ubiquitous

Awesome piece for an even more amazing individual! Very nice gesture!

Reps are one thing; what if it were a high dollar build or a gen! That would be a pretty significant loss...

Wow; that quarter repeater is pretty dang awesome!!

I just wasn't as fortunate to find my way here as early on...

The great thing about this hobby is, there's no wrong time to get into it! What matters is that you're here now...

Hagus-

Thank you! The blue dial is a very unique look. The dial base is 18k YG, so it makes for a very interesting aesthetic. Color changes depending on the light source/angle, etc...

Movement is a 23-300; I need to have a new movement ring made, however. Something more befitting of this caliber...

Stick with the vetted TDs here! They are trusted for a reason...

Love that sm300, didn't know you had one!

Technically, it's my son's... But he has no interest in it at the moment. So, I'm taking care of it for him on his behalf for now.

It's an all original piece from 1967; picked it up for $600 a few years after he was born

Just realized, I need to sit down and take some better shots of it...

Starting Sunday off with this one for brunch with friends and family...

Then probably switch to this one later in the day...

Kind of an odd pairing for the day, I suppose, but I'll go with it

Thank you gents

And you are 100% correct, F333; you know it when it just feels right!

I've been trying to find a good comparison pic from my past collection to compare; maybe this might be helpful?

My old 5514 (7mm crown)...

1665 (7mm crown)

6538 (8mm Big Crown)

Comparison of crowns:

6mm, 7mm (standard Submariner; 5512, 5513, 1680, 1665, 16800, 16610 etc), 8mm ('Big Crown' Submariner; 6200, 6538, 5510 etc)...

Phenomenal builds! Love them all, but especially the April 1st Sub and, OMG the BOX!! That box is killer!

Awesome work on everything!

Agree 100%; seems like a very confusing business decision in production as that kind of physical detail is a significant step backwards. Then again, much of the direction Panerai has been taking over the last few years has been strange to me.

I appreciate that a brand/manufacturer is willing to offer something like this for the enthusiast folks that follow their brand; I do like the blue logo and can appreciate the 'risti scribed lever (nice touch). But not sure why their loyal fanbase would get some watered down version of an actual Panerai. I think if I were interested in the watch, I'd have to swap the guts/dial and CG over to a proper case with threaded back and screw in lug bars. Fortunately, my interest in the watch stops at the pondering of what was going through the minds of the design team when the caseback and lugs were decided upon... And I have to wonder if the snapback case and springbar design will be implemented across more of their production pieces over time.

1940's PPCo today...

I want one of these!

Snap back case? Spring bars?

Huh wha...?

In what world would this ever make sense?

Seems like this is a lot of corners cut... And not like screw bars/threaded lugs and a thread on back is saving much on production costs! Kind of an insult (in my opinion) to the people that embrace and support their product the most...

dtm-

It's funny how things work. Sometimes it can take years to find one's way and sometimes folks get it in relatively shorter terms. And it's also interesting to see how so many of us have been drawn to the hobby by... Rolex. I firmly believe that reps are a gateway to gens (if a rep is one's first step into the watch world), or in the case of starting with gens and going to reps as many of us have also done, I am sure we find time to dabble in gens still Many of us also end up venturing off to other brands to explore as well; variety is nice! But in the end, I think one certain Rolex personality had stated it best in an article he wrote in that people usually end up coming back to Rolex.

One thing is for sure- Love them or hate them, Rolex is the powerhaus in the world of horology.

What happened to the daytona zenith twins? Thought you would never part.

Ooops... Almost passed over this question. Do you mean this pair?

The time had come and they went to new homes converting a couple of die hard Panerai guys!

Thanks, gents!

This hobby takes us to fun and interesting places; perhaps even better than the watches are the great people you meet along the way!

 

As great as all of them have been, if I could have just one, this would be it.

T- The 530 is a fave of mine for sure; I'd wear it more often except these old Patek cases are not water friendly (don't think that water resistant cases came around until the late 50's for Patek), and gen dials like this are hard to find So, I've been a little more reserved in when/where I've been wearing it. I do have a TC 16622 that I use as daily wear; something that I can submerge in water should the need arise, or not sweat too badly if it gets a scuff

 

Stunning, as usual. If you ever tire of the big crown, let me know. There's a spot waiting for it next to a certain 1803, 1665 and 5514!!!

DV- Should that day come, I know it would be in good company in your hands!

 

Always nice to see what you share. For 7 years I have been a part of your journey, and more then a few times received invaluable guidance from you as well.

L&T- Think one of the best things about the forum is sharing of ideas, knowledge and drawing inspiration from one another. This is a very niche hobby, to be sure; to have the kind of braintrust, abilities and resources collectively in one source is beyond value. And it brings us all together as a community and extended family

Just a personal observation and reflection over how much one’s tastes change over the course of time in this hobby. I’ve built, owned and seen a lot of pieces over the last decade (wow, has it really been that long?), and where I am now in my collection is the furthest, and yet still true to where I started. As with most who enter this hobby, I used to be interested primarily in Rolex; the iconic Sub 16610 specifically. Didn’t take me long to jump into the world of vintage Sport Rolex and then the fascination with Daytonas came into play. As tastes matured, I became more and more fascinated with tourbillons, and an admiration from afar for things like perpetual calendars and repeaters.

Now, as I look at most of my collection while it’s home visiting me from the bank vault, I notice a pretty overwhelming theme; simplicity. While I still love and adore the complications (and would love to eventually move into building some of the more complicated vintage Pateks), there is just something to be said for the balance and classic design of time only pieces. I've also found myself going further back in time for vintage preference; the 1940's and 1950's seem to be an interesting period for me. And since a thread is worthless without pics, I will try to convey in images what I am trying to express (and not very well I might add) in written word…

(please excuse any dust, smudges, imperfections, poor placement of hands, etc; these are straight off the camera, so likely crude and unrefined )

And to be fair… I do still have one(!) chronograph… But how could I resist?

I'd like to know if others find themselves on a similar path... 100 watches to 10, vintage to modern, Rolex to Cartier, big cases to small... I wouldn't be surprised, as the hobby is very evolutionary in and of itself. Still, I would love to hear from others as to their thoughts on the subject as well as their own journeys