sssurfer

I am not sure that MIL-C-675 AR is more durable than glass... It could be, but I've never verified this.

I will gladly do a glass-only AR run any time there is demand for it.

I plan to gauge interest about it in a next future.

The only contrary point I can foresee is that glass crystal reps are usually low-cost reps, so that owners might not be willing to invest 30% of the rep cost in order to "just" improve look and scratch resistance.

Oh well, we'll see....

FYI,....

On my small experiences I came to conclude that a good double AR coating is the way to go even on PAMs. Fuck with the single-side AR accuracy! Our reps are not supposed to withstand a same hardwork as gens, so there's no point in having the outer crystal surface made of uncoated sapphire rather than AR coated...

PM replied to our top-notch PAM expert.

Last piece sold. Thanks PAMman.

Just to let everyone know that my "special" cyclopses for PAM 027 and 028 (2892-A2 movement) are sold out now, I have none left either in their first (6.3mm diameter) or second (6.45mm diameter) incarnation. Please do not PM me for them anymore.

Well, in reality, I am left with just one 2nd-choice 6.45mm cyclops. 2nd choice as it has some unnevenness along the border, and it is 1.0mm thick instead of about 0.95mm. The unnevenness is almost undetectable at naked eye, and the loose in mag power due to the higher thickness should be negligible, but that's it. If anyone wants it, I'll sell it at a 50% discounted price (i.e. 20 USD, s/h and paypal fees included).

Thanks, and best regards,

:sss:

Hi Rob, I am afraid this is a dead horse. Finepics seems to have lost his interest in these things (what a shame, his PVD looked excellent).

I think that our current hopes are only in ajoesmith's and archibald/chieftang/kruzer00 group's hands...

Btw, yes, polished SS is no problem to get PVDed. The beadblasting process that is preliminary to PVD coating (and as much important as it) will take good care of that.

Too much information, I am sure.

Not at all, chief! This was great info indeed, thanks!

I was just wondering about double-side AR coating on glass crystals. As in case of double-side AR the final scratch-resistance is that of the AR coating rather than that of the original matter, and as double-side AR coating is harder than glass but softer than sapphire, I was just thinking that double-side AR coating is an even better fit to glass than to sapphire.

To put it shortly, about scratch-resistance double AR coating makes the glass better, and sapphire worse.

I already had a double-side AR coating test performed on a [top quality] glass crystal, and the results were to my appointment. To my eyes, any loose in the AR effect and blueish nuance was completely acceptable.

Now you said that an even better result may be achieved on glass, in case of a run for glass only!

Do you think that, if there is interest enough on a run for double side AR on glass crystals, you would perform it?

so can this be cleaned off and proper AR coating put on?

It should be.

If it is on a sapphire crystal (yes, they also put it on true sapphire crystals in place of AR), an effective way to remove it should be using any abrasive-polishing paste (other than diamond paste!) petroleum-based, or mixed with petroleum. Btw, Cape Cod cloths are like that.

This is because sapphire cannot get scratched or made foggy-looking by abrasives.

This method is effective in removing true single-side AR coating (low temperature AR coating), so I suppose it should also remove the fake AR coating.

If it is on a glass crystal, as in DemonSlayer's watch, don't use abrasives: glass would get damaged.

I would try a soft microfiber cloth impregnated with some solvents, starting with acethone.

Keeping the crystal sunken under petroleum for 2-3 days before removing the tint might help to do the cloth work easier.

Oh I see, so basically my Panerai has a mineral crystal with a so-called light AR coating which is giving it the blueish tint? I am assuming this is common now with the lower end Panerai reps?

Yes to both your questions.

Glad to see you here, Joe!

Congrats on your pieces, they are awesome.

And thanks for sharing your experencies about the crowns and CGs.

I managed to correct a few crowns that were sitting too flush with the case by just adding a small gasket.

That blue tint is the so-called "light AR coat" said by some collectors.

It's not true AR, it is just a treatment on glass to give it the look (about color only) of AR coated sapphire.

Btw, as Victoria correctly pointed out, sapphire without AR coating is colorless (or it just shows light rose reflections when looked at a step angle, if it is not top-quality sapphire). Davidsen's sapphires are blueish because they are AR coated.

@Victoria: pizza cipolle e salame??!!?? (e funghi, ok...)

From a distance in person the watch looked very nice tho.

Go figure how our reps look!

Any other opinions?

C'mon, don't be joking... opinions can vary from 'bad fake' to 'worse fake' to 'even worse fake'...

Just wait for our Strap Queen Victoria chiming in...

Bad fake.

Thank you both, i think i'll buy a cheap rep just to see if it feels good on my wrist.

I have quite a tiny wrist (17cm), and 44mm PAMs are no problem. I also occasionally got compliments while wearing 47mm models, so I suppose they did not look too ridicolous on my even small wrist (I feel more comfortable with 44mm models though).

My 1st bet is that once you try a 44mm PAM you won't get satisfied by anything less anymore.

My 2nd bet is that once you get a PAM, you will get a dozen -- in several sizes and styles.

Good luck, and best wishes! Let us know how this goes on.

Ahhhh, what happens if you chrono reset while crono is still running !?!?!?

Nothing happens to the watch. Just the whole universe might overturn inside out like a sock.

I have to admit that that burgundy+blue is better than I suspected (still not so good to me though), and the brown+yellow is worse than I hoped (it may fit only a Ferrari also in my opinion).

Anyway, you are an awesome strap maker, whichever colors you use. And de gustibus non est disputandum...

Btw, I find that Greg's strap gourgeous but for the stitch color.

53 mm

Joshua has now an updated version where the flaw of the missing mark @9 has been fixed. I wonder whether the movement is still the same as before....

Your straps are awesome and this is no exception, V!

But the color combo chosen by the buyer...

Burgundy/Dark brown and Brown/Yellow.

Blue on anything even vaguely suspected to belong to the brownish family (like Burgundy) would be an heresy.

You don't think it's a PAM 48? I don't think that bracelet is titanium, despite what he says.

Hi chief, you surely mean a 051 (048 is black face and leather strap).

Yes, if we don't believe the titanium thing then it might be a gen 051.

Still the OP number leaves me dubious... and the 049 and 051 were the infamous "specially made for the Japan market" models...

If what the seller says is true about titanium, then that is less than a replica, it's fantasy. Most likely, it is just one of the (in)famous replicas made by the watchhonpo guys -- those watches that they tried to pass as special edition genuines especially made for the Japan market.

There is no PAM with white face and titanium.

The OP 6560 case number is of the PAM 070D, which is brushed SS.

It might be a PAM 051. That would also give reason about the somewhat thin crown being it a 40mm model. But in this case the OP number stays wrong (unless it is a 051D), and everything the seller said about titanium is delirium. Period.

I can not remember who posted it - but single sided AR on the inside significantly reduces this effect - making for a much more enjoyable watch.

That was me. And I confirm to the last word that chieftang's single-side AR cuts out 95% of date refelections. It is another watch.

Fix the datewheel certainly...but the cyclops will be tricky. There is another magnifier within the dial of the 027, both rep and gen, which mitigates against the 'sunken datewheel' effect that arises due to the Sophos module that sits between the movement and the dial. Introducing a correct diameter cyclops will also increase magnification to the extent that the date may become unreadable and indeed too big to fit within the upper magnifier. However different cyclops from different modders may vary but just be aware of the potential mismatch.

Exactly. Due to the added small lens on the date window, both the watchmen and chieftang cyclops resulted overpowered on the 027 and 028.

One solution is to remove the small lens (I seem to remember that archibald and/or kruzer00 followed this way).

A better solution is to use a cyclops adequately powered. I had some of them available, you can see one on my 028 thread (soon to be updated, as I managed to get a palp's PVD crown in the end! ).

I just sold out those cyclopses, but another batch is in the pipeline. Just, these new ones are 6.45mm diameter (while the gens are 6mm, and the first batch was 6.3mm) and I still have to test their mag power exactly. On the paper, they should perform almost as good as the first ones...

What PAMman told about the 'recessed' PR gauge is -- as anything that PAMman tells -- absolutely exact.

What I can add is that it is an [even small] issue on the 027 only, not on the 028, as the PR gauge on the 028 rep is recessed like the genuine.

This is a fortunate (and desired) side-effect of the hobnail finish on the 028 dial. In the rep, the 028 finish is made of a thin added layer applied over the dial. This layer is interrupted at the PR gauge, so giving exactly the recessed look of the genuine.

As far as I know, this is the only detail making the 028 rep even more appealing than the 027 (on the other hand, the inaccurate PVD finish of the 028 makes for an added mod needed).

sssurfer did on his 028 PVD - his pride and joy

sanro, info by dadog is perfect. I am a PR fan, and the only things that I can add are:

The 45 hrs power reserve is an issue of models with PR indicator @5hr (PAM 090, 124, 222), that have the Seagull 2530 movement (or a clone of it), not of models with PR indicator @6hr (PAM 027 and 028), that either have the ETA 2892-A2 (690 USD) or the Asian 21J (80 USD).

As far as I know, River recently sold his last ETA 2892-A2 027. And ETA 2892-A2 028 are sold out since a long time now.

If you happen to see a 2nd hand one, jump on it! Then ask lello for a good datewheel and me for a good cyclops*, and you will end up with a 99.99% rep. My 028 is my only rep that I would even proudly wear at a Paneristi party. I posted a thread about it time ago, you may want to have a look at it, and I am soon going to post an update as I got a new PVD crown for it.

The flaw in the rotor is that "OFFICINE" is spelled "OFFICNE".

If you want to have a feeling of a 027 while waiting for a 2nd hand one to show up, then go for the $80 model from Silix. It is inaccurate in the caseback and date mag, but on any other respects it is an excellent rep with an uncomparable performance/price ratio.

Best wishes,

:sss:

*EDIT: I just remembered that my 'perfect' cyclopses for the 2892-A2 are sold out now. I still have some 99% cyclopses though.