Robaer

Doesn't the TC case also have shallower rehaut than the gen 16610?

The crown looks crooked on one of the new 2014 models. http://www.panerai.com/en/novelties-sihh-2014-geneva/luminor/17-collections/historic/luminor/635-luminor-base-8-days-acciaio-pam00560 I don't know if this is common or not. Check your QC pics before accepting a watch from your AD.

The crown looks good imo, just like the gen I have. In the 10th picture it looks a bit low though, but pethaps thats only the angle. The rehaut looks a bit shallow, again this depends on angle.. Bezel teeth looks softer than most gens i've seen, but that's not really a tell. The bezel pearl looks good.

I have a couple of unused mbw cases in my drawer, but I must say accuracy per $ seems very high on these cases when I compare. You have done a good job on this case and the short crown guards blend in very well. The thing that I notice more is the low crown height., but that goes for almost all Rolex reps.

Yes, it's the best, but only because there are no alternatives. It's nice for the price but it's very easy to spot its flaws.

Just replace the whole watch with a gen.

How is the crown height?

Look at the dial markers, 3,6 and 9 are too thin and square. The old ones were not perfect but a lot better imo.

Well done. Nice to see good shots of the pmwf insert. Where did you say you got the bracelet?

I was under the impression that the TCs were really close? Though I've never seen one IRL. Too bad. Anyway, I've spent a lot on my franken MBW 5513 with gen more or less everything and I don't think I'd do it again. Even with all the money, work and parts I have in it I'd never mistake it for a gen in a million years. If you have the skills and tools to do most of you're own work it's ok, but otherwise you're very dependent on the rep community for repair work, mods etc and also resale as mentioned earlier. If you lose your high end rep/franken or it gets stolen you can kiss all your money good bye. No insurance is going to help you. And you're also running the risk of being called a cheap, fake, poser, white trash, POS no matter how much you spent on your rep, or how much you love your hobby. I've never met anyone who likes, respects or even accept rep/fake stuff. So, in my opinion reps can be great and fun, but once you go with expensive versions and mods it can end up costing more than it's worth. It all depends on yourself really.

The cad drawings look awesome, but I have one question. Maybe it's just the pics, but it looks like the lugs are too straight when viewed from the side, just like the MBW cases? On your 5514 prototype it looks like they have a more correct downward curve. Good luck with the project, I'm buying for sure.

TC's crown should look ok.

The bezel insert doesn't look to bad.

Look here and here.

The crown tube can be aftermarket, but the crown should probably be gen. A TC sub crown is probably acceptable, although I've never seen one IRL, and my Noob GMT II C crown isnt too bad next to my gen 5513 crown either. Best dials you can find is probably from ingod or a relumed MBW if you're not going with a gen.