Sorry for the late review, I postponed the public blind vote for another week because there were too few votes, but the extra week didn’t give us more votes. I got emails and PMs every day asking when this review is going to reveal since they are waiting for the review to make the decision of purchase.
The works involved are substantial and very time consuming, we took 4 sets of comparisons because 1. we found some lighting differences for the candidates after the photo shooting; 2. some updates to the watches after we have taken the comparison and 3. we found some missing parts in the previous comparisons.
In case there are some new friends here and do not know what’s going on here, this is a comprehensive review on the latest release of the most popular 116610 LV reps from ZF, ZZF, VSF, ARF and Noob maker.
I will reveal the blind vote results and I will express my personal opinions on these comparisons since I have seen them in real life and feel them with my hands. I will also rate each aspect with my own score, finally I will give a final G (Gen) Score to each one of them.
OK let’s cut the bullshit and here is the review.
Front View
In this section we are paying attention to the general visual impression of these candidates without looking into details, we will review the bezel colour, dial colour and DW and Cyclops, we will go deeper into DW and Cyclops in the later sections.
Let’s look at the comparison first, one of them was not seen on the blind vote which will show better dial colour under direct lighting.
Let’s look at the blind vote result first:
ZF: 6.8
ZZF: 7.3
VSF: 7.5
ARF: 5.2
NOOB: 5.3
The top comparison has the ARF in AR3135 movement while the bottom comparison has the ARF in A2824 movement and we found the cyclops and DW are different on the 2 so we did both. Honestly it is sad to find out the famous ARF Hulk has the lowest score but I cannot deny the other makers are doing a better job in the front view comparison. For dial colour, I see the ZF has the most accurate dial colour among the candidates while VSF has the best DW and cyclops, I can say ZF and Noob has similar DW and Cyclops while AR has too much blue tint and ZZF has not enough AR effect.
As we know ZF, ZZF, VSF and ARF are all using the Clean Factory bezel inserts but I will comment more on this in the bezel section, I want to say the Noob bezel colour looks closest to gen but I heard Clean Factory will release their new bezel inserts which will be the same or even better than the Noob bezel insert.
As I mentioned the front view mainly reviews the general visual impression of these candidates without looking into details and here is my score according to my own opinions:
ZF: 8
ZZF: 7
VSF: 8
ARF: 6
NOOB: 7
Cyclops and Date Wheel
We have talked about cyclops in the previous section but we will look into the details of this aspect. We are looking at the anti-refelctive coating colour, halo effect, black hold effect, AR effect and cyclops distortion. At the same time we will also look at the DW font and size.
Here are the comparisons:
Cyclops and DW have now become two of the most concerned aspects when deciding a good sub, many even replace these 2 parts into gen parts for ultimate visual effect.
Let’s look at the Blind Vote result (the result didn’t include the DW reference):
ZF: 6.8
ZZF: 5.5
VSF: 8.0
ARF: 7.4
NOOB: 5.5
The 3 sets of comparisons were taken in different lighting conditions so you may find some differences but since the comparisons in each set were taken under same lighting conditions and camera settings so we can just look for the difference between each and the gen.
I agree as the blind voters that VSF has the best cyclops with similar AR colour, AR effect and distortion, same black hole effect as gen and tiny little bolder font than gen, lack of halo effect as all other candidates.
ZF has the second best cyclops and DW with very good AR effect and slightly thicker font DW.
Noob has similar cyclops and DW as ZF but the DW background is not as smooth as other candidates.
ARF has good AR effect but too much blue tint and the worst DW among all candidates.
ZZF has slightly thinner DW font and I think ZZF hasn’t even bothered to AR coat their cyclops.
So my score based on my opinions:
ZF: 8
ZZF: 6
VSF: 9
ARF: 6
NOOB: 7
Bezel Teeth and Crystal
In this section we are paying attention to the teeth shape, size and position, crystal height, rim finishing and the gap distance between bezel insert and crystal.
There is not much to talk about the crystal since they are all sapphire crystals and we are mostly looking at the cyclops until I found something very minor on the VSF crystal, here is the comparison:
The Blind Vote result:
ZF: 7.6
ZZF: 5.6
VSF: 7.1
ARF: 7.7
NOOB: 7.1
I think all 5 candidates made their crystals in different crystal factories since they all look different, all the candidates have the crystal sitting slightly higher than the bezel insert and only VSF is sitting significantly higher than the bezel insert plus the rim edge of the VSF crystal is not rounded finished like the others, but this is a very easy fix and I think they can fix it very easily.
None of them has perfect bezel teeth but I personally think ZF has the closest teeth in size and position, ARF comes next, VSF and Noob follows and ZZF has the least accurate teeth.
Here is my score according to my own opinions:
ZF: 8
ZZF: 7
VSF: 7
ARF: 8
NOOB: 7
Bezel Insert
For the last decade the Hulk insert colour has been the most challenging task for the rep makers and things seem changed in 2020 when Clean Factory released their Hulk bezel insert with very close green colour as the genuine and they keep improving their bezel inserts and I believe they are now using V4 or V5 of their green inserts.
In this review, we are going to look at the insert colour, bezel numbers font and the platinum plating colour.
Let’s look at the comparisons first:
In these comparisons you can also see the crystal edge and bezel teeth size/shape that we reviews in the previous section.
Let’s look at the Blind Vote result:
ZF: 7.8
ZZF: 7.4
VSF: 7.5
ARF: 5.8
Noob: 7.9
As I have mentioned in the Front View section, the Noob bezel has the most accurate colour to genuine however Noob bezel has a sharp-angled font, ZF, ZZF, VSF and ARF all claim they got their inserts from Clean Factory, from the above comparisons I think they are telling the truth but the ARF has slightly darker platinum plating and sharp-angled font like the Noob factory. My conclusion is ZF, ZZF and VSF have the identical bezel inserts while ARF has a Clean Factory insert with darker plating and sharp angled font, probablly an early production of Clean Factory or maybe the sample I had was an exceptional, the noob bezel has the most accurate colour but the font is a bit off. Here is my score:
ZF: 8
ZZF: 8
VSF: 8
ARF: 7
NOOB: 8
Hands:
For hands we are looking at the shape of the hands and the lume application, plus the second hand pinion.
Here are the comparisons:
Here is the Blind Vote result:
ZF: 6.1
ZZF: 7.1
VSF: 5.6
ARF: 7.5
NOOB: 6.2
After careful inspection, I found VSF has the best hand shape among all and I don’t know why they scored the least, ARF hands are good but they are different from the gen, none of them has the second hand pinion done right, we can also see the hands / dial lume colour in this comparison, I see ZF has the closest lume colour as genuine and matching lume colour, Noob also has matching hands / dial lume colour but they are greenish lume rather than whitish. I will just give my score and you can see by yourselves:
ZF: 8
ZZF: 7
VSF: 8
ARF: 7
NOOB: 6
SEL / Lug Fitment 1
For this comparison we are looking at the height difference of the SEL and the case lugs.
Here are the comparisons:
And the Blind Vote result:
ZF: 6.4
ZZF: 7.8
VSF: 7.1
ARF: 6.3
NOOB: 6.6
No one can rate this without magnified images like these since the height difference is so small to be seen with naked eyes, I think all the candidates are doing a great job in this aspect, if you really want me to say something then the VSF has very slightly larger difference and the AR height difference is not so consistent. Here is my score according to my own opinions:
ZF: 8
ZZF: 8
VSF: 7
ARF: 7
NOOB: 8
SEL / Lug Fitment 2
This is something many of you concerns and it is also something that most makers cannot fix, I will explain why later. We are looking for any space / gap between the SEL and the lugs.
Here is the comparison:
Here is the blind vote result:
ZF: 6.3
ZZF: 7.1
VSF: 7.4
AR: 6.6
NOOB: 6.6
Only 7 people voted on this and the scores are close. I see ZZF did the best job on this, VSF follows and the remaining 3 are similar.
Why none of the makers can do it well because in most cases, the case and bracelet makers are different makers and they have different error tolerance so if the case maker makes the lug slightly wider and the bracelet maker makes the SEL slightly smaller and there will be a significant visible gap there. I know some makers already start to have the case factory to make the SELs and passes the SELs to the bracelet factory to assemble into complete bracelets and this could fix the problem eventually.
So my score according to my own opinions:
ZF: 6
ZZF: 8
VSF: 7
ARF: 6
NOOB: 6
Rehaut Engraving:
The reheat engraving is another thing that no makers have ever made it right, I think the replica case factories do not have the right machines to do this and the factories with the right machines will not help them to do this because it has ROLEX engraved on it.
Let’s look at how the candidates do their reheat engravings:
We take a look at the Blink Vote result first:
ZF: 4.8
ZZF: 6.6
VSF: 5.3
ARF: 5.9
NOOB: 5.4
With no surprise that all the voters didn’t like the reheat engravings. The ZF got the font right but the crown wrong, ZZF has wrong font and crown (sitting too high); VSF has double lined engraving which is wrong and font too thin and crown, too; ARF everything too fat and Noob has fairly better engraving but still wrong crown. I think there is still a large space for rehaut engraving to be improved, really hope the maker can step up in the game.
Here is my score:
ZF: 7
ZZF: 6
VSF: 5
ARF: 6
NOOB: 7
Pearl:
The pearl is another part that is very difficult to manufacture because it is so tiny and it consists of 3 parts, the metal holder, sapphire crystal cover and the lume inside, for the pearl we are looking at the pearl shape, color and the pearl holder.
Here is the comparison:
The second rehaut comparison can be also used for pearl comparison, here is the blind vote result:
ZF: 5.9
ZZF: 5.7
VSF: 7.1
ARF: 6.3
NOOB: 7.1
Just like the rehaut, it seems not many are pleased with the pearl, I think VSF has the best holder but the sapphire cover is too flat, ZZF pearl lume too greenish and the VSF has the best color but the others are not bad either, Noob has the best pearl. Here is my score:
ZF: 6
ZZF: 6
VSF: 7
ARF: 7
NOOB: 8
Caseback Teeth:
According to the makers, the casebook teeth is not difficult to do but very costly, if you want to make the teeth clean and consistent and you have to replace the tool very often and the tool is not cheap. Let’s look at the comparison:
The blind vote score:
ZF: 5.8
ZZF: 6.9
VSF: 7.7
ARF: 6.6
NOOB: 5.3
The blind core score this time is similar to my score, I think ZZF has a perfect teeth but not gen like, VSF has a perfect gen-like teeth, ZF got the teeth shape right but it seems they didn’t change the tool for a long time haha, same for AR, noob has the worst teeth. Here is my score:
ZF: 6
ZZF: 7
VSF: 9
ARF: 6
NOOB: 5
Lug Engraving:
Engravings between lugs, only visible after the bracelet is removed so I think it is an important indicator but since we have removed the bracelet and let’s take a look, we should look at the font and the technique used for the engraving.
The Blind vote score:
ZF: 3.6
ZZF: 3.3
VSF: 7.8
ARF: 1.5 (LOL)
NOOB: 7.5
You guys are too harsh on ARF LOL, I took another set of comparisons to demonstrate the lug engravings, we are looking at font and the engraving technique, honestly the lowest scorer ARF has the best engraving despite it is thicker than the gen engraving, ZF is also using the same technique as gen but the font is a bit weird, ZZF is clearly NOT engraved but etched, Noob looks like using similar technique but the engraving is too shallow and the font is distorted, so here is my score:
ZF: 6
ZZF: 4
VSF: 5
ARF: 7
NOOB: 6
SEL Engraving:
Same as the lug engraving, not important but we take a look, we are also looking at the font and engraving technique.
The blind vote score:
ZF: 3.4
ZZF: 4.1
VSF: 4.0
ARF: 7.6 (LOL)
NOOB: 4.0
Very funny, ARF only scored 1.5 in the lug engraving but scored the highest 7.6 in the SEL engraving. So I went taking another set of comparisons and we can see more clearly now. Here is my score:
ZF: 6
ZZF: 7
VSF: 7
ARF: 6
NOOB: 8
Clasp:
Clasp is one of the most complicated parts in making Rolex reps, the clasp consists of the cover, folding tongue and clasp engravings, now we look at the comparisons:
Here is the blind vote score:
ZF: 5.5
ZZF: 8.0
VSF: 7.5
ARF: 7.0
NOOB: 7.2
I think ZF scored the least because of how their engravings look on the pics, actually the ZF clasp engravings looks the best in real life, it’s sharp and clear and very close to gen, while the others are too shallow and some are small, the polishing of the tongue is also better on ZF but the crown on the flip cover doesn’t look too good on ZF’s, here is my score:
ZF: 8
ZZF: 7
VSF: 7
ARF: 7
NOOB: 7
Dial:
I can’t remember how I could miss the dial comparison in the blind vote, maybe because I did it in the front view but I realised I should have a dedicated dial comparison and took another set of dial images, actually you can also refer to the front view, cyclops and hands comparison images above to assist you deciding which one has the best dial. We should look at the dial color, explosive pattern, dial markers and dial printing, here are the comparisons:
I think some of you may have already noticed the difference in the front view comparison, ZF has the best dial color, Noob has the worst dial color, VSF has the best dial markers and ARF has the worst since they haven’t updated for a long time, dial printing is similar on ZF, ZZF and VSF, Noob printing is a bit too thin and ARF is completely different, the maker said it was from an old gen but we don’t have the gen dial for reference, so we cannot comment on the ARF printing, the ARF has the best explosive pattern, Here is my score:
ZF: 8
ZZF: 7
VSF: 8
ARF: 6
NOOB: 6
Bracelet Rounded Edges:
We already reviewed SEL and the clasp so what makes it a good bracelet also depends on the rounded edges on the bracelet links, I have taken some pics to show the rounded edges of the links:
As you can see, none of them has the same rounded edges like gen, VSF is not even close but it has the best rounded edges. So my score to the rounded edges of the bracelet links is:
ZF: 6
ZZF: 6
VSF: 7
ARF: 6
NOOB: 6
There is also one important impression on the bracelet when I was doing the review, I had to screw in and out the screws when removing the clasps and I found out the ZF screw threads were the smoothest and I could screw in and out all screws very easily and smoothly.
General Feelings and Impressions:
There is one thing I want to mention about the bezel clicks, none of them can click the same as the gen does but ZF is very close, if there is a rating to the bezel rotation feeling and ZF could get 8 and the rest only get 5-6 top.
While I was rotating the bezels, I found ZF bezel can be pressed downwards like the gen since it has a gap between the bezel and the case, none of the others can do the same, we can see from the lug engraving comparison below which I also posted above:
The rounded edges of the VSF bracelet makes it more comfortable while wearing the watch which also gives you more gen feeling of the watch.
My Overal Gen-like rating:
ZF: 8
ZZF: 7
VSF: 8
ARF: 6
Noob: 7
904L Test:
We have done another 904L test on all candidates after the ZZF V3 is released because they claimed they updated the watch into 904L so we want to be fair and tested again.
We test 6 parts on each watch: Case, crown, SEL, bracelet, clasp and caseback.
The results are:
VSF: Case: 904L, Crown: 316L, SEL: 904L, Bracelet: 904L, Clasp: 316L. Caseback: 904L
ZF: All 904L
ARF: All 904L
ZZF: Case: 316L, Crown: 316L, SEL:904L, Bracelet: 904L, Clasp: 904L, Caseback: 316L
Noob: Case 904L, Crown: 316L, SEL: 316L, Bracelet: 904L, Clasp: 316L, Caseback: 904L
904L Test score:
ZF: 10
ZZF: 6
VSF: 8
ARF: 10
NOOB: 7
We have taken a video of the entire 904L testing and if anyone suspects the result and please email us and we will send you the video.
This is the end of the review, I would say they are all good replicas and it is not easy to tell which one is better in real life, but since this is a “Who has the best SUB” review and we must have a winner, now I am going to add all my scores together and we will have the answer to the ultimate question.
After the calculation of adding up all 17 indicators and we got:
ZF: 125
ZZF: 114
VSF: 125
ARF: 114
Noob: 116
Oh we have a double winner here! Congratulations to the unofficial winners of the Ultimate Review “Who Has the Best Hulk” - ZF and VSF!
I think the result is not surprising, both ZF and VSF are amazing watches, if you are using this review to help you decide which one to buy, you can screen the indicators that you like and find the one that suit you the most.
Please note these ratings are completely based on my own personal opinions and it is only for your reference if you are struggling choosing your last 40mm ceramic sub. Please be easy with me if do not share the same opinions.
Hope you guys like the review and I will do more if I can get a plenty of likes haha, I am so tired and I need some rest, please let me know if there are any questions and I will try my best to answer them.
P.S. I just released I didn’t do these reviews - 1. Lume color at dark environment, 2. Movement power reserve and decoration, I only commented on the lume application color in the hands review section. And I am so sorry I missed the movement review and please do your own homework if you care about the movement when you decide which one to buy.
The works involved are substantial and very time consuming, we took 4 sets of comparisons because 1. we found some lighting differences for the candidates after the photo shooting; 2. some updates to the watches after we have taken the comparison and 3. we found some missing parts in the previous comparisons.
In case there are some new friends here and do not know what’s going on here, this is a comprehensive review on the latest release of the most popular 116610 LV reps from ZF, ZZF, VSF, ARF and Noob maker.
I will reveal the blind vote results and I will express my personal opinions on these comparisons since I have seen them in real life and feel them with my hands. I will also rate each aspect with my own score, finally I will give a final G (Gen) Score to each one of them.
OK let’s cut the bullshit and here is the review.
Front View
In this section we are paying attention to the general visual impression of these candidates without looking into details, we will review the bezel colour, dial colour and DW and Cyclops, we will go deeper into DW and Cyclops in the later sections.
Let’s look at the comparison first, one of them was not seen on the blind vote which will show better dial colour under direct lighting.
Let’s look at the blind vote result first:
ZF: 6.8
ZZF: 7.3
VSF: 7.5
ARF: 5.2
NOOB: 5.3
The top comparison has the ARF in AR3135 movement while the bottom comparison has the ARF in A2824 movement and we found the cyclops and DW are different on the 2 so we did both. Honestly it is sad to find out the famous ARF Hulk has the lowest score but I cannot deny the other makers are doing a better job in the front view comparison. For dial colour, I see the ZF has the most accurate dial colour among the candidates while VSF has the best DW and cyclops, I can say ZF and Noob has similar DW and Cyclops while AR has too much blue tint and ZZF has not enough AR effect.
As we know ZF, ZZF, VSF and ARF are all using the Clean Factory bezel inserts but I will comment more on this in the bezel section, I want to say the Noob bezel colour looks closest to gen but I heard Clean Factory will release their new bezel inserts which will be the same or even better than the Noob bezel insert.
As I mentioned the front view mainly reviews the general visual impression of these candidates without looking into details and here is my score according to my own opinions:
ZF: 8
ZZF: 7
VSF: 8
ARF: 6
NOOB: 7
Cyclops and Date Wheel
We have talked about cyclops in the previous section but we will look into the details of this aspect. We are looking at the anti-refelctive coating colour, halo effect, black hold effect, AR effect and cyclops distortion. At the same time we will also look at the DW font and size.
Here are the comparisons:
Cyclops and DW have now become two of the most concerned aspects when deciding a good sub, many even replace these 2 parts into gen parts for ultimate visual effect.
Let’s look at the Blind Vote result (the result didn’t include the DW reference):
ZF: 6.8
ZZF: 5.5
VSF: 8.0
ARF: 7.4
NOOB: 5.5
The 3 sets of comparisons were taken in different lighting conditions so you may find some differences but since the comparisons in each set were taken under same lighting conditions and camera settings so we can just look for the difference between each and the gen.
I agree as the blind voters that VSF has the best cyclops with similar AR colour, AR effect and distortion, same black hole effect as gen and tiny little bolder font than gen, lack of halo effect as all other candidates.
ZF has the second best cyclops and DW with very good AR effect and slightly thicker font DW.
Noob has similar cyclops and DW as ZF but the DW background is not as smooth as other candidates.
ARF has good AR effect but too much blue tint and the worst DW among all candidates.
ZZF has slightly thinner DW font and I think ZZF hasn’t even bothered to AR coat their cyclops.
So my score based on my opinions:
ZF: 8
ZZF: 6
VSF: 9
ARF: 6
NOOB: 7
Bezel Teeth and Crystal
In this section we are paying attention to the teeth shape, size and position, crystal height, rim finishing and the gap distance between bezel insert and crystal.
There is not much to talk about the crystal since they are all sapphire crystals and we are mostly looking at the cyclops until I found something very minor on the VSF crystal, here is the comparison:
The Blind Vote result:
ZF: 7.6
ZZF: 5.6
VSF: 7.1
ARF: 7.7
NOOB: 7.1
I think all 5 candidates made their crystals in different crystal factories since they all look different, all the candidates have the crystal sitting slightly higher than the bezel insert and only VSF is sitting significantly higher than the bezel insert plus the rim edge of the VSF crystal is not rounded finished like the others, but this is a very easy fix and I think they can fix it very easily.
None of them has perfect bezel teeth but I personally think ZF has the closest teeth in size and position, ARF comes next, VSF and Noob follows and ZZF has the least accurate teeth.
Here is my score according to my own opinions:
ZF: 8
ZZF: 7
VSF: 7
ARF: 8
NOOB: 7
Bezel Insert
For the last decade the Hulk insert colour has been the most challenging task for the rep makers and things seem changed in 2020 when Clean Factory released their Hulk bezel insert with very close green colour as the genuine and they keep improving their bezel inserts and I believe they are now using V4 or V5 of their green inserts.
In this review, we are going to look at the insert colour, bezel numbers font and the platinum plating colour.
Let’s look at the comparisons first:
In these comparisons you can also see the crystal edge and bezel teeth size/shape that we reviews in the previous section.
Let’s look at the Blind Vote result:
ZF: 7.8
ZZF: 7.4
VSF: 7.5
ARF: 5.8
Noob: 7.9
As I have mentioned in the Front View section, the Noob bezel has the most accurate colour to genuine however Noob bezel has a sharp-angled font, ZF, ZZF, VSF and ARF all claim they got their inserts from Clean Factory, from the above comparisons I think they are telling the truth but the ARF has slightly darker platinum plating and sharp-angled font like the Noob factory. My conclusion is ZF, ZZF and VSF have the identical bezel inserts while ARF has a Clean Factory insert with darker plating and sharp angled font, probablly an early production of Clean Factory or maybe the sample I had was an exceptional, the noob bezel has the most accurate colour but the font is a bit off. Here is my score:
ZF: 8
ZZF: 8
VSF: 8
ARF: 7
NOOB: 8
Hands:
For hands we are looking at the shape of the hands and the lume application, plus the second hand pinion.
Here are the comparisons:
Here is the Blind Vote result:
ZF: 6.1
ZZF: 7.1
VSF: 5.6
ARF: 7.5
NOOB: 6.2
After careful inspection, I found VSF has the best hand shape among all and I don’t know why they scored the least, ARF hands are good but they are different from the gen, none of them has the second hand pinion done right, we can also see the hands / dial lume colour in this comparison, I see ZF has the closest lume colour as genuine and matching lume colour, Noob also has matching hands / dial lume colour but they are greenish lume rather than whitish. I will just give my score and you can see by yourselves:
ZF: 8
ZZF: 7
VSF: 8
ARF: 7
NOOB: 6
SEL / Lug Fitment 1
For this comparison we are looking at the height difference of the SEL and the case lugs.
Here are the comparisons:
And the Blind Vote result:
ZF: 6.4
ZZF: 7.8
VSF: 7.1
ARF: 6.3
NOOB: 6.6
No one can rate this without magnified images like these since the height difference is so small to be seen with naked eyes, I think all the candidates are doing a great job in this aspect, if you really want me to say something then the VSF has very slightly larger difference and the AR height difference is not so consistent. Here is my score according to my own opinions:
ZF: 8
ZZF: 8
VSF: 7
ARF: 7
NOOB: 8
SEL / Lug Fitment 2
This is something many of you concerns and it is also something that most makers cannot fix, I will explain why later. We are looking for any space / gap between the SEL and the lugs.
Here is the comparison:
Here is the blind vote result:
ZF: 6.3
ZZF: 7.1
VSF: 7.4
AR: 6.6
NOOB: 6.6
Only 7 people voted on this and the scores are close. I see ZZF did the best job on this, VSF follows and the remaining 3 are similar.
Why none of the makers can do it well because in most cases, the case and bracelet makers are different makers and they have different error tolerance so if the case maker makes the lug slightly wider and the bracelet maker makes the SEL slightly smaller and there will be a significant visible gap there. I know some makers already start to have the case factory to make the SELs and passes the SELs to the bracelet factory to assemble into complete bracelets and this could fix the problem eventually.
So my score according to my own opinions:
ZF: 6
ZZF: 8
VSF: 7
ARF: 6
NOOB: 6
Rehaut Engraving:
The reheat engraving is another thing that no makers have ever made it right, I think the replica case factories do not have the right machines to do this and the factories with the right machines will not help them to do this because it has ROLEX engraved on it.
Let’s look at how the candidates do their reheat engravings:
We take a look at the Blink Vote result first:
ZF: 4.8
ZZF: 6.6
VSF: 5.3
ARF: 5.9
NOOB: 5.4
With no surprise that all the voters didn’t like the reheat engravings. The ZF got the font right but the crown wrong, ZZF has wrong font and crown (sitting too high); VSF has double lined engraving which is wrong and font too thin and crown, too; ARF everything too fat and Noob has fairly better engraving but still wrong crown. I think there is still a large space for rehaut engraving to be improved, really hope the maker can step up in the game.
Here is my score:
ZF: 7
ZZF: 6
VSF: 5
ARF: 6
NOOB: 7
Pearl:
The pearl is another part that is very difficult to manufacture because it is so tiny and it consists of 3 parts, the metal holder, sapphire crystal cover and the lume inside, for the pearl we are looking at the pearl shape, color and the pearl holder.
Here is the comparison:
The second rehaut comparison can be also used for pearl comparison, here is the blind vote result:
ZF: 5.9
ZZF: 5.7
VSF: 7.1
ARF: 6.3
NOOB: 7.1
Just like the rehaut, it seems not many are pleased with the pearl, I think VSF has the best holder but the sapphire cover is too flat, ZZF pearl lume too greenish and the VSF has the best color but the others are not bad either, Noob has the best pearl. Here is my score:
ZF: 6
ZZF: 6
VSF: 7
ARF: 7
NOOB: 8
Caseback Teeth:
According to the makers, the casebook teeth is not difficult to do but very costly, if you want to make the teeth clean and consistent and you have to replace the tool very often and the tool is not cheap. Let’s look at the comparison:
The blind vote score:
ZF: 5.8
ZZF: 6.9
VSF: 7.7
ARF: 6.6
NOOB: 5.3
The blind core score this time is similar to my score, I think ZZF has a perfect teeth but not gen like, VSF has a perfect gen-like teeth, ZF got the teeth shape right but it seems they didn’t change the tool for a long time haha, same for AR, noob has the worst teeth. Here is my score:
ZF: 6
ZZF: 7
VSF: 9
ARF: 6
NOOB: 5
Lug Engraving:
Engravings between lugs, only visible after the bracelet is removed so I think it is an important indicator but since we have removed the bracelet and let’s take a look, we should look at the font and the technique used for the engraving.
The Blind vote score:
ZF: 3.6
ZZF: 3.3
VSF: 7.8
ARF: 1.5 (LOL)
NOOB: 7.5
You guys are too harsh on ARF LOL, I took another set of comparisons to demonstrate the lug engravings, we are looking at font and the engraving technique, honestly the lowest scorer ARF has the best engraving despite it is thicker than the gen engraving, ZF is also using the same technique as gen but the font is a bit weird, ZZF is clearly NOT engraved but etched, Noob looks like using similar technique but the engraving is too shallow and the font is distorted, so here is my score:
ZF: 6
ZZF: 4
VSF: 5
ARF: 7
NOOB: 6
SEL Engraving:
Same as the lug engraving, not important but we take a look, we are also looking at the font and engraving technique.
The blind vote score:
ZF: 3.4
ZZF: 4.1
VSF: 4.0
ARF: 7.6 (LOL)
NOOB: 4.0
Very funny, ARF only scored 1.5 in the lug engraving but scored the highest 7.6 in the SEL engraving. So I went taking another set of comparisons and we can see more clearly now. Here is my score:
ZF: 6
ZZF: 7
VSF: 7
ARF: 6
NOOB: 8
Clasp:
Clasp is one of the most complicated parts in making Rolex reps, the clasp consists of the cover, folding tongue and clasp engravings, now we look at the comparisons:
Here is the blind vote score:
ZF: 5.5
ZZF: 8.0
VSF: 7.5
ARF: 7.0
NOOB: 7.2
I think ZF scored the least because of how their engravings look on the pics, actually the ZF clasp engravings looks the best in real life, it’s sharp and clear and very close to gen, while the others are too shallow and some are small, the polishing of the tongue is also better on ZF but the crown on the flip cover doesn’t look too good on ZF’s, here is my score:
ZF: 8
ZZF: 7
VSF: 7
ARF: 7
NOOB: 7
Dial:
I can’t remember how I could miss the dial comparison in the blind vote, maybe because I did it in the front view but I realised I should have a dedicated dial comparison and took another set of dial images, actually you can also refer to the front view, cyclops and hands comparison images above to assist you deciding which one has the best dial. We should look at the dial color, explosive pattern, dial markers and dial printing, here are the comparisons:
I think some of you may have already noticed the difference in the front view comparison, ZF has the best dial color, Noob has the worst dial color, VSF has the best dial markers and ARF has the worst since they haven’t updated for a long time, dial printing is similar on ZF, ZZF and VSF, Noob printing is a bit too thin and ARF is completely different, the maker said it was from an old gen but we don’t have the gen dial for reference, so we cannot comment on the ARF printing, the ARF has the best explosive pattern, Here is my score:
ZF: 8
ZZF: 7
VSF: 8
ARF: 6
NOOB: 6
Bracelet Rounded Edges:
We already reviewed SEL and the clasp so what makes it a good bracelet also depends on the rounded edges on the bracelet links, I have taken some pics to show the rounded edges of the links:
As you can see, none of them has the same rounded edges like gen, VSF is not even close but it has the best rounded edges. So my score to the rounded edges of the bracelet links is:
ZF: 6
ZZF: 6
VSF: 7
ARF: 6
NOOB: 6
There is also one important impression on the bracelet when I was doing the review, I had to screw in and out the screws when removing the clasps and I found out the ZF screw threads were the smoothest and I could screw in and out all screws very easily and smoothly.
General Feelings and Impressions:
There is one thing I want to mention about the bezel clicks, none of them can click the same as the gen does but ZF is very close, if there is a rating to the bezel rotation feeling and ZF could get 8 and the rest only get 5-6 top.
While I was rotating the bezels, I found ZF bezel can be pressed downwards like the gen since it has a gap between the bezel and the case, none of the others can do the same, we can see from the lug engraving comparison below which I also posted above:
The rounded edges of the VSF bracelet makes it more comfortable while wearing the watch which also gives you more gen feeling of the watch.
My Overal Gen-like rating:
ZF: 8
ZZF: 7
VSF: 8
ARF: 6
Noob: 7
904L Test:
We have done another 904L test on all candidates after the ZZF V3 is released because they claimed they updated the watch into 904L so we want to be fair and tested again.
We test 6 parts on each watch: Case, crown, SEL, bracelet, clasp and caseback.
The results are:
VSF: Case: 904L, Crown: 316L, SEL: 904L, Bracelet: 904L, Clasp: 316L. Caseback: 904L
ZF: All 904L
ARF: All 904L
ZZF: Case: 316L, Crown: 316L, SEL:904L, Bracelet: 904L, Clasp: 904L, Caseback: 316L
Noob: Case 904L, Crown: 316L, SEL: 316L, Bracelet: 904L, Clasp: 316L, Caseback: 904L
904L Test score:
ZF: 10
ZZF: 6
VSF: 8
ARF: 10
NOOB: 7
We have taken a video of the entire 904L testing and if anyone suspects the result and please email us and we will send you the video.
This is the end of the review, I would say they are all good replicas and it is not easy to tell which one is better in real life, but since this is a “Who has the best SUB” review and we must have a winner, now I am going to add all my scores together and we will have the answer to the ultimate question.
After the calculation of adding up all 17 indicators and we got:
ZF: 125
ZZF: 114
VSF: 125
ARF: 114
Noob: 116
Oh we have a double winner here! Congratulations to the unofficial winners of the Ultimate Review “Who Has the Best Hulk” - ZF and VSF!
I think the result is not surprising, both ZF and VSF are amazing watches, if you are using this review to help you decide which one to buy, you can screen the indicators that you like and find the one that suit you the most.
Please note these ratings are completely based on my own personal opinions and it is only for your reference if you are struggling choosing your last 40mm ceramic sub. Please be easy with me if do not share the same opinions.
Hope you guys like the review and I will do more if I can get a plenty of likes haha, I am so tired and I need some rest, please let me know if there are any questions and I will try my best to answer them.
P.S. I just released I didn’t do these reviews - 1. Lume color at dark environment, 2. Movement power reserve and decoration, I only commented on the lume application color in the hands review section. And I am so sorry I missed the movement review and please do your own homework if you care about the movement when you decide which one to buy.
