Chronus

Luckily I didn't give up, and for future reference, here is a link to the review

Here's a review of the Watchonpo in titanium

GPS is becoming more and more standard in newer phones... at least smartphones. Again, those who buy genuine Vertu phones won't be bothered if it has GPS or not, they have a driver or built-in GPS already in their Audi R8

I agree, the logos on the side look pretty good For me it's now just this HBB Tuiga or the ceramic case Black Magic... silix have good prices

Thanks for the pictures, I looked everywhere via google... pages and pages of google search and couldn't find this. It really helps

Most phones you can attach GPS via an external bluetooth-connected GPS chip.. Garmin XT works on my N82, and as this is Symbian-based, may also work on this. I'm not sure of the screen size of this phone though.

Yes but don't risk factory seconds on a battery. It's one thing having a scratch on a bezel - that's not gonna kill you...!

Good idea! Hopefully a genuine battery will help reduce some of the downsides. I couldn't find any vertu products at mobilefun.co.uk (where I first look for phone accessories) though. I'm guessing this is a range where the owners prefer going to the boutiques and being pampered I imagine it's based on a nokia design so find the correct nokia battery perhaps ?

It's part status symbol, part fashion - I personally prefer the look of Panerai over a Casio calculator watch. The calculator functionality is pretty much obsolete now that all of those functions can be done on your phone In fact, a lot of people eschew wearing watches and look at their phone display for the time. Back to the phone though, I was half tempted at the first thought of these, but I am worried about these blowing up (chinese phones do that apparently), battery leakage, radiation etc. Not conforming to safety standards on a watch will at most leave you with sharp edges perhaps and are more aimed at workplace standards - and most people don't care about the worker's life. Safety standards on a piece of electronics can have a very different impact on the user, and it really does scare me! I think this is a case where I'd rather get the genuine than the rep! I hope everyone here will be ok... or at least use bluetooth headset and keep the handset away from the nether regions! I don't want anyone reporting injuries from exploding phones!

It's that and also status.... I like the features on my phone (N82) because it has almost everything.... internet, GPS, music, videos etc etc But the Vertu is a rich man's phone. Why would a rich man need GPS? He probably has a driver, or if not, an expensive car with built in GPS. Why would a rich man need a music player on a phone? He's hardly likely to take public transport. Ditto with videos, probably has an entertainment system in the car already. And similar with camera, they'll have an official photographer, or an expensive camera already that gets little use Yes, I'm poor It does look good though!

Some may have noticed over the last year or so that I have been wanting a titanium PAM194. Sadly, all the board dealers only stock a version in stainless steel, which is incorrect for this model. The caseback also says "stainless steel" on these reps and they are reportedly heavy. Apart from accuracy of materials, I also have a problem with the nickel in stainless steel, so titanium is a great material for the summer. The Genuine As far as I know, the genuine PAM194 was a 2004 limited edition with a run of 1000 units, and had a titanium case to withstand water pressure to the rated 2500m depth, hence why this is part of the Submersible range. I believe the case (and caseback) is titanium with an automatic helium release valve, the crown guard (and possibly crown) and bezel are of brushed stainless steel. The markers of the bezel are white gold and polished. Tritium is used on the dial, however it appears that the colour of the hands may be luminova, accounting for the "Luminor" on the dial. The bottom of the dial says "T Swiss Made T" to indicate the tritium content of the markers. The sapphire crystal is very thick to withstand the pressure and has an anti-reflective coating. The watch comes on a rubber strap, however I am unsure as to whether the buckle should be titanium or steel - the official site says brushed steel. The movement is a Panerai-decorated ETA 7750 movement with the chrono module removed, leaving the running seconds at the 9 o'clock position, and the date at the 3 o'clock position with a magnifier under the crystal for ease of use. Here are pictures of a genuine (taken from a website, not my pictures): The search for a titanium rep So far, there has only been one known dealer (not on the board) that has the titanium version. That dealer be the infamous Watchonpo. This is not the so-called English-speaking representative who ran off with Slay's money, that was Ken [note: NOT RWG mod Kenberg] also known as Etaworldgoods. If you come across Etaworldgoods, please avoid him. Or report him to Slay. Apparently Etaworldgoods was a Japanese reseller of Watchonpo's wares based in the US, but not Watchonpo themselves. Watchonpo rarely deals outside of the Japanese market. Anyway, back to the topic at hand. I had tried all the board dealers in the past in an attempt to get this titanium version. The two PAMs I had been after for so long were this one in titanium, and an accurate PAM187 with ETA7753 movement. Sadly, the latter may never happen, but in the case of the titanium PAM194, my luck was in for once. A kind RWG member helped me to source a titanium PAM194 direct from the genuine Watchonpo of Japan. A big thankyou to this member - who will remain nameless, unless he or she wants to announce themselves! It has been a long and patient quest to eventually get this model since the first PAM194 reps came out, and since thomasng discovered the titanium version on Watchonpo's site. As the saying goes, all good things come to those who wait. Here are the pictures from Watchonpo's site: To tell the truth, I had completely veered away from Panerai until this. I believe I have virtually all the PAMs I had wanted, and really, I have had no money to get any reps (or much else) lately! It is all tied up with the accountant and paying taxes so I have been living on credit cards that I cannot afford to pay, and sponging off parents for dinner. This is the only watch that would have got me out of rep-watch semi-retirement and make me stretch that credit card a little bit longer! Disclaimer The reason for writing this review is that I may be the first one on the boards to get the titanium version. I have never written a watch review before, so please be kind. Pictures of the genuine for comparison are at the top. Also, pardon my photos, they were taken with a Nokia N82 cameraphone - the only "camera" I own, so do not expect any Pugwash, Ubiquitous or By-Tor quality photos. These are quick and dirty pictures resized in Paint and uploaded to imageshack. The Review I will not be comparing much to the genuine, as I have never handled one in person, and the photos are up at the top of this post. Hopefully, more informed experts (cue Kruzer00 etc) can chime in. The rep uses an Asian copy of the ETA 7750, no doubt also with the chronograph functions removed. These should be more reliable without the chrono functions and it has worked very well in this case so far. Pictures from the front: The dial markers definitely have a different colouration to that of the hands and "pearl", which both have pretty good lume and glowed in the shadows after brief exposure to natural light. The whole dial glows when exposed to a bulb for 10 seconds, however the hands and pearl are still strongest. The markers also appear to have black surrounds, but I have only viewed the watch indoors so far (as I have been home sick all week). The running seconds appears to be on the same plane as the rest of the dial, no raised or indented subdial here as far as I can tell. The bezel and crown guard are brushed stainless steel with polished markers. I am not sure how secure the markers are, I can hope they are of the screwed-in variety that were in the original Watchonpo run of PAM187 reps, but I would hazard a guess that it will be the same as the stainless steel version of this rep - however I have never seen that rep in person. The dashes around the bezel are engraved in, as is the 45 minute part-circle that leads off around the crystal. The obvious thing is that the crystal has no anti-reflective coating. Watchonpo would probably have mentioned that on his page if it did. This lack of coating can make the date difficult to read with light reflecting everywhere. Photo of the caseback: The caseback says "titanium" and indicates it is a "G" serial with a run of 1000. Photo of the crown guard side: Photos of the helium valve side: The helium valve is polished with the "He" on the same plane as the valve. It is not raised, and if it is engraved, it is not deep at all. I am not sure if these valves move around in the genuine, as the pictures I have seen have the "He" at a different angle. It may not be clear from the pictures, but the sides of the caseback are polished while the back is the usual dark-ish titanium. The sides of the bezel (where the "teeth" are to grip the bezel) are also polished on the side but not on the top. The rubber strap is probably a typical rubber strap that everyone has seen for the 47mm watches already. Not as great or accurate to genuine, but it does the job. The supplied buckle may be titanium, however - something I prefer to a steel buckle, so I am happy. Size comparison with other watches The PAM194 is a 47mm watch. Here are some comparisons with other sized watches. Apologies for no PAM127 comparison, as I do not have one. Group shot of multiple watches. Note the Corum is raised and not flat like the others due to the strap. From left to right, 40mm Omega Seamaster Chronograph; IWC AMG Ingenieur; Oris TT1 Chronograph; Breitling Avenger Seawolf; Breitling Chrono Avenger; PAM194; Corum Admiral's Cup; standard 44mm PAM. Here are a couple of closer shots: The PAM194 compared to the standard 40mm Omega Seamaster Chronograph and a standard 44mm PAM: Comparison shots with the titanium 48mm Corum Admiral's Cup: And finally, a wristshot: So far, I am liking this watch I hope this helps those who have waited for this watch as long as I have!

new year's ? wish i could go along... iceland and czech republic are on the list of places I want to visit, especially if anyone else will come clubbing afterwards but I've already got a free ticket to gothenburg end of november... just have to hope I can get money to pay for hotels! I'll have to keep an eye on this thread anyway. And for a real world GTG (that at this point I would have no means of attending, but oh well) it would have to be Guangzhou or Bangkok for obvious reasons... or how about paying a visit to the Singapore twins?

Agreed, if you want a phone that's a phone (which is probably what Ubi wants), then this will fit the bill, just like most phones, except this will look nicer. Have fun with it

Genuine is sapphire, i read rep is not, but perhaps those with the reps can say if they've picked up any scratches or not? With the carry case, it probably isn't a problem and not exposed like a watch is. I wouldn't risk testing with a scratch test though, get a sapphire crystal tester.

Thanks for the froogle site.... I found a UK site taking pre-orders: http://www.uk-mobilestore.co.uk/product_in...products_id=927 but at 90GBP, it is well out of my price range but I am patient and will wait

thanks! i got 8gb cards from eBay when they first came out. well start of the year anyway. The only thing I find is out of stock on the 16gb on sites such as: http://www.memorybits.co.uk/index.php?cPat...p;filter_id=209 so either they had some and sold out, or never had any in, and they aren't released yet. they probably will be when the n96 16gb is out... an extra 16gb makes it seem huge, but i've used up 2x8gb cards already... not that I will get the n96, not really a fan of sliders, I'll play with it too much and break it!

ah not for me, 2nd phone would only go to something along the lines of 3g iPhone or Blackberry Bold, and only due to functionality... ie. being able to read RWG on a nice screen push/pull email, GPS etc etc n82 is great with the functionality and having the 5MP camera with xenon flash and carl zeiss optics - no, I don't have a standalone camera, can't afford to get a good one (ie. SLRs which are too bulky for me to drag around on a night out).

Anyone know where to get cheap (not rep!) microSDHC cards that can be used in Nokia N82s/N95s and Blackberry Bolds? I know there are 12gb and 16gb versions out and about somewhere (and will be a fantastic prospect for the new N96 with 16gb built in as well as memory card slot!)... I heard there are 32gb cards on the horizon... and am not sure if I was dreaming when I heard the upper limit was 128gb? Must have been a dream, cos that would be too good to be true. I rarely use a USB "pen" drive anymore either, just take my memory card reader... much smaller and quicker.

If you use your N82 (like I do) and need the features, stick with what you have. This phone is more for the rich to show off that they are rich. I couldn't pull it off in any case... one thing with my watches, but having a fancy "expensive" phone too and no car or house? Won't quite work And with phones, I've found they get updated so often, you find yourself switching to a new one every year or so. Until I got the N82, I'd never paid for a phone before!

Great pics! How is the crystal? It looks the tallest part of the watch, and possibly unprotected by the rubber bezel parts... is it prone to hitting anything or getting chipped?

I've looked and looked and cannot find a picture of the side of this watch (opposite side of the one with crown). I'd like to know the answer to this question too!

I never got any replies apart from the first one... needed more info on case etc

My guess would be an El Primero-based Ebel ? and sorry for no input earlier... i havent really seen much of RWG in the past week or so

Agreed... it's all about "look at me and my expensive watch that others can't afford"... People like that want it to appear more exclusive so they in turn look better and can impress people.