This isn't an in depth technical review but just some impressions. I wanted to get a couple of the new Swiss 6497 swan neck movements to replace the standard 6497/1 movements that were common just a few months ago so decided to order an entire watch that has the new movement from Paul for $189. I think he has about 10 or more Pams with this movement, all for $189, but the fiddy seems to be the only correct marrige of movement/model so thats the 1 I ordered. I may just try to sell the casing for $100 or so here or on ebay
Anyway, impressions of the watch: The casing, to my untrained eye, seems to be the same as all the others I've seen. The strap on the other hand has got to be the worst I've seen on a pam rep. It looks & feels like vinyl. The dial seems pretty good with alot better lume than all the other models I've had - lume on dial matches lume on hands. It is defintely different than my fiddy from Josh and I'll take some pics side-by-side so ya'll can tell me which is more accurate. The Aspire dial has a more matte finish than the Josh dial, which is almost shiny by comparison. I don't know what the gen dial characteristics are in this respect.
The movement can be removed without removing the bezel and the dial mesaures about .5 mils less than the Josh dial, which had to be removed from the front. The hour wheel and cannon pinion on the new movement are the correct height, but the rep hands (minute hand is .60 mils, hour hand is .83 mils) are too tall. I'm going to attempt to file em down but I've already ordered Davidsen hands cuz I know theres a good possibility I'll screw em up.
I'll post pics of the dials tomorrow. So, except for the crap strap, I don't think you can go wrong with this piece for the price, either as is, or for the donor movement & other parts.
Aspire's New Pam Series Fiddy