babola

DSN's latest ultimate Fiddy comes with a dial that's slightly lighter (charcoal color) than previous versions which came in more correct black. It also comes with darker dial txt few members mentioned above, the color is more brownish (light brown), definitely not gray. The sandwich is thinner than it should be and the numeral '1' is of slightly incorrect shape. If you can source his previous Ultimate Fidd version dial, go for that one. I now own DSN's lates ultimate Fiddy rep, and managed to find one of his older 127 dials, so basically awaiting a transplant. This should hopefully close the chapter of my (now considered silly by most, myself included) "perfect Fiddy" search, which I wrote heaps about on TRC at the time. None of the rep 127 dials released so far are "perfect" and every one of them has a flaw, some easier to spot some not so unless you know exactly what to look for. Take it from a guy that studied hundreds of gen 127 pics, and owned 4 Swiss ETA powered Fiddy reps in last 2.5 years, sold 3 and kept the last DSN one. For example, Andrew's so called ultimate Fiddy from early '07 (you know the one that came with so called Swiss/Asian hybrid ETA mov't, originally identified by The Zigmeister) had almost perfect dial txt color (white/cream) and font size and placement, but the sub-dial 15sec cutouts were to small, that plus the fact that more than half of those sold had xtal exploded. Mine exploded while on my wrist @home writing a memo . Eddie Lee's from early '06 had perfect cutouts and almost white dial txt (which was not so correct) and "1950" txt placed slightly off. Not sure what version of EL's Fiddy's was that one, but didn't do much for me. @K, mate, I'd suggest you source DSN Fiddy Sapphire, it's considered by many the best xtal you can source for either 127 or 217 rep, if the blue-ish A/R really bugs you, there are many here that can help you in that respect, and as always, The Zigmeister springs to mind first. Just make sure the xtal is instaled properly (pushed fully) into the bezel, and bezel installed onto the case leaving no gaps. I can't stress enough the importance of this ofter overlooked detail - if the xtal isn't installed properly it will not give you correct distorsion, gen Fiddys are known for. If The Zigmeister's doing the job, than you're safe. Basicaly the distorsion should give you "broken" cardinal dial numbers at about 1/3 or 1/2 when you look from the edge of the dial, top down. I've seen many perfect Fiddy reps scr&wed up in this respect. Also if you send it to The Zigmeister for a relume, just remind him to apply the lighter color (white or silver) undercoat on the bottom brass disc, otherwise you can end up with non matching dial/hands lume...the dial one being too yellow, simply due to lume opacity and brass metal showing thru. Good luck with your project :-) babola

Dani, Pam SE and standard production line-up is normaly anounced at annual watch shows like Baselworld and SIHH in Geneva, in April every year. So, patience mate, few weeks from now we should know more Details on new PAM299 standard edition have also been 'intentionaly leaked' by OP last week...expect more of these teasers in the weeks to come. cheers, babola

I believe it should be 0.9mm. babola

Frickin' nice, mate! Hey, we should catch up some time, I'm only across the ditch from you, LOL! cheers, babola

Hands are not factory lumed in C1. Both dial and hands are lumed in C3, but dial indices look darker (more beige/cream color) because sandwich dial makers don't apply the paint undercoat for the lume, so the base brass metal color shows thru. cheers, babola

Definitely worth upgrading and modding. That 111H rep version comes with first gen rep Swiss ETA 6497-1 mov't with CDG bridges and decorative Swan neck reg. I own the very same version, bought it from Eddie Lee in June '06, so I assume your's is from a similar period. Deffo a keeper, especialy now after the fact the "death" of E & H-series Swiss ETA6497 mov'ts in PAM reps had been announced by few dealers recently. cheers, babola

183 Rads never came with sausage dials, only sandwich. The first series released was G-series, with a disctinctive 'Black Seal' txt placed above 6 o'clock. That changed in consecutive series (H-series onwards) when the Black Seal txt was "moved" under 12 o'clock, and 'Panerai' took it's place above 6 o'clock. Both watches shown by Asad (rep and a gen) are 183G. babola

Believe me Swdivad that would be first, as noone has ever seen a L-dial PAM36 yet :-) cheers, babola

No A/R on it for sure :-) Volker Viegemann from 'risti owned one of these gens and confirmed - not a trace of A/R. You're safe Baz :-)

Asad, it seems you have a 'thing' for Flav's modded watches...can't blame you babola

Davidsen once had double sized (44 & 47mm) aluminium case opener. It was made as a knockout of the 2 genuine caseback openers you posted above, but IMO much better as it combined the two in one. See if he's got any left... :-) babola

Nothing much to worry about. Remove the hands and the dial, then carefully dissasemble the keyless works, by undoing the crown stem screw fully, first. It's actually not that hard and it sounds you have a basic know how about 6497 mov'ts already. Just be careful with the K-W spring, don't loose that one as it can snap out of the place quite easily. You will need a decent pair of tweezers to do the work...and a lot of coffee cheers and let us know how it goes. babola

Hey Baz, the pull must be very strong mate! http://www.network54.com/Forum/353390/thre...%28bazonkers%29 LOL! babola

Eddie, that's as Swiss ETA 6497-1 as they go these days (modified of course), and possbly the highest quality 6497-1 mov't you'll find in any H-series rep, currently. The watch is nice as well, ver 3.0 of Davidsen's 113 dial, you'll recognize it by thinner cardinal and 5-min numbers, although very nice. The case is a nice touch as well, it's standard rep case, not the DSN so lug threads stripping shouldn't be a problem No reason for any concern, whatsoever. If you don't abuse it it should last you a lifetime Wear it well, and enjoy it! babola

Does the crown come with solid tube, or is it spring loaded ? If the latter, the wobliness in completely normal, for rep crowns that is. Gen crowns are also spring loaded but there's no significant wobble It would be great if you could upload a pic or two of your crown in pulled out position. cheers, babola

Not bad as a whole package. :-) They fixed the low crossbar on letter "A" on 44mm auto dials - finaly, yuppie ! Caseback artwork is also very, very nice. The dial txt on the gen appears to be silver rather than white like on a rep...would you say so? Could be only the lighting, though. cheers, wear it well ! babola

Hiya Kruzer, please check your PM and email. thanks, babola

Hiya Eddie, it would help if you could post a pic or two of the mov't itself. Thanks. cheers, babola

Guys, it isn't drawings, or graphic files that are the problem. In DSN case - it's the dial makers. We need to somehow make sure they get it right, which is the biggest challenge of them all. Pamman, enzo, ari etc...they all have awesome 99.9% 1:1 drawings, but until dial makers pull some extra effort in creating a 1:1 rep dial from the drawing, we're stuck with substandard and mediocre results. Sorry for the rant...I though this was obvious... cheers, babola EDIT: ...or nicely ask Lello to see if he can pull it off on the dial side as well...

The one you show on top of your photo is now notorious so called "e0581 case", it's incorrect and it comes from another factory. The case itself doesn't have any numbers associated like e0581 etc, it's simply draws its name from the caseback serial that comes attached to it (e0581/1950). Simple as that. I, as you, have both cases, e0581 case has been empty for long time now and reduced to spare parts box, e0117 "correct" case houses my current 127-Fiddy. cheers, babola

Brother, they're now both more popular worldwide than in their 'birth' countries Australia and NZ...nobody cares about them here downunder anymore, they're so ...well - yesterday Victoria, those "boots" are so not you, LOL! cheers, babola

It's actually 10D (solid caseback), on a strap that's sort of an experiment of mine. Took the standard brown rep strap and after putting it thru some "special" treatment methods, made it look like "John Lobbs" one LOL! ...so both the watch and the strap are the reps of their genuine counterparts...shoes and belt are gen, though cheers and thanks, babola

Best to ignore my blubber Good luck mate! babola

Do you know how hard it is to find a decent reasonably priced Italian shoes these days - LOL! Check those 2 ardillon/thumbnail buckles, ha, ha... cheers, babola

Wow - that 236 is outstanding ! BTW, all of them are nice, but that goes without saying babola