chris5264

Looks like I'm going to have to get my dremel out again, drill a hole in the caseback and jam in a crystal.

Thanks, I think I understand. The version I got was from Joshua, so it seems to be different. Still, I'm with you on this whole ride. For about 200-250 and a few minor mods, this could be a nice way to satisfy the need for a WM vintage. Now for the clear caseback. I've tried about everything on this and nothing has fit so far.

Interesting, However, I'm having a difficult time understanding where exactly the spring bar is. Too bad I didn't wait the weekend before I took the dremel to mine.

I had this on all day, I think I got a pity look from a guy with a rolly on, like "look at that poor guy's watch"

As far as the second question goes, I've had several of these (both the crown and the tube). These are good quality and really fixes the entire problem. With Davidsen around, the stripped screw down problem is a thing of the past.

Thanks, I guess I was just conservative to start. I'm hoping that this will allow me to at least change straps once in a while. I'll see how much trouble it is to toss on a 26, pics to follow.

I should know myself by now. The whole point (for me) with reps is to take some chances. So, I got home from work and started to cut. As you can see, I made a small slightly slanted (to make the strap slide in better) cuts offset on both lugs. It turns out this worked very well. The strap (a 24mm) went right on no problem and has no chance of slipping off. Absolutely no way to tell this wasn't stitched right to the case. The only problem is that I can't really make strap changing a day to day thing. The lug will bend a little and actually move around just a little so this strap will be on a while. However, decent improvement over old strap.

For that amount it would probably be the Maurice Lacroix Masterpiece skeleton, at almost 44mm it has the size and the movement is a work of art.

I actually had an idea but no guts to follow up on it. Look at the top lug, I've made two marks. What if I cut the lug in half leaving a small gap (about 2mm) that I could slide a strap in? There would be enough of the lug on the other side to hold it in. The only bad thing is that I could never use a stiff strap, all would generally have to have some play in them. What do you think?

I have several and I would say in some respects they are better than the average rep (if such an entity exist), the screw down crown is a good example. I have a few of his screw down crowns. All are supiorior to the one I had on my 183. One in particular is so smooth and perfect the quality reminds me of my gen seamaster. I think it all comes down to the quality. I've never heard of a screw down crown problem with a gen pam. Overall, time will tell how well Davidsen's screw down crowns hold up. Right now, I purposefully abuse mine, I never turn it counterclockwise to avoid cross threading. So far, so good. No sign of any problems.

All I can say is that Davidsen is coming out with watches faster than I can buy them. I would jump on this one if it didn't mean sleeping in the basement the next month.

read it,,,,great pictures.

Yes, each side of the watch actually has two seperate lugs. Enjoy, that watch can be a pain as far as strap changes go, it gets worse when one of the screws gets stripped or lost or stuck in the case. But the watch more than makes up for it.

Nice watch, the 183 was my first nice rep. Yes, just unscrew each screw, you don't have to totally unscrew it, in fact its good to leave it in a bit so it doesn't get lost. Then pull the lugs away from the watch (there are actually four) and it should come right out. I've found you have to work it back and forth a bit to get the lugs back in and hold it while you tighten the screws to put it back on.

Here is the first attempt. The watch is basically just the $200 vintage from Joshua with some Davidsen capped fiddy hands that I took some dark wood stain to. Here are the changes, first I fixed the cannon pinion and longer hour wheel, so I changed the hands and did the same treatment. However, I also took the sandwich dial apart and applied dark polyurethane generiously to the bottom dial in a somewhat random manner (actually stain and polyurethane in one, a dark walnut satin), I also applied matte varnish to the outer dial. What you can't see is the contrast. The markers are actually glossy and the dial is matte. I can't get a pic that shows the true effect, but I'm really happy with it. BTY, it also has a davidsen crown, which fits this case. Now, I just need to get a better strap!

Nice collection, I really like the mm20 pictures. One that that always gets me about the mm20. My absolute biggest problem with pam reps is the recessed pin, but for some really strange reason, this doesn't bother me as much on the mm20.

I'm going to use a razon and be very careful. This will really put the matte finish fix to the test.

I'm taking off the "california" on my 249 which will likely make some scratches, but now since this is such an easy fix, I'm not worried about it. Plus, I've found that the flat matte actually improves the overall look the dial almost giving it more texture.

actually, I agree. I'm not into the double screw thing myself (LOL, the one time my wife stops to read my post and it happened to be this one) but I haven't had any other ideas on how to work this out. Greg actually said if I sent him the watch he would put one that was actually stitched on. As far as I can tell this may be the only decent solution. I wonder if you could cut the lugs right right at 26mm and drill very small holes, one each side that would accept a typical spring bar? of course one slip and its all over.

I actually asked greg stevens to custom make a one piece strap for this same watch. The idea was to make it thin so it could pass under the lugs and across the back of the case. This really didn't work because the lugs are so flat it just looked strange. So, I cut the strap in two and used the large screws that came with the old strap. Not great because the strap now is just too thin but not too bad either.

Nice work, could turn me into a rolex person.

Just another fantasy pam

I just went into a local hobby and crafts store and asked for matte varnish. It was only 5 usd. I got the spray can so it was very easy to apply.

Thanks, trust me you lucked out by missing this one. However, that gif almost makes up for it.

thanks, yes this is the project from hell. I ended up replacing the entire balance assembly (balance [censored], wheel and hairspring) because it was running 20 mins a day fast! However, so far things are looking up. Movement, dial and hands all look good, I got the timing practically perfect. All that's left is some work on the case. at least I've had some luck seeing ub post on this, the way the dial turned out has given me some new motivation for this project.