RobbieG

Of course they are you silly goose - it is a $200 rep. They will never be perfect, but on the wrist and without a gen to compare to it is tough to know this watch. I own three genuine Rolexes though and this one is good enough for me... Congrats on your first gen aquisition. Nice piece.

New from Precious Time. An extremely cooperative and helpful guy as well as a great UK dealer. This piece speaks for itself. So far my favorite of the Rolex reps and the best in overall fit and finish by far. This is the older model with the inaccurate hand stack, but this watch is MUCH more visually accurate than the newer models with the correct hand stack. The dial, case, CG's , and bracelet are pretty much spot on. Also of note is the date mag. Finally, a Rolex rep that is not OVER magnified like 99% of the others. The bezel insert is a milled OEM insert from Palpatine. Box is from Andrew and the papers and tags are from Ebay. Highly recommended. Enjoy...

Nice Pug. You da man

Well, for me the gap between the end link and case on the rep bracelet is not a deal breaker. What is more troublesome is the non-recessed pearl and the tendency for crooked indices in the 4th gen reps - and of course the big one which is the AR. Even when reps have good AR it is just for color. It doesn't "anti-reflect" anything. The CN guys just color the crystal with purple so it looks OK in ceratin light - but it still reflects. The real magic of AR in the gen world is how it makes the crystal disappear and makes the dials look beyond black. I have never seen a rep that accurately reproduces this - even Davidens PAM crystals which have the best "AR" around in terms of color don't. Honestly though, none of this contributes to why I bought the gen. I just couldn't resist at the price I paid. Such a fine watch for that money considering what I have paid for lesser gens in terms of quality. I am sure from the many reviews tha I have read such as Bytor's that the PO reps as a whole are amazing. I just had the opportunity to get the gen at a reasonable price and I jumped. My watch purchases are always very emotional but not impulsive. I also really felt that this watch could fill the role if I decided to retire (which I did) my gen Rolex Submariner. All in all though I will stick to what I have said. At this point I would only buy the 45MM Ultimate version as I feel that this is the only "accurate" version for my money. In fact I am going to get the 45MM rep and put it on a gen rubber strap (unless they rep a good one of these too) to compliment my gen 42MM and finally fulfill all of my James Bond fantasies...

Yes, the 42MM and 45MM gens are different in this respect. The "Ultimate" 45MM rep watch is not accurate in that respect but it would be pretty touch to notice unless you were really looking for it...

The so-called Ultimate PO rep is the latest edition and is of the 45MM PO. The 42MM does not have the word Professional on the clasp as you can see from the pics of my gen. At this time a rep of the 42MM with the improved pearl like the ultimate does not exist. I would recommend getting the 45MM Ultimate version if you are going to get a PO rep right now as this is the only version that is truly accurate. That is a 99% rep for sure. Only the AR and the feet on the logo are slightly different than the gen.

I got it through a distributor friend of mine for 2K. If you don't buy it from an AD you have no warranty via the manufacturer - although the likelyhood that anything will go wrong is slim and if it did you could surely fix it for much less than what you would have paid at full retail. My best advice if you don't have any friends in the biz is to shop the best price and then beat up your AD to get as close as he can to it...

Thanks Pug. Dig em' out and post em' if you got em'...

I thought I would post some detailed pics of the gen PO for those looking for some good comparison references. I am fortunate in that I have the means for and generally buy two gens each year in addition to all the reps. Oddly enough, my gen purchases almost always are watches that there are no good reps of. This is of course not the case with the Planet Ocean, although I was interested in the 42MM and the final rep of this watch ended up being the 45MM. Anyway, what I was after was an alternative to my genuine Submariner to fill the slot in the "black-bezel-dive-watch" category. Where I live, it seems like every man aged 25 and older wears a Sub - and every man 50 and older wears a President. Anyway, I bought this watch with the intention of retiring the old Sub. I have to tell you that as an astute collector, to me this watch far exceeeds the fit, finish, and overall quality appearance of the Sub. It feel so good NOT to wear the Sub anymore as absurd as that sounds. This watch really is that nice. What is especially great is the really thick AR both inside and outside the crystal. It really gives the watch an extra rich appearance as it makes the dial look so black it is almost purple. This contrasts the brushed stainless so to give the watch and absolutely stunning appearance on the wrist - I dare say much "richer" looking than the Rolex. There are NO photos including these that come close to doing this watch justice. The AR must be experienced in person. I also happen to have a friend who is a wholesaler and I bought the watch at dead cost for an even 2K. I couldn't resist. I actually intend to buy the 45MM rep when they have the updated version of the rubber strap repped to compliment this gen and live out my Bond fantasies. Shaken, not stirred...Anyway, I digress. I can't say enough about the quality of this piece. Highly recommended. On Steel: On Rubber:

Close...not Mackie, but a 'vintage' Yamaha 02R...one of the most "analog" sounding digital desks ever made...

Thanks Hambone. Next up are my gen 42MM Planet Ocean pics, 177H with full mods and new straps, and Davidsen 009 PVD Base with new straps, and Rollie GMT with OEM insert from Palp.

New from Andrew. A great guy and a great dealer. This is the modified ETA 2836 version. I wanted a compliment to my vintage 009 and modern 177H from the contemporary automatic line to round out my PAM collection. This does the trick. The quality, fit and finish are amazing. The bracelet is of extremely high quality. Nice and heavy. Overall, a very accurate piece except the cyclops is a bit small. The lume is terrible - of course. This watch will get a Finepics datewheel, a Palp crown, and a lume-job and then it will be done. If I can source a cyclops I will do that too although it doesn't really bother me as the mag will be fine with the bolder font of the new datewheel. Overall, I would rate this watch as one of the best PAM's available at the moment. Enjoy the pics...

Where does one source the "dagger" shaped lever for the ETA swan necks?

Hey Pug, Try www.panatime.com they have all sizes in polished, brushed, and PVD w/screws for around $20.

Tourby, I am just impressed that the owner was passionate about doing such an involved and immensely personal mod. I'm not surprised that someone else has offered "prettier" bridge decorations in a similar watch - although to be fair those were done by machine. The beauty in this case is more in his sense or personal accomplishment as it was all done by hand. This sport is not a competitive one, but rather a personal journey for each individual persuing his own taste and projects...

I found this article on Paneristi about a fairly amazing mod project. Maybe many of you have seen it already. Anyway, I wonder if any of you ultra-rep modders would ever take on a project of this magnitude. I would love to see it and/or pay you to make me one if you ever did. The end result is very unique and beautiful IMHO... http://www.paneristi.com/archives/uglyduckling/

Yes Rob, I am familiar with all this hand data but I am sure you said you had done one before and everything swapped fine including the hands - actually it was an Avenger not a GST. So what did you do - transfer the cogs that hold the hand pins between the two movements and that worked? I think it was Kruzer00's watch and it was definitely the new Asia 7750???? Please advise as I am now wondering if my ETA project is going to work at all without gen hands and I am due to ship soon. Thanks, Rob

I stand corrected...I am only familiar with the Swiss versions. Thanks for the info. In the words of the late, great Johnny Carson: "I did not know that..."

Hi Rob, I have been reading of late that maybe the ETA swap for the IWC GST Ti might not work after all, but I was sure that you said you did one and everything swapped fine. Any info is appreciated as I was about to send you the watch and the new movement, but if the hands won't go I'm dead in the water... Best, Rob

No, the hands do swap directly on this watch to the ETA 7750. The Zigmeister has done one before mine...

To answer your pin question: If you look at my photos you will notice that there looks as if there is a "hole" in the middle of the pin that holds the hands in the center of the watch. This is because there is a design flaw of the reps in how they accomodate the movements - for lack of a better way to explain it...The gen watch will not show that recessed "hole" in the hand pin - or cannon pin as it is called. The polished metal "center pin" should be flush or slightly higher than the top hand, not recessed as you see on my watch. All reps except those from Davidsen will come this way from the factory but all can be modified to fix with an aftermarket part...of course Davidsen sells the "fix" part as an aftermarket item as well... Regarding the lume: I have not had my 177h watch done yet, but The Zigmeister, Vacuum, and Finepics, and probably many others all do this sort of work (including the canon pin fix) for a reasonable fee. I hope this helps... R

New to PAM's. Any advice is appreciated. I have read most of the existing threads, but there is nothing about hole punch location, etc... My wrist is 7 1/4" the stock rep straps that I assume are 115/75 barely can reach through the first keeper. But I do like that it fits on one of the center holes. Conversely, a had a Davidsen watch ship with an XL strap which I have to choke down to the last hole to fit and it does with a bit sticking out of the keeper but I don't like being on the last hole as it moves the watch off center. Both are obviously thin straps. What size do you think I need for 4-5MM thick straps given this info. Will 120/75 do it or should I bump it up a size to 125/80, or something in between. I am using Pre-V style buckles... Thanks, Rob

Boy that Palp crown looks great. I'll have to do that along with the pin and lume on my new one too...

New from Josh. Off the rack with stock strap. Outstanding service with super fast delivery as always. He even included a couple special requests at no extra charge. The overall quality, fit, and finish of this piece is amazing. I will post more photos post mods after I install the pin fix, re-lume and the new straps come in. I highly recommend this watch as an alternative to the heavier steel 44MM watches. The light weight of the Ti makes for a very comfortable daily wear...

Davidsen 009