atomic_doug

Sure, I buy gens and reps in equal measure. It depends on cost, availability, and a sense of permanence. I'll wear a rep Hublot Big Bang because I'm not sure that I'm going to want to wear a watch like it forever, or a rep Franck Muller Crazy Hours since the limited occasions when I would wear a watch like that cannot justify its $10k+ price tag. I'm building a pre-V Panerai since the gen is, for all intents and purposes, entirely unavailable. A Rolex, on the other hand, is the sort of thing that lasts forever. I have my dad's Rolex, my dad had my grandfather's Rolex (which I'll get eventually...hopefully not for a while, though) and my son will get my Rolex.

I know how much I could sell it for. ...well, certainly less than if it were in good condition. The reason it's not currently on the watch it came on originally was due to damage. I wouldn't sell it though because it was given to me. "Hey, you want these spare parts to mess around with?" (Remember this is also nearly twenty years ago and Panerai wasn't nearly then what it is today.) I have a big baggie from my youth full of old watch parts. If I were to sell them, I'd really have to give whatever I sell them for to my friend. If I put them on a nice rep-project...well, why not? Naturally, I wouldn't ever modify the CG to make it fit the case. (The fit isn't completely perfect, but then, I've seen some gens where the crown guard doesn't sit perfectly either.)

Until I ran out, I wore Man III by Jil Sander. I still have two bottles left of the 80's formulation Antaeus by Chanel. You can see that I never got over the 80's power scents.

They are genuine Pre-V. (I've been sitting on them for years waiting for a pre-V case to come along.) The crown I got by chance, the CG and service hands come from an owner (a friend of mine) who was in a bit of a boat-accident with his own pre-V piece. An accident which I partially precipitated. Neither the CG nor hands are in tip-top condition, but who wants a perfect watch anyway, right? But in any case... How are Vac's dials? I've never seen one. I PM'd Marty, but I think he's on vacation or something. Plus, I'd like to have a little choice.

Well, if the model 111 is anything to go by, the factories are quite different in their case construction, particularly around the crown area. Noob's is much closer to gen, while H's is completely different. Noob seems all-around more focused on the little details. Angus put up a nice comparison between the Noob, H, and gen 111's a while back and took some great pics. The thread is pinned in this section, I believe.

On paper, nothing is special about it, but it has a vintage feel (gold hands, faux-patinated lume, brown dial) that a lot of Panerai fans like. It was also a special edition that was distributed in a slightly more equitable fashion than normal, so the flippers didn't get every last one of them. The thinking at Paneristi is that the 390 is a sort of 360 for those who didn't get a 360, and an apology for the clusterfrick that was the 360 distribution. It's not the stainless steel-cased 360 that they all want, but it's better than nothing. Personally I think it's a very handsome piece and will be purchasing one when Noob factory comes out with one.

The whole thing leaves me cold. It just seems like pandering to the Paneristi and their never-ending quest for "vintage" authenticity and the right to say, "No, it's not just a big watch, it's like totally military history legit." The new models using the new 1950's case actually have "vintage" engraved between the lugs. Panerai trades on their history so much you almost forget they were founded in 1993 When you come out with 25 new models every year and call them all limited editions, at least make them look slightly differentiable. I liked Panerai a lot more before. There isn't one model on this list or even in the current lineup I would have over a simple T-dial 9 with its cheap-o off-the-shelf movement.

Hi All, My Panerai 5218-201/A Project is almost done. I have a gen crown and CG, and a pair of gen service hands. I re-shaped an old homage (unknown maker, but no strap notches) case to make the lugs look stubbier and have the nice rounded edges and sloping shoulders. I also gave it a light aging because I don't like old watches to look brand new. A new crown tube was machined for the case. All I have left to get is a dial. I don't like DSN's latest Pre-V dials and the FGD dials seem impossible to obtain. Does anyone have any suggestions as to where to get a good-looking dial that will complete my project? Thanks all!

Neither the gen nor the rep have a screw-down crown. Even the gens are only rated to 100m. (Frankly, I'd just as soon not have a screw-down crown on a hand-winding watch.) The name "thousands of feet" doesn't refer to its depth rating, obviously. The watch's dial is suppposed to look sort of like an airplane's altimeter. The rep is quite good. It's the gen that's...not so good.

The canon pinion on gen PAMs is flattened and polished. Fresh out of the box, a movement's canon pinion is ever-so-slightly pointy. It's a small thing, but it can be a glaring giveaway if you know to look for it. Pulling the movement then the CP is trivial. I don't know why the factories don't do it themselves, but, hey, what're ya gonna do?

That would definitely be a cool buckle, but I don't think they exist, gen or rep. The only buckles that have the 'O.P. Sea & Sky' logo are the pre-V style sewn-in ones. If Panerai ever decides to make a screw-in buckle like that, I'm sure the rep factories would get on that within minutes.

I'm not big on DSN's pre-built watches. He's great for parts, don't get me wrong, or if you're putting together an old-style build. However, the quality control is not like it used to be. Say a Noob-factory PAM111 is 90% there, I don't think any DSN cracks 80%. They generally require a good amount of finishing work. Another problem with the 195 is that it's a ridiculously special edition. (It pre-dated the 360 but was a similar Paneristi-only watch.) There were only 200 made, you had to be on a list to get one, and each one is engraved with the owner's name. If I remember correctly, a thread on Paneristi a few years ago estimated that only ten or so had been sold by their original owners. A lot of gen PAM005 owners ape the style of the 195 by having one coated. If you got a Noob 005 and had the case coated (and installed a high beat unitas), it would be nearly indistinguishable from gen under all conditions save for very close inspection by someone who has a gen next to it. (That's what I would do.) Additionally, a gen 005 can be had for less than 5k, so it's not inconceivable that a person would own/wear one.

Hmm...in that case, I think your best bet would be the 26K. (I can't believe I forgot about that one before.) It was a limited edition, but not an absurdly expensive one. It's got a closed caseback, too so you can't be called out on the movement. It's even got the right magnet gray shade of coating. I've personally held both the gen and the rep and I can assure you that if I wasn't told that one was a rep, I'd have assumed both were gen. (Naturally, once you start really looking, you can always find flaws.) But...it's a lefty watch. Panerai has, unfortunately, not made just a normal PVD coated watch since the days of the PAM4 or PAM9, and there are few really good reps of those, though there are projects.

Yeah, any of the Pre-V models are absurdly expensive. Are you looking for that model specifically or any PVD'd Panerai? The best PVD model out of the box at the moment is probably the 360. The 360, of course, is a super-publicized limited edition. However, if you want a black Panerai that's not limited and quite good right out of the box, the 292 is the way to go (even though it's a Radiomir.) If you want a good 203/A, it can be done, but it's a project. Depending on how close you want to get, DSN's model is 90% there with little more than a dial swap.

Cotes de Geneve, Geneva stripes.

Yeah, it's a Noob, but I'm not aware of any changes or improvements that have been made, just a new date-code.

It's definitely weird, but an interesting kind of weird, blending a half-dozen different bike styles. You can see some chopper, some board tracker, some cafe racer, some salt racer. I can't say that I'd ever willingly pay for such a thing, but it's always nice to see the customizers taking the Harley platform in directions other than the "standard" custom pathways. I wonder how well the watch holds up to the vibrations that the bike puts out.

If ANYthing came out with the quality of Noob's recent PAMs, people would buy it. I think we're getting spoilt. I agree. They seem to be popular. They certainly get a lot of press in the watch mags, especially the "Vintage" one. Their case construction isn't super exotic, nor is their shade of lume. It would be a pretty simple and straightforward replication. I think the main issue is simply the finite number of factories. They can only work on so many pieces at a time and right now, the focus is Panerai. I do hope they make these, though. I'm perpetually on the fence about buying a gen BR01-92 'Vintage'.

The swap within a Panerai case is, in fact pretty simple. (Unlike a Rolex swap, which is very...non-trivial) For the Panerai 29, all you'll need is a new stem and, depending on the module used, you will most likely need a new GMT hand. (I'm pretty sure all of them use a different GMT hole-size, but I've heard of instances otherwise.) Considering the 2893 is also a thinner movement, you'll also need some extra spacers to get the stem to line up eight. DSN carries hands with the correct sizes.

This strap is being sold to exactly one tiny group of people: the clique on Paneristi. Those guys' entire social pecking order is based around how much pre-V stuff they have like this. When they get into their high school girl level flame-wars, the mods will always side with the guy who has more pre-V stuff, because they're the popular kids. A few months ago a guy spent three hundred dollars for a plastic "Panerai" hang-tag that came on the new watches, just to complete his boxes and papers set. Should a strap like this be repped? Ugh. no. The buckle is already repped, the dimensions and manufacturing techniques of the strap is known. The rest of it is just old, sweaty leather. If you ever want your leather strap to quickly look like that, just wear it while going for a run in the middle of summer.

Thanks for the excellent review. I can add that the Panerai Service Center soft-case and silicone watch head protector that it came with was also a nice touch. When you say, the GMT hand does not "jump" on the Swiss movement what do you mean? In crown position 2, when one turns crown towards 6, the GMT hand advances albeit with obvious and audible detents at the correct hour positions Do you mean that it is possible to slave the GMT hand halfway between timezones? That's certainly possible. It's not like an ETA2893 where you turn the crown, nothing happens, and then the GMT snap-advances an hour all at once. I had been told by the same watchmaker that's a good way to cause the GMT module to start slipping. Just want to make sure neither of us (particularly me) has a damaged module.

Hmm... I think you're right. If the threaded stem receptor is crookedly installed into the neck of the crown, that would explain both the tilted appearance and how it's still able to lay flush against the case when the c.g.-lever is closed. I'll order a new crown. Thanks for the help!

It started as a basic black-dialled GMT from Silix. Around 60 dollars or so. I did a fair bit of shaping and filing to get the shape and finish right. The crown, at least, should look nice, it's gen. I did grind the bottom of it down a little bit to get it to sit right, however. Otherwise, it stuck out too far.

Hmm...well, I do want to blame the crown. When you say the stem is loose, do you mean how the stem is screwed into the crown or how the stem is secured in the movement?

Thanks. Once the dial and hands were on there, it's pretty much indistinguishable from gen. One of my colleagues has one. They weigh the same. My bracelet's gen, so that goes a long way to getting that gen feel. All told I have no more than $500US in it. The only thing that was really expensive was the movement itself. Once I decided to keep it, sourcing a 2893 became a bit of a cash sink. Everything else, including the base watch, was cheap. Omega parts are not expensive. I did the work myself, too, so I saved there as well. I'm really pleased with how it turned out. Any suggestions for improvement?