projectologist

Lovin' this one a lot...

Genuine dial and OEM hands and a Kevin/Adeeos 1:1 case set. The crown in the pics is temporary while a new threaded brass coupling ring is fabricated with the extra height necessary to accommodate the thicker gen dial. Hands are OEM Panerai. This project belongs to another member and is in my possession as the work is being done by my local watchmaker. Original post...

With results like that... the question is moot :thumbsupsmileyanim:

It was VERY close. The movement I have is NOS so there was probably very little wear on the canon pin. Finally put back together... can't stop playing with the new iPhone photo app.

Which movement are you going to use? I had to do a little broaching to get T's gold hands to fit a Cortebert 616.

So T's hands arrived last week and I finally got around to luming and installing. They took some getting used to appearance-wise as all that was available before this were the wider hour and blunted minute hands. Those are fine for some earlier versions, but starting in 1956, Panerai started using the MM dial designation for many of their 6152/1's and along with that the minute hands were extended slightly with a more pointed tip and the hour hand was made more narrow. T delivers the goods again Took a couple of pics before re-attaching the bezel/plex...

You've done it! The Holy Grail of coatings... the correct vintage look with the better durability of DLC. Congratulations

Whoa... DLC that looks like Pre-V PVD... howdya do that?????

So how long before we see the other side????? C'mon... don't make us wait

I posed the same question to him awhile back and only got a "smiley" response. The area between the lugs is properly engraved as well. I do know that he bought an old-school engraving machine earlier this year.

Thanks! It's my new fiddy... don't have to worry about fonts, AR, movement, serial # etc. Not so bad if you get one w/o any gen parts put into the build... Had some inquiries asking which photo app I had on my phone. Here's a link to a demo... http://www.thebestcamera.com/app.html

I originally purchased the watch from VDB earlier this year. I then sold it to a member, who in turn sold it to another member, who just recently sold it back to me. After getting it back I started to do some fine-tuning of the case, cg and crown. The cg was re-brushed per spec (most rep versions appear to have more of a satin finish) and a new lever pin was fabricated as the original was starting to rust (I also wanted it to extend a little more beyond the top surface per gen). I smoothed the crown edges slightly and re-polished it. I reshaped the case on the cg side as it was recessed a little too much in the area where the cg insets. It was a full 1mm deep and is now barely perceptible (I first noticed this in Volker's book which illustrates this with complete tear-down pics). Makes a difference too in that more of the cg is revealed, giving it that chunkier appearance I like about the vintage Panerai. Finally, I put a few more scratches and pecks on the case set and plex, then got out the rouge and gave it all a good polish. I've come to realized that the vintage Panerai were regularly serviced back in the day, and because these watches saw daily use and abuse, dings and scratches were constantly being polished out. Close study of Volker's book bears this out as almost all of the featured watches show quite a bit of wear which has been softened by years service and re-polishing. The plex polished up pretty easily and has a nice, well-used appearance when viewed at different angles, never distracting when viewed straight on. T's hands arrived last week and will be one of the final touches I'll be adding once I do the lume. A painted Kevin ammo strap is on the way and that should complete the project... for now anyway Some iPhone pics playing around with a new photo app.

Sad... they didn't even bother to get the branding font right. I checked with some wholesale-only promotional products vendors we've used in the past and one offers a similar customer-customizable desk/wall clock for approximately $12-20 each (min. order of 100 and depending on how you configure it... ).

Outstanding! You nailed the PVD coating finish and color... well done. The beauty of your T-dial work goes without saying.

Wore this one all day... my favorite unmodded rep.

3646 Type G Cali...

That is soooo NICE! T-dial SUB sweetness... happy forya brutha!

Wearing this one last time before shipping it out to it's new owner...

VDB's work is getting VERY close. Seriously, with a gen 618 in the current 6152/1 that VDB is offering, I'd rate it 95% there. Won't be bringing any homages to these gtg's. Hardcore gen collectors. A 201a, a couple of 203's and a NOS 28a... what I saw just in the first 15 min. It felt like I'd died and gone to Heaven! Actually he did take it off my wrist. I was too nervous to do it myself

iPhone pics... definitely would have brought a real camera if I knew this fantastic vintage Panerai would be at the GTG. The owner was most gracious to let me play with it Last 3 pics taken by a friend who was there. My wrist... his watch...

That's a great series of comparison pics... thanks! The smaller version is definitely the wrist ticket for me

Yeah, left Europe early Tues. morning and arrived in SoCal Sat. morning. Restored my faith in the USPostal system... for now anyway. Can't believe at one time I was considering a 249 over something like my Cali/618. No contest, not to mention the $$$$ I saved

Anybody take any pics?

Picked it up today and wanted to get some quick pics up to show you all what fantastic work the combo put into this piece. I decided not to wait any longer than I had to for this one to be completed, so opted not to wait for the project case set and T's hands. I'm looking at both of these as future upgrades at some point down the road. What I did get was even better than anticipated. I was hoping that this 3646 would be inspired by the last iteration of the Cali dial version... the Type G. What sets it apart from the others is the longer squarish crown tube and smaller crown. Plus the case profile is a little thinner and flatter. And finally, it was made with the 3rd version plex that domes only slightly starting at the bezel. As you can see in the pics, the Erfurt Combo nailed these distinctive features. I couldn't be any happier... well actually I could... if I still had the watches I had to sell to afford this one My grail movement... what can I say. Although it's not easy to tell in the pic, it does have a very high surface lustre with a warm platinum-like patina. It was hard to capture in overcast conditions. The hand applied sno-lume is amazing and the dial surface has just the right amount of texture and semi-gloss lustre. Hope you like these pics... mo' better ones to follow.

Missing my 113...