Superclone Lab’s Sea-Dweller range covers four references, and the fall of Clean Factory changed which movement buyers meet today.
The Rolex Sea-Dweller is a professional diving watch, and, like many Rolex models, it exists as a super clone: a replica built to look like the original, with no involvement from Rolex. Until early 2026, Clean Factory held top places in the community rankings for several Rolex families. Its story explains much of what a Sea-Dweller buyer meets today.
The references
The current replica range at Superclone Lab, for example, covers four references. The 126600 is the steel model with the name Sea-Dweller printed in red, a unidirectional bezel with a 60-minute scale and a black Cerachrom insert. The 126603 is the 43mm two-tone version in steel and yellow gold, with the name in yellow. The older 116600 has no Cyclops lens over the date, and the 116660 Deepsea carries the D-Blue dial, which fades from blue to black. On the genuine watches, the Chromalight lume glows blue for up to eight hours, a useful detail to compare in photos.
Why Clean Factory mattered
Community resources once placed Clean Factory in the high tier alongside VSF and ZF, citing its 904L steel, sapphire crystals and clone movements. Reviewers liked its work. A February 2023 comparison on r/RepTime gave the bracelet and the solid end links of its Submariner full marks, though it flagged the crystal as a weak point at the time. By January 2025, members said newer batches had crystals as good as VSF’s. In March 2025, a discussion of the Submariner 126610LN set Clean Factory’s case shape and overall feel against the advantage of VSF’s movement.
The fall of Clean Factory
Then came 2025. In June, an r/RepTime thread reported the seizure of stock from a wholesaler tied to both ZF and Clean Factory. In July, threads reported a raid on the factory and delays for dealers. In September, a new operation called Clean Plus was announced under new owners, said to use the same parts suppliers as the original and the Dandong 3235 movement; its first releases were a Datejust 41, a 126500 Daytona and a titanium Yacht-Master 226627. Several members doubted that it would match the original. In February 2026, the r/RepTime guide removed every Clean Factory entry except one; the May 2026 edition lists it as best only for the Air-King 126900. A fuller account of what happened to Clean Factory sets out the timeline with its sources.
Which movement to expect now
With Clean Factory almost gone from the rankings, buyers look at the movement first. A June 2026 guide on r/RepTime names the VS3235, a copy of the Rolex 3235 calibre, as a movement buyers often find in Sea-Dweller replicas. Back in 2023, a reviewer praised how smoothly the Clean Factory VR3235 wound in a Submariner, but with that factory’s output now uncertain, the VS3235 is the movement buyers are most likely to meet.
Before you order
Find out which factory version the seller can supply, and get pictures and a video of your own watch while it is still with them. Compare the bezel alignment, the red or yellow Sea-Dweller text and the lume with Rolex’s own pictures of the reference. On Rolex models, also check the engraved inner ring around the dial, the rehaut: if its engraving is out of line, that is a common tell. For a quick overview, here are the Sea-Dweller references at Superclone Lab, each with the genuine details to compare.
This piece comes from Superclone Lab, a retailer of super clone watches. The watches are replicas and carry no approval from Rolex.