Finepics

No no - I'm just being silly - the silver dial and gold hands is the perfect dress watch for me!!

Well they don't exactly slam into each other. They are designed that when the crown is turned one direction the gear moves out of engagement with the winding mechanism to allow the date to be set then moves back in when winding (not sure if I really expalined that right) - don't worry as they are not under any real force and this is how they are meant to be.

Check it out dudes - haste is sometimes not a vurtue!!!

They are not always identical and several of EL's PAM's are different from the norm especially the ones that have superlume and AR crystals - the dial and hands are not as good (sorry Eddie). PT I know carries the standard type that all the dealers have.

What have you been smokin!! The numbers are totally raised applique.

Bugger - even though it's hideous no self respecting Paneraisti would be without it - how much have I get left in my PP account!!!

Yep - standard asian 21j movement as I thought. It's not a bad movt actually but why buy this at all when a 1:1 fiddy isn't much more.

What a total [censored] - is he a member here? Name his forum name Andrew.

I can tell you now that if the Angelus clocks have a caseback that is over 1cm thick they will not be right. I have been scouring the bay for weeks and have never seen one that is right yet. I also bought a couple before I found out the hard way (and spent £80 on one of them) however all is not lost as one of them is in absolutely perfect condition and runs sweetly despite being over 60 years old and cost me £15 - it's so nice that I'm keeping it as a desk clock. Going to re-lume it too!! Good luck with the hunting - let me know when you find something as I might be able to help with the install if you are unsure what to do.

I would imagine this has a standard asian 21j type movt. There has already been a post on this not too long ago - I think a member bought one. Personally I wouldn't touch it with a barge pole as it just a fantasy piece. Overpriced - yes.

C'mon people sort it out - it might be a few UK based members as the time difference means some might be replying from now (I only just got home from work).

Well this is basically a Black Seal 183 with a california dial - a sort of mish mash (no offence intended as davidsen make an outstanding contribution and I buy many parts from him). Josh's (and others) is a rep of the PAM 249 2006 special edition (albeit with the missing case engraving between the strap bars) so there really is no comparison. It's a nice sort of vintage look-a-like if that's your thing.

I'm with you there Q - bloody painful - makes you wonder what's next!!

Well bugger me - as if by magic Ken/Honpo has it here for $330 + $35 shipping!!!

Agreed - wether you like it or not it's pretty damn good even down to the miniature submarine on the dial!! They only made 300 of these so again a rare piece that you could never own the real thing.

Jeez - they're all fakes!!!

Judging by the fact that it has an asian 7750 and that familiar style CG etc I would think that this is from the usual stable of makers - and no doubt we will see our dealers carry this one soon. I would stake my life on it!!

Absolutley - for Panerais the 6497, whilst not exactly the same (the gen is a 6498-2 and has a higher beat rate), is openly available and costs around $30 to the trade. The cases are relatively simple to machine on a CNC and the dials are also straightforward with no Guilloche patterning etc, so these are a simple easy genuine swiss movt moneyspinner and the fact that they have cult following amongst gen owners means they will sell well - with a high profit margin on them. I guess also the makers look at fashion trends in general - they are legit watchmakers so no doubt get all the trade magazines and attend all the watch shows so have a pretty good idea what is popular and will sell well.

Well done for all the leg work with this K. Lets hope everyone is smart enough to follow these instruction to the letter - as I know we all are!!

Have you tried to remove the bezel - impossible!! The markers are about 2mm thick

If you have a dremel just use a stiff brush and polishing compound - would take me 5 minutes!!

yep they certainly are copper!!

I agree with the comments about the capped especially as these new G series movts come with the correct height cannon pinion so you should have got Davidsens short tube hands for the "Ultimate Fiddy!!!

I have learnt the hard way about superglue too - better to use epoxy glue which has no vapours.

That sound more likely. Also remember that it is not one factory that makes these things. There are case makers, dial makers, hand makers etc etc. That way no one factory can be accused of making the watch. Sometimes they rely on photos from the gen websites which is why the PAM 212 started out with the wrong CG to start with as the rep makers released this before Panerai had even finalised the design!. The other thing of course is that if a maker comissions 500 dials with a small error they want to get rid of them before they then might correct them with the next batch. I suppose that sometimes our dealers tell their wholesalers of an error who then tell the makers and then it gets changed.