Finepics

This is a very sad story. When I started doing mods for members I did not realise the amount of work that might be generated by it and it is almost at the point where I could turn this into a full time business were it not for the fact that the supply and demand for this is finite. So I do this in my spare time as a hobby and now have so little spare time left that sometimes I wonder if I should have got involved at all!! One of the most difficult things for me is having the time to reply to the endless emails and PM's (apologies to some who might have PM'd me without a reply - I lose track of who I have and have not replied to). Sure I make money out of it - I am not a charity - and one of the things I found it very difficult was to set prices that reasonably reflect the time, effort, sacrifices (my GF hardly gets any of me to herself now), and of course the material costs but as Joe seems to be making this his sole business then proper pricing and communications are as important as the work itself. I have got several members watches here that I have had for some considerable time now and I feel terrible about it but it is due to circumstances beyond my control (the 7753 datewheel project) and although I have not emailed the members individually I have tried to keep them informed of developemnts via the thread and they all know the situation. Ironically Joe is one of my customers in this project and as it is I have had to ask those invloved for an additional payment due to the extra costs that have been incurred (I have swallowed a large chunk of the initial losses myself and am happy to do so but only upto a point) and Joe was the only one who challenged this!! Maybe I should charge him to get it back!!! It is wholly irresponsible and indefensible of Joe to start attacking The Zigmeister in personal emails, but to add Tommy into that equation is beyond me, I am now suprised that my name was not mentioned. Not every member in the UK/EU wants to send their watches to the US as Customs there and back are risky but there is absolutely no Customs issues with EU-EU mail so Tommy and I, I hope, provide a valuable service to those members.

Here's the pic for those of you that were asking. Please excuse the dust!!!

Here's a little eye candy for you!! Got myself a correct profile CG as well!! And a thicker crown too!! Not forgetting the all important buckle!!

Just got my GF a PAM 49, nice and simple with date, sub seconds and a white dial. Still looks quite big but they don't come any smaller so not really any choice. By the way the asian 7750 P1 type in these watches (and is the same in the PAM 24 etc) are extremely well made and finished. When I opened hers up I almost thought it was a gen Valjoux as the finish of the bridge plates was almost identical to the gen, and since there is no chrono mechanism there is really very little to go wrong with these and they should last and last if serviced regularly. I certainly cannot see any reason to upgrade it to a swiss 7750. Jeez Ubi you just nipped me in the bud there!!!

The pushers on the PAM's I have dealt with are again a standard type of chrono pusher (same as you would buy from O.Frei or Cousins) and are fully sealed with an internal O ring so again should be no less waterproof than a gen watch.

Certainly all the PAM reps I have, and have seen, are made the same way as any normal watch, and are made in factories that produce legal watches as well. All the PAM's have an O ring in the crown stem tube, O rings in the crown, O rings in the caseback (although most casebacks are not done up tight). The plastic I ring for the crystal is a standard techinque for mounting crystals and indeed is what Panerai use - so are far from a weak link. All of them then are waterproof to a certain degree. Where Panerai differ is in the number of O rings in the stem tube which is marginally better engineered. I would happily swim/dive (to moderate depths) with any of mine.

It very well might do but the factories are still fitting the standard hands which have a longer tube so will still look recessed even if the cannon pin was 10meters long - just need to fit Davidsens fiddy hands (for the fiddy) or file down the tube on the minute hand to solve the problem.

Just a word of caution about any of the newer asian movt subs and Arktos (not the 7750 versions but the cheaper 21j asian movts) - you will not be able to fit a new cyclops to these watches as they are a part of the crystal and cannot be removed. Fitting a genuine Swiss movt will ne cure the problem either as certain parts need to ne transferred from the asian movt which would include any spacer rings which allow certain clearances and also allow the stem to line up with the movt and stem tube - so this mught be why the date is lowered. The new cyclops are made of sapphire which optically matches the crystal (the existing ones are just glass) and an AR coat will make a big difference

Who gives a [censored] - no tears being shed here.

There is a Paneristi selling a box and other bits who has been called out on the authenticity of his box by an anonymous poster who has posted a photo of one of our sellers ebay pics to demonstrate the fake, which suggests that poster is one of us!! Please do not just go in head over heels calling the Paneristi out. We have a difficult enough time with our parallel hobby and things like this make it worse if one of us wants to purchase a strap or other accessory from one of them (I know this as it has affected my purchase of a strap some time ago). If you feel that someone is selling a fake item, especially if they are a regular contributor to that board, then if you have to say something a polite email to the vendor asking them if they know the provenance of an item is a far more friendly way than to call them out directly on their own forum. It's so unnecessary.

6

Lets get this absolutely straight - a handwound watch obviously need to be wound about every 40 hours or so or it stops. An automatic, such as a 7750, also needs to be wound up before it is first worn - it is designed to be wound up - the instructions on a gen will tell you to do this - how else do you wind the mainspring enough to give a 40-50 hour reserve - the action of wearing them simply keeps the spring topped up once it has been wound initially. There is not enough movt of the rotor to wind a watch fully just by wearing it. It is extremely unlikely that you will ever wear out components by winding the watch up during a reasonable lifetime - the balance cap jewels are far more likely to wear out long before then. My PAM 28 power reserve has to be wound if run down as just wearing it is not enough to even move the reserve indicator - but once wound the auto mechanism keeps it on max while I am wearing it. The only rule to observe is with the 2892-3 movts - these need to be wound a little more slowly than say a 7750 due to the more sensitive clutch assembly.....

And there are at least another 2 watches that you cannot see in the pics!!

No he can't - cos it's mine!!!

Hello I'm still here - can't a man have the odd day off!!

MMMMMmmmmmmm - all the swan necks are working and they always have been - it's just that they needed a little bending to make them contact the regulatuer arm. They do absolutely nothing though, even in the gen, other than give a cosmetic lift to the movt so do not get too worked up about them. What no-one has mentioned is the fact that the balance wheel has the correct spoke shape to it in this new movt. I am not sure that it is the smaller - higher beat rate type (like the gen) as it looks like the same size as the older type but is certainly a different shape. Overall though the finish is still a mile off the gen if you ever look at a real one - except the H series which is a lot closer.

Just back myself Sophia was very nice and might buy a Cartier!!! Thanks fellas for a very nice evening - I went for a Pizza with Feek after you lot left and ended up making my own coffee in Pizza Express thanks to a lovely Brazilian waitress (Ursula - who shares my Grandmothers name) - obviously she is a RWG'er as she must have recognised me from my signature - "you can't get a decent espresso in London" and let me show her how to do it - not literally although I would have been happy to do that as well if only I was able to get it up!!

Now we are cooking - well done Tommy and Marcus - especially Marcus as I was very critical of the first run - perhaps a good job I was as these are rockin!!!

We should call this a meet of Panerist!! You will have to spot me by looking at wrists!!

Sorry Neil - forgot all about it! Will get on to it right away.

The package I am doing is for any watch case - so you want a black Rollie? No problem!! That fiddy will look rather cool I suspect!!!!

That's what I wanted to hear - good man!!

As you all know I like a project or two and this is something I am working on at the moment in collaboration with another member -updates will be posted at the appropriate time!!!

I still don't think you have fully grasped what is happening here. All the 2893 movt PAM's just have the standard ETA datewheels fitted and so have the wrong font. I am buying 2893 stock wheels in advance and having them re-printed to match the PAM font. The advantage of this is that you get a new datehweel ready printed to fit your movt. I have also been doing the 7753 wheels but here I had to send the wheel from the watch to be printed as I cannot buy these wheels form ETA (you can only get these from the name on the dial ie Panerai, who are unlikely to want to supply them!!!). You are paying for the time and effort I have put into getting this done, and for the printing and the wheel. Sure I am making a bit extra out of it but then how much is all the phone calls and hours doing artwork worth when I might only sell 30-40!!

Not quite sure you have grasped this - I am sourcing and using OEM datewheels but having them re-printed with the correct font. Only other way to get them is to ask Panerai if they will supply you with one!!!! Yeah, whatever!