Mills

Sounds like the stem locking screw. I had the same issue and it was an easy fix. Have a look here

Panatime are also very good for alligator http://panatime.com/geloalxlsibr1.html. If you can afford the extra cost, you could also pick up a gen panerai strap for about $200 if you hang around in the accessory section of paneristi.

Great, thanks for that. I'll do so right away.

Is there any recourse he can take against me backing out of a winning bid. I read up on it and I think I'm covered by distance selling but as I've never backed out of a transaction like this so I'm unsure. I don't care about my eBay profile, I'm more worried about UK law

I told him to get the authenticity sorted and sell it on paneristi to make an extra £500. I feel bad if he was a genuine seller but I'm not parting with hard earned cash when it doesn't feel right. Sending it in for a service and not getting it back would keep me worried for years. I hate waiting for email when you know it's going to be somebody ranting at you.

He just offered to have it cracked open at a local jewellers but I'm now just uncomfortable with the whole thing. My gut says run away and I think I should follow it.

I've been hunting for a gen radiomir for a while and found one on eBay. It was a 288J and listed 50% off retail. All looked good apart from the shitty photos and the seller had good feedback as a seller. I won the auction with a bid just shy of £3k and was looking forward to receiving the watch but then in my eyes it took a turn for the worse. The seller immediately sent me a mail asking if I wanted him to deliver the watch, which was nice, but then asked if I could pay cash (red flag 1). In further discussions he then said "The History of the watch is unknown to me prior to me buying it from a private seller on ebay. As you I did the checking through Panerai in Florence Italy and visitedthe museam there last year with the watch. Please feel free to do your own checking on its authenticity." (red flag 2). After asking for better photos he said he could get no better with his camera. He did send me some more photos of the tags and cosg cert which all matched but at that point I really started to doubt the sale. I've just backed out, much to his annoyance, and expect a tirade of mails demanding payment. Did I do the right thing or am I being paranoid.

Got it for £1K under list, which was pretty surprising. All the AD's in the city wouldn't give a discount but I ended up opting for iconic watches who would.

So I pulled the trigger on a 359. The tobacco dial swayed me.This watch habit is damn expensive but worth it.

I purchased a 24/22 brown gator last month and am really happy with the quality. You're right though, very expensive shipping.

Just got an email from Panatime offering 35% off their great straps and accessories for the next three days. If you are interested, the coupon code is CYBER2011.

I saw somebody had already turned one into a strap. Looks a bit flat to me but could be interesting.

Just about to pull the trigger on a gen 312 or 351 and wondered if I should expect to get a discount. I've heard it is nigh on impossible on a pam but thought you guys might know better than most if it is possible. Also 312 or 351? Personally I like the 351 with the tobacco dial but still not 100%. Damn reps going to cost me £5K

What about the 288? I've found a good deal on a new 288 for £4300. Ideally would love the 312 but it's hitting my limit on what I constitute as acceptable to spend on one watch . I think the 111 or 104 are my backup plan.

Don't worry, looks like it got pulled.

I've been thinking about getting another gen for a while now and considered either a Radiomir or a Marina (5,111,177). During my daily trawl of amazon, ebay, paneristi and other sites I stumbled across a rather nice 86 on ebay. What are your thoughts on this watch and how high would you go on bidding? I'm assuming it is gen and would check the card and box but anything shout out as fake? Thanks for any advice.

pleased to hear you got them installed mate. Great watch, good luck with the screw situation.

Just saw that Andrew is now selling the new 177 with the upgraded high beat. How interesting but at $288 or $70 above the 18,800 I think it's a bit steep.

Maybe H factory starting to use the high beat. Not sure what else they could do to the 177 though as I thought it was a pretty accurate rep?

I noticed that the dealers are talking about a new 177N version. Anyone got any further info on it? Andrew at TT lists it but I can't see any difference between the new and old version.

The best right handed PVD or DLC is the 26K mentioned earlier in the thread. If you don't mind wearing a lefty on your right as you have done in the photo above, then the 360 is pretty popular right now but I'm not into the PVD or DLC. The titanium 176 or 177 are also cracking reps if you are looking for non steel watches.

The difference between the H and N lume and dial are pretty minimal though right? In the teardown Angus did they looked very similar but I'm a newbie. I didn't go with the more expensive movement because I thought I would get called out less, I did so because I heard that the low beat was less reliable and H factory had a higher failure rate. Maybe it's just me being a mug and spending the extra $40 for nothing ;-) As I said before though cdigi, both are creating great watches and either way you go you'll be happy. Maybe flipping the coin is the most sensible approach

I had the same dilemma and went with the better movement. I've got both H and N versions of base or marina watches and the noobs just feel better. Comes down to personal opinion though in the end and both factories are churning out amazing watches so you won't lose out either way. Before you pull the trigger on a non "seconds at 9" base, it might be worth reading this though.

Quick update on this. I got home and installed the bars. They are a right bugger to get installed but now my watch is nice and solid again. The Panatime strap I ordered at the same time was quickly installed onto my 005 and I'm impressed with the workmanship. Panatime worked out great for me.

If you PM me your address, I'll pop a spare screw over to you. It will be the rep ones I'm taking out but should see you through. BTW if you want to buy the panatime screw set which will work on your 292, go here http://panatime.com/scallsc.html , down in the bottom right for just the screws or the bars as well.