fishgodeep

My 2 pence worth .... Asian - "Swiss" copy ....why 1- It has 2 blue screws on the balance plate (beneath the regulator) and what appears to be an ETA 6497-1 stamp so looks like a swiss base plate 2- The dial retaining screws on ETA Swiss made 6497 are traditionally next to the case clamp screws - this doesn't have these Therefore I reckon this is an Asian ETA clone 6497 ...one of the better versions. Not a bad movement so don't be put off ....I have a couple of these that have been running solid for 18-24 months without issue. The main flaw of these movements vs Swiss is that they are not usually oiled at the factory - so can wear quicker than their Swiss made counterparts Cheers FGD

Great Ross ...good job fixing and a great looking watch - love the dial I have had similar issues with small second hands ....a dead watch starts running again once you take the dial off and free the second hand ...sometimes if the dial slips upwards and presses against the SH this can stop them as well Cheers FGD

Dadog .....jaw droppingly beautiful and these are the crappy photos !!! Well worth a kidney or vital organ I'm sure!! Amazing work from VDB who is prolific when it comes to Vintage pieces IMHO. All the best FGD

Merlin ....Wizard by name ....Wizard by nature!!! The more I see these vintage 47mm's ...the more I want one ... Thanks for sharing and enjoy it !! FGD

truly a work of art VDB One day ...I hope FGD

multiple snipe it

Great work as usual Rolli you have the highest standards and a fantastic watchsmith My new dial will be more up your street.... Hand done prototype at this stage so ignore the odd scratch in the varnish 2-4 weeks FGD

Well V This person must be an absolute f*cker and rightfully flogged in public

Top Notch Jitai .. Great choice of parts and great work by Ziggy as usual. Enjoy FGD

250304057044 on the bay Can't see enough from the photos but doesn't look to have a strap slope and lugs appear shorter For the price maybe worth a punt ....surely can't be that bad for $40!! FGD

Great Ross ...without your skills none of these would have been possible. You are the "unsung" BIG Hero in all of this. BTW ...I have been checking out case sets from AlphaTime on Ebay .....from what I can see it looks good and for $47 delivered maybe worth a punt ... 250304057044 Best FGD

Thanks Case set is Jimmyz Fu with PVD by Rolli - PALP Crown No I don't to Radiomir dials Regards FGD

ST4 ...something about trios that works ....and this "Holy Trinity" of PVD , Ti and SS is superb eye candy !! 195 looks the best of the bunch. A better tobacco dial has to be found for us all one day !!! Enjoy FGD

Quick and dirty shots of my lumed up Pre-A 009 NOT a masters standard , but happy with the colour and soft lume effect and just wanted to see what could be done. Best FGD

Got to agree ...easiest off the shelf source for casebacks ...maybe not the best in terms of thickness and weight but do the job for the price FGD

Unless you have the case set that "according to legend" was made 1:1 to Mr Yellows 201/A and was there right at the start of the quality Panerai rep scene!! Is it worth repping a rep case is the question in my mind....and at the same time - accomodate the 1:1 2 screw lug bars Ross has initiated!!! FGD

The lovers make all this worth while, if it was about the money I'd do a little hero.....the haters ....well as Usher would say "just gotta pop your collar" and keep on walking FGD

Excellent Ross ...I've ordered mine as well ...I hope this guys going to post on the risti sites or word gets round to them!! My understanding is SS..have checked reference images of 202/A, 203/A and 218/A and they are all shiny shiny !! FGD

Thanks gents ... I'm really chuffed to see them installed on watches and people like them.!!! I'm also really pleased with the recessed indices, and that flat finish with glossy dial text....it really does have a gen like appearance and finish even though they are not 100% 1:1. "Best dials yet" is all I'd claim I can't wait to see what Ziggy can do with his lume skills ...I have managed to lume my 002 dial ...but it's NOWHERE near his standards I basically mixed a very loose solution with a couple of grains of "instant coffee" ground into powder. I mixed up this solution and left it for a day or so and then basically painted the indices with a fine brush and cleaned off any mess once dried. The black surface is extremely robust to thinners, it's basically black steel and not painted. The end result is what I wanted ....a coffee coloured aged coloured tritium with a weak glow ..comparable to good rep lume ...but lasts for a couple of hours. Unfortunately I did manage to damage the T-SWISS-T text though so am waiting for my next batch to arrive. I'm going to try and get these "screen printed" with lume to achieve the flat finish and aged colour with luminosity...subject to cost of course but if it's reasonable I'll go ahead. I'll try and post some photos of my my Pre-A 009 later this weekend..before the dial is deinstalled and sent to the printers as a reference for the colour. I assure you these will be nowhere near the price Little Hero charges or I won't go ahead. I'm not dissing his work in any way but I'm doing it for the RWG community as much as myself making a huge profit There's a credit crunch going on and these are still reps no matter what you pay for a dial..let's not kid ourselves. The goal is a better rep so we can all be more happy with our collections .....the constant search for improvements will continue!!!!! Cheers FGD

Looking forward to seeing this one!!! Great buy Dadog13!!! FGD

Wishing you both a safe journey & safe return.....oh and enjoy the bit in the middle of course! Best regards Simon

Top Notch HonkyTonk... Great photos of a great looking watch ...the dial and the crown look especially good......you know you want a 1:1 V CG though!!! I hope that LH does make a 183-G dial and maybe 217/127 soon ..? If he doesn't I'm sure someone else will......it's not that costly to etch through thin steel and get it screen printed/ pad printed in a correct pantone... Just getting the artwork right first is where the real skill lies!!! Enjoy that PAM!! FGD

Oh there's always the nice little exceptions with Panerai which makes all our anal attention to detail somewhat wasted.. I agree totally with everything PAMMan and Dluddy say ...but then I saw this on the bay last week...120303842095 It's an A-series 002 in OP6502 Case Set (Jimmy) with a Pre-A dial sausage lumed in A-series style lume method..... It's next on my to do list as all the parts are out there...and there's a master of lume in Canada!! Best regards FGD

That's a great shot of a great watch ....looks really beautiful Chief... You've made me go and put mine on!!! Best FGD

Old Skooling it this weekend.. FGD