babola

LOL, reminds me of this guy:

You show off you... Wear it in good health!

'Cracked up' would be a major understatement in this case.

Nothing but the best from you, Pizz

That dial makes the watch, IMO...I have a soft spot for Chrono Daylights, enjoy it!

Yup, my comment was more of a tongue-in-cheek I've had one of Zig's PVDed cases for few years now, the slightly worn-off patina-ed look that developed by wear an tear is something only an owner of the watch can really 'feel' first hand. That's all that should matter anyway, the way it's been done and exact surface treatment method should be pretty much irrelevant.

Our brother has spoken!

LOL! Priceless! He is just a guy with a girls name and likes to brag ...ha, ha, ha!

Tremendous review Angus...many of us have written in recent weeks a lot about noob-111M advantages and benefits over any other 111 sandwich dial rep made so far, but this review of yours should definitely put many minds at ease. H-maker is known to make aesthetically 'correct' and pleasing to the eye watches, but uses shortcuts when it comes to construction and manufacture of those, especially internal parts wearer doesn't see. Noob on the other hand follows the tru to gen 1:1 construction almost to a tee, and while it may lack the aesthetics in some departments, those are usually easily rectifiable issues. Thanks for doing this, once again!

Send back for replacement and select another strap source in the future. I did, and never looked back.

It would perfectly suit PAM312, IMO

Great strap but I'd rather see it used on a Pam chrono or auto model. For me, PAM111 as a historic could benefit from a little 'simpler' and less intrusive looking strap if you get my grip. The sanding work you did on the buckle is truly phenomenal. Enjoy!

So, who has the best sub?

Thanks guys, glad you like it RM, not the capped minute hand this time, mate. Here's a response to this question I left on another forum yesterday:

This wasn’t meant to be a full fledged review, just few of my personal findings and observations. I hope the level of detail and info provided will be sufficient for most, newcomers and older collectors alike. First of all let me say this – the recently released 104I is simply a great watch. All the important areas have been addressed by the maker and there’s hardly anything to mod on it. This will be present a fresh change for most, but the hard-core modders amongst us will feel a little short-handed this time I personally wish I could fiddle or mod something on the watch but this time around – it’s mostly done for you. The watch looks and feels expensive and of high quality manufacture, truly a nice piece. If you’re interested in this watch and would like to know little more, keep reading below. The watch in general As I mentioned already – a great product indeed. It exudes quality and high-end finish throughout. Case-set overall The case is beautifully finished and all the main bits of interest taken care of, like the correct lug shape and slope, bezel height and thickness, cut-out between the lugs and others. Side profile and lugs: Inter-lug cut-out: Well appointed lug screws, flat on both sides, polished and flush with the lug edges: Crown, Crown guard and Case-back Top stuff indeed. I found the crown on my 104I to be slightly over-polished with a bit of sharp definition lost due to that fact, but otherwise a great look and feel. The outer dish rim is also highly polished which is unusual for Panerai. A little turn of a crown dish rim on a Dremel against a finer grit sand paper like 1200 should just do the trick, it did for me, anyway Round crown tube, correct for I-series: The CG on this watch is well made and it hides a little surprise. This (to my knowledge) is the first ever CG from H-maker that comes with a rubber shim, or shall I say o-ring to prevent floppy lever operation. Their implementation however is slightly different from genuine and the CG from Noob maker, and it almost exactly duplicates current CG design from Davidsen. Be careful when/if taking the CG apart – the rubber o-ring measures just under 1mm and is very easy to ‘fly’ loose. There’s only one o-ring located on the top of the lever, and this one is more than enough to provide nice snug feeling when operating the CG lever Also, the lever shape itself seems to closely follow gen lever shape, nicely rounded around the bottom of the ‘nose’ and nice shape overall. Caution is advised regarding lever pin, though. Please make sure it’s secured in its position as mine became loose with first two-three lever operations and almost fell out. There’s only a very little physical area of friction between the CH hole and the lever pin. From product design point of view I would call this a design-flaw, but it is what it is and it’s not easy to change. For some reason H-maker is persisting on this pin/CG design. DSN CG design is similar to this one, though. One more photo of a lever and o-ring: CG and crown assembly: Caseback is a massive and heavy chunk of metal, DSN and Jakob take note …engraving depth is good but lacks the definition of a gen, as my photos below show. This however is hardly noticeable by the naked eye. The movement Nothing much new here. It’s a well known and trusty non-chrono A7750 28.8kbph mov’t, with a fine regulator and gen-like mov’t number engraved and gold-painted/gilted. The OP calibre text on the rotor is unfortunately lightly painted instead of engraved or laser ethched, but this is nothing new coming from H-maker. One just needs to look at the bridge OP lettering on their A6497 to realise that these guys are not ‘into mov’t engraving’ much The Sapphire crystal Great clarity and correct refractions, appear to be 1:1 to gen in construction but to state this with greater certainty one will have to pop it out and measure, as well check the cyclop desing, is it glued on the bottom or ‘cut’ into the recess of xtal from underneath. Great xtal clarity: A/R features I’m sure this topic will be active for many months to come, as the xtal comes with slightly blue-ish single-sided A/R that may not be everyone’s cup of tea. But this A/R actually works, compared to the blue A/R that came on older cartel Pam reps. I have to reiterate what had been said many times before, the genuine 104 I series came with A/R that had a little blue hue under certain angles. My own feeling is – the A/R on this 104I is slightly stronger in hue than gen, but less intrusive than standard cartel blue A/R from the past. If you happen to own Noob’s 111J, the 104I A/R is just a little less visible than the stronger blue A/R on the 111J. Unfortunately the round shape of a cyclop amplifies not only the optics but the A/R hue colour as well. It’s not bugging me, though. A/R on 104I: For a comparison purpose, I took a photo of my old-school EL 112F from 2006. This one comes with super-clear xtal and great A/R although blue hu is a little stronger on EL’s. Here are 026K and 104I next to each other, A/R on manual wind models from Xtal on manual-wind models from H-maker still kicks butt: Below are 104I and EL 112E sitting side by side, A/R 104I is again a little better: Date wheel, Mag, Dial, Hands and Lume The DW is certainly one of the highlights of this watch. The DW comes with gen-like numerals and cyclop provides just the right level of magnification. You can also spot on above photo how well the lume has been applied. It however isn’t semi-gloss lume like (I believe comes on a gen 104I) but very matte in appearance. Lume color is green and it glows well, comparable to H-maker lume on their manuals and aftermarket Superluminova re-lumed dials. The watch on the left is my 112F lumed by The Zigmeister, the lume is almost indentical on two watches compared: Daylight lume on hands seems to be a little lighter and closer to creamy off white than green colour of dial lume, but that’s really hard to notice…you basically need to look for it. Dial texture is very matte, projecting almost anthracite grey color under an angle instead of more deeper black of the genuine. Please correct me if I’m wrong, but the gen 104 I held in my hand came with more jet-black finish. It makes the dial look dull and ‘tired’ under certain angles, not a biggie at all. This would be my only beef with this watch. You can notice the difference in dial finishes between the 104 and the other two watches shown below…26K and 112F: Dial text isn’t as crisp white as I expected it to be, it’s standard H-maker's dull grey-ish brown color the same as on 111M, 177L and 176M from H-maker. But that’s not to say it’s not good. In closing, I really have nothing more to say about this watch at this stage. I didn’t have time to take the mov’t and dial out to check if the bezel and rehaut are following standard H-factory non-gen design or not, but that doesn’t bother me much at this stage. The watch is simply great and at this price is a no brainer, the so called ‘ultimate 104’ from few years back would cost you at least 50% more off-the shelf and with required mods to get it closer to gen you were looking at over $650 easily. Thanks for reading!

You've done everything just right my friend, you should be proud of yourself And any fiddling with hands on Pams from H-maker is especially risky job, so even more kudos to you.

+1 nuf said...

Our resident metal man is onto it again Great stuff buddy!

Puts a new perspective on thread crappers, doesn't it? Didn't expect in my wildest dream my review could be used by some as a laxative. Good on 'ya boys!

Yeah, I expected a good watch but got totally surprised by this one. If they keep coming out with reps like these (and Angus has few new models up his sleeve) the Pam-rep future looks really bright

The long anticipated PAM359 from Angus arrived today, and all I can say is - Wow! This rep was made by an independent rep maker or AKA 'the third one', with a direct guidance from Angus with a little help on the side I tried to take the best photos I could for this review but please understand that photography isn't my strong side, so please bear with me. Overall look and feel IMO, this rep is just fantastic. It may not be your 99% 1:1 rep but as well made, finished and executed watch - it exudes quality feel and it blows most of the other Pam reps out of the water. As soon as you unwrap it you notice quality and attention to detail that went into this piece, and subsequent 312/320/328 etc models about to hit the market very soon. Case set in general The case work is IMO just phenomenal. I have to say this is the first Pam rep piece that I cannot find a single fault or inconsistency around the area where lugs meet the case, or any sharp and rough metal machining marks. Case back, CG, crown, strap, strap assembly Check the photos below, you may get surprised just as I was after I took some of the pieces apart for purpose of this review. Overall CB engraving is excellent. Only slightly shallower than gen. The millesimation number is well engraved, but only slightly quirky looking as this time the engraver decided to use italics/angled font. Great definition, though. The zeroes seem to be competing for some space in 3000 but otherwise - very nice. CB is thick and chunky, to me it appears to be as 1:1 in thickness to the gen any rep will ever be. Back glass is mineral, but a thick chunk glass 3mm thick. It is also flushed well with the edge of the CB ring. Check the thick CB rehaut... Flip side... Something Honpo and EL were infamous for The crown seems to be 1:1. I compared it down at my AD with a 312 they have on display and to me the 359 rep crown appears even a little thicker than gen. This is hard to quantify without the ability to take the exact physical measurement, though. Correct spring-load build, very gen-like. Now this is a first...check the size of that crown o-ring seal. It larger size mean it will press against the outer rim of the crown tube, instead of inside the recessed 'dish' of the crown tube, as most other reps and gens do. I don't see this as an issue, just part of different non-standard design. It should still create good and tight seal when the CG lever is closed. If you worry about this, just add another thinner o-ring seal on top of the original large one - this smaller seal should drop into the crown tube dish just fine. The crown tube is also work of art in itself. The tube is constructed of 2 pieces outer hex-shaped one that is threaded and screws into the case, and inner recessed one that is force friction fitted inside the outer tube. The inner one has the o-ring seal installed close to the 'mouth', as per gen. Again, this photo shows the level of fine machining and finishing touches even on the concealed areas of the case like the CG feet base. The CG...if the lever tip was a little better finished you could be forgiven thinking this could be a gen CG This photo shows how far the maker went when creating as close to 1:1 CG as they could. I thought this moment will never come...the day when I'll be able to say I held in my hand a rep CG that was better finished on the inside than a gen CG...you can shoot me for saying that but check for yourselves, guys: Smooth matte bead-blasted finish is present on ALL internal facets of the CG, and the ones normally concealed to the naked eye. Here's a gen 359 CG for comparison... The CG is brushed in a very fine satin finish, few hundreds of grit finer than the gen. If you care about this, just refinish the CG with coarser grit, around 400-600 should do the job well. The CG lever assembly is per genuine as well. Having witnessed the level of finish so far on this watch I can't say I'm surprised. Rubber shim is there, so is the correct CG pin with wider top and knurled thinner bottom piece. The tip of the lever will however need to be rounded on two edges, as per gen , if you care about the likeness to the gen. It comes with sharp corners, but that's hardly news as it has been discussed many times on forums. The roller is slightly asymmetrically positioned, but not an issue at all. Lug pins are also well finished, flat at the edges and polished. They're certainly better than the ones found on H-maker's Daylights for example. The quick-release action is also effortless and buttery. The strap is as good as any rep strap can be, great value for money although the brown stitching is slightly darker than the lume on the dial. On the gen they match. Soft and supple...it's just fine to leave it on, no need for replacement. Movement Well executed A7750 non-chrono, high-beat 28.8kbph. Great engraving detail on the rotor. Not exactly a P.9000 mov't but it will just do for most of us Nice perlage finish and addition of fine regulator arm, which the original 359/312/320 etc rep mov't shown few months ago lacked. Dial, xtal, A/R and Lume The dial comes in slighyly shinier finish than gen. If you happen to own on eo fthe H-maker's 177/219/005 etc rep that's pretty much what it looks like only a little shinier. Strangely this glossy dial effect is only noticeable under fluorescent and incandescent lighting, and almost completely disappears when worn outside, outdoors - even under direct Sun light. The top sandwich layer appears to have correct thickness and numerals have the correct depth, however due to rounding at the edges of the cutouts the top dial layer can appear as a little thinner than it really is. The roundness of the numerals and markers is a result of dial stamping/perforating method used by the maker and there isn't much that can be done about it. Dial text is just slightly darker than the gen, but you have to have them side by side to notice that. The Luminor Marina dial font is also tiny bit thicker. Some have commented how the numerals are pushed closer towards the edge of the dial and rehaut. I'll have to dispel this myth as the numerals are correctly spaced - it's the xtal properties (more specific edge bevel and higher position above the top of the bezel line) that distort the dial underneath. On the genuine, there's almost no noticeable 'line' between the bezel edge and xtal and xtal comes with much finer and thinner bevel. Also on the gen, the rehaut can be seen almost under any angle, even looking top down, but on the rep you have to angle the watch to be able to see the rehaut. I've seen this effect first hand at me AD. Also the top flat part of the bezel is slightly wider than on the gen. It replicates a standard 44mm manual case bezel top, while the 44mm 1950 auto case comes with bezel with thin top 'line' where it meets the xtal. This is why some will notice a small part of milky-white exposed xtal side on the rep just at the point where it meets the bezel. Hands are nice and clean, and the otherwise exposed chrono hand hole on the cannon pin is concealed in a smart way The sapphire xtal is of great clarity and colorless A/R is just brilliant. Think H-maker Pam rep xtals...it's actually that good. The DW appears lighter than the lume and dial text on the photos, while it's actually darker in person. The DW is in it's 4-th iteration, and the maker did a very good job considering the physical differences between the P.9000 and 7750 mov'ts in relation to size and placement of the DW. Lume intensity is mediocre, just like any other standard standard rep lume although good enough, but that's nothing new. It was expected and Angus did advertise that as a fact long time ago. Think lume from 111J from Noob-maker. In conclusion...a fantastic watch for the money, great quality ingredients...the only bit that weights it down is standard lume applied to dial and hands but that shouldn't be a reason to stop you from getting one of those nice watches. Get it, wear it , enjoy it! cheers, babola

Could you clean up your PM box please, you seem to have reached a message limit. Thanks bud.

I'm just around the corner matey, keeping an eye on people like you... Thanks for your kind words, though.

If they're H2 than they would be historically correct for pre-V/pre-A builds. No need to change, unless they're H1. That said, if you happen to have H1 in combination with thinner DSN sausage dials, then you should be fine as well.

Great strap indeed, I have the 26mm version on my Fiddy. My only beef with it (isn't there ever one with me? LOL!) is that the top is coated with polyurethane, so while great water resistance and protection it won't age as straps that were tanned using more traditional techniques. BTW, his Marino straps are made in Germany by Rios-1931, so quality is guaranteed. For the price there's hardly anything like that on the market these days.