I ordered the Noob 126610LN from Trusty Time on 26 December and it arrived today. It was a smooth experience and shipping was lightning fast: from China to my doorstep in AUS in 4 days.
The offerings from VSF and GRNF were considered, but I'm not overly impressed with the VS3135 (I have the VSF 116610 and its movement hasn't performed very well), and the GRNF has printing alignment issues on the dial (from the photos I've seen on TD sites), as well as a fair bit of play with the bracelet between the lugs, from what I've read. I was pretty impressed with the Noob photos and I like the A2824/2836 movements; I've had half a dozen reps with those movements and they've all been reliable. So, that's what I went with.
The dimensions and shape of the former 6-digit Submariner has always been my preferences over the 5, as I like the wider lugs and larger CGs, so I wasn't sure I'd love the new reference on my wrist. But, I do. The tapered lugs and a slightly wider bracelet and clasp are subtle but signficant improvements, in my opinion. I'm a huge fan of the SD43 and wear it a lot, and that's greatly because of the wider bracelet. This new Sub feels more like that on my wrist than the 11X reference.
Anyway, a handful of pictures to follow, and then some observations so far.
In general, Noob has done a pretty good job with this. As you can see from these pics, all the main things look pretty good. I'm particularly impressed with the crystal; it's nice and clear (comparison shot next to the VSF further down) and the cyclops has no blue tint to it at all.
The lume is decent. A bit of a mismatch between the hands and dial markers, which is more obvious in the flesh.
The rehaut engraving is about as good as any of the other main players. It's not perfect and probably never will be.
Here are some crystal comparison shots next to the VSF. Unfortunately, the photos aren't the best.
A shot to illustrate the wider clasp.
And one more from straigh on, to show the insert, crystal, hands and black hole.
My observations, which are mostly about the mechanics, are as follows.
What's Bad:
All in all, I'm a big fan of this reference and mostly happy with the rep I've received, especially as it was well under $500 USD. If Noob put a bit more focus on build quality, I'd be ordering their 126610LV today, but now I'll be holding out a bit longer to see what happens with the other factories.
Cheers.
The offerings from VSF and GRNF were considered, but I'm not overly impressed with the VS3135 (I have the VSF 116610 and its movement hasn't performed very well), and the GRNF has printing alignment issues on the dial (from the photos I've seen on TD sites), as well as a fair bit of play with the bracelet between the lugs, from what I've read. I was pretty impressed with the Noob photos and I like the A2824/2836 movements; I've had half a dozen reps with those movements and they've all been reliable. So, that's what I went with.
The dimensions and shape of the former 6-digit Submariner has always been my preferences over the 5, as I like the wider lugs and larger CGs, so I wasn't sure I'd love the new reference on my wrist. But, I do. The tapered lugs and a slightly wider bracelet and clasp are subtle but signficant improvements, in my opinion. I'm a huge fan of the SD43 and wear it a lot, and that's greatly because of the wider bracelet. This new Sub feels more like that on my wrist than the 11X reference.
Anyway, a handful of pictures to follow, and then some observations so far.
In general, Noob has done a pretty good job with this. As you can see from these pics, all the main things look pretty good. I'm particularly impressed with the crystal; it's nice and clear (comparison shot next to the VSF further down) and the cyclops has no blue tint to it at all.
The lume is decent. A bit of a mismatch between the hands and dial markers, which is more obvious in the flesh.
The rehaut engraving is about as good as any of the other main players. It's not perfect and probably never will be.
Here are some crystal comparison shots next to the VSF. Unfortunately, the photos aren't the best.
A shot to illustrate the wider clasp.
And one more from straigh on, to show the insert, crystal, hands and black hole.
My observations, which are mostly about the mechanics, are as follows.
What's Bad:
- The bezel rocks a lot, which has been a constant issue with every Noob Sub I've ever owned. (Pic showing this is at the bottom of the post.)
- The glidelock is absolute shit. Trying to make adjustments is really difficual and it feels like it's going to break each time.
- Removing and re-appying the case back is very difficult. The threading is terrible and grinds like a MF. Repeated attempts are required to get it to thread evenly.
- The hands have a rough finish and there's quite a lot of lume on the outer edges. But, of course that isn't visible to the naked eye.
- Winding the movement via the crown feels and sounds like sandpaper.
- The bezel has zero replay (left to right). Once it clicks into place, it doesn't move.
- Unscrewing and screwing in the crown is nice and smooth with the tube.
- The bracelet has zero play where the SELs join the lugs, neither up and down or side to side.
- The Clasp snaps shut beautifully, both parts.
All in all, I'm a big fan of this reference and mostly happy with the rep I've received, especially as it was well under $500 USD. If Noob put a bit more focus on build quality, I'd be ordering their 126610LV today, but now I'll be holding out a bit longer to see what happens with the other factories.
Cheers.
