babola

Actually there was a mint PAV for sale few weeks ago for $2.2K...rediculous you say? I agree...not sure if it had been sold, though Prices of those older PAM 44mm-historics and associated artifacts are now testing that old "sky's the limit" phrase, with a 201/A currently being offered for an amazing $36K+ Well, gen 'ristis have to keep up with the recent rep price hikes...no ? cheers, babola

Definitelly gen. And the pic is a catalogue photo, where most of the 40mm autos look like they come with thinenr crown than it really is. cheers, babola

Definitely getting better in finish and probably reliability. The new Asian 21.6 kbph 6497-2 movements are really nice replicas of the gen Soprod mov'ts, however I'm still pro Swiss ETAs, for now anyway. In few months or so they will become so scarce that the only option available to us will be Asian ETAs, untill then ... cheers, babola

LOL! To each his own...

Wow!!!

Just like Teejay and Kruzer said... ...and those spring bars...hmm, never like them actually, just don't like the feeling of springbars rotating inside the lugs all the time, that's all babola

Sign of the times, guys...:-( unfortunatelly. I've been hearing from dealers for some time now that PAM replicas are not selling in numbers they used to 1-2 years ago. To general public that is. We're still hot on those...but we (rep enthusiasts) just don't make the numbers needed for economical rep production. Amongst the rumors I heard is the 000 Logo Base is now a history, 005 is about to follow the suit. Andrew told me some time ago that he's having difficulties sourcing 112/176/177H sandwich dial PAMs, the only one he could still get in big numbers was 111H, but mostly in Asian ETA 6497, and very very limited pieces in Swiss ETA 6497. I know, it doesn't make sense...but it's happening. :-( I believe that this last batch of E and H-series Swiss mov'ts Davidsen is about to receive by the end of the week is one of the last, if not the last. :-( Lets keep an eye on the situation, and see how it unfolds from here. cheers, babola

Yeah, those Ruby/Trevor/Angus crowns are notoriuos in a sense they don't look anything like gen's first off. But when you "lift" the off the case by adding an extra gasket or new longer stem, and adding the inner bevel (managed to do it by hand actually and it looks quite good)...they transoorm into something really nice. Their main (and probably only) advantage is their width, they're just a bit shy of Palp/Pam crown width. Another "drawback is the number of teeth...to my count they miss 4 teeth compared to gen's. @Joe - awesome collection brother ! babola

A pure beauty my friend...shame they (modders) didn't do something about desenzitizing that white dial txt, IMO it's a must on H-series sandwich reps. That S/S bead-blasted Palp crown is actually not that bad, it makes a nice fit with the rest of the Ti on that watch. Nevertheless - awesome watch, and Swiss 6497 at that ! cheers, babola

...and Socko already owns A-seres 26 Destro...hmm, did he really believe he got hold of pre-A 026 ?!?! Had they (read Panersiti) done a proper homework, they would have known there wasn't such a thing as pre-A 026-destro. There was no destro Marina produced pre-A series, full stop! LOL! cheers, babola

Most of the gen 'ristis are not that great when it comes to all things Panerai. The reason being - they simply don't care too much about those nitty gritty bits some of us are obsessed with, LOL! BTW, A/R coating appeared first time on C-series watches in 2000. Definitelly not before. I discussed this offline with many B and C series owners and a lot has been written about this on the gen forum. cheers, babola P.S. there's nothing wrong with some of the "other" rep forums...live and let live I'd say, and everything you read on these rep forums (including here) take with a grain of salt Peace brothers !

Yeah, removed now, from both Paneristi and ViaPaneristi sale forums. The seller felt really bad about it in the end (?!) and said "...I'm selling it for a friend of mine, helping him out" It appears the seller is a very known entity on gen forums, having owned some $50K + worth of watches (Pateks, Hublots etc), so it could be true, who knows... cheers, babola

...well, not exactly cheap, as brutha' is asking a whoppin' $3,5K to be precise, LOL! http://www.network54.com/Forum/265099/mess........+++reduced cheers, babola P.S. It's now available on 'risti site as well: http://www.network54.com/Forum/353390/thre...odolfocoppel%29 Hmm, I must say with all those eagle-eyed 'ristis over there, noone else spotted the rep amongst their midst, LOL!

Yup, ditto...gen-issimo at its best ! babola

Cheers, although Enzo and DSN deserve most of the credit as they've done (and continue to do so) the actual ground work. I tend to come in from the sidelines Pre-V Xmas...? Hmm, lets hope fotr the best ! babola

Nope, the dial is brand new, it uses the latest graphics file, and had been made completely from scratch, no older overlays were used. We're really getting there with the 201/202 projects. Please keep in mind this is just a prototype, both the dial and caseback, and the final product will most likely look different. It is the project two of our most experienced and knowleadgable vintage PAM rep colleagues have undertaken on their own, spending their own resources, time and money, as real PAM entusiasts would The thread is open for discussion and good suggestions are welcome I'm surprised there was a mention of super-lume double-strength glow being suggested...guys, please keep it in perspective, it's a 15 years old T dial, with almost none or very low glow. Here's few pointers and observations of my own, if I may: - 'Luminor Panerai' dial txt shouldn't be cracked or vintagized, as many have noted in this thread already. The font is spot on. - numbers 12, 3, 6 & 9 and hour bars are positioned correctly on the dial picture from enzo, the're sitting just a tad too close to the edge on the DSN protoytype, so should have to be pushed in a bit. - the 'break' point on the numerals 6 and 9 were suggested, that's very correct, but extremely hard to match during CNC process, so we'll have to hope for the best - number 3 should be slightly wider (but ever so slightly) and numerals thinner...again ever so slightly. The angle between long horizontal and short diagonal bars on number 3 should be slightly sharper, more "closed". The whole appearance of dial numerals and indices is slighly skewed, since it's only a picture of a dial filled with white (luminova) color. After the grooves are filled with 'vintagized' varnish, the indices and numerals might actually appear slightly thinner, due to subdued white underlay lume color effect. - the dial logo is of a correct shape, although the lines are too bold. This is easily fixable, so no panic required . Also, it should sit just slightly higher, closer to the centre of the dial. - caseback 'officine panerai firenze' engraving is good although the font should be thinner. Same goes for the 5218...txt at the bottom. Serial number is spot on. That's from me for now... a lot of effort has been put into this project now, and its initiators would really like to create something AWESOME this time, the 201 and 202 dials worth their fame and significance for all of us serious collectors. Your input will help shaping the look and feel of the final product, sp please keep your comments flowing :-) cheers, babola

K, looking at your pic, you could spot the gen xtal/dial combo miles away - awesome look and feel! cheers, babola

Thanks RR... Still a couple of them in parts sitting my watchbox waiting for me to put them together FGD, yeah mate, found them on a side of the road one day, picked them up and said - "Oh, what the heck, bunch of oversized, strangely named, flawed watches without second hands, I'll still keep em" - LOL! cheers, babola

Awesome pieces guys, FGD that 188 with recessed subdials is simply outstanding! Is that Homer crown with bevel added on inside the teeth? BTW, I have decided on more traditional approach and got myself a 196, like Kruzer 250 is a stunner for sure, as well. cheers, babola

Sadly tourby, you're missing a point...again! babola

I absolutely hate PAM bases... Sorry for quick and dirty photo cheers, babola

...he's actually alive and kicking: http://www.network54.com/Forum/353391/mess...be+honest+...... Even teaching 'ristis on all things fakes, LOL! Actually not that funny, sorry :-( babola

This very post from 'lovepanerai' over at RWI sometime ago, made me pull a trigger on mine... http://www.replica-watch.info/phpBB3/viewt...rai+196#p216655 cheers, babola

Now that will teach ya' a lesson, eh!? :-) Honestly mate, you never, EVER work with the exposed dial and hands which you haven't protected in one way or another. Some people learn this hard way, some learn from mistake of others, and your's was a textbook example of what you shouldn't do. First things first...get yourself a half decent movement holder/stand, as well as hands remover and setter tools. You don't need to go for top of the line, an Asian replicas of more known Swiss watch tool makers will suffice, the whole 'pack' shouldn't cost you more than $40-50. While at it, don't forget a loupe, some fine sub-milimeter flat blade screwdrivers (actually the best is to buy a set, plenty of good ones on ebay), dust blower, good lens cleaner cloth, few dial protectors etc. Also, do not use Sharpie or similar pen waterproof markers, they tend to leave a purple finish, and eventually will peel off and end up on the dial...which will drive you crazy even more. Get yourself a small pot of black matte paint from toy model shop, and size 0 paintbrush from the same place, these are used for those minute paint details on models. As far as the dial, hands and crown goes, you can contact either Vacuum or FFlav, either one of them will sort you out, nice lume job with Vaclume or 'C2', and both use "Palp" crowns. At your request, they will also darken the white dial txt to a more subdued cream color - a must for a 111H dial. See if you can order these bits separately, otherwise, you should send them your watch over. All in all, nothing to worry about, it's all fixable, you'll just have to dig into your pockets a little deeper this time good luck and keep us updated on progress... cheers, babola

I believe it's a real deal. I did a little bit of 'forensic investigation' myself on this matter...the pic is greatly out of focus, that's why the numerals got out of shape and look thicker than they really are and there's hardly any sandwich layer depth noticeable...that's also one of the reasons horizontal bar on letter A appears to be lower than it really is, and "L Swiss Made L" sits closer to number 6, but it really doesn't. DSN never got it made this close, even his 1st gen 111H dial came with slightly mis-shapen number 6, and the dial txt "Luminor Panerai" was never made this close in any rep version so far. CG also looks wider and thicker than DSN one. Its either a gen, or someone (lello ?! ) produced almost flawless H-series Luminor sandwich dial cheers, babola