sssurfer

Really thanks, guys, for your replies. alt.watch.obsessive: your remark is undoubtly correct. I stated my question the wrong way. As a matter of fact, we are not interested on whether the GMT hands makes a full turn in 12 or 24 hours, but on whether it tracks the time either way, or it is completely firm/steady/fixed. Thanks for making it clear. szvwj: your report helps a lot. Thanks! Stay assured that, if we manage to get a correct DW print, I'll advice you. You might also help about the DW by measuring the distance, in your 233, between the center pin and the middle of the date window.

Thanks, R! In this case just have J. handling the camera next time... May I ask if that cyclops is one of mine?

The most accurate 028 rep ever!!! Just, what happened to the date?

Hi folks, Lello and I are considering to buy the PAM 233 rep, but in order to make our mind we would like to know about the functionality of the GMT hand. Info about it are far from univocal so far: Dealers: Josh: "Faux GMT" http://www.jpc8118.com/0000pn23301-days-ss...ian-p-5206.html Trusty: "Working GMT" http://www.tt88time.com/index.php?main_pag...roducts_id=3431 King: no words http://www.kingshowbox.com/goods.php?id=1547 Time4Direct / prestigewatchco: no words http://replica-watch.info/phpBB3/viewtopic...196&t=45413 http://www.repgeek.com/showthread.php?t=36980 Buyers: Rocketeer: "GMT hand tracks 24 hrs but isn't independently adjustable" http://replica-watch.info/phpBB3/viewtopic...tart=10#p400711 We asked Trusty. His reply: "It is clearly stated on my webstore... The meter is not real. Thanks" (????) 40 minuts later, a new message: "APologies. mine has a working power reserve. Thanks" Then, after a new ask to clarify: "Yes. Working GMT hand. Thanks" ??????????????? So, can anyone confirm which of the following three statements is true? 1 - The GMT hand is fully functional: it turns in 24 hrs, and it can be set by the crown. 2 - The GMT hand is partially functional: it turns in 24 hrs, but it canNOT be set by the crown. (In this case, does anyone know whether it can be set by opening the watch?) 3 - The GMT hand is fake: it simply does not move (in this case it does not matter whether it can be set by the crown or not). If this watch is worth a buy, then there is a small chance that we can do something about the white datewheel. Thanks, sssurfer & lello

The 220 is one of the most accurate auto PAM reps around, hard to find a better one. Maybe just the DSN 088 and 240. DSN 104, and Josh/Andrew 'ultimate'/'best version' 104, are at par with the 220. And the old-style bracelet is consistent with the 220 up to J series.

Congrats to you and your wife, jj, and best wishes to your baby for the best life ever.

Yes. If it was G0087/2000 & BB 1124109, or G0868/2000 & BB 1124890, it was a gen. It should be plain white silver. So maybe none is 100%...

In the end: Take a DSN dial & movement, put them into a cartel's case, replace the DW with a Lello's DW, replace the crown with a T48 crown (w/ stem adapter), and live happy. Details: CG: Folks, please don't assume that what applies to handwind and especially historical models automatically applies to auto models too. Here is a compare pic between a 088D and a 088J: do you really see any substancial difference in their CGs? I have no 088 rep, neither DSN's nor cartel's, but on the pics the DSN crown guard looks more accurate than that of the cartel, cartel's looks flatter. But, as DSN swears he's using standard rep case, I'll assume it's just the pics. Date & cyclops: Again, I have no 088 rep. But on many pics I saw, DSN's and cartel's look essentially the same. And they both would benefit, even if slightly, from a Lello's DW. Caseback: I am sorry that DSN stepped back from his G-series prototype, that was accurate, to this F-series with incorrect BB number. That incorrect number, added to a too thin caseback border, makes the cartel's caseback more accurate. Dial: If the pics are correct, then the greyish, flat subdial of the cartel's version is a dead giveout. End of story.

The "6" is open on 104 F-G-H series, closed on other series. Lanikai's "l swiss made l" placement is correct to some 104J pieces. If you want a "l swiss made l" placement correct to the majority of 104 models you should go with a DSN 104. In this case you also get a correct serial number, but a slightly too rounded crown, and a slightly too thin caseback border.

I have to manually adjust it, i.e. to advance through many days in sequence by rotating the hands until the correct date comes. It is really a pain in the a**. But I had no chance if I wanted to eliminate the date change pusher, as I had no gen movement like Kruzer had.

Maybe a standard -- or even especially thin -- rep crown would be ok? If it is thin on a 44mm model, it might be good on 40mm...

I tried my best to keep them unwound so that the hands stayed firm @ 10:10 while taking pics. But was unsuccessful.

I suppose you already made yourself doubly sure that the hand gets correctly installed on its pin. In this case, a tiny drop of a reversible bonder putted into the hand tube with a black oiler (anything else would be oversized) should fix it. Just be sure that the outside of the tube is clean from the bonder, and the bonder does not came out. Not risk-free. Gently squeezing the hand tube with pliers is out of discussion, the tube is too small. Oh, BTW, naturally also replacing the hand with one 0.19mm. Yours must be 0.20mm.

Thanks to anyone who chimed in. Your appreciation made me even more persuaded that this watch has to be kept in its current look. @flex: I think my 028 does not qualify as a Franken, as it has not even the tiniest genuine bit -- but thanks! Really glad you like it, D! I suppose you are talking about my fingernails. Well, it happened just because at that time there has been that unexpected sale of so many 027 all at once, that caught me completely unprepared. I never got so many orders for my cyclopses in such a short time. My fingernails have completely recovered now -- but thanks for thinking of them.

That makes sense as well. It also suggests ideas about ways to make my PVD a bit shinier, should I ever want it...

Really thanks, Robert! The gen PVD looks definitely shinier than mine -- sort of middleway between the original rep PVD and my current PVD. Color looks quite close. I love my 028's new look so much that I am going to keep it as it is. Should I change my mind one day, I still have the original case. I think I won't go back to it, but really thank you for helping me in being aware about the real thing!

Wow! Thank you all guys. I am really glad these watches meet your approval, especially the 028. Eeek, 30k! I was left @about 12K. Do you happen to have a link at that 'risti post, V? A little debate arose on RG about gen PVD and I would really like to see how that gen looks. Thanks B! You had great part in it, it's especially your AR crystal that really makes the dial pattern jump out!

Thank you all folks for your kind words! Hi D., glad to see you here. It is just the standard case used by DSN with all his 7750 models. You can see it in all DSN photos of his auto PAMs. Specifically, this one comes from a DSN 104 -- whose movement and dial are now left homeless, BTW. I posted a WTB for a 7750 PAM case time ago, but none came out. For the same reason, also the caseback is not accurate to the 090. DSN never made the 090, and I doubt that, should I ever get a non-DSN accurate 090 caseback, it would fit the DSN case. On the other hand, there is a very good chance that any non-DSN case for 7750 can accept the 090 movement & dial as well. Just, I did not have a chance to test it so far. In this case a non-DSN, "standard", caseback for the 090 might fit. Actually, I did not focus on the caseback as my goal was to get rid of the inaccuracies that were qualifying this watch as a rep one meter away, like the date change pusher and the bad date. Oh well, maybe the bad date was not so easy to detect from one meter away, but hey.

Well, almost completed. But as these watches waited almost one year to get reassembled, and I think the result is pretty decent already, I thought to show you them before going on. First, the King of my collection, my 028A, in its new incarnation. New case, new PVD (thanks kye_lin!), new crystal (thanks chieftang!). About the crystal: I am so in love with this hobnail dial that I wanted to give it prominence. A double AR crystal seemed the most obvious way, still I did not want to delete all reflections as the gen has no AR. I wanted something working like a double AR crystal on many positions, but a little less effective on other positions. In the end a double AR coated mineral crystal proved to fit my needs. So the list of mods performed on this watch is: new case (honestly, can't remember what case it is. May it even be JF?) new crown (palp's -- waiting for a T48 PVD crown) new pvd (kye_lin) new datewheel (Finepics) new cyclops (myself) relume (Finepics) double AR mineral crystal (chieftang) I think the result is not despicable. What do you think? Not all reflections are abolished: Date shot: Side-to-side comparison between the old look and the new look: ----------------- Second, my 090. New case and new crown. List of mods performed so far: new case (DSN 7750 case -- no more quick-date-change pusher @8Hr!) new crown (T60 -- plan to install a T48) new datewheel (archibald) new cyclops (myself) The lume is pretty good so I think I won't have it relumed. Maybe I'll install an AR coated crystal one day, but I am very unsure about it. Date shot: No more quick-date-change pusher @8Hr: Thanks for looking. Comments are welcomed, and I am especialy curious to hear your opinions about the (heresy! heresy!) AR crystal on the 028. sss

I am completely with you, t. I am a buyer of five T60 crowns and I did not think even one single moment about a refund. Rather, I am going to use them on all my custom PAM hommage projects. Did you consider about selling the T60 crowns on ebay? I think you might find quite a large market there.

What an awesome introduction! Mate, just fix the cannon pin on that Fiddy, it has a too nice movement to leave it that way.

Nice collection TJ! I think that the Officine should make a model like the one at the foremost right in your pic. Love its small second @6 and black indices.

I think you are absolutely right. But how can anyone fall into it the first time, all I can say is it must be a result of our not letting ourselves be driven by natural selection...

Posted: http://www.repgeek.com/showthread.php?t=41281