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There's one important point to know for all potential buyers : unless you're skilled enough to remove the dial/hands, you won't be able to verify what you et as a movement. The caseback can't be opened, the watch will open from the front only. That's why, I would personally go for an ETA clone in my inquiry, at least you can't get bad surprise and you're sure you're not overpaying your Nautilus candy. The other way is to have an absolute confidence in what your dealer says. The "Chinese MBK" (rep of the rep) has an average quality of its screws and I found its clasp very average as far as its finish is concerned (see my review).

BTW, anyone has interesting links to good rubber straps (branded or not) ? Thx

Hi, The build quality of the V1 is indeed excellent, I have one (the light version). The build quality of the V2 is comparable but not as good for some details, I fully agree. From my point of view, I described the V2 (actually V3, i.e. a V2 from Watchmark with small improvements upon request, remember the relative thread) as closer to the gen (speaking of the RG version, not the Tuiga or whatever) due to : - the rotor finish (thin rotor, engraved, with smooth center) - the movement look (regulator) It does not make it better. Just closer, and again, this is only my opinion. And I'm not the best HBB specialist around Actually that's all. At the time I was mentionning this, it was cheaper also, so for me that was the right solution. In the meantime, Mark decided to sell it 850 USD, which I find not interesting anymore although still cheaper than the V1 from PC/TT/PT Don't misunderstand me Taka, I'm not saying the V1 is not worth, especially now that it's proven it has a far better CF dial. I was just saying that, at a time, the V2/V3 was the best value for money. What I'm saying for sure is that 1200 USD is an insane price for an unperfect rep ! And what I'm saying too is that I don't understand how watchmark can sell the very same V1 about 200 USD cheaper than the others...

Hi, easy : if it has no ETA mention nor 25 jewels Swiss Made engraving, it's a clone. The opposite is not true But it's not a bad movement at all. My Railmaster has the same movement, whereas it was sold to me as Swiss ETA. I informed my dealer Watchmark about that (with pictures) and he immediately proposed to return it. We agreed he would rather give me a large discount, what he did. This is something hard to control : you can't ask a dealer to open every single watch he's selling. I always leave them the benefice of the doubt in such cases, although I also understood from Eurotimez that the movements are clearly classified and the dealer should know what he's buying. I would keep it and ask for a large discount (at least 100 USD, which is what Joshua or others are used to charge as a price difference between Asian and Swiss ETAs)

Adding a PAM 243 today

Hi folks, trying to review a PAM is for me about as difficult as reviewing a Rolex : whereas other rep brands might sometime be considered as close to perfect, Panerai replicas will always meet an expert who will be able to comment the lever's shape or the marker's curve Despite this difficulty I made up my mind and decided to try to review in a pretty light and simple way my second Panerai (after the 112H I sold in the meantime) : I will comment as the PAM noob that I am and count on you, experts (you know who you are) to tell me what's good and wrong with my new toy. So, let's start with some shots. The 1950 case shape is something I discovered with this watch and I must say I prefer it to the standard case. Besides it really perfectly fits the submarine theme... Isn't the crown too thick ? The only mod I'm able to do by my own : fix the lever My favorite strap for PAMs : a perforated leather that looks like rubber. Perfect for the 243. I wish it was thicker... and waterproof Panerai designers seem to have injected some testosterone in the 243 And why not offering a house for that beast ? I was surprised how good the rep boxes are too. If there's one brand for which people make a science of how the lume glowes, it's surely Panerai Of course pictures mean nothing, but I find the lume excellent in the flesh. Nothing to do with my 112H typical rep lume. Here's the final wristshot So... How is it as a watch ? When you choose the Submersible models, you expect to get a bulky watch... and that's what you get definitely. It both looks and feel heavy, and the whole brushed look further develops the masculine aspect of the 243. As mentionned the 1950 case shape is something unusual, at least for me, and I quickly prefered it to the "conventional" case. Same feeling for the thick crown and crownguard. Add the bezel which looks like Captain Nemo's Nautilus' porthole, and you get a watch that reminds you of something between a weapon and a vessel. Despite it's chunky aspect, it still keeps a natural grace and balanced aspect thanks to the case shape. Not too much, not too few As it seems to be a habit on PAM reps, the lever came loose but it was an easy fix. It's true that even without knowing the brand, a loose lever feels cheap. And one drop of Loctite will give it a new solid feel. The 60 clicks rotating bezel is probably the weakpoint of this watch : it clicks and aligns well, but there is too much gap between 2 clicks : it can move 1 mm righ/left before clicking. I would not say that it's loose, as I describe as loose a bezel that will not hold its position. And that's not the case. I'm afraid there's no way to fix that. The cyclop is obviously here for decoration only, as it magnifies absolutely nothing. Easy fix ? The crystal is sapphire, is very slightly curved and has no AR at all. Not sure if I'm going for an aftermarket coating, as it seems it will be a bigger tell for those who know Panerai. Also, I'm not sure if the basic black/white of the dial will benefit a lot of such an operation, unlike watches with busy dials. The lume ? For me it's very good out of the box. The 6/12 and main hands glow stronger than the markers, but these are however very bright as well after a long enough exposure to light. It's far better than my (former) 112H typical rep lume. The pearl also glowes strong but seem to have a small variation in its tint. Uneven application of the lume ? Nothing serious. I did not open the case yet, but I suppose that a high-beat A7750 is the core of this piece. At least that's what I can hear... The 243 came with a rubber strap, which I did not find to be specially well manufactured. I cannot say it's the cheap rubber that takes dust, but its softness and variations in the black colour made me unconvinced about its quality, especially compared with the good level of the rest of the watch. So I went for my favorite PAM strap, waiting to find a good rubber (branded or not). I'm also glad that the canon pinion typical problems we see on 6497 based reps is not a topic here. And how is it as a rep ? That's where I need you Here are the pictures from Panerai's website for comparison. Well, I made my homeworks and did a search on this already pretty old rep. I understood there have been 2 versions of the 243, one having an engraved Helium valve, the other not. I'm not sure which is correct, as the official pictures show no marking at all. But TripleS explained me that this might have been a prototype and that the gen would have the marking. Second tell, the SWISS MADE placement : I just noticed that it's not visible in my pictures, but the real placement should be under the 6, and both the pictures on Panerai's website and the rep have it at each side of the 6. If anyone had a link to an actual picture of the gen, I'd be pleased to raise the doubts and complete my comparison. The cyclop is something disppointing as mentionned before : it does not change anything in the reading of the date, which must have a wrong datefont as well (too thin) Other than that, I must say I can't see any obvious difference, which make me conclude that we have an accurate replication. That's it folks Hope you enjoyed and that this mini-review was useful. I'd love to update it with experts' remarks.

That sounds like a reasonable explanation. But if you take the strap, it's a different raw material and also a different mould (one has the 6240 printed). That's more than a variation in the batches IMO. It's a really different part (manufacturer ?) Also, I'm a bit anxious about the diffeence in the caseback engraving that might also be a clue to a different machinery, therefore different manufacturer. Nothing of this would be annoying if it did not result in a reall quality difference, whereas sold for the same price. Regarding this "carousel" : if it's silent, I see no problem in this, I have the same on some movements. Again, there's one direction of rotation that does not rewind the movement, therefore it's free wheeling. Not a sign of bad behaviour. If it's making noise (whhhiiirrrr), then I agree, it's a no no !

Because I read that the member above can screw his crown 3-4 times. As long as it locks it's OK, but I'm a bit worried about this crown popping up after a while.

Good news Did you get one of these new batches with a longer stem ? Or is it the 1/4 or 1/2 turn one ?

That will be the next trend amongst other excuses I suppose. Indeed I ordered a watch from an other dealer and it took 10 days from the shipping date (EMS). He explained me that there are more controls. The next watch arrived within 4 days.

You mean it will join the Valhalla of reps ?

So, definitely random numbers That will make it harder to chase.

Not sure if that's a clue, as it seems all numbers are unique. But it's true, I have not seen batches over 400 till now.

Difficult, as there are many Today's mood would lead me to vote for my Breitling BB too

Good news for the new buyers, flaws have been fixed Now the only solution to get a correct version is to have a reliable dealer who will pay attention to than (upon request, of course)

Thx I suppose there was a clasp with it for the price.

So return it ? The way you describe how it is set in the winder does not allow doubts anymore : winder goes clockwise, which rewinds the 7750 anticlockwise. Again, some winders do not move long enough for some of our movements, but the fact that it stops on your wrist is indeed very preoccupying. I had one watch like this, that was my B&M Riviera. I was about to return it, but ended in lubricating the center of the rotor (a micro-drop), and that solved my problem. Maybe I was just lucky ? But as your movement obviously works well when wound manually, it's a good indication that only the rotor has an issue.

There are obviously 2 manufacturers... Bad news, especially if Joshua sells both for the same price.

The center of the rotor tells both are reps. One with a nice strap, the other with a worse one (cheaper rubber)

To check if they'd behave the same, and if finally the problem is your winder or your watch... Makes sense ?

I'm afraid we have a problem, then, as it should not. Or maybe we are (or I am) lost with the directions. I'll check now my winder. [Edit] Sorry, my winder is set clockwise... Forget my useless comment above... Do you have other 7750s ? And do they wind properly ?

Turning to a cheap strap is a stupid idea of rep manufacturers : how much do they win per rep ? 1 EUR ? 2 EUR ? And that just ruins the otherwise excellent level of replication. @Rosnik : how much did you pay ? I'm like you, I like to have a replacement strap, but could not get one for the Flat6. Thx

hi, I have 7 A7750 based reps. You have to set it to turn anti-clockwise. If it turns both directions only, the real problem might be that the time it turns anti-clockwise is not enough to insure enough power-reserve. I can't see it unwinding itself, as you would have the same problem while wearing it on your wrist. Actually I don't think it's possible to unwind a movement. It spins so quickly in one direction as it's "free-wheel" in this direction. Nothing but normal. I would not return the watch before having tried it on a winder that allow an anti-clockwise movement. Regular manual winding of an automatic movement is not advised.

The HBB really deserves AR coating. I had a light version (without AR) and it was already a really nice piece of watch. The aftermarket AR coating from K2222 transformed it and made the dial pattern really pop up. Regarding the movements : well, you'll see very different opinions and experiences, this is why I would like to answer you with a more technical and objective point of view : see the link to a The Zigmeister post in my signature explaining pros & cons from the low and high beat A7750... There's not a better one. They are different.

Regarding the strap : some member pointed out that he ordered 2 Flat6 from Joshua within 2 weeks, and one came with a quite stiff rubber strap (which IMO is correct, and like the one I have on my rep), and the other came with a soft crappy rubber strap (I guess the same crappy rubber we find on cheaper reps, the one that takes dust). This could explain the different experiences amongst members.