Mickey Padge

Haha, had this watch well over a year, still mint looking and it's going nowhere

Yep, crazy silly price, daylight robbery! Prices pretty much anywhere else in the world are cheaper than the UK!

I have a genuine Breitling SuperOcean Steelfish, worn at the moment on a brown calf strap, but with summer on the way I though an OEM 22mm rubber deployant strap would be a better bet, great for the beach and swimming etc.... Quick pic of the watch: So I stopped by my local AD a few days back, an enquired about the rubber straps, the 22mm black tang buckle divers strap was a reasonable enough price, but the fit of those on a smaller (6.5") wrist is really horrible, so I asked about the deployant style Ocean Racer strap to be told they were £320! Now that converts to $530 roughly, which is crazy money! So the question is, where can I find a genuine 22-20mm black Ocean Racer strap, but for a reasonable price? I have looked over the various sales forums and ebay, but can't seem to find anything. Any pointers or advice would be greatly appreciated Cheers!

Sweet watch, one of the most accurate reps too, you did your homework with this purchase

It will be a little bit sunken, but on the wrist you cannot see this, in fact it helps the magnification in my opinion Just check my pics, looks fine too me, and I am fussy in regards to sunken date discs

Because you lack understanding? The failing is yours

I shop with select dealers that I trust, most the smaller dealers don't hold any stock in hand after all

Ah yeah, mine was a date wheel swap with some new hands to install, not that tricky

Nice watch Is it me or the lighting, are a couple of the bezel screws not cut straight?

I found the whole upgrade quite simple, nowhere near as hard as I thought it would be, I say go for it!

I think most modded, old school Honpo/EL case, 2893 based Pam's are in the $1000+ range?

Hehe, I find a tiny amount of rodico putty lets me position screws, and a little counter clockwise turn lets the threads align before turning any screw

I always request the dealer gets the new and latests stock direct from the factory, anything else is not acceptable

I thought that reads +019 secs a day? Also, why would a dealer get a V2 watch and a V1 clasp, it would be more expensive and time consuming for them to do that, plus it would serve no purpose and benefit no one?

Thanks and yes, turned out better than I could have hoped!

Ah, you mean he is having alignment issues with the new 2893 DW? The 2892 one I used from him is spot on

The crystal from DSN is great value, and came professionally sealed in a tiny paper bag with a gasket. The date mag is internally inside the crystal, and looks really crisp I heard Taka was bringing out a 2893 disc, but the 2892 works fine for me, not fussed that it sits a little lower, the magnification works a treat....

Yeah, that's the big plus side, Domi has had a few of my watches for a couple of months now, I think he's swamped! Now I know I can deal with the basics of 28xx watches, as a result I fixed the keyless works in another of my watches too. 7750 based movements however are far too complicated!

hehe, I don't think Domi has anything to worry about! Pretty sure it's the old school Honpo/EL case, and yes, this is DSN's latest one piece 6mm crystal....

Thanks, it could have easily gone wrong!

Just put this beauty together this morning

Managed to pick up an old school PAM063 with ETA2893 movement, although I totally didn't expect that when buying the watch, I thought it was a modified 2836. So when opening the case back I got a shock to see the Panerai engraved true Swiss GMT movement! The watch was pretty much stock condition, aside from a ground lever pin and some messy hands, and in my mind ready and waiting for Domi's magic, I just needed the parts. So I ordered a set of hands and one piece crystal from DSN, expressing the need for the hands to be matte finish, DSN delivered without fail. I also ordered a Taka date wheel for a "2892" movement, which isn't quite correct, but I thought it should have the same teeth gearing? The last part was a T crown and a sort though my parts bin for a lever Now Domi has been crazy busy lately, and all the parts sitting there for a while got me thinking, how hard can this be? I have a steady hand and really good vision close up ( which is why I am so fussy with my watches ) I can see all the details without a loupe. I have messed up enough watches to have learnt from my mistakes, surely? So I cracked open the watch with some trepidation and set to removing the hands and dial. Everything went well without a hitch, the date disc change was also straight forward (although the new date sits a tiny fraction lower than the original, slightly raised 2893 disc). Only two tiny screws needed touching, and a couple of parts/gears to align, next was putting back the dial and new hands, and the crystal swap, it all went so smooth I shocked myself! Must have taken about an hour, maybe less? All I really used was a tiny screw driver, some rodico putty, and some cut short, soft plastic toothpicks Anyway, please judge for yourself, pictures click to expand! There you have the finished watch on a Taikonaut strap. The DSN crystal has a blue AR coating, which may not be accurate, but I am fine with, the date mag is really good. The date sits a tiny bit lower than it should, but on the wrist it looks fine, and may even help increase the magnification? The crown and tube don't match 100%, so the crown has some lateral play, again, no big deal for me, I don't get my watches wet. The replacement lever clicks home really well, and I popped a bit of rubber wire in the lever pin to stop it flopping about..... What do you guys think? I took a risk, quite a big one really, but it turned out well. I am happy with my handiwork, and now the watch has a personal attachment that I have never really hand before Comments and observations welcome!

Yep, happened to me when I wanted to post in my sales thread.....

Just had a brand new double AR sapphire crystal installed by Tag for this beauty, but must sell the watch now Just waiting for the all clear from the board Admins......

Been wearing this all day