panerai153

WOW!! Great review, and wonderful photos. That is a beautiful watch and the strap really pulls everything together.

Be careful of that super doom lens and what in the world is a Pearl 2838 movement? That's a new one on me

I've never heard of that happening, but they do verify accounts here by sending you a token amount as a deposit, and then you have to go into your account and relay back to them the exact amount of the deposit. Never ever heard of them asking for any sort of ID or address verification here in the USA. Maybe it's easier for them to verify addresses here than in other countries. I wouldn't give them my passport info. Also, I don't run much money through my account, as I seldom sell things. A few years back I sold a couple of genuine watches for 3-4k each, didn't have a problem at all. Problem with PayPal, as we found out here on the forum, they are the 800 pound Gorilla, and they can pretty much do what they want. Hope you get it sorted out.

Did it get wet from the tears Geaux Saints !!! We can savor this playoff win for a week, because based on their past performance in Seattle, it ain't gonna be pretty.

Hey Mike, that looks pretty nice. looks like it would make a nice everyday, working in the yard or shop sort of watch.

The question about the applied coating stems from experience with the rep Rolex Deep Sea Sea Diver (DSSD). The genuine DSSD has a titanium inner case back, the reps have some sort of coating, which looks like titanium, but is probably paint that is sprayed on. That was what brought up the question. I would guess that with something as light as a buckle, it might be difficult to tell by weight, unless you knew the weight of a genuine buckle, and could weigh the rep to see if it was close. With a watch, it's much easier, I have an Ocean 7 LM7 in stainless and one titanium, almost identical watches except for the case and case backs, the titanium one feels about half as heavy as the stainless. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Yes you dog you, but you built one that would fool 99% of the guys over on the VRF !! That is probably, hell not probably, it is the nicest build I have ever seen. And W, he isn't going to sell that GMT, that's just his excuse for posting a photo!! He will probably be buried with that watch. Have you ever seem nanug sell a watch? unless he' selling them on EBay, it sure isn't happening Luke, if you have that sort of money to spend, you can pick up a nice genuine GMT (1675 or early 16750) for that amount of coin. Or you can build a really nice big crown with a top of the line case, a great dial and a genuine movement if you shop carefully. I doubt that you are going to see any like cc33's come up for sale on the forum, maybe once in a great while, but nothing like his.

That's the route I would go, you can't do any better than genuine, and it really makes a difference.

Well sir, I did try Google. in fact I consider Google to be the first line of reference when looking for and answer. I did see lots of photos of the FC Diver buckle, and read a few articles about the genuine watch, however I was not able to find a single photo or reference related to the polished edge of the buckle. As I said before, This is my first AP, rep or otherwise. If it were a Rolex especially a vintage Rolex, I would probably already know the answer to most of the questions, or know where to find them, but I am not that familiar with the brand. I do like the watch quite a lot, and am interested in finding out more about them. I have read a lot of posts on Repgeek and here as well, trying to acquire a rudimentary knowledge base. That is one reason that I was really disappointed in your answer, I have read several of the threads that you have contributed to as well as started, and you are undoubtedly one of the experts on AP watches. It would seem to me that you would be happy to share your knowledge about AP's with others who are not as well versed. I know that folks over on the Rolex forum are eager to share information, and their knowledge. I know that sometimes it seems like the questions are silly, and it does get somewhat exasperating when newcomers ask the same question over and over, especially ones that are easily answered if they would just try the search button. I posted this thread only because I couldn't find an answer using the usual search methods. And AFA post counts, I believe that they are important, especially if the majority of posts are meaningful and contribute to the community. Speaking of community I have noticed in my short time visiting the AP forum here, quite a lot of the AP forum contributors are not supporting members of the forum, do you have any idea as to why that might be? I haven't spent any time to speak of on any of the other forums outside the Rolex forum and, General Discussion, so it may well be that the same numbers are in other forums as well, just curious?

Love those Fleigers.I have always liked the Heuer and the coin edge bezeled Hanhart is pretty special as well. those pilot watches are not too shabby either, I wouldn't kick any of those out my watch box!!

Considering that I'm a Saints fan, I would wear one that's waterproof, that's so your tears don't get inside and corrode the movement!! However considering how badly they have played on the road this year I doubt that they have another win in them. personally, since there are no Rolex models in the mix, I would vote for the AP Diver.

I think that's a black dial that's always been black. take it out in bright direct sunlight and see what it looks like if it's still that dark, it's black.Have to see them in bright light, because when the light is dimmer, the dials look black Here is my genuine 9411/0 Blue for a reference. Two photos same watch, same dial, different light. if the second photo were a little darker, the dial would definitely look black, but you can see a touch of blue, but it's not as blue as the first photo.

Have patience, more will come up. it seems like things are cyclic, you see a whole bunch of PAMs, then it's maybe IWC then Rolex, Vintage stuff. It seems like when it rains it pours!! I have been looking for a AP S/S diver version 4.1 or 5 for weeks, then suddenly yesterday, there were three of them on the sales forum. There are some really nice frankens out there, just need to be ready to pull the trigger when one you like comes up. Personally, I believe the vintage subs, and SD's can be made more true to the genuine than the GMT. To me the biggest tell with the GMT is the crown/crown guard ratio. As far as I know, all the rep cases are set up for a 6mm crown, however the genuine uses a 5.3mm crown. When you put a 5.3 crown on the watch, the space between the CG and the sides of the crown are too far apart. Doesn't seem like much, but it's a "tell".

Excuse me! I did try to find some photos on the internet but was not able to find anything conclusive. I wasn't making statements, I was asking questions, which is how folks increase their knowledge level. Maybe I worded it wrong, but your response is inappropriate. This wasn't a "who has the best sub" sort of question! I'me not that familiar with AP's as this is my first, but I'n damn sure not a noob when it comes to watches! Look at my profile, I've got about 3500 posts more than you and quite a few years. If you don't like my posts, feel free to disregard them.

Funny how you can be around something for a while and never notice things. I took my watch off to do a procedure today, and when I was fastening it back on, I noticed for the first time that the front edge of the buckle is highly polished, in contrast to the rest of the buckle that is supposed to be a titanium forged buckle. I would suspect that the genuine buckle doesn't have this polished edge, as I'm not sure that titanium can be polished to a mirror finish, however I don't know this for sure. From the small scratches that are beginning to appear on my buckle I thinking that the "titanium" buckle is an applied material to mimic the titanium look. Would appreciate some expert opinions, as this could be a real "tell" if the buckle edge isn't correct. Here are some photos of mine, devilishly difficult to get a good photo of the edge, but it's pretty apparent that it's not like the dull rough finish of the rest of the buckle.

After looking at the video on the Rolex website, I agree that their is far more to the genuine watch's functions than any rep could possibly have. My question to the OP is this. If the bezel rotates, what exactly does it do? Does it change the date and time or the GMT ring? This is a revolutionary watch from a staid, ultra conservative company like Rolex! Although they have become more and more "mainstream" lately, it has mostly been in the realm of bingy watches, rather than innovations like the Sky Dweller. Would you expect that the SkyDweller is ultimately a replacement for the GMT?

I agree wholeheartedly with the folks above. if you buy a gold plated rep that will be worn infrequently, you will probably be OK, but for and everyday wearer, I would stick to S/S. And like Freddy said, the "diamonds" on reps are pretty low quality CZ's at best. They might look pretty good when you unwrap the watch, but over time they will degrade and turn milky. If you want a gold watch with diamonds, I would start saving up my money and try to find a nice gently used genuine.

Wore this last night New Years Eve party, Black Tie event.

That would be great if it's the non chrono version. I love the looks of the BP Fifty Fathoms, but I want the conventional dive watch, not the chrono version, which to my knowledge has never happened?

If you have a price range up to 10K, there are hundreds of choices. I believe I would try to con her into a trip to a high end watch store like Tourneau, and see what she likes. It would be a shame to get her something that she doesn't really like, because she will never return it for fear of hurting your feelings, but she also won't wear it either.

You young whippersnappers can have the cold. I hate it. The older I get, the less cold tolerant I seem to get. I'll take warm sunshine any day over snow!!

Wearing this one during the day today, This one tonight, Black Tie New Years Eve party,

Both dealers have the same watch (V5), so you just pick the one you feel the most comfortable with, the one that has the best ,shipping/payment plan for you ,etc. I'm very torn between the V4.1 and the V5, can't make up my mind. I have a Forged Carbon Diver V3 from the same factory that makes the V5 S/S AP, and it's as close to gen as you can get with out a lot of modding. There is a pretty long thread over in the AP forum on repgeek, 4.1 vs V5 pretty comprehensive comparison of the flaws on each. might be a good idea to go over and read that one. Honestly, both are very good. Since AP's are pretty scarce out in the real world, I seriously doubt that you would ever have a problem with either one as far as being "called out". unless you happen to encounter an AP WIS who happens to have the identical genuine watch and a 5X loupe, you are not going to have to worry. I believe that a whole lot of the problems folks encounter with reps have more to do with the guy wearing the watch, rather than the watch itself. I've said this countless times, if you look and dress like the guy that can carry off a 22K watch, you will never be questioned, if you are an 18 year old college student driving a 10 year old beat up car, you are not going to be able to pull off a vintage Rolex Paul Newman Daytona. My first thought when I see someone like this is "That's a fake Rolex"!! Even though the guy may be wearing a genuine Rolex that his grandfather handed down to him, just about 100% of the folks who know watches will believe it's a replica until proven otherwise. Nice thing about AP's is they sort of fly under the radar, as they are not a brand with a lot of name recognition, so most folks won't have a clue as to what they are.

Happy holidays to you too sir!! I'm afraid we don't have any snow down here, just a lot of gloomy weather, rainy and cold (for us anyway).