viper

Thanks, I was just thinking of that an hour ago, will most probably matte the whole dial and leave it plain.

Very nice! Now I want one as well. The Luminor case matches nicely with the dial, cooler than a Radiomir case, imho. Congrats and wear it well!

My vintaged 47mm Pam pic. I used scotchbrite on the case, dark brown marker on the numbers, and nail polish remover on the dial. Would appreciate advice and opinions as this is my first time 'aging' a Pam. Thanks for looking....

Some pics of the aged Pam >>> Of course not on par with some of our members' mods, my vintage Pam, with scotchbrite on the case, some dark brown marker on the numbers, some smudgy nail polish remover, sandpapered strap, and good intentions. LOL....!

Yes, my rep is of the 9152, and the text font for the lower part of the dial was not accurate to that pic, which had white text. My rep used the metal base for the text, with the dial colored black, like reverse stencil. And the bottom text came off, together with the black as well. I'll post pics very soon. In some cheaper Pam reps ($30-40), the white text could be removed without affecting the dial color. Thank you for your input, sir, it was most helpful.

Superb tutorial, very well done with superb pics! Thank you for sharing!

I just did the dial, and the black background was removed, so I used a permanent marker, filled up the space, and proceeded to dab the dial with nail polish remover, it kind of aged the dial. The dial now has a kind of dirt/aged look. I should have waited for the dial to completely dry, but I installed it right back. Now the crystal is a little misty, any suggestions / advice? Or should I just wait a couple of days, open it up again and clean the crystal. Just curious, do gen vintage Pams from the '50s or '60s have slight misting under the crystal? Thanks!

Thank you sir, and excellent vintage job you did on your Pam.

Yes it is a sandwich dial, and thank you for your kind advice! I was hoping to remove the text without separating the dial planes, will nail polish remover work?

Hi all, Have tried to do a search on how to remove text/wordings from a dial, could not find it. I have a 47mm Pam (forgot the model number) that has Panerai Luminor(top) and Militare Marina(bottom) and would like to remove the latter text without damaging the dial. Any input is much appreciated! Thanks! Viper

Most ADs tend to view what's on your wrist to size up your watch buying budget. Its their job. The ADs I have personally known are pretty nice folks. If you find a cute gal at an AD, be prepared for it!

The SFSO rep is fab, wear it anywhere you like. I wore mine to many places, and it was noticed by members of the public, its a hefty watch. At my age, (40) I do not worry so much about being called out wearing a rep. In Singapore, there is a huge demand for nice timepieces, but most of the population wear normal watches just to tell the time, so the average individual would not really notice, unless its a red submariner. Truth be told, if I ever get called out, no biggie, people who call out others do not warrant enough of my attention, they are just doing it to make themselves feel good. Enjoy the watch and wear it anywhere, my friend!

Congrats on the strap! Wear it well! I have seen the gen blue dial, which is a little bit more refined in terms of aesthetics, the numbers 6, 9, and 12 have nice edges, and the dial texture lines are very fine, but I would only notice it if I look for differences. The bezel marker numbers are slightly larger. Date window frame is just a little bit finer than our reps. This are just my observations, I believe other members can chime in as well I would not hesitate to wear my rep anywhere, as its a good, solid watch. I have been letting the watch run for close to a month now, and it runs well. By the way, mine was the SFSO lite.

Thank you very much for the informative post! Viper

Congrats Rolli! Wear it well and great pics too!

Congrats, its a beauty, wear it well! The sandwich dial in PVD case adds a whole new look!

Congrats on your purchase, I'm sure the Steelfish can be immersed in water, but do check that the caseback is tightened properly before you do. Sometimes reps come with the caseback not fully tightened. Wear it well, and do post pics when you get it!

Hi Usil, Keep the watch, and bring it to a watchmaker who can fix this issue, these things do happen. I believe, after a couple of days, you will be glad you kept it.

You could try using a palm sized rubber ball, the ones that children play with. It works for me when opening the caseback, however, I use a 12 inch wrench to do the final tightening when fitting it back. Do it slowly, the wrench sometimes slip.

Congrats on your new purchase. Whenever I buy a new rep, first thing I do is check the crystal for any mist/fogging/ dust. Sometimes the factory does not tighten the caseback enough, and if I spot anything untoward, I remove the dial/movement, do a good cleanup of the inside of the crystal, put everything back, and tighten the caseback really good and try not to scratch the caseback in the process. After that, I would observe the watch for a couple of days, and if its nice and clear on the inside, I would have no hesitation in rinsing the watch under running water. Most of the time all is ok, and I dry the watch with a soft towel. Hope this helps.

As dluddy has mentioned a few posts up, the version he has is light ivory, same as the gen. The one I handled is indeed light ivory. One thing that struck me about the gens is that the 'feel' of the watch on bracelet is different. The bracelet is better finished and has a nice satin look that comes with a gen price. The bracelet links have a 'buttery smooth' connection that each link twists and moves very smoothly. Our rep bracelets are a bit stiff. Weight is very close. Apart from the slightly longer lug ends on the rep (hardly noticeable) and the lume, I would humbly say that our reps, be it Swiss or Asian, is more than 95 percent accurate.

I looked up the 'net for a strap, and I thought of trying the local AD too, so I called them up. They actually asked for the serial number and mentioned about bringing the watch down. I told them that the strap was a gift for someone, and asked if they could make an exception for me. After a couple of minutes they called me back, and told me to visit their authorised retailer in town. I went down yesterday and picked it up. They were nice to include the Breitling springbars as well.

Thank you all. The watch has been on my wrist for the past 4 hrs, and the strap is getting more comfortable.

I paid approx $79 USD for mine. It came with a set of oem springbars too. The visit also gave me an opportunity to handle some of the Breitlings they had.