babola

Agree, not an easy feat. The one feature that pops up on genuine E-series 6497 mov't finish is the sunburst brushed finish, flaring out of centre jewel on the main bridge. This would be close to imposible to achieve by hand. In rep E-series 6497 mov't world this has only been accomplished by machine brushing process on the recent Asian 6497-2 hi-beat mov'ts that FGD mentioned above, as well as last batch of (now extinct) Swiss ETA 6497-1 E-series mov'ts. I have 3 Pam reps I installed the latest E-series 6497-1 mov't in back when they were available, so can attest to this.

Wow, great mods! Love the 28A...just beautiful. Tell us more about that new DSN auto case, any side and caseback photos please ? cheers, babola

Old school 001B caseback, now long gone. I actualy pinged Angus about sourcing another one and he said he cannot find this particular B1176/3000 anymore. There are few B1200/3000 and B2000/3000 still available but not a nice serial no combo. :-(

Hmm, the dial you show here and the one on chickenchunkie's pics are two different ones. The one here definitely isn't garden variety rep 001 dial. Compare the shorter inner closing loop on number 6 for example, spacing between the 6 and the L Swiss L txt, higher horizontal bars on letter A in Marina and Panerai. Very very gen-like, actualy if I saw it shown somewhere else I would quite easily mistaken it for a gen. You should be proud, mech Luminor sausage dials of this 1:1 closeness to gen and quality are few and far between in Pam rep world. Great find!!! babola

Here's one gen 196G with both Luminor & Daylight on the caseback: http://www.visiotime.com/?page=ProductDetail&id=2876 cheers, babola

Lemme see if I could find some pics of gen 196G with both top and bottom txt on the caseback. cheers, b

Hey K, long time no speak :-) 196 also came without top txt Panerai on the caseback, but only reportedly at the beginning of G-series. The caseback cahnged designed soon after and the top txt was included, probably to balance out the Daylight txt at the bottom. http://www.watches24seven.com/gallery2/mai...;g2_itemId=2742 cheers, babola

As a happy 196 owner myslefm all I can say is - fantastic result! Mine is ex-"lovepanerai" one, similar mods to yours, ETA7753 motor, The Zigmeister C3/C5 mix lume (greenish tint per gen 196 specs), single-sided Chief's A/R, but Palp crown and no DW swap yet but have spare Lello DW in reserve. I agree with Sql_pl - that caseback is to die for as well, very gen like, the serial is nice and believable number and I really like the 196 later G-series casebacks that came engraved both on the top and bottom rim with Luminor Daylight txt. Mine mimics the earlyG-series 196 casebacks that came with only bottom engraved Daylight txt. Wear it in good health! babola

Nice one...thanks for the detailed review. babola

Better rider tab numerals engaving and more defined crown (deeper grooves) than the latest "V3" IMO...but is that standard ETA DW ?!?! Gosh!

I actualy like it, looks kinda funky and wacky :-) Source of that CG please...if you may?

Ditto.

So where do you believe he sourced the Rad case with screw-in lugs ? I doubt that was genuine spare part, unless he uncased another contempo Rad to do the mod. I've seen the dial before as well, but looked a bit diferent dial txt wise. It had two "dots" or holes right and left from the hand stack just like this one, but to me the txt looked real McCoy, not like on the photo posted...but hey, it's hard to say these days which dial is gen vintage or rep for sure, especialy with all the prototypes Panerai came out during war years.

MM looks like a re-dial jobbie to me. The Rad is also very suspicious with closed loop 6 and 9, odd number 12, out-of-whack dial txt and contemporary Rad case without welded lugs. I'm sure someone will pick this to pieces over there soon

Cool thanks mate, so is this case the one you got thru Mary (www.swissgallory.com) as a spare "111G" case she used to sell as spare part only? Her price was also $80 last time I enquired. If that's the case, it may well be the better one than I thought it is, as Ruby/Angus case still has quite a way to go keep us posted, cheers, b

I know the case BW, it's close but not quite, still quite a way to go. It's the case informally known as "Ruby" or "Angus" 111E case, it comes like this in S/S and Ti flavor (remember Ruby's PAM036 ?) It's slightly off looking as the bezel is higher and chunkier than 201/A, the top flat portion of the bezel is wider, lugs are deeper and too much cut off at the bottom (flat bottom part is much more accentuated compared with gen 201/A case). There's still that strap cutout between the lugs. Correct me if I'm wrong but the xtal although sapphire, comes with pink-ish A/R hue?

That's the one my man, the txt font and engraving is slightly thicker than on the genuine, but for me this caseback is by far the closest 201/A caseback I found in rep-world. Others may chime in and correct me on this. Pamman...? cheers, babola

Please refrain from using real names in public posts, thanks.

As I said above, it's OK, not perfect but close enough. The closest rep case that would fit the 201/A bill that I've come across in the last 4 years, is the thicker (higher) standard 44mm Pam rep case that used to come with those firts 001/002 watches in early '05 and thru good part of '06. You would recognise it by chunkier and shorther lugs with almost 1:1 downward curvature like gen 201/A, no cutout between the lugs, higher and more correct bezel, and non-A/R treated sapphire xtal with perfect bevelled edge and correct position just above the top edge of the bezel. Also the inside of the case was perfectly machined, the overal fit and feel was very close to JimmyFu case although they fit different PAM series. These chunkier cases are now long gone unfortunately, I still have one and use it on my 001B, the second I've sold as 002B to "andyaudi" and the third was damaged by myself when widening the lugs to accept double-ended screws. Again, just like with everything rep-wise, you had to be there at the right time at the right place. Funny thing was that back in 2005 not many of us knew how "important" these cases would become in that neverending search of the 'perfect' 201/A rep/hommage @iheartwatches - the standard 201/A rep casebacks that came with those early 000 & 005 reps simply by mistake and the fact that rep makers didn't have correct 000/005 caseback, were IMO the best and closest ever 201/A rep caseback produced. Most of those came with serial 0348 and few other common numbers. I have one, and guarding it well :-) Once I finaly get all the ingredients of the 201/A mix, it will go on that watch. I contacted few dealers in the past few months to see if they can source a spare, but all said they're not being made anymore. Keep your eye on sale forums, who knows it may appear as a spare part for sale. cheers, babola

Just had another good look at Mary's 111G case set with dual lug screws - http://www.swissgallory.com/products_detail.asp?Id=801 I'm now even more convinced the case shown by "mwee" above is her's and not DSN's. DSN pre-V lugs are shorter and fall steeply, and his CG is slightly different. The CG above looks like Mary's 111G, just re-brushed. Check the CG position and how close it sits towards the top of the case as well as how much of the CG is missing at the bottom. I could be wrong though...;-)

Didn't end up getting one for myself as I didn't like the lug profile on that case, and the fact that the screw heads were slightly too big when compared to gen pre-V ones. Talk to 'hooligan' and 'legendofspeed' admins from the Dark Side for more info. The trick is to order the case set alone, not the whole watch, Mary will do that apparently without any issues. It's the case that comes with Mary's PAM111G, notice the odd looking CG and lever?. Here is the link: http://www.swissgallory.com/products_detail.asp?Id=801 The picture that shows the left side of the case (non CG side) with screw heads visible has been removed since last time I looked at it, but this is the odd case that comes with dual screw set like the one shown in the original post above. This is why I believe the case above is Mary's not DSN's as I haven't seen DSN pre-V case with the crown centered inside the CG yet. Best to contact Mary directly, she's sold quite a few casesets alone, so she will know exactly where you're comming from. cheers, babola

Cool mate, will try that method next time, thankx for the heads up! babola

I'm actualy talking about the whole caseset rather than lug screws sets alone. I bought mine double ended screws that are very 1:1 from eBay member, but failed miserably when tried to drill the lugs to acomodate these. Ended up with damaged case. The 316L steel is extremely hard and dificult to work with for most of us DYI enthusiasts, so probably best to be left to the pros. So far I haven't been able to find one who is willing to do this mod. If you know anyone, do let me (us) know. The case above could well be DSN, but it looks extremely close to Mary's case as well. DSN's "true" 20X/A cases were very wrong to start with (not even close to the one shown above), I'm not sure if he's realeased the updated second version. cheers, babola

Agree, although the only double-screw ended lug screws I know about so far is the one offered by dealer Mary Xu (www.swissgallory.com...that's gallory not gallery) and DSN. Neither are gen-like, unfortunately. But since they're the only ones we can get at the moment (to my knowledge, anyway) that's as good as it gets, in anticipation of the better ones. cheers, babola

Very nice 201/A, really is. A lot of tought and attention to detail went into creating this one. IMO... The dial is newer edition DSN 201/A, it had been filled-in with vintage color T-lume then varnished, and attention was made to create that non-matching tritium hands/dial look. Case is rep case double-screw ended like the gen 201/A was. However the case dimensions and some finer case details are not exactly 1:1 or even close to the gen 201/A, like less sloping case corners and diferent look/shape lugs. Caseback is standard DSN, not bad, but the standard rep 201/A caseback comes with better and closer to 1:1 txt engraving, and is thicker and mounted higher when screwed, than the one shown. CG isn't bad, lever is centered, but overal lacks the gen CG thickness. You can notice that by checking how far it sits off the bottom of the case. See if you can source now long gone V CG. Crown could also benefit from upgarde, the new T-48 crown would be a nicer fit, IMO. Overal not bad...how's the xtal, non-A/R sapphire ? Wear it well, :-) babola