Rolex Daytona 116500 Panda ComparisonL GEN vs NOOB, Clean V2 & BT V2 by Steve from Theonewatches.io
Now we bought a 2021 Gen Daytona and made a compare with Noob, clean and BT factory with all details, hope it will help you to choose your favorite Daytona.
Although Noob is closed, as a pioneer of movement 4130 we also add it here.
Let’s just get started now!
Front view with phone photos
First, for the dial color, Noob is closer to Gen, nice color; clean a little darker, feels like grey and dull, maybe the glass is not so transparent;
BTF is too pale white.
I prefer Noob dial color, the overall looking feels like gen quality, but it depends on personal preferences.
It’s hard to clarify the original look and differences if we don’t put them together with the Gen.
We can also see that BTF dial is also very similar to the gen one under the bright light, less color difference.
Additionally, the color of Gen’s whole dial, marker coating color and hands color are the same, integrate with each other.
6 clock bezel arrow alignment view
It’s hard for us to notice that the inverted triangle on 6 position is a slightly off with the square marker.
Gen looks a little left. We have checked several gen watches and find out not everyone can align very perfect, it’s a harder thing to say it must be aligned for this bezel.
We also inspect many gen photos on the website and also can say some are left, but some are very straight.
sapphire and bezel side view
Sorry that these photos may not so clear to see the differences due to the photo angles and light.
After multiple angles comparison, there is no big differences of their colors and material.
Noob glass is thicker than the others (so Noob case is the thickest), but with the best transparency.
Clean and BTF all used same Clean bezel, Noob bezel is a little darker than the gen one.
But the entire bezel of these three factories all similar to the gen.
Chronograph second hand alignment view
We can figure out from the photos that Gen chronograph second hand is a slightly off with the Inverted triangle on 12 position.
actually it aligned with Rolex logo and scale of 12 position. Three replicas all a little off.
Bezel Platinum coating view
All three factories are more white than Gen. Noob is a little darker, Gen is a little dark grey.
Gen’s platinum coating is more finesse, looks bright and shinny with a closer look.
So the gen one shall be more charming with quick glance. It looks a little dark in our photos since the gen is covered with some dust.Why do I get this conclusion is that we have checked the brand new gen one. We will try to take the better photos with new gen in our next post.
Side view of scale
For the marker shape, Noob is over square, the side surface of dial hasn’t made smooth case kit lugs treatment.
Clean does a good job in this, the shape is nearly like the gen, BT is also good as well.
Side view of crown
Oval of Noob Rolex logo is too big with thin shape. Clean looks the best in the whole details, BT also good.
lume coating view
Clean makes the best lume coating, also with the sight of graininess, color also similar to the gen.
BT is too smooth and hardly see the graininess. Noob is better than BT, with a little graininess.
12’clock Printed fonts
Clean has a good control for the color and thickness. Noob looks like pale yellow since lack of ink thickness.
BT’s ink thickness is ok, but thinner number font.
Daytona Font view
Gen Daytona looks darker red, it’s hard for the replica to look as the same as gen since red oil seal is hard to blending.
(Except the color, Clean font thickness and size are very similar to the gen.)
Printed fonts
All right, clean also wins, Noob and BT seems lighter color, thinner font.
We can also check the shape of 6 position marker, Noob is too square, Clean and BT have better shape.
Hand view
Let’s check these photos with two aspects, Gen hand surface and side all treated very clean.
Noob hand edge also looks clean, but clean factory is not clean as we always say, the object looks like a little rusty, it probably because of the accessory.
but BTF looks also clean with BT hands.
For the center sleeve of second hand, we can see the center of Gen second hand a certain height, shape is Cylindrical.
Clean sleeve is a curved sphere, similar as Noob and BT. But BT with poor flatness.
subdial front view
We take chronograph subdial as an example, Noob hands ends is flat (known as scissors hands) due to no independent molding.
Clean and BTF similar to the gen for the sub hands.
For the chronograph subdial font, Clean and BTF too close to inside edge, Noob too close to outside edge, and no stereoscopic.
BT hand location is better in chronograph hour subdial, Clean is better in minutes subdial.
In fact their hands are straight, just the engraving of the dial a little different so it looks like some off。
Side view of subdial hands
Clean more similar to the gen for the hand center sleeve, BT is better in the end treatment, smooth as the gen.
Side view of the subdial pattern
Noob is better for the suitable ornamentation circle.
Clean and BT outer edge notch are exposed a little, subdial is not suit perfect for the notch.
But Noob did too many pattern circles, clean and BT better than it.
rehaut view
For the rehaut engraving, Clean and BT do a good job, Noob font looks extremely different.
Sel and chronograph handle
Gen sel has perfect golden three arcs corner. Noob looks almost parallel.
The whole shape of BT looks good, it shall be perfect if they lower the end height.
Clean also needs to adjust the shape.
The timing head is too sharp for the N factory and is not chamfered, the whole shape of the BT is better.
When we rotate the head, you can see that the top of the BT head is not sunken in, which is due to the short screw-in stroke.
back case view
The brushed finish on the bottom cover is all right!
BT has made smooth treatment for the back case teeth sharp ends. Gen is very neat and tidy for the back case laser circle.
Noob and clean’s edges are irregular, BT is ok.
engraving views
Three factories engraving are obviously different from the Gen.
Factories adopt with laser engraving, looks like formed with dots, Gen engraving is more in place.
Wa, Noob is missing a dot after ORIG.
For the buckle, there are some differences in the process, but BT and clean shall be more similar to the gen shape.
It’s just a small issue and has no influences for the wearing.
The crown laser mark
GEN is formed by a scattered arrangement, all three factories are regularly arranged.
probably GEN was also regularly arranged a long time ago, due to the upgrading of major factories and anti-counterfeiting by them,
it was changed to this difficult-to-imitate graphic. haha
Well, this is today’s post. With such a detail comparison, there is a gap between the N factory and the other two factories in some details.
Thanks for looking and feel free to comment, no matter what, our reps are always moving in the right direction, so let’s hear it for that!
Note: (Some of the photos because of the light source problems lead to deviations from the real thing, the details are still based on textual descriptions, comparative picture size is relatively large, you can download to enlarge the comparison, if there is something I did not say can also be left in the comments section, I will discuss with everyone, thank you for watching)
There is no perfect replica, only the one you love the most.
