deltatahoe

good one ken speaking of elephants, if anybody is looking for a good summer book, "water for elephants" by sara gruen is an entertaining book and a fast read.... deltatahoe

that's easy. it goes something like this: ---------------- dear ziggy, would you put me on your schedule so you can have you look at one of my reps when you get back from your break? i have an ETA 2836 that is [running too fast]. thanks, and have a nice holiday WISS ---------------- deltatahoe

you're correct -- the release is on the strap for the costeau....if you'll look closely, the case at the lugs is basically the inverse of the ingy -- lugs on the outside (more traditional) as opposed to the 'block' in the middle with strap on the outside.... deltatahoe

hopefully you didn't spend $900 on just a pam 063 and a navitimer

unless you're looking for a water/sweatproof strap, i would go for the vertigo...BOB's finest for sure. deltatahoe

thanks for the suggestion re: pvd screws and nice catch re: the CG lever. i just took the crown guard off and put it back on carefully (making sure i was able to screw down the screws fully), and now the CG lever sits nice and flat. deltatahoe

hi avitt, i just checked, and this lighter area was able to be wiped away for the most part. it's hard to tell, but it still appears to be a little lighter in the crease....i'll ask joe if he's seen this before in his pvd other runs.... deltatahoe

contact king -- i know she has ti buckles (i'm pretty sure river does too). cheers, deltatahoe

i like the new PAV 99, but i love PAV 91 i might have to spring for one of the mp PAV 91's before they are no longer available.... not cheap though deltatahoe

based on the pictures i've seen (i haven't had one in my hands), i think hktan's santos 100 straps actually look BETTER than the oem straps... deltatahoe

i noticed this too after looking at the pictures....i'll check on it tonight and post back here about it.... deltatahoe

the fingerprint on the lugs is definitely on top of the coating; the coating has a really nice look to it. the texture is great, and the coating is applied very evenly across the whole case. i would definitely send another watch to joe to have it pvd coated -- it was well worth the wait. i was really surprised by the range of colors from the first pics to the second pics....it was late when i got home from work last night (and i was pretty sleep deprived at that point)....i'll take another look at the watch tonight to try to give you guys a sense of which pictures are more accurate in terms of the color of the pvd coating in real life. deltatahoe

that's a good idea....another simple fix would also be to use a black sharpie permanent marker....given the screws are recessed a little bit, i don't think it would be very noticeable.... deltatahoe

absolutely. and for the record -- a replica panerai is no good without a little light from ziggy. deltatahoe

thanks everyone for the nice comments. i'm really happy with the outcome. @ziggy, you are part of the reason i couldn't part with this watch -- after your lume and cannon pin fix, i just didn't want to let it go. now your lume is the only bright part of this otherwise dark watch deltatahoe

you have PM w/ dimensions. thanks V deltatahoe

like many people here, my first pam was a 111h. however, over time as i got several other pams, i sort of fell out of love with my 111h. i figured i would eventually give it to a friend, but over time i realized it had some sentimental value as my first replica panerai. so when i saw that rbj was offering a relatively inexpensive pvd service which no one had tried/reviewed at the time, i figured i would give it a shot. plus, i hadn't ever purchased a pvd pam, and was inspired by bazz's pvd 111h on black rubber strap. so i got the watch back today (a little over two months since i sent it to rbj -- you can read more about my experience at the end of my post), and as promised, i took some pics of the watch. it's late here, so the only way i could get some decent pics was to take them under the bright lights in my kitchen. i took pics on a lighter wood surface and a black vinyl stool to try to show the range of colors/shades of the pvd coating. i'll try to take more pics using natural light this weekend to give a sense of the way the watch looks under natural sunlight. i'm certainly not a pam pvd expert, and i know there are several people waiting to see pics, so i'll let the experts weigh in on the quality of this pvd / accuracy relative to genuine pvd pams. be honest -- you're not going to hurt my feelings. i'm happy with the watch regardless of how (in)accurate it is. here are the pics: and finally, a wrist shot: so sssurfer, chieftang, eunomians and other pvd experts, what do you think? deltatahoe ps, here is my review of my experience with joe: after reading reviews about people's experiences with rbj, i certainly had my concerns about sending my watch to him. in the end, i decided to have an open mind and send him the watch to be pvd coated with the expectation that it would take a while. joe indicated that he typically sends several watches in a batch to keep the cost down, and it typically takes several weeks to get the watches back. i'm a patient guy, and like i said earlier, i had kind of fallen out of love for my 111h, so i figured i wouldn't miss it much while it was gone. joe kept me updated of the progress of the watch, and asked questions along the way to make sure i knew what was going on and i would be happy with the final product (for instance, he called to ask if i was OK with additional cost to have the extra buckles i sent coated, make sure the butterfly deployment clasp would survive the pvd process, ask about milling down the crown guard to to make sure the lever wasn't loose, etc). despite joe's diligence in making sure everything was taken care of, i realized when i got the watch back that i had somehow failed to send the lug screws to be pvd coated, so they stand out a bit from the rest of the watch oh well -- i'm sure if i ask joe, he will have a pair of screws coated for me in a future pvd run. unfortunately, during the time that my watch was off being pvd coated, rbj met his demise on RWG. this has been discussed at length in several threads; no need to rehash all that here. i figured i would post my experience here for a (relatively) detailed account of one person's experience.

that looks like some cold wind surfing nanuq :cold2: sticking to the theme of summer time fun, here's a wakeboarding shot from california what are yall's other summer time hobbies? deltatahoe

sounds good love the new avatar picture btw

don't forget the pam 252 that should be released within the next month or two.... deltatahoe

if you purchased this recently, i'd contact your dealer and see if they will give you a white (un-patterned) dial..... deltatahoe

i'm not a cartier expert, but i don't believe the santos 100 (a fairly recently released watch -- i think in 2000?) has ever had a patterned dial....

looks fantastic. this reminds me -- i need to measure my favorite strap and get you my measurements.... deltatahoe

i've never had a BOB alligator grain strap, but you should know that it isn't real alligator -- it's alligator grain leather. watchboys is the real deal, and worth the extra dollars imho. deltatahoe

please do V -- this will be going on my 112 so i'd love to see some pics deltatahoe