Finepics

No doubt you have all seen V 's and my Metta Catherina PAM straps and some have been asking where to get them so read on folks. First let me fill you in on why this leather is so special. Back in 1786 a Danish ship, the Metta Catherina, sank in a storm with it's cargo of Russian reindeer tanned hides. Then in 1973 the ship was salvaged and to everyones suprise the cargo was in perfect condition - so this stuff is currently about 220 years old and 190 years of that spent at the bottom of the sea. So it is rare and its unique properties make it ideal for a strap (and furniture) as it is waterproof and will not rot (the reason it survived). It comes with a diamond check patterning (this was the Russian tanners trademark finish) and in a wealth of colours from golden tan to almost black which is a sort of very dark brown but looks black in certain lighting (a bit like PVD looks black but is purple!!). Here is a photo of some random samples but there are many more shades in between (it all depended where in the pile they were in the water). Now the chap that has this leather is selling complete straps on ebay - his user name there is vfrmad - and previously they have gone for around £130+ but he is in the process of making a small stock of them priced at £125 ready to buy. They will come in set sizes of 24/22, 24/24 and 26/26 in wrist sizes of 110/60, 115/75 and 125/80. They will be like the ones in the above photos - a rich mid brown (this will vary from strap to strap - the black version will be a special order) with matching stitch but other stitch colours and sizes are available on request for a small extra fee. They come in a nice presentation box with certificates of authenticity and a pot of treatment wax - well worth the money. The case guards as shown above are £50. Whilst they are not the cheapest of straps they are totally unique and beautifully hand made. Now I have to stress that he will not be supplying the leather only (V and me were an absolute exception) so please don't send him emails asking for it - he absolutely will not do it. Who is this man - his name is Rob Ross, his email address is robertross04@aol.com and his website where you can see his other work and read more about this leather is here. If emailing him use the address above as the link on his site is out of date. Have a good look round his site, it's very interesting: http://www.1786russianleather.co.uk/index.html He is a thoroughly nice chap and the quality of his workmanship is of the highest standard. If you buy a strap don't forget about all the different colour variations - he will talk you through it. This leather is in a very limited quantity now as most of it has been used for very large bits of furniture and furnishings over the years - Roman Abramovich (any Chelsea fans out there) has some tables covered in this stuff and Purdey shotgun case are covered in it - Rob makes all of this. My thanks to Aaron, also of the highest standards, who made the straps for me and V.

@crystalcranium - sorry but you are wrong. Now my experience has been mainly with PAM's so I will talk about them. As I said they are made alongside regular legitimate watches and standard manufacturing processes are used, and it's precisely the reason why it is then just a case of making an appropriately styled case on a CNC machine. If they really wanted to cut costs then no O rings would be fitted - cases would just be one piece etc etc. Now of course what does not happen is that they actually test them, so things like loose CG levers are to be expected and have to be tweaked as this is certainly something they will not bother to do. As I have also said once things are properly lubed and tightened up then there is no reason why they will not be able to withstand a fair amount of depth. Most commercial watches that are made in exactly the same way are all around 30m ATM and this is where I would pitch all the PAM's I have and have seen, and since the most I am likely to do is swim this is no big deal. There have been many occasions in the past where members have pressure tested their watches and I can think of many that achieved a 300m rating. I will stress that they do have to be looked at first - no good going for a swim with your new watch on and the EMS packet in the other hand!!!

Sorry - was not meaning to jump - just concerned that watches might get damaged like this as it's not a simple thing to even remove the datewheel in the first place.

Did you just read or ignore my last post?? It will not work the way you are attemtping to do this and you will end up [censored]ing your watch if not careful. This date wheel is not for these movts anyway.

I would be very careful getting them made like this. There are several variations of existing crystal out there all with different sizes so which one are you going to make??? My maker takes the existing crystal and sets his machine to copy the diameter exactly - guaranteed to fit and then I hand finish them to create the curved sides which is something that cannot be done on the mnachine. Never a good idea to make a large batch of something unless you know it is going to work as you could end up with a lot of unsold plastic on your bench. This is why I have them made one at a time to order and for £85 inc shipping they are not bad.

No it's not sprung and really I doubt it will do any real damage as there is a little room for give anyway. Does not seem to have harmed mine!!!

It's no good just printing this out willy nilly!!!! This datewheel is for the new in house PAM 8 day triple barrel movt - so what would you have done with it!!! All datewheels for all the PAMs (7753, 7750, 2893 and 2892A2) are currently being dealt with through me and other members. We have already extensively tried to do stickers and in most cases they won't work without you removing a lot of material from the wheel to accomodate the thickness of the sticker. We are talking gnats pube size clearances here. You have been advised!!!

I will add that the chrono pushers are also standard pushers - maybe modified to look a certain way - but standard none the less and that means they all have an internal O ring as well. Again these should be no less waterproof than anything else!!

You just have to laugh!!! Water Resistant - tested to 1000m - wow!! Have a look at his other items. He has as TAG which he describes with a Precision quartz movt. Then he says with top quality automatic movement. No battery required!!! What a [censored]!!!

Basically it means grinding some off the feet of the CG to bring it closer to the case. Most often this only means .5mm so does not make a visible difference. Sometimes the CG lever make need some tweaking as it will be very tight when it contacts the crown but not as tight when it is fully closed.

Simplest thing is just to leave it blank. I always do this whenevr I buy anything. I doubt though that PP would bother to search the subject line unless someone made a complaint.

Absolutely has to be a Pre-A for me with a T dial - either the 5218/201A or maybe a PVD model - serious money for the 202A MM!!

From what I have seen with all the watches I have worked on they are made in a standard watch making way. The factories that make them also make watches for the legitimate market so use commonly available parts/techniques. That is that the case tubes are all press fitted into the case (same as gens), they all have an O ring in the tube (same as gens although Panerai's tubes are better engineered), the crowns all have O rings (same as the gens) and the crystals are held in with nylon "I" rings (same as gens), the bezels are also held in with a "I" ring (same as gens) although some are a friction fit with an O ring under them (some fiddys are like this). and finally all the case backs have an O ring (same as gens). Now the problem with most PAM's is that the CG lever does not tighten the crown to the case (easily remedied) and often the casebacks are only just finger tightened. If you can open it with duct tape it ain't gona be sealed properly. So, I would happily swim/dive with any of my PAM's so long as those couple of things are sorted out.

Don't we have a member with a similar handle!! FlavourFlav??

He he he!!

Don't worry guys - I think the high bidder is scamming the seller back (I have a feeling he is one of us). All the genuine bidders were sent messages warning them and it has been reported to ebay.

Strap is an older Strapmasters "Dino Zei" which has a Roano Calf leather that is almost like plastic - kinda odd!!

Sorry my man - these are a custom job for me - not for sale!!!

The crown on the 63 is sprung which is why it wobbles. It is like this so that when the crwon lever is closed it does not put pressure on the keyless works. @Esteban - shortening the stem does nothing - in fact if you do that you will unlikely be able to wind the watch. I have the Palp 2mm crown on my 63 with a Jimmy CG. When fitting the Palp crown you will really need a new stem as the screw hole is deeper in his crowns.

I was involved in this project - it is not dead, rather having a rest. Jonathan was the main man behind this but he has had to break off from it for a while - I merely supplied measurements and drawings - but I have a source here that could do it. I will make some more enquiries next week.

Brixton - ghetto - are you serious? Yes you are - I live there on the "Hill". Tate Modern is free (charges are only for the visiting exhibitions, same in the National Gallery as well). Oxford street is absolutely the worst place in London and I would advise you to stay miles away from it - it really is absolutley [censored]. It is very very crowded, smelly, full of litter and burger shops and the retail shops are nothing special apart from Selfridges Dept store at the top end. If you're only there for a day then spend it in Knightsbridge. Harrods is there and you could practically spend a day just in there - the fine watch dept is always worth a peek and watches of Switzerland is just around the corner from there in Brompton Road- good selection of PAM's. Loads of nice really places to eat as well - a little pricey but better than anything you could find in Oxford St (unless you really know where to look). You also have all the top designer names there (Prada, Armani etc etc) and you might glimpse a celeb doing the shopping!!!

Beemer and Dentist yes- technician no!!! Ford Mondeo 5 years old for me!!!

I am a Denal Technician. I make ceramic teeth for cosmetic dentistry etc. Any of you got any implants yet?

I work in Sloane Street, Knightsbridge which is like a Who's who of the watch world every day - stare - absolutely!!