jacobsen1

are there any suppliers with the californian with the sandwich face? I love the look of the sandwich face the way the numbers are set in... It would look perfect with this dial IMHO.

I'm in love with the "Vintage 47mm Radiomir California Dial Swan neck" Joshua has... I have 2 concerns though: Crystal: - Doom Plexi Plastic Swiss Unitas 6497 Swan neck regulator Manual Hand wind Movement can someone give me a little review/insight on this? How bad is winding the watch? How long does a wind last? Also how does the crystal look IRL? I love the Dial, size and look of this watch, I just wish it was available in an auto option (I just don't know if I'll like autos...). I also wonder how the crystal will hold up over time. Thanks for any info anyone can share.

Thanks for the info. How do you find a local guy that's willing to work on reps? also why: I edited them out anyway, just curious as to why? Thanks, Ben

It's so bad that a support is all it's good for... If you use a custom white balance you don't need to spend any $$$ on fancy bulbs. Just make sure your lighting is consistent so you can set a white balance that works for "everything"... IE in my setup above I use the halogen work lights from home depot. My office has florescent lights in it. I set the white balance for just the halogens, but if I leave the office florescents on I'll see little blue spots where they get reflected. If I turn them off I get no problems.... If you can't use a custom white balance, then those bulbs are great (or if you're using daylight film, but who uses film ), otherwise use your camera custom balance and it's easier/cheaper. Good Luck! Ben

on canal street for $40 though? I went there wanting a PAM (nothing in particular picked out ahead of time, but nothing too busy) and I wanted to spend $40 or less.... Not a whole lot of better options there for $40. (or anywhere else for $40 delivered) Ben

Yeah, um, so I just noticed that second one (with the blue needles) has FREE SHIPPING.... and it's my birthday..... ummm: sooooo tempting.......

Exactly. I'm loving the look of it. My whole thing with reps, is not to make people think I'm wearing a PAM xyz, but to have fun/cool/interesting watches that don't cost a lot of $$$. I could care less if they even have the brands on them. Personally I'd prefer them to have no branding on them at all. For this reason I'm looking at putting a blank dial on my GMT-II and replacing the hands with something less rolex... This watch clearly isn't worth spending any money on, but I love the look/feel of it and it was a very cheap/easy way to get my feet wet with the size and shape of PAMs. I'm already in love with it over my GMT-II even though the quality isn't as nice. I know know I'm a HUGE PAM fan, and (I guess unfortunately) hooked on them... This is what I'm thinking for my next watch, one of these: I love the fact they don't say Panerai on the face, and I love the half roman half digits on the face... I'm a HUGE fan of the blue needles, and it comes with a case back. It's also 47mm which I think I'll like more... But I like the band on the first one in the fact it has the rivets on it, but the orange colors seems a bit weird... I'd love to see them in person to be able to choose which to buy... Ben

Wow, so you guys wouldn't even spend $40 on it? I know it's not a good rep, but for $40 I'm happy...

OK, here's my watch: I've been thinking of making it less of a rep, and more of a franken watch. Someone on another forum pointed me towards www.mkiiwatches.com. What sized face would the GMT-II take? I'm hoping 28mm because they have this dial: in 28mm and I like the way it looks. link: double u double u double u dot mkiiwatches.com/ProductDetail.jsp?LISTID=B90000-1122415052 yes, I know there is no date window. I would cover the date, and burn off the cyclops as I don't like the date. (I don't hate it, but if I go franken, it's coming off) they also sell hands that I like the look of: only with this second hand: link: double u double u double u dot mkiiwatches.com/WSWrapper.jsp?mypage=209e.html If I got those parts, how would I get them installed? Is this something I could attempt on my own? If so what tools would I need and how much would they cost? I'd love to learn about working on watches as it looks very interesting, but if it's too likely I'll trash the watch, and/or too expensive for the tools I'll pay to have it done. If anyone here can do this work for me, please PM me an offer on how much it would cost! Thanks, Ben

oh yeah, and the hands are black with white lume... they're supposed to be silver with lume, but honestly I prefer them black like they are... Sort of a PVD look in a silver case....

Just picked this guy up this weekend in NYC: I knew I'd like PAMs, but I think I'm in love... and it's only a crappy canal street rep... I think I'm in trouble.

Well my wife ran the More 1/2 marathon this weekend in NYC... I got "stuck" with the job of driving her and her 2 friends into the city for the weekend. We had a great time but I put 3 "conditions" into the trip: 1) I would get to go to B&H to "research" some photography gear I'm looking at getting. 2) I would get to go to the crumpler store to check out some of their new bags. 3) I would get to go to canal street and buy myself a NYC rep. They said fine to all three, and actually really wanted to go to #2 and #3 and knew why #1 was important, just that they probably wouldn't go with me for that errand... So anyway, I had a blast, and here's what I picked up: My Pbase gallery of more images. genuine from Panerai's site: Panerai Link so I think it's a PAM 104... Not sure, but it's the closest I could find. What do you guys think of it? Here's what I can see wrong with it: *the second hand should be to the left more *the date wheel should be to the right more *the date wheel should be white font on a black background *the font on the 6 is wrong (shouldn't be closed) *it should say automatic under Panerai on the face *the stitching on the strap should be black *there should be pin holes for the strap *shouldn't have a display back anyway, I know it has a lot of flaws, and it's won't fool anyone that know's their watches... But I LOVE it. It's my first PAM and I'm a huge fan already... It's so much cleaner than my rolex GMT... Less busy. You look at it and see the time, and you're done... I would prefer a PAM w/o a date or seconds either after now having this for 2 days... I really like this watch, and for the options they had on canal street I really really like it... I only had time to go to maybe 5 watch vendors while there because I had the girls in tow... They had a bunch of PAMs I don't like and tons of Breitlings and Omegas, but not one ROLEX??? I did see another (radiomir) PAM at another vendor that I would have loved to check out, but I had already picked up my 1 watch, and we needed to get into China town for the girls. I will be going back for another trip for shits and giggle either alone, or with just the wife and more time to check out a ton more vendors before I pick. It was also fun because my wife got to see all the knock off (both watches and bags and stuff) and then once we got to dinner, all the girls were checking out the watch and couldn't believe what I paid for it and "how cool it was" and "how it looked great on my wrist" or how "it's Ben sized"... We all enjoyed it, and it's even more fun than ordering online because you get to touch/hold/examine the watch in person before you buy it. Also no shipping charges and no tax was kinda nice... No wondering if customs will take it.... Also you get to haggle for the price: So what do you think it's worth? Click below to see what I paid: so for what I paid I'm very pleased with it. I doubt it's as good as what I've gotten from our vendors here, but it's more fun shopping in person... Also, can anyone give me any advice on how I might change the strap? There are no pin holes... The strap seems to be at least a good fake leather (says genuine, but yeah, it's a knock off watch...) but the 2 little straps that hold the "tail" down (what are they called anyway?) are cheap vinyl so eventually I'd like to swap the strap out if I can.... So would you have bought this for the $$$? So far I'm happy with it. I'll see how well it wears and if it lasts. For the $ I'm pleased and don't expect much. Ben

awesome, thanks. Will they have any PAMs?

awesome. Are the guys at canal street on the street or in shops? That's right at the north boarder of china town right? Like little Italy is on one side and china town is on the other? Can't wait. Thanks! Ben

that's a great looking watch. I love the russian watches personally... more because not many people have them... I see a lot of people with real (or rep?) rolexi and other watches, but I don't think I've ever seen a russian in person....