subzero1

That LV is pretty hot. Big and blingy, but with style. Me? I'm going w/the recently Double AR coated (from K2222) Ti AMG from IWC:

I just got back my Navi crystal from K2222's double AR run. Installed it yesterday and will be wearing it to start the week:

Get some Mothers Mag polishing paste, apply to a rag, rub vigorously over the crystal for 5 minutes. Poof, no more AR. Works better than the lacquer remover and far better than cape cod.

The 029 is cool, but the 111 dresses up better. Go w/the 111.

I really like this watch, it looks far more over the top in photos. In person it merely looks interesting. I have heard that the rep is coming out fairly soon, and I'm definitely getting one when it does. Hopefully in this color:

Goddamn cocksukers. Oh well, maybe they can recommend someone else that is interested in taking our money?

This one of course:

Picked up a new TT bracelet from Josh for my BCE and wearing it today: Yesterday was an IWC day w/my new 2006 CD:

Well, I believe I've finally found a way to remove existing AR coating without scratching up the crystal, so I'll be in for at least 4 or 5. Assuming my tests with the new method work well, I'll be able to confirm within the next couple of days.

Going with my aged and beat-to-hell PAM 024:

Actually, most of that is from the lighting. I had a gen and rep IWC Inge next to each other at an AD and I was specifically looking for differences in fit and finish and the overall level of finish (visible to the naked eye) was identical. I'm sure with a loupe differences would be more obvious, but with the naked eye from a foot away they were pretty much the same. All of the lighting in an AD is designed to make watches (any watches) glow in the way you noticed.

Inge all week:

Plus, your watchmaker is wrong, there is in fact a plastic o-ring between the crystal and the bezel.

I've learned to look at how the lugs and/or bracelet is constructed when looking at big watches for a small wrist. For example, the uPO is 45mm, but the bracelet end links stick straight out, making it about 55mm from top of one end link to the bottom of another. The HBB has integrated end links, but they are angled down, not straight out, so it wears smaller because it starts wrapping around your wrist sooner. 44mm PAMs wear even smaller because their lugs curve down in such a way that a strap can drop straight down and still look good. As for me, I'm going with a classic, the SMP Chrono with single sided AR coating:

I've had several of the SOSF and the BCE and they are equal quality. I think the BCE is a more sophisticated design and is certainly flashier, but the SOSF has very good casework and better AR (and more durable AR). There is not a wrong choice here, just pick whichever one you like the design better on.

Updated with pics of the latest rounds of mods. If you look at the first pic at the very top of the post before any mods and jump straight to the last pic after the latest round of mods, it has been quite a journey!

The problem is that panerai is very inconsistent about AR coating - some are blue, some are light yellow, some are green (seriously). I say stick with the blue type tint, no one will really notice or care, and the blue has the advantage of making the crystal look more like sapphire.

I've dropped out, as I was defeated in my attempts to remove the AR with steel wool and lacquer thinner. I'm going on vacation in 2 days, so I've sent the crystals to K2222 as he will do the AR removal for me and polish out any potential scratches that might have occurred. Were I not severely pressed for time I'd keep trying to remove the AR myself as this run is cheaper and it's in the US. But, alas I cannot, so I'm giving K2222 a shot. Should be interesting because I'll be able to directly compare that AR coating with previous AR coatings I've had done via chieftang (which were all incredible), so it should be fun when I get back from vacation.

I went ahead and smashed out the pearl, and with the help of some concrete walls, beat the hell out of the watch case as well. Put it on a very vintage looking MP strap and it looks HOT now I'll post pics when I get the camera back from my wife.

You can polish out scratches? If so, then I have 7 crystals to send. I tried the lacquer and steel wool method for AR removal that Chieftang posted, but I just ended up putting lots of tiny scratches on my crystals, with limited AR removal to show for it. So, I would need all 7 crystals to have the existing AR removed and also all of them polished to get the myriad of tiny scratches out (which make the crystal look a little opaque). Let me know if this is possible..... Thanks! Also, to the best of my knowledge, they are all sapphire crystal.

I think I'm going to take a screwdriver and a hammer to the bezel pearl and simply knock it out. I saw someone here with a 187 that had a smashed pearl and I thought it looked pretty cool.

Thanks! Hands still glow a little, but the dial doesn't glow at all anymore.

I have always loved my 024A from EL, I like the sub line from panerai, and I liked the fact that the bezel did not have the hash marks between 12 and 3. The circular markers on the bezel and the circular hour markers on the dial combined with the brushed circular bezel gave this watch the feeling of being a "study in circles", which I really liked. The one thing I was always vaguely a bit unhappy with was the fact that the case and crown were highly polished and only the bezel was brushed, giving too much of a bling effect to a watch that by design should have been strictly ruggedly masculine. Here is what it looked like before I decided to mod it: Definitely a good looking watch. But I thought it could be even better with an all-brushed case. Less accurate to the gen? Sure. But since I think panerai missed the boay on this one (and since there is no Ti brushed 025 reps available), I figured "why not?" So, some time with some fine grit sandpaper, a brillo pad, and a scratch-pen, here are the results: Hope you like it, I know I'm ecstatic! [update 9/29/2007] OK, the next step I took was inspired by BBB (that's bigbadbrad to the rest of you). He experimented with "vintaging" some of his panny dials by putting them in the oven and the rubbing them with instant coffee grounds. I really liked the look he was able to come up with, so I tried it myself. I disassembled the watch, removed the hands, removed the dial, and put them into a non-stick baking pan and popped them into the oven at 500 degree Farenheit. 20 minutes later I pulled them all out, re-assembled everything and Voila! Here is the result: Now I'm even happier with the watch and I have to give a big shout out to Brad for inspiring this final step. [update 10/1/2007] OK, I decided to knock out the icky green pearl with a screwdriver and a hammer, then I "aged" the case with the use of some force and a concrete wall and floor. Put it on an aged MP strap, and here are the results:

Same watch, from the same dealer:

I know for a while he was wearing a Breitling Evo - that one was hard to miss.