Mills

Are you wearing that to annoy me ;-) Ohh look at 'im with his fancy version "I" of the 253. Lovely watch BTW.

YAY You know when little things make you really happy - this is one of those times. I just took it to pieces, turned the screw roughly 4/5 of a revolution and it now works perfectly. Thanks a lot for the advice guys, it made my day.

I'm new to this so excuse the stupid questions. Is that the small screw right next to where the stem goes into the movement? Am I right in saying that I should tighten it up approx 1 1/2 turns? I've never fixed a watch myself but I'm up for trying something new :-)

I'm UK based. I removed the crown guard and gave the crown a gentle tease - it came out the whole way which I'm assuming is not a good thing. Stuck it back in and it continued to wind the watch as before.

managed to set it a handful of times before this happened.

My new 253 Flyback for today

After only a couple of days use I've got a problem with my 176 that I hope is something I can fix easily. I can wind the watch no problem but when I pull the crown out to change the time, it still winds the watch. It's like I can't pull the crown out far enough to disengage it from the winding mechanism. Any ideas or is it knackered :-(

Wow, where did you get that strap from for the 177? I've got the 176M and my black alligator looks nowhere near as good. The IWC at the start of the thread gets the vote from me.

Thanks for sharing, that was brilliant. One question though, I thought most of the PAMs have ETA movements so I was surprised to see them putting the movement together like that. Do Panerai license the movement and build it themselves? Sorry for the noob question.

I wasn't very happy with the gen strap. It lasted me three years but the last year of that it has looked pretty ropey. I've bought a replica strap from Ebay for £30 and going to give that a go. Worth spending £30 even if it is a bit crap. If it isn't any good I might try and get one custom made. Thanks for the advice.

Pulled the trigger on the 253 and have received the QC pics which look really good. Now have to wait the two long weeks for delivery. I won't post all the pics I received but what do you think to the one below? Went with the Watch Boys strap, black alligator with black stitching. Can't wait to get them paired up.

I think I'll make the jump and buy it, hopefully it won't explode on my wrist ;-) Sounds like the synthetic crystal isn't a major issue. Thanks for the replies.

I've got a gen Timewalker chrono 43mm which unfortunately has a rather battered original strap on it. Went to my local dealer and they quoted me £300 for a replacement alligator strap. After paying $120 for my last alligator from strap works for my rep 176 PAM I really don't want to pay 5 times as much. Looking around i'm really struggling to find a decent replacement and I'm looking for a bit of advice. Anyone got any ideas? Watch boys look good but I've never used them before.

I'm sure this will be my first post of many. I have, unfortunately for my bank account, caught the replica bug. I purchased a 176M from Andrew (trustytime) a few weeks ago and, after getting rid of the crappy calf skin strap, I am so pleased with the results. Due to his awesome service on my last purchase I am now considering buying a 253 flyback from him. Couple of issues that is holding me back though which I'm hoping one of you fine people can help me with. The 253 that Andrew lists has synthetic sapphire with AR coating. Is this an issue? Does it look good compared to the gen or would I have to replace it? If so what kind of cost would be involved in that? On my 176 I put a "Strap Works" alligator strap on (looks the business) but with the Flyback I think I should use a deployant strap which SW don't sell so I'm thinking of getting a "The Watch Boys" strap instead. Any experience with these guys? I can't post links as I've not posted 5 times yet but to see the watch I'm talking about, go to trustytime and search for PN007A. Any advice or alternatives would be gratefully received.