sssurfer

Hi Mark, great straps indeed!

Is the 2nd also from Smat @ 59 USD??

Impressive! I have a 28 which I will be sending in for a PVD..... hopefully soon. Great watch sssurfer for that price! How is it running? Losing/ gaining time?

Actually I need to set time once a month, in order to re-gain 2-3 mins... uhm, so it seems that it is loosing about 5 secs a day...

To me, this is to my appointment, and it accounted for the main reason that made me decide to upgrade it.

Best wishes on your 028! I too am waiting for PVD coating on my 028.

Are you going to send it to Finepics or to Palpatine? (or else?)

Actually for the cost of the orignal watch plus all the extra bits surely it would have been cheapier just to buy a 027 and be done with it

Ken

Actually, it was just the cost of the case and caseback, since Lello's crown and SS bracelet would have been needed on a 'native' 027 too, and the sapphire crystal was from another dismantled watch.

Some months ago on WT I saw an offer from TTK for a 027/028 -- quite cheap, about $100.

I say 027/028 as it had a flat, 027-like, dial... but it also had a PVD (rep PVD), 028-like, case.

Uhm... it was quite unconsistent, but... a PR PAM at $100?!?... quite appealing... and that 'Buy Now' button was right there, spelling 'click me! click me!'...

Ok, I clicked it, and after a while a was the happy owner of another nice black PR PAM.

It proved to be so precise, comfortable, reliable, that I decided to give it a reward.

A real identity.

I would make it a honourable 027.

Got a SS case.

Got a new caseback (the original one had that 'LAUREUS REGATTA' engraving that I came to hate).

Got a Lello's crown.

Got a SS bracelet (yes, I know that 027 came with a black leather strap, but I really like those bracelets).

Got a sapphire crystal.

And here is the result.

I am still unsatisfied with the lever, and - obviously and expecially - with the poor date mag. But I think that I could do something about it too, in a month or so...

is there any place/site I can use as a reference (with pictures) for identifying different movements

http://www.ranfft.de/cgi-bin/bidfun-db.cgi?10&ranfft&0&uswk

(several movement descriptions include links to pdf files with specs and drawings)

And yes, it definitely is a rep of Miyota 82xx:

Some time ago I got a 104 from Andrew -- a special offer @ USD 88, you figure!

Here are some shots:

Welcome back, Tommy!

I already stated somewhere else my feelings on your loss so I am not going to repeat myself here, but I still want to say now that we missed you so much and we all have been concerned about you. Really nice to read that you are beginning to recover now.

Take it easy and slow now, take all your time, come to this hobby just if it makes a way for you to feel a bit better -- hobbies and friends are about that after all, not about stress.

To me, the 050 is the best PAM rep. Good choice!

Actually, you don't need to replace the crown, as the genuine 050 has a thinner crown than 44mm models.

If you really want a thicker crown, then consider using a normal rep crown from a 44mm, absolutely not a Lello's or PAM's one.

A warning about 049 vs 051: I tried my 050 both with the SS bracelet and with a leather strap, and I can assure you that in SS it is on another planet...

I've handled both in person, and was quite embarrased how incorrect the (my) rep was side by side.

Weight is noticeably off, font on the front too thin, poor lume, weak date mag, caseback markings incorrect.

Looks great though on the wrist, just don't take it off

I just wonder where your 050 rep came from, since in mine back markings are correct, and fonts and date mag are probably the best one can find in any PAM reps.

Naturally lume is weaker than in the gen (nothing that a relume could not fix), and I can't tell about weight though.

050 with SS band. simple.

Agree. An almost flawless rep.

Date font and magnification in the 050 is probably the best of all PAM reps.

Oh!

Wow!

I always said that 050 is my favourite watch.

Now I also know why.

this type of dial is not as difficult as some

Good, as I am feeling something like a rose gold 147 growing in me...

finepics do you think is better to reluminer or not the panerai 28 t-t dial?

Mark, this tells me about something I am unable to recall right now...

This is my 028 dial-and-hands, that I got back from Finepics some days ago (I can't assemble the movement into the case again, as it is some months that the case is resting in palpatine's hands).

First, a look in the daylight.

I am unable to figure out how and why the plated area of the hands seems so matte and bad-looking in this pic, it must have been some odd light reflection trick that I didn't detect in the camera monitor. Anyway, please pay attention just at the numbers and markers and the relumed area of the hands, as this shot was meant just to show you how the color that Finepics mixed up looks natural and unobtrusive when under the daylight:

Then, a look in the darkness just after the light went away:...

...and after several minutes, when the brightning has almost settled on a constant level:

Now, some shots to show the unbelievable precision of Finepics.

Look at how the green bright matter covers exactly and evenly all the area of the numbers, markers and hands, without leaving even a tiny bit unrelumed, and without invading even a tiny bit on unneeded areas:

In conclusion, this does not look as a hand-made work, it rather seems performed by a dedicated machine!

So I hope that Finepics will forgive me if I'll call him the Relume Machine since now...

Congratulations Chris, it is a beauty!

I too had a gold hands idea alike on a 104, and I am currently waiting for the hands from davidsenjpn (already shipped).

@ all: Pay no attention to sssurfer!!! He is mad. Proof: He wants to do another project w/ the rest of us.

It's just because wifey sometimes replaces my haloperidol with clear water... she thinks that treatment makes me a little 'loose'...

Thanks all for the jimmyzfu hint. I actually knew about him, but I honestly find $59 a bit too much just to get a rubber sleeve, so I was looking for a cheaper solution.

I read of the insulation cable as well as of other solutions, and I tried some too, but they seemed either not so easy to perform, or unreliable.

Yeah, there is a missing "i" in "Officine" on the movement.

!!!EEEEK!!!!

True! Argh!

And I wanted to make my 028 99.999999%...

Thanks folks, it makes sense that the pin does not rotate, but I wanted to be sure.

Actually, fitting a sleeve around the pin seems possible only if the sleeve is covering just the central portion of the pin, the portion that goes inside the lever. Conversely, if the sleeve covers all the pin (i.e. also its portions that go into the crown guard holes), it is impossible to fit the pin+sleeve whole again into the CG holes. This is because the holes for the pin in the CG are smaller than the hole in the lever -- as expected if the pin has to be solid with the CG.

So, it seems that the solution is made from two parts:

1) a reliable substitute for the rubber sleeve;

2) a way to get the pin ends solid with the crown guard.

Good, thanks again!

I am currently thinking about the best fix for the loose lever problem in PAM luminors.

I need some preliminary info from gen owners. It's easy to help me, you just need to open and close your lever while looking at the lever pin (by a loupe, if you like).

According to you, is the pin rotating solidly with the lever (i.e. they both rotate together), or does the lever rotate around the pin while the pin stays firm?

Thanks,

:sss:

@Moderators: I know this owns to the Upgrade Section, I thought to post here in order to gain visibility since many gen owners are not supposed to check that section frequently. This is the only topic I am going to post here about the matter, I promise that any further developements will go in the proper section. Thanks.

After crown, cyclops, and datewheel, I feel that the next mod we absolutely need to focus on is the loose lever.

Let's tell the truth, it is an easy and infallible way to detect a rep. A way that even a total noob can learn in a moment. Cfr.: http://www.replica-watches-guide.com/forum...showtopic=28519

Several fixes has been proposed, but those who tried them can tell you how difficult (almost impossible) it is to fit a sleeve around the pin and fit them all into the hole again (no pun intended). And how other fixes actually are all but resolutive.

I can tell, at least.

I am currently thinking on this. Maybe I should call the Watchmen (the group who is bringing the cyclops) at gathering once again...

SOLD OUT

Thanks all for for your great participation.

2 pieces left, 5 pieces requested but not paid so far.

We can satisfy some (few) exceeding requests by draining from pieces that we originally planned to save to ourselves.

Those who made their requests today: the first who will pay will be the one to get served. If your requests will not get paid within 24 hrs from my PM reply they will get cancelled.

Should be any pieces left, up from this moment any other requests are going to be served strictly on a 'first-pay-first-served' rule.

This is just to keep things clear in this final rush (no harshness intended).

3 PIECES LEFT

The 212 is a domed crystal like a smaller fiddy type.

Thanks Mark

Same plan here too

Is the 212 crystal different in size from the standard 35mm crystal of 44mm PAMs?

Else, there are two sources on eBay, jimmyzfu and another. I am currently waiting for 3 crystals from the 2nd one.

I've found a picture of a Miyota 8215 and does look very similar to the Asian movement in the PO rep....

Yes, I too recently did a search about the so-called Asian Auto 21J movement that is so common in many reps (I was aiming at PAMs though), and it turned out to be a rep of the Miyota 82xx movements.