l3x

Great watch, photos, and review. That strap looks super on it. Congrats.

Beautiful. Looks like its made for royalty. The details are amazing.

Wow...beautiful. Congrats.

I am a total newbie when it comes to the mechanics of the watch. This was the reason I joined these forums. To learn, so that I can appreciate the work that goes into making one. I'm guilty of setting my expectations too high when I bought this. I was treating this purchase as a "LNIB in excellent condition" purchase off the sales corner. Apparently it is not. It appears I should be happy that the movement is acutally ticking T, thank you for being "real" and waking me up. Your point about using multiple movements just to get one working explains it all .... and also the fact that there are no real "new" parts for the cortebert anymore. I should have considered this before I maade the purchase. With this said, I certainly do not regret making this buy, else I would not have had the chance to have this discussion with you all I will focus on getting this baby fixed.

Others have told me how much time and effort you put into your work. I'm positive you must have tested it and it must have running perfectly before you sent it. The ride from Germany to the US must have been a rough one. So no need to apologize. I appreciate you standing by your work and willing to take a look at my problems. My problem now is having to take this off my wrist and not having it for a few weeks

Thanks everyone. A truly gorgeous watch indeed. Despite the movement probs, it was hard for me to take it off my wrist. This has become the favorite of my watches

After seeing some amazing vintage PAMs I decided to treat myself to one. I sent a PM to VDBrouke to find out how much one of his pieces cost. He prompty replied and told me he was just about done with one ... and it should be ready the next day and will send pics and specs. I felt like my daughter on Christmas Eve...I couldn't wait ...this was until he told me the price...I nearly fell out of my chair :eek: It was very difficult for me to justifying the cost...but in the end I took a chance and I bought it. The package arrived New Year's Eve. Absolutely great timing ... what a way to end the year. After opening the package, I'm able to see, first hand, what a beauty she was. Looked even better in my hands than in the pics he sent. Beautiful chocolate dial. The details are just phenominal. The case was fantastic with just enough battle scars. Crown guard was huge. The lever felt very firm when opening and closing. Overall I was very impressed with it in comparison to others. The crown also pushed in and popped out nicely and aligned nicely with the case. However, turning the crown, in setting the time, felt a bit rough at some points during the rotation. The hands were nicely aged. But there was a gap between the hour and minute hand (see pics below). Not sure if this is a feature or a defect. The movement was a .. ooo la la ... sexy cortebert 616 with Rolex engrave bridge. It looked fantastic in the case. The specs from VDB as to what was done: 6152/1 case modded 1:1 bigger bezel with concave plexi cg pin modded vintage 1:1 crown reworked for casesize and stemsize brevetatto display caseback vintage cortebert/rolex cal 616 motor with rlx engrave bridge vintage messing movtholder vintage lugs springbars for strapsize Unfortunately, this beauty was not perfect, even though I wished it was I encountered some problems with the motor. After winding, it would just stop after some time. 20 minutes, an hour, 2 hours, it varied. Once it stops, after I lift up the crown guard lever, it would begin running again. The watch also gained 24 minutes in 24 hours. One minute an hour. I know vintage movements (on a good day) can gain 5 to 7 minutes but this is pushing it for me. I have not tested the power reserve yet...any ideas what I can expect with this? If anyone can provide input to my problems I would really appreciate it. Anyways...here are the pics: I'd like to thank VDB for this amazing piece. Despite the problems, which I hope can be remedied, the watch is real piece of art. It's obvious he's very talented in doing what he does. I can't wait to see what he puts out in 2009. Thanks for reading and for any feedback/comments you may have. ~Lex

Nice job. The dial looks amazing. Very clean job. But to me the numbers are too close in color to the dial. Maybe needs some more contrast? Just MHO.

You should buy what you want. If you prefer 40mm then go for it. Have you tried on the 44mm PAM? If not you should..I found that they wear differently and actually sits and feels alot smaller than other 44mm on the wrist.

Very cool. Thanks for the info.

Both beautiful pieces. Congrats

Great job...and thank you for the write up and pics.

Love that strap.

Great review. Beautiful watch.

Beautiful. I've never seen it on 26mm rubber before. Looks fantastic on it.

Excellent work

Very cool. Where did you get the dial from? If you don't mind me asking.

Dani, beautiful piece and to add .... excellent discussion on Cortebert movement.

Thanks Sweattdogg. I'm working on getting all my tools right now. Doing it slowly due to the cost. But I'm very excited to start working. And yes the search button is my best friend when it comes to getting the info I need.

Hi everyone, I stumbled onto this site looking for information on MM20s and building/customizing PAM style homages. Wanted to stop in to say and share my little collection with everyone. I don't own any reps ( at least not yet...I do have one incoming though from one of the masters on RG ) So I'll be part of the club soon. Here are my homages: And these are two that I purchased in hopes of learning the art: The SS one has swiss 6497 but is running +5 mins a day. I'd like to either learn how to regulate the motor or swap it with another. The case is also pretty banged up and I'm hoping to make it vintage like. I'd also like to replace the dial with a sterile one. The PVD one works perfectly. It also has a swiss 6497. For this one I'm looking to sterilize the dial. I have no experience whatsoever in doing any of the things I want to do. But that's where this site and RG and RWI comes in. I'm hoping to learn from you all That's it for now thanks for looking. ~lex

Hi Everyone, I'm lex. Came across this site searching information on MM20s and building/customizing PAM homages. I spent most of my time so far reading and learning. So much information on this site. Props to the community and to RG and RWI as well. My interest (for the present) is building / customizing homages. I've no experience whatsoever but I'm hoping to learn from you all. Thanks for looking, lex