kosemkamtsan

i don't think McCain could handle the buzz.

Phoband: i have family in Israel and i agree with your assessment. Actually, it is 3-4 years of service after high school, not 2. Check out Project for a New American Century. it is the group most of the Neocons in Bush's administration belong to and have belonged to for many years. their charter is quite telling with regards to why we may have gone to war. Also, check out the nice list of dignitary members. Includes Cheney, Rummy, Wolfy, Libby and many other wonderful awesome leaders. http://www.newamericancentury.org/statementofprinciples.htm

ryyannon, not sure if you are joking? i saw the planes hit the twin towers with my own eyes. as far as the pentagon and pennsylvania, i've read the different theories and seen many of the documentaries as well. Whether they were missiles or planes, Al-Qaida attacked us and admitted to doing so. But yes, in other ways this is Bush's war and if you read both the biographies and the political sources corroborating them, Bush has spoken of the "political capital" his father wasted when he didn't finish the job in Iraq. Bush says something along the lines of, "if i ever get elected president and i have the chance, i won't waste my political capital, which is what my father did. i'll finish the job my dad should have finished". yikes! Of course Americans would rather just elect someone they feel comfortable having a beer with, rather than a level-headed statesman. grrrrr. I fear this is Rome all over again.

both reps. the 15, 30, and 45 in the bezel are not filling out their spaces enough. other than that, really nice!!

i think we would never go to war based on lies again if the draft was once again reinstituted. I think that some type of mandatory national service plan should be instituted as well. This would inculcate us to be more aware of politics, and it would force our news programming to become more substantive about national as well as international issues. I partly base this opinion on knowing people in other countries who do have to serve military time after high school, and seeing how knowledgable everyone is on world affairs and how mature the citizenry are. But more importantly, our American culture is more and more disenchanted with politics and government, and this leads to the type of ignorance that allowed ourselves to be swept up in the spectacle of lies and fear that resulted in going to Iraq. Opinions??

Longines: Love the crown guard area and the pewter color of the case.

yes!!!! our hero speaks!!!

I've seen this before. i think it happens when they are doing web uploads of new products. let's cross our fingers that it is a big one!!!

Love the Da Vinci!! great deco face, cool case shape, awesome strap!! thanks for the great post!!!

agree that the 183 is close, but make sure to get the asian swan neck high beat movt. with dagger. Also, the gen 183 has a very subtle AR coating. Some other things to improve upon are the dial font coloring and shapes (the words "radiomir", "panerai" and "Black Seal" should have an almost light brown tint; and then of course there's the letter "A"). So... i guess what i'm saying is... the 183 is not as perfect as it could be.

gorgeous!!! totally agree!!

The Ingy comes stock with a datewheel that seems to be specific to only that model (although incorrect). So it seems that the factories can make a one off datewheel at a cost effective scale. this would be even better than having to go to Lello. But your point is still a good one to fall back on if they couldn't get it right initially.

This could be super-repped with a GEN ETA 2892-2A for maybe $100 added to cost of production. However, your date wheel point is correct unless we can leave it to them to make it right from scratch (wasn't this done for the Ingy?).

@Toad: respectfully disagree. the automatic dial is less busy and therefore would probably appeal to just as many buyers. Also, this watch could take an Eta movt with correct date font straight from the rep factory!! This is an obvious advantage for those of us who don't want to mess with sending our watches out and paying for all kinds of mods.

why haven't they repped this??? total beauty, perfect size, much sophistication, utter simplicity and sport all rolled into one. probably easy to rep with a cheap eta movt. A no brainer!!!

1) IWC Big Pilot 2) Maurice Lacroix decentrique GMT 3) Lange 1

thinking to get the montblanc pilot. Does the pilot have a similarly recessed date wheel to the 3 chrono version? i don't mind that the numbers are fuzzy, just that the date wheel is not recessed as badly as the 3 chrono. The models with the eta movt. (gmt and date) seem to not have this problem. any input is appreciated...

bumpity bump!!

in light of the 200+ posts for the mark XVI, i thought it would be appropriate if we topped that mark even more quickly for the BP with hopeful and strong requests. Also, any updates as to where this model is in production are appreciated... Bump away!!!

i'm unnerved by a few things: 1) incorrect crown thickness and/or number of teeth 2) incorrect color of dial fonts (should be off white) 3) number 2 on sandwich dial is wrong 4) H movement back plate has "Officine Panerai" written too blue, too thick and too large 5) THE LETTER A IS WRONG !!!!!!!

Yes, i too am in need of anything better than the 48 fanged nightmare i have now. Are crowns going to be available for the manual wind 6497's (111E)? I'll take Palp, gen, whatever...

Angus 111E: "A" in Panerai on the face is not correct. fonts are not lumed correctly. crown has too few teeth (48 instead of 60). movement is close but the etching of words in it is not quite sharp enough to name just one issue with it. The AR is a nice purple but not accurate. The crown guard lever is too loose when opened. When winding the crown, you get wind-back. The crown guard lever is flat at the end and should be rounded a bit. Lastly, some find the fonts to be a bit too green depending on the batch. Also, some find the fonts to be a bit to thin overall. 217 Destro: "A" in panerai is not correct. crown guard pin not flat. Lever is loose when opened. H movement fonts are way too blue and large compared to gen--this is the biggest tell in my opinion. The best answer, i think, is that neither one is really even at 98% to gen right now. If you care a great deal about a gen looking Pam, go with the Angus 111E, get a "B" closed caseback from Angus for 30 bucks, round off the end of the lever a bit, put some glue in the lever pin area to keep lever from being too flimsy, have the AR removed from the crystal, either get a palp/gen crown or file the inside of the crown to match the outside bevel and shave down the teeth a bit (I've done this with great results), and have the sausage dial relumed by a master like Vac or The Zigmeister. This will yield you a 98% rep (perfect excepting the "A" in Panerai issue, the crown wind-back, and if you keep the crown and file it, still only 48 teeth). For the money, i think this is the best you can do right now.

i think it's pretty common for the crown to not be perfectly aligned while turning. you can open up the case back, and inspect and reinsert the crown stem to check. to do this requires a ball of tape for the case back, and knowing which screw to turn counterclockwise 1 to 2 full turns. You can search the forum for that info.

my last post got me thinking... If you were "Father Time", what watch would you feel most accurately represents your purpose in the universe and why?

I'm so glad this post has generated such lively exchanges. Tim, well done sir! Regarding whimsy and watches, somthing about combining the two seems paradoxical, no? Granted, if time was all that mattered, i'd get an atomic watch. However, color explosion as the backdrop to my slave-driving hour and minute hands seems almost comical. Time is austere in its nature. If you were the manifestation of time, what backdrop would you feel best represents your purpose in the universe? All references to time being man-made need not remark.