Sorry to rain on your parade but I had the TST dial and sold it. I will agree that it's probably the best readily available dial, but....
The showstoppers for me were:
- Sans serif font similar to Arial used in T SWISS T.
- Dial is flat, no indents around indexes
- Luminor Marina/Panerai though more or less correct font was still thin and off white, almost the same color as the lume
take a look at what it should look like
Got my PAM236 yesterday, love the case finish and fit of all parts. My CG lever is reasonably flush but could likely be improved. I'm sending it off to The Zigmeister for a teardown at lunchtime so we'll have all the facts soon enough. Stay tuned.
R,
If you have time to do a proper teardown of the A7753 I can volunteer my PAM236. I'm sending you several watches anyway so I can just throw it together in the box.
Well, if you must have an ETA7753 you can always get a DSN dial (which is just a notch below these new dials in terms of accuracy) and movement separately and use this cartel model for its excelent case.
I bet you could get a full DSN 196 for $820 and part it out keeping only the movement and the dial to stay ahead of the game.
in all fairness, i dont think the datewindow is such a deal breaker people make it out to be. it's the only irreversible flaw on an otherwise very well executed rep.
crap, had i known it would come out a week after the 1st one I would have waited...
But it looks like some people are receiving theirs with a pretty decent lever.
B, hows the dial strike you on the 196?
Well, now you have an obligation to take some good pictures and write at least a paragraph about your impressions. The 4 F's so to speak -
Fit
Feel
Finish
& Function
This is really upsetting on many levels. I was talking to Halo not too long ago because he was looking to buy and restore an old BMW, mentioned his burnt down home too. Only thing I hope is this shameful act just disappears in the annals of history and doesn't come back to Ubi in any way.
I have 188 and 196 en route. Will snap pics and do a short cosmetic review when they arrive.
B, I think the case is the same case that was on AmStaff's 250 with a sunken datewheel e.g. Dec 2009 version with a new style bracelet. Either way it looks to be well executed.