Nightwatch

All of this is simply beautiful. That was fun master skying and the Anchorage time-lapses are .... stunning. Had some good moments viewing, thank You Guys

Hi there, that's quite a collection You already do have. Beautiful AP´s there, specially the skeleton and then others. Nice watch winder. Congrats. Thanks for the pix.

Great symmetry, simplicity, perfection. It´s a TC Submariner: "The Best Watch".

Hi and welcome to the forum. Think You´ll like the APRoo - Oh, I shouldn´t have told........ Cheers to You:)

Would like to hear more experiences/opinions on the Teflon based dry lubes. Our bracelets are in direct contact with the skin at least 12/7, normally in a rotation, so skin-contact exposure is even higher as there is always small residues even after well cleaning. Finish line package says: Read precautions on back panel. Any observations on this? Because of (possible issues?) until now only used baby oil spray well soaked for 24 hours better 48 hrs, so not a bit here and there but lots of it. Bracelets indeed get smoother and heftier, no squeaking. Long-term durability unknown.

How about the 1964 Aston Martin DB5 and the 1959 Checvrolet Corvette Stingray:

In a few months........I have to get this:) Thx for pics and info..... and I was thinking: No more Pams.....no more Pams.... must resist..... as Oscar Wilde said: "I can resist everything - except temptation" CuSn8 same patina as gen.... wow.....

Hi All, just got this new addition in a perfect service from Andrew (Trustytime). For the IWC I ordered together with this I was quite picky because of misaligned dials but also got a replacement and new qc-pictures after several tries. When it arrived after an eternally long, unsusual shipping time of over 4 weeks I have to say I am overly pleased with both watches as I did not go for the expensive ones this time and these are really good. This is the 16600 Classic Sea Dweller SS Black Asian 2813, ultimate, superlumed version which I took quite some time to choose: New Breed Nickle Plated Asian 2813 Automatic Movement, 25J, Highbeat 28800bph, Rolex Style Perforated Rotor CASE DIAMETER: 40mm THICKNESS: 14.5mm DIAL COLOR: Black Dial, Superlume White Dot Markers Waterproof to 100 m factory tested (a little bit less than the original but it should be enough....) I really have to say I think this Seadweller is my kind of watch, love to wear it, works 100% (certainly had a lucky day when ordering this) runs +1 sec a day (!) Want to wear this as a daily beater, either with bracelet or nato-strap and swim with it after applying Nyogel (Synthetic Hydrocarbon Gel) to the stem and post a review in one years time. These are the first pics, with time I will get better ones. Up to the pics now: The bezel is just one click off, didn´t notice it when taking the pics, adjusted it later.. Side by side with the 116610 Ceramic Submariner which was not my first choice because of too big hands and dots and blue lume, but I have to say it has also grown on me in the last few weeks because I had no alternative to wear and I really started to like it also, lets see what I prefer in a Year from now:) and finally a lume-shot of the 16600 Seadweller (bezel one click off on pic, its perfectly centered otherwise) Love the more classic 16600 design (same goes for the Sub) and with time...... This is a nice, solid watch, definitely and the lume is very good, pearl included. The rotating bezel has 1/10th of a mm play in it, 120 solid clicks otherwise, on the ceramic its a touch better, but that's nitpicking. The bracelet on the 116610 Sub is superior and adjustable. The diving extension on this one did not try it out yet . These new Seadwellers seam quite perfect to me the sapphire glass itself and the height/thickness look good, so I´d appreciate all true specialists to point out which flaws there are (datewheel?) and what is different (or similar) to the gen. Any comments from the Forum very welcome. Time is what prevents everything from happening at once . ~ John Archibald Wheeler

Thx to Repwatch´s extraordinary post of his unique wonderful piece I started to admire this watch and got really into this but could neither afford the gen nor build a Franken. First I looked at the Marina Militare but than destiny struck and I found a solution, so after many sleepless nights and one month visiting the above post I happily present to You, in the most unconventional way, serious Purists beware (I love and I am into vintage, no seriousness intended here, this is a hommage), an addition to my fast-growing collection: the famous PAM203 (2005), originally with vintage Angelus movement, only available to some 150 selected few. Just look how the golden hands, specially the small second hand reflect the sun on the glass from the inside:) This 47 mm stainless steel case with a sandwich chocolate/grey dial is historically correct and simply magnificent! The gold hands, sub second hand and logo's " Luminor Panerai" and "8 Giorni Brevattato" 8 giorni means 8 days and brevettato means patented, referring to the original sixty year old and large sized, handwound Angelus SF calibre 240, 8 days power reserve, give this watch character that no other watch has... or ever will have again. Here is the famous and still ultra-secret Panerai-secret: “how to make modern USD out of old italian lire trick”: (Research from Dadog13: Mr. Ferretti sold them to Panerai in the 1996 - 190 pieces // each priced 110.000 lire italiane (about 60 usd each in 1996) http://www.rwgforum.net/topic/99316-nos-angelus-sf240-pam203pam267/ link with sublink). Et voilà: Today possibly worth 110.000 Usd. The patented device protecting and locking the crown tops this watch off. CG lever points upwards. Both versions were made, with downpointing CG also. Of course it has Reg. Tm. engraved in the crown guard. Dial: brown, with luminous hour markers and Arabic numerals. It consists of two superimposed discs: the top one is perforated with the numerals and hour markers while the lower one was covered with a thin layer of Super Luminova Small seconds at 9 o'clock on the left and the legendary 8 Giorni Brevettato symbol painted in white near the 3´position complete the balance. DIMENSIONS: 47mm x 13.5mm WEIGHT: 126 grams Vintage Mods (here is where the fun part really starts): Crystal: removed the original sapphire, made from corundum, 2 mm thick. Anti-reflective coating. Replaced with Plexiglas. the Plexy gives a superb look, very warm, to the whole watch, and especially the dial. The gold dials reflect on it. Tried to catch the fantastic domed shape and the reflecting edges of the huge Plexiglas in sunlight. Also close look onto the sandwich dial of this Vintage Panerai in the pics. The “Open Six” carries the DNA of the brand from the 1930s until today. Crown-lock: applied some vintage rust, than applied the gluegun trick to make it feel more hefty and solid; tried to replace the crown with a vintage Rolex seadweller crown but it did not fit with the CG-mechanism so had to remove it again. Rolex actually made all vintage Panerai watches, from 1936 through 1956 (Jake Ehrlich). Movement: first removed the vintage 8 days Angelus SF 240 movement (cost of just 60 USD back in the nineties) because it had only 15 rubis and was very lowbeat at only 18.000 bhp; the Angelus powered divers where used by Panerai in the 50´s and 60´s but I wanted to go more to the Rolex-made Style of the 30´s and 40´s. So because of the Rolex connection I replaced it with a more gen-like Rolex Cal. 618 / Type 1 with some dust in it. Both where antique and HANDWOUND, so finally decided to put a more modern automatic movement in: MOVEMENT: Asian 21j automatic, keeps perfect time now! Greatest power reserve I have in a 21j also! Just don´t look at it. Solid case back: After changing the movement couldn´t stand the looks of the 21j, so the see-through sapphire glass had to go and was replaced with a nice, solid SS caseback (not yet engraved with a pig-torpedo and “Kampfschwimmer” – lettering and dating of probably 1944 which I will do with a Dremel, but already well-brushed with steel wool) Water resistance: after modding: tested to 0,00 metres (originally 100 metres); waterproofing to at least 200 ATM intended Lume: the original Superluminova applied to the sandwich dial looked too bright for the look of a 73 year old watch. Different to the “Luminor” substance used in later produced watches and instruments, “Radiomir” , patented 1915 by Guido Panerai (he did not know then it was a million more times radioative than uranium and that it has a half-life of 1602 years, neither did Marie Curie) does not react instantly under the impact of light anymore in 2013, here is a vintage sample of a "Kampfschwimmer" - combat diver: oh, this didn´t work.... so the Superluminova was scratched off this pam PAM 203 to give it a more vintage look. Once the human eye has been in total darkness for a couple of hours, the remaining glow of the simulated “Radiomir” substance now becomes visible. Strap: Ordered an original vintage 8 Giorni Brevettato symbol, authentic hand made WWII Ammo strap made from 65 year old army leather pouches and José Maria over in Spain promised it would be ready for me this week, making this package complete and spectacular! Time is what prevents everything from happening at once . ~ John Archibald Wheeler Thx to Torobravos this time: Got this original “as is” in a perfect service from him, it’s a fun watch more than expected and got that nice strap on it until the vintage arrives: Enjoy the pics! Finally some lume-shots as requested of my hefty PAM 193 Tuna-Can (on the left) also Hope You had as much fun reading as I had writing for the Forum. A big thanks to You all and RWG and what I´ve learned just browsing around here. Any addition and comment Welcome:)

That was bad luck on the first time. Ways to go in mop: try to buy one that works from a member here on the forum/ order the same again with a 70% chance its 100% ok or as You really like the watch and model and are ordering it again go for the Asian eta (its just 70 to 80 usd more) and its a better movement anyways (doesn´t make the noise the basic comes with) and the smoother movement is nicer on a watch You want to keep (28.800 bhp). I don´t or very seldom wind my automatic reps. Too much stress on the mechanism in mop. Prefer to shake the wrist a little more in the beginning. From what I´ve seen in mop the factories have some kind of internal quality control and divide their pieces into three batches: the worst cases, misaligned dials, sloppy hands go into the basic ones, the next batch goes into Asian Eta´s and the best are reserved for the Swiss Eta´s (which are too expensive and "less swiss" anyways). I do buy the basic ones but its a lottery - You may get a 100% good one, but with most "something is wrong" meaning the movement is fine but the case isn´t, or all is fine but the dial is misaligned or...... These may be irrelevant minor issues or big ones like in Your case. Just a tip: I´ve bought Nyogel (Synthetic hydrocarbon grease) and first thing I do is put it on the stem to get it working smooth, its expensive but it does not attack the rubbers, first class experience and result. Good luck

Nice job. Made me want to try it someday. The lumekit is waiting on a shelf, waiting for a watch to have some other issue, once its open I´ll try.

Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder. Make the best out of it and build a recent Vintage for rough use, once You get over it. And than just use Your unique and special Submariner everyday in all situations You would otherwise take any watch off out of care. After some time it will aquire such a Patina and it will be so practical You´ll love and treasure it. You had a perfect dial - brandnew, very special but there are thousands of those. All great vintage Rolex like the doublered Seadweller are only worth their money with the original, wellworn and unique dials, not if the dials were replaced when servicing with brand new ones. Now You have a special and unique one - the only one around and made from a Gen piece. Show it around and tell people You wanted it like that, because its Yours. Maybe - just maybe it was Your lucky day when it got its marks and You didn´t sell it. Good luck and wear it well, just my opinion.

Cool vintage Rolex. Looks great on that strap. Wear it well.

Great way to go. Congrats. Like them exactly like the first with the 74, with numbers or stamps etc. gives the PAMs the real~look vintage patina. Wonderful job on the dark brown for the Marina Militare also and fantastic pics all around. Skilfull.

Hey Nanuq, You really got everything on the topic, panerai 153 said You would drop in on the subject, was just thinking of dropping from shelfs and banging into walls like I did with my rough survivor Piccard DSSD - not throwing from bridges and running over with the car:)! Have You ever tested an Olight M20-X Warrior special ops flashlight Your way? That would really interest me, its a fantastic light which takes a beating, highly reliable and off-topic but nevertheless. Pic attached think You would love it. Ahh - You can also freeze it:) And seeing that Submariners also take quite a heavy beating, fine to know. Below my DSSD which unadvertedly got roughly used falling off a shelf onto the marble floor (had to open it and re-glue the lumedots the first time), since than has been banging into walls, runs fine, almost no visible scratches, recent pic, good for a careless use as its already "pre-tested"

Hi Gavinelli, if You are looking for something individual, handmade the artisan way from old army leather ammo pouches I vouch for http://cbstraps.blogspot.pt/ in Spain. Scrolling down You have sample pictures, personally I like the ones with stamps or markings etc. on it. Albeit it takes 3 to 4 weeks for Your individual choice, prices are quite good in mop. Going to take a look at the link You provided too:)

When destiny strikes…….. sooner or later our watches take a hit! But is it a Rough Rep? Did it survive? Beaten, banged, dropped, miss-treated, ran over by the Hummer, fell into the pool, slipped into the mud, slid off the table, got hit by a lightning ….. You name it: How did it happen? How did it survive? How does it tick now? And as a cherry on the cake: Pics of the survivor! Thought this could be fun and instructive for all of us: Which watch takes a beating? Just name it, give Your vote or post the worst that happened to your Survivor Watch....  Intention is to get something like a “Rough-Rep”-ranglist for the most rough, robust, surviving, still good time keeping watches.

Awesomest! Yellow contrast with black is fantastic on the details. Amazing, stunning lume looks great - congrats. Great pictures too. Thanks

Just one....... it´s no fun. Just two would be a 16610 black sub and the panerai 212 flyback, 1950´s case; and just one DSSD for the beach, just one PAM 203 for dining with Lara Croft, just one PAM 193 for off-road-driving, just one AP V5 for diving, just one cheapo digital quartz Timex rep for Africa, a L&S Datograph for the Opera, a Daytona for the racing track (and a TAG Chrono backup), an IWC Ingenieur or Portuguese for the business meeting and just one Coke GMT for holidays on the Maledives ....................a Steelfish just for fun and ...... You all see where this is getting: You need just ONE for every occasion:) I´m happy again - with just ONE:)

Hey Jdkno thanks a lot, will go from there

Hi Experts and Owners, I was checking out today if I should get Toros Steelfish V2, H - Factory as my first Breitling rep. After deciding YES, I stumbled on this watchuseek post (nice one): http://forums.watchuseek.com/f67/breitling-superocean-steelfish-x-plus-a17390-468978.html and found the seconds hand looks quite different (please check pics), the dial numbers a little. Question: is this noticeable in real life? Should I bother or take it anyway? Would You buy Yours anytime again? Attached some comparison pics of a gen and below as last Toros V2. Thx for any answers/comments because I am yet deciding. Its a short post because I am in that "cantwaitanymorehaveto getitnowstate" How does it feel? did You waterproof Yours? Pls. help me out guys:) enjoy the pics

Welcome to the Forum, Jozo. Here You really get to know people from all over... and everything about watches. Welcome to the hobby.

Welcome to the Forum, right place to get all the information You need. Read a lot ........ and than read more before deciding. Have fun

Welcome to the Forum. Nice antique-looking watch You have there. If You click on Forums You will also find the trusted dealers section. Its a lot of fun and the best strategy looking around first and reading reviews of what other members have bought. Good luck, You´re on the right place already.

This is the Panerai 212 Luminor Flyback Chrono. Bought this model at Trusty (TT) from Andrew. Chose the more expensive NY Model because it was the one with a PAM Clasp and only on the QC pics saw it is also the only one which has OP XVIII engraved instead of OP XIX on the movement in the caseback. The other 212s figure the OPXIX. The watch feels great and because of the smooth glass You can even slide it under Your shirt sleeves. Lume is fantastic on it. Found out I prefer to move the sidelever UP like on this, instead of DOWN as with most Pams. No issues with this new version of synthetic sapphire, very good AR, no tint at all. TT have an expensive option for true saphire. Wearing this or a ceramic 166610 for the time being.