Talking about watches and inspiration can spawn some pretty interesting debates, and for good reason – especially in the dive watch category. Of course, early dive watches weren’t “inspired by” anything; dive watches were tools created with a very distinct purpose. That said, as the years went on and the dive watch category moved away from practical utility towards desirable daily-wearers, design inspiration soon came into play. Today we’re looking at luxury watches inspired by the ocean, and digging into the stories behind the creation of each piece and how they relate to the big blue beyond.As mentioned above, there is no reason to go into a Rolex Submariner history lesson here; however, the Rolex Sea-Dweller Deepsea with D-Blue dial (a variant of the original Deepsea that was first unveiled in 2008) has a very distinct connection to our world’s deepest waters.The origins of this piece come from Rolex’s involvement in (read: sponsorship of) James Cameron’s deep dive into the Mariana Trench. Though not limited in production, the piece is commemorative of the 2012 dive, and features a gradient blue to black dial that mimics the loss of light as one descends into the ocean’s depths. Additionally, the green chosen for the DEEPSEA text on its dial is matched to the color of Cameron’s Deepsea Challenger Submarine that took a prototype Rolex watch all the way down into the trench affixed to one of its robotic arms.The legacy of Jacques-Yves Cousteau is unparalleled in the world of underwater exploration, and many years ago (back in 2004 to be precise), IWC decided to become a partner of the Cousteau Society – a non-profit organization looking to continue the initiatives set out by Jacques-Yves several decades prior. From the onset of the partnership, IWC has included special limited-edition Aquatimer models in their collections, with a portion of the proceeds of each watch headed towards the organization.Of their bigger undertakings, Cousteau’s famed research vessel (named ‘Calypso’) was raised from the sea floor after sinking on account of an incident in Singapore in 1996. Progress on Calypso has been slow-going, and a fire on the ship while docked in Turkey two years ago has slowed things further. Naturally, there are rumors swirling that a redesign of the IWC Aquatimer line across the board will appear in conjunction with the vessel’s unveiling.
On the dial at 12 o’clock, there is a FA Jones signaure in black, a small hand is showing current seconds on subdial at 6 o’clock. Central hour and minute hands are classic Breguet hands, which add a little retro flavor to the watch. Printed Arabic hour markers are in blue.Look at the manual winding movement through crystal back, each movement plate is carefully crafted, from polishing to chamfering, each detail is uncompromised.The leather band varies from brown, blue and black on different model. Please tell me which one you like: rose gold case with brown leather strap, blue hour markers with blue leather band or black hour markers with black leather strap.
The case and bracelet has a better finish than that of Noob, I can say that no other watch companies in our market have such a good case finish like AR factory does on their replica watches. The case is made with 904L stainless steel, with 18K yellow gold coating that is measured to be 5 mils thick. This replica is the latest V2 edition, it is the newest edition, there are still no V8 or V9 editions, about Daytona, Noob factory also has not published the V8 or V9, so, please do not be cheated by other websites that claim to be Noob factory.Replica Rolex Daytona 116508 Yellow Gold Case Replica Rolex Daytona Yellow Gold Chronograph ButtonsThis enhanced V2 edition has bezel being updated, the thickness of bezel engravings is closer to that of genuine Daytona. If you have ever bought the V1 edition of ARF Daytona, you can compare them. Each corner of the case is finished smoothly so that you will not have any scratch feeling when wearing the watch. Like Noob Daytona, now ARF also engraves these secret symbols on the back of each lug.Replica Rolex Daytona 116508 Case BackOn this Daytona, the dial has black and white options. The dial is also improved on the V2 edition. Especially the minute scales, their thickness is corrected and closer to that of genuine. The engravings on inner bezel are more clear and clean, the spacing between each “ROLEX” word is correct. Overall, the dial completion is so perfect besides its fault minute-chronograph counter and hour-chronograph counter, the hands on these two subdials are fixed, they do not have function. However, this is not a big deal, I do not care about the chronograph when I wear a Daytona, besides, if you operate the chronograph too often on a Noob Daytona, it will have technical issues.Replica Rolex Daytona Yellow Gold Bracelet Replica Rolex Daytona 116508 Clasp About this V2 Edition Rolex Daytona from AR factory, if the full mark is 10, I give this watch 9.5. Hope AR factory can fix the chrono issue while still maintaining the stability of the movement.AR Factory Replica Rolex Sea-Dweller 43mm 126603 Two Tone 904L Stainless Steel Asia 2824Replica Rolex Sea-Dweller 43mm Two ToneBlack is classic, but there are some golden and two tone models existed in Submariner collection, however, I still have not seen one golden Rolex Sea-Dweller before until I saw this one which Rolex published in 2019 Basel. It is the latest Rolex Sea-Dweller watch in 43mm diameter, with reference 126603. What attract me on this watch is its two tone style, which Rolex has seldom used on Sea-Dweller before.
Initially only available in White or Yellow Rolesor (Rolex’s name for a combination of steel and gold), they were just successful enough for an all-steel reference with a smooth bezel to follow in 2012.Yet it seemed to be too much of a design departure for either the traditional customer base or else the brand itself, and the Datejust II was discontinued by 2016. The Datejust 41 replaced it as a very much a scaled-up version of the 36mm piece, with the classic dimensions intact.But there was always a relatively small but enthusiastic audience for the DJII, as decidedly masculine a dress watch as you are likely to find. Issued with a range of dial options (although, strangely, only ever produced on the Oyster bracelet) it offers plenty of choices and is the ideal model for a larger wrist.Rolex is very proud of their patented Cerachrom ceramic alloy, and rightly so. Scratchproof, fade-proof, nigh on unbreakable, it is the perfect material for the brand’s bezels and it has been rolled out across most of the tool watch collection. On the Daytona, it is fitted to models forged from platinum, all three flavors of gold, and the only two steel pieces left in the contemporary lineup – those lusted after models which are more difficult to get ahold of than a Wonka factory golden ticket.But Cerachrom is a fairly new invention. Previous iterations of the stainless steel Daytona have always had steel bezels, something no longer obtainable if you are buying brand new. The last reference to have one was the ref. 116520, which ran from 2000 to 2016, and was the first Daytona to house Rolex’s own in-house chronograph movement, the Cal. 4130.
This replica with size of 44×17mm, and uses stainless steel in case and bottom so that it can has a good performance in abrasive resistance. It has brilliant blue dial together with white Arabia scale and hand, which is so easy to read the time. What’s more, it uses imported Swiss C3 noctilucent powder, which is one kind of nice material. It is star product in day time when with bright light, and it still can make watch shinning even at night. It can display Chronograph, week and date. Its surface decorates with sapphire crystal and Anti-Reflective Coating is almost covered all its whole body. It keeps beautiful and noble appearance and with good visual effect at the same time. When we see it carefully, we find that it with screw-in crown which is made of stainless steel. Its band is rubber, It will more energetic and rather active with such band . What’s more, it has water-resistance within fifty meters, it can satisfy your daily activity.
OM started to make their reputation when they published the first Speedmaster Chrono with full functional hour and minute counter. In recent years, OM expanded their business to other models like Omega Seamaster and Audemars Piguet Royal Oak, now, I see the potential this factory has, it has the ability to become a big factory.Today, I want to introduce one Omega Seamaster Diver replica watch from OM factory, it is the latest model whose dial has wavy texture. Before, the dial only has black and blue options, now, OM also offers this white dial option. Compared with the black and blue dial version, this one with white dial is my favorite.First, I do not like this Seamaster watch just because it uses a wavy texture dial. Why did Omega abandon their smooth black dial and adopt this wavy dial? I do not think this wavy dial is more classic. However, on this model, its white dial just smoothens the wavy texture, I did not even notice it if I have not checked carefully. Like the black bezel, the white dial uses real ceramic material, the black bezel matches the white dial perfectly, it makes the watch look more classic than the one with black dial. On the dial, both hour markers and hands are filled with white luminous material, in dark condition, you will see two different lume light emitting from the dial, OM factory makes the dial lume correct. The only flaw which I can find from the dial is that the edge of hour markers is a bit thick. Check the date font shown in the window opened at 6 o’clock, although it is centered, but the date font is not made to be perfect.
Today, I will take Submariner 116610LV for an example, and picked up two best replicas to make a comparison review, hope you can learn something that will help you to make decision when need to buy one. About two best replicas of Submariner 116610LV, one is made by Noob, its latest version is V9, the other is made by AR factory, the latest version is V2. In their 116610LV, both Noob and AR can install Asia clone 3135 and Asia clone ETA movement in it, today, I will choose the model with Asia clone ETA movement to make this comparison.I got both watches before, and I think AR makes a better case. When I first got the ARF 116610LV on hand, I loved it, simply speaking, it gives me a genuine feeling. You know, I am not a watch expert and I will not make a very detailed and close comparsion between a replica and genuine, so the first feeling a replica watch gives me is very important. Although both Noob and AR factory make Green Submariner 116610LV with 904L stainless steel, and the case thickness is also the same, which is 13mm, but the case finish of AR is better than Noob, I also feel more comfortable when wearing the ARF 116610LV.The bezel of ARF 116610LV is better. First, both Noob and AR factory use green ceramic insert on the bezel, the green color used by both factory is very close to that of genuine watch. However, the polishing of the bezel is better on AR factory, and there is no gap between the bezel and case, on some V9 models Noob factory published, there is tiny gap existing, hope they can improve this flaw next time. Finally, the luminous coating on bezel markers has a platinum color tone like genuine on both Noob and ARF.Both Noob and ARF have their own advantages on the green dial. The white printings on Noob are more accurate than ARF, after all Noob has upgraded this replica to V9 edition, every time when they upgraded this watch, the dial printings could be improved. About the date window, AR has a more neat date font, when you first see it, you will choose AR, however, if you carefully with genuine, Noob has a correct date font. At last, about the hands, Noob makes them with iron, and the iron sheet is very thin, while AR makes them with stainless steel, so, whether in material or finish, the hands of AR are better than Noob.Both Noob and AR factories make dial lume correct.On the ARF V2 Edition 116610LV, the bracelet finish has been completed to be perfect, it can be even exchanged with genuine watch. Although being made with 904L stainless steel both in Noob and ARF, but Noob can not achieve such a high quality level in bracelet finish. On every piece of 116610LV Submariner AR factory has published, the bracelet fits case perfectly and no gap, but the gap between case and bracelet may exist on some pieces of Noob 116610LV.
