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Yes, yes you do, Pete. Anyway, I'm surprised more people haven't commented yet, I know this stuff and I read the whole thing thrice and loved it, this exactly the kind of content that makes rwg a better place.

Yes, mate, guilty as charged, for far too long I had others speaking my words on my behalf; but no more, Pete, I promise you from now on, I shall be the sole ruler my consonants, rear admiral of my haiku and field general of my canto. In a non-poof way of course.

Really excellent stuff, Pete! Once again, both parts are a must read for everyone thinking of climbing the mountain of knowledge on PAM dials.

We're not old!

Well, I wasn't sure until you said goldschlager... the other stuff though, Pete, i'm not sure... it's like you were talking about some other guy i don't know, but then I asked myself... what's he going on about, that c_nt has friends besides me? That's impossible. So yes, mate, it's precisely then I knew you were talking about me.

I knew all these years of being a lush will finally pay off some time down the road

Great stuff, Pete, as always. Thank you for taking the time!

Yes, I def. don't understand because I think we're talking about different things. On the ETA2893-2 the GMT or the 24hr hand is independently adjustable clockwise and it's only slaved to the hour hand after you're done setting the difference. What I understood you are talking about when you say "the gold standard" is a different type of GMT movement that's was not employed in Panerai watches until recently when they started using Val Fleurier/Piaget "in house" movement where the 12hr hand is independently set, usually to local time, and the GMT/24hr hand is set to GMT or home time. In this scheme of things the 2893 is no different than 2836 with a hack. It's not a gold standard or true gmt, but it is exactly how a genuine panerai 29A, 29B and 29M function.

The gen 29 A series is a T dial so it's not green, wasn't green when it came out (creamy yellow) and if it's green now, there might be some mold involved. The 29B lume is much lighter and is more of a very pale pastel green by comparison to the new 29M which is a yellowish green in natural lighting and when charged turns a pretty radioactive green. The GMT hand is meant to be independently adjustable and moves in hops relative to the position of the main handstack. It's also meant to advance along with the main handstack in real time or when you are setting time in the 3rd crown position. If on the replica the GMT hand is stuck in one spot, then it's slipped and may or may not come back to normal operation, not uncommon on 2836 with a hack gmt module. It's a flaw of the movement.

they can keep it at that price and so many issues.

Taka sells his 7750 datewheels for 59Euro. If these are OEM PAM though I've seen them fetch as much as $200

Post good quality macros of the watch, dial, back and profile views.

This is a truly amazing event and the watch looks great on you, Cats Wishing you speedy and complete recovery!

I really must take more current photos of this watch

It is through R's unparalleled generosity, I now have come into the ownership of this magnificent watch. The fact that this was completely unexpected, made the whole experience all the more special I had been discussing my own 1665 project with R for close to two years, as he patiently gave pointers on my neophyte attempts to get one of China 1665s up to snuff. Having gone the whole 9 on it and still feeling the gross inadequacy of the case set and dial, I've resigned to make a proper 1665 as soon as I was ready to take on the responsibility of doing this model justice. It pretty much meant that I would have to clear out some of my collection in order to make it happen so I postponed the project until 2012. I was completely smitten when right after R finished the Great White, he just offered me to try it on to get a feel for a proper-sorted build. Just like that! As if he was talking about trying on a $20 g-shock and we were sitting across from each other at a bar; not THE 1665, a watch that he spend a year and a wad of money building and would need to ship cross-country. I declined because, well, you know the reason, understandably as much as I would've loved to play with the watch, I would be mortified if something were to happen to it in transit or otherwise. On top of that, R literally just finished it and that would be like taking someone's newborn home to check out how you like parenthood after they let you hold her for a little bit during your hospital visit. But he sent the 1665 anyway... And from the moment I received the package, I could not look at anything else. I was completely enamored with it and so was my wife. I wore the watch very carefully and sent it back after a few weeks. I would absolutely not dare to ask or even hint to R about selling it. All the while I had it on my wrist, I was reevaluating a lot of what I like in watches and specifically vintage Rolex. I've resigned to begin my 1665 quest as soon as it was more fiscally prudent and responsible with the upcoming holiday season. In the coming weeks we spoke several times about my experience with the 1665, but I could not foresee what came next. I thought that we were just shooting the breeze about all things we usually talk about families, children, friends and projects but in fact, R was really listening. It appears that what happened is exactly what W. wrote a few posts up - when I was talking about my time with the Great White, I was in fact pulling the winning lottery ticket Some time has passed and we haven't discussed anything related to the 1665 for several weeks afterward. In fact, we mostly spoke of cars, Patek and Panerai Pre-V of which we are both big fans. So when R told me that if I wanted his 1665 - he would sell, it was surreal; I was not prepared in the least. I think I just said YES, without thinking for a second, I was prepared to sell all of my watches if necessary but I didn't have to A few days later - I put the great white on my wrist and haven't taken it off since. Thank you for making this Holiday Season amazing, R! Your friendship is very dear to me, and I wish you and your family all the best in this and all the coming years! Thank you for being a mentor and an inspiration!

If you want to build a Swiss ETA model you are pretty much limited to PAM196H if you're staying with all rep parts. Buy the A7753 PAM196H, keep the full caseset with crystal and movement ting and sell everything else. Then get an ETA7753 movement, a PAM font datewheel from 2geek.net, a PAM196 dial and handstack from Davidsen and you're in business. Your only glaring inaccuracies will remain the hexagonal crown tube and matching crown - which can be punched out, rounded off and reinstalled, else it can replaced with DSN crown & tube parts (recommended), and a CG that has a roller in the lever. You can source a replacement lever from a different model or do a WTB in "tools & parts". Once you're done, you're looking at $800-1000 rep. Else you can get a PAM250K, ETA7753 movt, this gen dial, PAM font datewheel from 2geek.net, PAM188 ETA7753 handstack from DSN and build a sweet franken for ~$1500-1700

I haven't talked about the project for awhile, but I've been keeping busy, and it's about time I posted an update. Midway through reshaping my first batch of Phase II cases, I made a decision to include the removal of strap notch from every case in order to take it one last bit closer to the venerable Bettarini designed, Montres Valgine manufactured case that eats the loops of your expensive PreV straps for breakfast. My case of course will not do this unless you're wearing 7mm thick straps. A few quick shots from my humble PreV lab, this is where I spend most of my nights now, and probably will continue to for the next 2-3 months: Cases in misc. sculpting stages: The leaning-twisting-tower of cases: Look ma, no notch!

Trust me, you'll be reminded about the Swiss when your date starts switching at around 10PM and you'll watch a half date the last 30 minutes before midnight, every night.

Good news everyone, I promised a comparison of the 2006 Eddie Lee dial and a genuine dial a little while back. While this is nothing new maybe someone is still interested in this kind of stuff. Both watches are MBW PAM48K bases & crystals. Genuine dial is on black gator and EL dial is on antique brown gator. EL dial was relumed by one and only The Zigmeister. First, the infamous "dial pop": Genuine 12 o'clock: EL 12 o'clock: Genuine 6 o'clock: EL 6 o'clock: It's not easy to capture the colors precisely as I'm only using my desk lamp and it's getting late, but I think you can agree that the EL dial is not bad for a 2006 reproduction. In fact it's pretty close where it counts and on the wrist it looks serious business. If you can source an old EL dial cheaply it's a very nice stand-in while you're looking for an OEM dial. Whether you end up doing a genuine dial franken or sourcing an old EL dial replacement, which is not easy but still doable; there were at least three sales of this model in the last 2 months between the boards, OP 40mm models are beautiful and project worthy watches. Thanks for reading and hope you enjoyed this little writeup.

Zaza - Latest news is PAM326 is scheduled to come out from Noob factory so I would wait for that model.

Thank you, thank you, thank you! Off with the gator as I now have to cook... trying not to rhyme as I slap this on a kautschuk. :facepalm: yes, I'm a geek that spent this morning reading dr. seuss to his son

There's one watch that I have been building over and over since I joined the forums. While it may seem like a pedestrian model, to me it epitomizes everything I love about Panerai - balance, simplicity, beauty of proportions that appeals to your basal nervous system, and a certain air of spretzzatura. The name for this watch is Panerai Luminor Marina, model No. 1 or PAM00001. This time it's my sixth and hopefully final take on this model, and you probably guessed why the nickname Ginormous thanks for everyone that helped me along my with quest, wouldn't be achievable without your involvement and even if it were it wouldn't mean half as much without your friendship - Watchmeister, The Zigmeister, Ubi, PeteM Specifications: -Geniune NOS LSL Marina dial -Geniune service hands -Geniune case -Geniune crystal -Geniune period correct crown -Geniune crownguard -Geniune strap -Swiss ETA6497-2 w/ ETA H3 -Eddie Lee oldschool caseback Almost four years ago my affliction began: o v1: o v2: o v3: o v4: o v5 had FGD's PreA 01/04/40 dial but I never took pics as it was very short-lived since I decided to turn it into my other all time favorite - PAM40Bt with a PASC mismatch PreA dial instead.

Keep coming back to this thread Wear it well, R!

Nothing with a Swiss ETA, but check out PAM224 with A7753, that's as close to a blue dial chrono as it's gonna get for now.

Serious business! Love your photography Ubi, and just the thought of this watch taking a spot in the box next to your legendary Daytonas, Comex 5514 and GWSD1665 makes me feel all warm and fuzzy