Watchlords

Noob asked me to do a review of this watch. NOA is a small brand of Swiss made watches with a very distinctive look. NOA is the owner's initials and also stands for "none of the above". I guess that is what you are supposed to say when some dummy asks if it is a Rolex or Tag. I bought my first at the Wynn Jeweler in Vegas, the one of the few places I have seen this brand. I was attracted by the interesting look and the deep coliseum dial. I originally bought a midsize 40mm, with the cream dial and the brown leather strap. I had all kinds of problems with the self-winding mechanism. Sent it back to Switzerland to be fixed and eventually got it back 4 months later. All the while I was falling into a Kool-Aid stupor and felt the 40mm was looking smaller and smaller on my wrist. Then I checked out watchtime.com's database and they have the 40mm listed as a woman's size! Well that watch went away to ebay.

Fast forward 1 year and I found this used version on ebay. It was not perfect by a long shot, but the price was great and the seller accepted my offer. It has a second, beige rubber strap that the previous owner used, as it had some staining that I'm sure will come out but I haven't bothered to try. I prefer the alligator strap. The packaging is over the top, a nice large leather slide open box. The internal watch pillow was pleather and falling apart.

Here are the stats from NOA:
Stainless steel case, beige dial with beige
N.O.A Inner Ring with applied dots painted with Superluminova.
Brown alligator strap.
Automatic Chronograph movement.
SIZE 44 mm
INTERHORN WIDTH 22 mm
CASE Stainless Steel (ASI standard 316L), two pieces
CRYSTAL Sapphire anti-scratch with anti-reflection treatment
CASE BACK Stainless Steel (ASI standard 316L), closed with 6 screws. Progres-
sive number engraved on the back.
See through sapphire crystal
DIAL Double layer beige dial with recessed eyes. Applied indexes
HANDS Custom designed hour and minute hands, painted in acid blue with
Superluminova. Second and small second hands painted in blue
CROWN Screwed down with double gasket, personalized with logo
MOVEMENT N.O.A A2051. Based on ETA 2892 with Dubois-Depraz chronogra-
phic module with 2 eyes, crown at 9H
FUNCTIONS Chronograph functions with date window at 12H.
Counters with 60 seconds, 45 minutes
STRAP 1 Brown alligator skin stitched to PVC rubber, with leather stitched
to underside. Easy changing spring bars. Stainless Steel butterfly
buckle personalized with logo
STRAP 2 Caoutchouc brown strap. Stainless Steel buckle personalized with
logo. Easy changing spring bars.
WATER RESISTANCE 10 ATM, 330 ft, 100 mt. tested

My likes:
-the overall look
-nicely decorated movement (Loud conversation DD module working fine)
-the price I got this one at (NOA's are extremely overpriced in my opinion.)

My dislikes:
-the 44mm dial, because it has no bezel, plays like a teacup saucer on the wrist, but I'm getting used to it.
-the strap is actually leather sewn into a rubber frame, which I guess will improve durability in the long haul, but actually takes away from the comfort on the wrist.
-the chrono second hand sits over the date and the dial logo.
-the cheap pleather pillow it came on.

Here are some pics, thanks for looking.

fine looking piece ,see why you fell for it. curious what kind of $ retail.

wire-paladin wrote:fine looking piece ,see why you fell for it. curious what kind of $ retail.

Retail $2500-3. I stole that one off eBay for under $700 if memory serves. If you look at the last picture, you can see where the lefty crown is already digging a hole in my forearm. Sold it to eddiea, who eventually passed it on to Koimaster.

Still love the look of that model.

Watch Noob wrote:Still love the look of that model.

It looks good in pics , great movement, however not confortable on my wrist either and.... something about the watch, I'll never managed to warm up to it.

Very cool looking watch. I see what you mean about the Chrono hand covering the date. That would bug me too.

Sorry guys but I have had no issues with the crown on this but the strap is shit. $600 for a new one. I am going to replace it with an aftermarket strap. Still love the watch, but with all of the others recently it is not getting the wrist time it should.

Very handsome watch. Appreciate the review and the pics. NOA have some great watches, but little pricey. Do like the design of the lugs, appear sturdy and attractive. Dial is sharp. That chrono hand covering the date would annoy me to no end.

Thanks for bumping this, Alain. I missed it the first time around. Fine review and pics, Doc!

Cool watch. Invicta stole the case, lug and integrated strap design for a "Swiss Made" ETA 2824 and odd cut-out numbers inner chapter ring 1948 Model offering a couple years ago. I don't know the model number so it's nearly an impossible task to find an image of it. I believe the Invicta's was 45-46mm.

ChronoMATT wrote:Cool watch. Invicta stole the case, lug and integrated strap design for a "Swiss Made" ETA 2824 and odd cut-out numbers inner chapter ring 1948 Model offering a couple years ago. I don't know the model number so it's nearly an impossible task to find an image of it. I believe the Invicta's was 45-46mm.

http://bdwf.net/forum/showthread.php?t=80474

Thanks, Koi. Invicta sure nicked the dial design.

The model I was referring to is a 2824 dress model where they stole the case, lugs and an integrated croc strap design. I will find an image somewhere.

koimaster wrote:

ChronoMATT wrote:Cool watch. Invicta stole the case, lug and integrated strap design for a "Swiss Made" ETA 2824 and odd cut-out numbers inner chapter ring 1948 Model offering a couple years ago. I don't know the model number so it's nearly an impossible task to find an image of it. I believe the Invicta's was 45-46mm.

http://bdwf.net/forum/showthread.php?t=80474

ChronoMATT wrote:Thanks, Koi. Invicta sure nicked the dial design.

The model I was referring to is a 2824 dress model where they stole the case, lugs and an integrated croc strap design. I will find an image somewhere.

koimaster wrote:

ChronoMATT wrote:Cool watch. Invicta stole the case, lug and integrated strap design for a "Swiss Made" ETA 2824 and odd cut-out numbers inner chapter ring 1948 Model offering a couple years ago. I don't know the model number so it's nearly an impossible task to find an image of it. I believe the Invicta's was 45-46mm.

http://bdwf.net/forum/showthread.php?t=80474

I bought the watch (Potger) when it was offered here to keep lemmings from coming here to buy it and then say they purchased it at WL.
As you know I also own the NOA in this review which I purchased from Eddiea.
:hater:

I like it, except it looks huge on the wrist, possibly because it is all dial. Was the 40mm the same style? Also like you mentioned the blocked date. Really not a smart placement. But cool watch none the less.

I too like the looks of this one. I have spot a few on e-bay always for to much money. Very cool watch IMO.

ttt

resurrection

New old stock strap from Dubai.

Only a grand? Bargain.

3Flushes wrote: ↑

April 11th 2023, 6:39pm

Only a grand? Bargain.

AED bucks is about $250 American... everyone knows smells don't pay retail.

smellody wrote: ↑

April 11th 2023, 6:45pm

3Flushes wrote: ↑

April 11th 2023, 6:39pm

Only a grand? Bargain.

AED bucks is about $250 American... everyone knows smells don't pay retail.

Didn't pay attention to the AED, damn ADD.

And a handsome strap it is.