously, my version had all those flaws...
Next, v6s clasp is pretty nice and yes, it’s definitely different than the ARF (which is considered to be best available at the moment).
While ARF opens and closes very smooth and diver extension can be adjusted butter like, v6s is still more close to gen. V6s is not that smooth in every aspect, but even gens are not that smooth. The weight, the crown, the flip lock, the engravings, the clasp shape itself is definitely more gen like on v6s. However, if you don’t have them next to each other and you won’t be that deep into this topic, I would recommend to everyone to go with the ARF and never try something else because you won’t be disappointed!! My biggest problem, the shape of the v6s is little uneven at one part. You could fix it, but you need to be very cautious not to remove too much steel. And this takes me now hours and hours to sand it perfectly. Thus, I’m having the most gen like clasp, but with this little imperfection, it annoys me more than ARF one...
Then the BP dial: again, yes it’s wonderful. The print is very crisp and white. The sunburst is amazing. The lettering is correct. But, if you never had a BP to compare, the v9 is good as well and no one will ever spot it. Even if there is a gen next to you it took me a while to compare thickness and crisp of the fonts to understand the differences. Of course there is some, but again, it’s a good out of the box dial. Most biggest issue with the BP dial (commonly known), the lume is very poor. While the v9 dial glows very bright in darkness, the BP seems like it lost its energy... So if you search for perfection, these flaws drive crazy (uneven v6s clasp, dial that is poorly glowing...).
But that’s not the end. Let’s have a quick look on the gen bezel assembly. I was so happy that I catched a gen bezel, bezel insert ring and gasket. However and
most important learning for me was the fact, that noob Bezel can’t be easily replaced by a gen one - only as a total. And all inserts on Noob are glued in, while gen never uses glue. Although sizes might match, in detail it’s not like gen. Means, replacing bezel only by a genuine one won’t work, because the rep retaining ring seems not to be manufactured like the gen one. The rep Noob bezel stays strong in place and lines up perfectly with the case, the gen one leaves a gap between bezel and case and bezel ring can be removed easily with your hands... I figured out that you can either sand the heights of the rep one down (which still leaves the option to remove the bezel with your hands), or replace it by a genuine one. So I had to purchase a gen retaining ring as well, which was not that easy to find for a reasonable price... Just for informationanl purpose, there is a separate steel Bezel insert ring below the ceramic insert which is a fixed part on rep bezels while it is a removable separate part on gen bezels.
Now I’m still waiting for my crystal retainer ring to arrive and I’m pretty sure I will figure out something new that won’t work.
Not my picture. Found online from another member - don’t remember, but think also helpful to compare here:
To keep it short with regards to Hulk inserts: there is no rep one out there which is accurate enough. Neither VRF, ARF, Noob, Aftermarket, CeraMeister, Raffles, Spongebob, or however you call them. Some have better engravings and paint than others, but none of them has the nice apple green as per gen. It seems that there were some early v6s or v7 batches or some LociLoue out there, which were better. Nonetheless, from what I have seen, gen is gen.
Also found online - just for comparison reasons
Finally, the v8/v9 bezel assembly seems very solid and good to me. Honestly speaking, there is some minor differences between rep and gen, like different construction, but I would never again invest 500€ for a gen one (w/o insert). Rather get your hands on a gen LN insert. Sometimes you can find them for around 500€ (LN). It’s more worth to invest in here instead of the assembly itself. Just bear in mind, that it might need some little mods to fit a gen insert into rep bezel.
My conclusion: I will replace DateDisc by gen one and mount gen bezel assembly on my v9 because I have them already. However, if you like a hulk, go and get the gen one or stick to a cheap regmariner. Everything in between is a waste of time and money. In addition, I don’t know, why there is not more people talking about the v8. It’s a solid 316L Sub for ~300€ and you could easily upgrade or Franken it.
I think I will switch my v6s clasp, gen crystal and BP dial to my v8 2836 case and that’s fine for me then, because it will never become perfect anyway.
V9 pics
Some more pics
Thanks for reading and have fun.
„Time doesn‘t exist. Clocks exist.“
