subzero1

Angus is supposed to be getting some in by the 20th of this month. No idea how the blue compares, haven't seen either blue rep or blue gen in the flesh.

Starting the week with the double AR'd UPO (thanks to K2222):

All I can say is that they suck so bad I bought both the black and white dialed versions

Well, the PO is an exception because it wears extremely large due to the rather badly designed end links which stick straight out and add another 10mm to the top and bottom of the watch. But if you take it off the metal bracelet and put it on a leather strap it wears a bit smaller. Even so, it's a "look at me" type of watch, not unlike the IWC Cousteau divers or the Breitling SOSF and just about every Panerai in existence. Large and bulky is the point, so if that doesn't suite then none of these watches are managable and it's just best to go with something smaller. Not that theres any lack of good reps in the 42mm range and lower - Breit Navi's, IWC GST's and Inge, Tag Links and Carrera's, the Rollie SSD and various MBW's. Personally I tend to wear smaller watches in the summer with short sleeves, and larger watches in the winter with long sleeves.

I have both & like both. The CD wears very big and high tech, the SOSF is more macho looking.

Ceramic HBB and SS/SS HBB are at the top for me, followed pretty closely by the BCE and SOSF.

TT Santos 100 on a custom HKTAN strap:

Yes, the Ti Inge is probably my most perfect watch from the standpoint of being able to tell the time instantly. With the AR crystal on there, the numbers and the hands just 'pop' so that it's perfectly legible anytime, anywhere. Most people say that curved crystals benefit the most from AR, but IMO the flat crystals like on the Inge have the most ability to simply disappear after good AR coating.

Ask and you shall receive

Yes, K2222's previous run included my breitling navi's and UPO's, and SMP bond, the difference was substantial and worthwhile:

Strap is from HKtan. Looong wait for it to be custom made, but worth it.

UPO on gator for me today:

Yes, strap is definitely the way to go w/the 3717 IMO, especially a Big Pilot style strap. I went old school vintage/weathered leather with mine:

Going w/my new bling:

I dunno man, there's something about the crystal on the 029 that is particularly bad about washing out the dial. I think it's because it's so incredibly thick and has that subtle dome to it that really makes reflections pretty awful. It's probably the worst rep I've had for the washout effect. Which is why I'm pretty excited about the new cyclops and the double AR. The nice thing about both K2222' and chieftang's AR coatings is that they are very high quality, so they generally just make the crystal less visible, unlike some of the crappy rep AR's that flash blue in a glaring fashion. I've seen the quality AR effect on my Inge with it's textured dial. It didn't make it "in your face", it just let you see that there was actually texture to the dial. Before the AR, you could only see the texture from a few, very limited angles. Or, put another way, good AR lets the dial become a prominent part of the watch design and look. Without AR, the crystal (rather than the dial) is what becomes the prominent part of the look of the watch.

Unless you get the Cyclops removed, and an AR coated Chieftang 7mm cyclops installed instead. That's what I'm doing. I don't care that the gen does not have AR, my rep will. What's the point of having a tuxedo dial if you can't see it clearly? The non-AR coated standard crystal completely washes out the dial and it's texture. K2222 is dong the crystal removal, the cyclops replacement, and the double AR coating, great service!

Hi all, I remember a year ago (and the year before that), just about all you would read on the rep boards was panerai this and panerai that. The vast majority of posts were about this brand. Not only that, but the factories were in lock step with the obsession, grinding out new models every few weeks it seemed. Now I look around and I see a lot more postings about Breitling, Tag, Omega, hell, even Rolex now that the SSD is out. And I look on the dealers' sites and very few new models of Panerai are out lately. So, has the interest in the brand merely leveled off, and interest elsewhere simply ramping up with the appearance of great reps? Or was Panerai truly a fashion and is slowly going out of style (at least on these boards)? My personal thoughts 6 months ago were that I'd never tire of PAMs, but now I notice that I have fewer and fewer of them in my watch box, and other brands are slowly creeping up on number. I'm wondering if anyone else had noticed the same things....

I'd get one of the used VC Overseas that have been on the for sale forum. Or a Cartier Seatimer or Santos 100, both great.

I like the hktan weathered brown pilot strap:

I think I will see if I can improve the current collection first. I had a very nice Breguet rep a while back, white guilloched dial, tourbillon, blue hands, SS case, and glossy black lizard strap. Sold it because it was way more dressy than anything I wore. And I found out I really don't like tourbillon movements, just a thing I didn't like showing through the dial. If it was only displayed on the back I'd probably dig it, but through the front just looked odd to me. The SOSF and Breitling Bently will definitely go up for sale, just no wrist time to justify keeping them. The 029 I keep waffling on. There's something odd about the case that bothers me and I just can't put my finger on it. I have a chieftang cyclops for it, and I will probably replace the existing one with that, and get everything AR coated and see how I like it after that. I love the tuxedo dial, but it's so obscured by the non-AR crystal that the depth and beauty of it gets lost. I do love the movement, and I love the engraved bezel, so maybe the AR will be enough to bring me around to loving the rest of it.

Maybe I sell the watches and improve the ones I have. I need some good HKTAN straps for my Santos 100's, those are $190 each (one brown, one black), plus AR coating. I'm commited to sending off the crystals for the Santos 100's and the Pam 113 to Chieftang's run, but I'm thinking about sending some more off to K2222's run (no lip marks and free existing AR removal), which would let me get the 111H, the 183, the 011, the 082, and both HBB's coated (the HBB's are the most recent "lite" versions w/the 28.8k movements). All of my other watches already have double AR coatings (either came that way, or I got them done on previous runs). Hell, maybe I could even take the santos crowns to a local jeweler and get that super-crap "sapphire" replaced with a real sapphire. I already have some of the prototype dials from rocket on the way for these two watches. Yeah, I think maybe that is what I'll do, while I patiently wait for the Graham chronofighter to be released in the next 6 months.

OK, I've not done this before, but I need help deciding on my next purchase. I've got: DSN Pam 183 DSN Pam 111H DSN Pam 082 Pam Ferrari 011 Pam 113 Pam 029 2892 Pam 024 Omega Upo black Omega Upo orange Omega SMP Bond blue Breitling Evo TT Black Breitling Evo TT White Breitling Evoe SS White w/Diamond Bezel Breitling SOSF Blue Breitling Bently GT Red Breitling Navi Serie Speciale White Breitling Navi Serie Speciale Black Cartier Santos 100 SS Cartier Santos 100 TT IWC 3717 on hktan pilot strap IWC GST White/Gold IWC GST Ti Black IWC Cousteau 2006 Blue IWC Inge Ti AMG IWC Inge SS Hublot SS/SS Hublot polished Ceramic/SS I'm thinking about selling my 029, Blue swiss SOSF, and red Breitling Bently GT and getting something else. I'm just not sure what. I like the 249 cali dial, but I know from the 127 that 47mm is too big for my wrist. I like the idea of a RG HBB w/ceramic, but I already have 2 other HBB's. I like the idea of a Carerra, but how many SS/black watches can one justify? Maybe a VC overseas or a Cartier Seatimer w/AR? Maybe a solid gold watch ala the St Expury? Or the gold Timewalker? And no rolex for me, it just doesn't appeal. I like a couple of their models, but don't want to be constantly asked "is that real?" As you can see, I'm at a real loss for direction - help!

Double AR'd Navi today:

Not even close, the HBB gets far more attention than any other watch I have. Pannies, IWCs, Omegas, Breitlings, Cartiers, all of them get less than 1/10th of the attention of the HBB.

People in Houston are very good people, from my time there. Great place to live except for the crushing heat. Re: Watches, what I find more amusing is when 2 people (say, me and another guy) are in a coffee shop, w/sleeves rolled up and big fancy watches on, and trying to check out each other's watch without being obvious. Sort of a furtive glance / look away / look back / avoid eye contact dance. Quite funny actually