Drulee

Mine is a DSN 228, not a Cartel one, there is no mistaking his dial for blue

NORing, I've tried to PM you, but can't. Please send me a PM, I may have just the strap for you

I was going to say that every time I see a tourbillion in a watch, it just screams "REP". But after looking at that one, I must admit that is one nice movement, good thing it was put in an homage watch and not branded.

Lest anyone get the wrong idea , this is not my "shiny purple" DSN 228 that I started a thread about. Sorry ft0472, but you are probably out of luck, as far as a correct 228 dial is concerned. DSN was the only dealer who used to have them (at least the closest to the original), but he has since switched to "shiny purple" dials Your best bet is too keep an eye on the sales forums and see if a dial or watch with a blue GMT dial comes up for sale. I was lucky enough to have a great member spot an older Cartel blue GMT dial (a lot like the DSN's first blue 089 dial) for sale and pick it up for me. This dial will be replacing the "shiny purple" one that came with the DSN. If you want to see what my "shiny purple" dial looks like, have a look at this thread. Pictures, of the beast in question, are at the end of the first post.

THe logo is supposed to be on a bit of a slant, Here is a pic of a DSN 005 dial:

I'm sorry, what do you mean by a "thicker and second plastic ring"?

There is a ceramic 292 for sale on RG now. Just checked it is still available, and the seller is a great guy, I've bought a couple of watches from him. By the way, just did an inventory and in the past couple of months I've amassed 13 PAMs and have two on the way. So I feel your pain

Ouhh, that's the Nubuck one, right? Very, very, very nice What did you have to trade for that, I like it, I really like it

Point and shoot, so what, those are some nice pics I have to ask, how did you get the correct notches on the movement??? Or more to the point, who is BC?

Yes, I've especially noticed this with Jackson Tse's crown guards. I've had two SS and two titanium ones from him and the levers on them all have been sanded to a "nub" just barely touching the crowns he provides Oh well, you get what you pay for I've got a couple of your crowns on my PAMs, and they really do make quite a difference when winding and adding to the overall look of it. Do you still have the T60 as well?

Very nice, I'm waiting for my 250 to be re-lumed by The Zigmeister, but upon its return it is going straight on a nice Caiman I've got waiting for it Where did you get the hornback from?

Was this one crown in particular (eg. SS 1.2)? Or did you get a few crowns from him and try them all?

I'm negotiating on getting a Radiomir 204 Wempe now, I would love to put the one I have (in the "beater") into a 212 case, but I'm not sure how to fit it in... When you say that it should go straight into a PAM chrono case, which cases do you mean, as most have autos in them now? Where would I get a Movement retaining ring though, I've posted here before asking about this, but no luck. I may just get a 212 style case and test fit it to see what I will need.

Thanks, I must say dealing with DSN, and I'm sure many other dealers, is like a good short story You get excited when making your order, then after receiving it your hopes can get dashed, then you rack your brain trying to figure out if you should return them or take a journey searching for someone to fix them locally, then after having them fixed you feel great wearing them, and finally you get an extra boost when DSN gives you a discount on your next foray into the rep world. Not for the faint of heart, or average consumer.

Panerai PAM 056 Luminor Marina Destro Titanium 56 Link to pics of gen 056

Just got "beater" that has this movement in it. However, I can't stand the watch design itself (sort of a Daytona knock-off, really ugly looking in my opinion), bought it mainly for the movement. So, since I am a Panerai fan, I was wondering how hard it would be to fit this movement into a PAM chrono case. I was thinking of a 212 style or even 250, since the dials are in the correct position. I know the 308 has this movement in it, but I'm already ordering one of those, so I would want a different model. I'm not a Radiomir fan, in general, but I do like the 204 "Wempe" model and the Chrono Rattrapante L.E. for Pisa model, but can't find them anywhere. Would it just be too much trouble? Let me know what you think.

No problem.

Two weeks later, and here is what has happened since my last post: Well I had been battling with the decision of returning the purple dialed 228 or harvesting all the parts.I am getting a new GMT dial soon, that I think would go great in the 228 case, so I have decided not to return the 228, especially since the A7750 hacked GMT movement in it has been keeping great time and is showing no signs of having any problems. Since this decision was made, I've been in contact with DSN and arranged for my next purchase of a 165 and some parts. He's responded quite quickly to my questions, and has actually expanded his "ok/pls study/advise" a bit Because of my problems with my order, covered in great detail above, he has also given me a nice discount on this order Overall, I can say I am currently satisfied with the final outcome, as I have not had to return any watches, have a functioning DSN 088 (with some minor glitches that aren't DSN related), will have a "fanatasy" PAM 228 GMT that I think I will actually prefer to the original glossy blue dialed offering, will soon have a DSN 165 (that hopefully doesn't evolve into another thread), will have a few improved DSN parts and a dial to upgrade my soon to come Hybrid 089 and create another hybrid, and will also have a "shiny purple" dial that I can use for target practice. A nice ending to what, at first, seemed to be a disappointing transaction. What have I learned from all this? What ever noob in this hobby eventually learns. When dealing with the Cartel (not personal experience, just members remarks) or David San, you should be fully prepared to have something go wrong with the transaction. Whether it is a dead or malfunctioning movement, wrong coloured dial, less than perfect CG or just a loose/missing screw, odds are something will come up. There is also the chance that if everything in the Universe is aligned correctly, every order you place from a dealer will arrive exactly as expected. I underline the "as expected" part, because before placing an order everyone should do a lot of research on the forum and set their expectations accordingly. From the start, I've never expected (and neither should you) to receive a watch equivalent in quality to a genuine watch costing thousands of dollars. What you should basically expect to end up with, is a functioning watch that should resemble the pictures posted by the dealer, that with care and servicing will last a couple years and maybe more, depending no the movement and servicing done afterwards. Taking one of my purchases as an example, I've paid less then $300 to have a beautiful functioning replica of a Panerai 088 GMT that would normally have cost around $7,000 and that 98% of people wouldn't be able to tell from the real thing. As far as dealing with David San, it may be frustrating at times, but in the end he is just as fair and reliable as any other of the popular Asian dealers in the "Trusted Dealers" area. He has a tendency to improve his offerings without notice, unfortunately occasionally he also "downgrades" them without warning. If you are not prepared to pay for shipping to return a unsatisfactory watch, once or twice, wait for that extra amount of time added, or have the watch taken care of locally, I would suggest you just don't buy a rep watch from the mentioned dealers or any other Asian dealer for that matter. If you want to buy from someone who actually performs quality control himself, but does not carry as large a selection as some of the Asian dealers, I would suggest Sead1999. Could we be paying less and could there be better quality control? Probably, but for those of us living in North America (can't speak for the Europeans) these dealers seem to be the only options for the types of watches we're looking for. Until another dealer, with better connections to the rep factories and an interest in providing good customer relations, comes on the scene, this all we have. So, for now, we have to live with it. Hopefully, in the future, that will change. If anything else regarding this transaction arises, I will update the thread. Otherwise, that's all folks....

How about a shot of the case back? I'd like to see how the finish turned out

Have you tried a search ("Panerai Chrono hands) on eBay? They do pop up there from time to time.

Just a note for anyone thinking of using a JacksonTse case (Ti or SS). You may run into problems aligning the stem or securing the movement to the case (with the plates), especially if you're using a DSN dial. Many people have noted that the dials JTse uses are thinner than your average rep dial, so if you use a standard dial it will push the movement just a bit too high in the case. I'm sure there are some work arounds for this, just haven't heard of any yet

There are a couple of things to keep in mind - the size (use your existing strap to determine this) and whether you want a deployant or buckle strap. You cannot fit a deployant clasp on a regular strap, the end is much thinner for the deployant type. If it is for a buckle, is your buckle 22mm or 24mm. A good strap makes all the difference when it comes to how your 111 will look. Nearly every dealer ships the Panerai reps with very bad rep straps. Also, what is your budget? It is worth it to spend a little extra (say $20 or $30) for a nicer strap. If you are going to get one from ebay, I suggest you do a search for "24 BOB strap panerai" - these are well made for the price, especially the Marino line (Vertigo is not as good).

Great job Emily! 10yrs old, eh. She did a better job than I did on my first assembly I've never seen a destro with the tobacco (brown) dial. Where did you source that one? I've actually been trying to find a non-destro tobacco sandwich dial with seconds at 9, as I love the tobacco/titanium combo.