sssurfer

Btw, maybe -- just maybe -- I could have figured a solution should beever had not used the word "pin" as a synonim of "lever"...

Actually, I got what he was meaning only after his second post here.

And then it was too late to prevent me from my monumental failure.

Glad to hear you found your (and even better) solution. My best wishes on all your projects.

Go the whole hog and have it PVD plated.

Face it... nothing else is going to satisfy you. So you may as well do it properly.

Hi feel you hit the nail in head... or what you say in English about that.

Any suggestion on a good and inexpensive PVD source?

There have been photos on Paneristi of DSN wacthes.

Great!

You may want to have a look at this:

http://www.rwg.cc/members/index.php?showto...st&p=307813

I just wonder why I spent my time to post this just not to even getting a "fuck you" reply...

Sorry its not the regatta, he informs me its the 213!

213?!?

The split-second Luminor 1950?!?

WHERE DID YOU GET IT???

Out of joke:

I bet yours is a 212.

Anyway, 212 or 213, it should be a Luminor 1950 case.

Sorry to say noone is making a sapphire or glass crystal replacements for it.

But there is a cheap plexi replacement on cousinsuk. You need the Acrylic High Dome Glass Sternkreuz

The best way to resolve the problem is disassemble the watch and bracelet. Strip away all of the paint and find a local powder coater. Powder coating will provide you with a smooth and hard scratch resistant finish that will not irritate your skin. Parkerizing as applied to military weapons might be another alternative.

Ouch! This is going to become quite a bit of a task. No DIY, I see.

Parkerizing is not going to work on stainless steel, I suppose, but powder coating looks as the most appealing solution so far.

Thanks!

Still searching for the CG's to make it perfect

While waiting for the perfect CG, you can fix the lever flush to the guards by gently filing it this way:

I had that same flaw on a 212, and it fixed it almost perfectly.

Just trying to restate in other words what has been said so far.

Until 2007, Officine Panerai -- even in their Richemont-Vendome incaranation -- have been (in)famous for not making any in-house movements, but just putting into their watches movements already available.

Replica makers took advantage of it. The growing popularity of Panerais has been just half reason for the incredible widespreading of PAM reps. The other half was the availability of ETA movements exactly alike the 'genuine' PAM movements (with exception for the cosmetic reworks told by Highflyingclive), or more-or-less decent Asian copies of them (these even with no exception for the abovesaid cosmetic reworks).

So it's all but uncommon to find PAM reps:

1) With ETA movements exactly like the genuines, but missing the reworks.

These are becoming rarer (and more expensive) along with the decreasing availability of genuine ETA movements.

2) With good Asian copies of the genuine ETA movements, and with the reworks added.

These are becoming more common, but more expensive too, as long as the Asian copies become better, and the so called super-reps make their way.

3) With inexpensive more-or-less good Asian copies of the genuine ETA movements, usually without the reworks.

Inexpensive... but you are not interested in them.

Thank you too Predfan.

All the suggested methods are about covering the current shine finish with a new matte finish.

This leaves me a little concerned about the effects of the new cover on my skin (or clothes).

So, no way to corrode / erode / wear the surface of the current paint by chemicals, heat, cosmic rays, or what?...

Which Regatta model? 107, 156, 168, 199, 222, 253 or 286?

Both gorgeous!

From this data one gets the pessimistic conclusion that after 8 hours the glow of SL is 1/100 that at time 0.

Don't worry, as those values are measured with a photometer while the human visual system works differently and it compensates for low-light conditions.

To have a rough estimate about the 'human translation' of those data, just imagine that the scale on the Y axis is linear instead of logarithmic.

On kind request by lanikai, I'm posting a pic of his watch:

Congrats, lanikai!

Thanks everyone for their advice!

The worst ones, are the fantasy Lady PAMs I've seen. They just butcher the whole ETHOS of the Panerai marque.

Really.

But you are supposed not to have missed this, Victoria, uh?

(Just go forward a few pages and you will find lots of PAMs).

There is also an old thread of mine on RWG I. My pics on 'our' thread here on RWG II are just an excerpt from that old thread.

Thanks, jfreeman.

Just, same problem as for the additional paint method: are you positive that that spray would not result toxic even when in contact with the skin for a long time?

Ok, you may try the usual fixes for the floppy lever problem.

1. Quick-and-dirty:

Remove the pin (with the same tool used to remove bracelet links -- have a look here).

Fill the hole in the crown guard and the lever, where the pin was, with silicon.

Reinstall the pin.

Clean any silicon excess.

Wait 24 hrs with the lever in the closed position before moving it again.

Or

2. The correct way:

Remove the pin as in 1.

Get a piece of electric wire that could accept the pin inside the rubber insulant, remove the copper threads, put the pin inside the insulant in place of the copper threads.

Measure the wire thickness (diameter) with a micrometer, where the pin is.

Remove the lever and enlarge its hole (where the pin was) with a dremel and a drill tip that diameter.

Remove the pin from the insulant (you may sacrifice the insulant if this is tricky).

Cut a piece of insulant as long as the lever's thickness.

Put the insulant inside the enlarged hole of the lever.

Mount the lever back in the crown guard.

Push the pin back in its hole in the crown guard and lever.

This way you will make a rubber gasket (or a very thin silicon gasket, with method 1) around the pin.

This should keep the pin firm and it will get you rid of the floppy lever.

Just 2 days ago I removed the bezel from an Omega SMP (my first removing of a clicking bezel), and those f****** pin and spring jumped out.

Fortunately they just landed on my work table, where I found them and put them in a safe place.

Having no clue about their function, and being very unsure about what hole they had come from, at first I tried to reassemble the bezel back without placing the pin.

Result: no click anymore. And the bezel freely rotated clock- and counterclockwise.

I had to remove the bezel again, put the spring and the pin in a hole, and put the bezel back. Then it worked good.

Moral: the spring pushes the pin against the teeth on the back side of the bezel. And that f****** pin is the only thing making the clicks and preventing the bezel to rotate clockwise.

About finding the spring:

- Look well in your chair.

- Use an electric torch placed orizontally on the pavement to project long shadows of all the microdebris that are on your pavement. Turn the room light off, and slowly move the torch around, keeping it flush on the pavement.

I am using Firefox as my browser, and Zone Alarm as my firewall. I also have NOD32 running as my antivirus.

No specific popup blocker, just Zone Alarm setup to block almost everything.

The ubiquitary problem on reps is that the lever is loose when in opened position, not that the lever pin is wobbly.

Are you sure that it is your pin to be loose? (no pun intended)

RWG at its best!

Andy is great.

Thanks, Clive.

I already tried the fiberglass pen and you guessed correctly, results are no good.

About repainting it, I am concerned about having a paint flushed on my skin 16 hrs /24.

And about the surfaces not in contact with my skin, I am dubious about the durability of the new paint.

I would really prefer to subtract some molecules from the existing paint, rather than adding new paint. Sort of beadblasting or so.

Thanks anyway, really.

Any other advice?

I have to submit a prayer to the members who post pics.

Please don't use "Hotlink for forums" or the "Insert Link" button, rather use the "Insert Image" button (by pasting the "Direct link to image" in the window that pops up when clicking on the "Insert Image" button).

With the "Hotlink for forums" method, all I get are pics like this:

...that even disappear when I pass on them with the mouse pointer.

(I know this is due to a diabolic interaction between my browser and my firewall, but if I change the setup I get buried by popups, banners and ads).

I know I am asking to modify some well established habits to someone, I am sorry about that.

But this is going to cost you just one more click (that on the "Insert Image" button), and it will allow me to look at your pics (on which I assure I am interested) without opening a reply window, copying the text in the hotlink, opening a new blank window, pasting the text in the address window, and going there.

This for every and each of your pics.

Really thanks to all who will help!