reficul

Thanks for the great pics!

I seem to recognize that the most evident difference between our reps and the gen is the deepness of the dial black...

I think it might be due to the dumb AR on the crystal and the thickness of the crystal. Actually, for the gen, it looks as though it is AR-less. You really need to bring the watch to a certain angle and peer and SCRUTINIZE real hard to see a tiny glimpse of it.

So, if yours is spotting the mineral version, it looks very close to the gen in fact!

And with the non-exploding crystal (by DSN), the centre of the crystal for the rep loooks a little too heavy weighted in the center. Guess its DSN's method to prevent the self-ingnited explosion. (LOL) Well, maybe its a technology that Panerai has with this special domed sapphire xtal that rep is unable to do currently? I really have no idea. *shrugs*

What i dont see between the rep and gen is where the other $8000 went to on the gen,

Reficul, now you have a good rep would you say that you get value for money on the gen?

LOL.... no way that I would think that my 217 was worth that money! LOL

And why did I buy it? nah, it was from a trade, for my other vintages and I did earn a little from that as the trade value was pretty low on the 217. Anyway, I will sell this 217 soon when the price is right in future. Will enjoy it in the meantime.

Bottom line is, keep your rep. Its no point getting the gen IMHO, an opinion from someone who LOVES Panerai and someone who HAS a gen. LOL....

Thanks, that's a Molina black gator. Originally it had white stitching but I stained it black, looks a lot better IMO.

That was certainly very nice! Really very sleath looking and neat!

Can I ask what is the tan vintage looking leather strap you put on, as shown in the last few pictures? Any url you can point to me? Thank you in advance! :-)

You are truly a master!

To do a relume job like this is impossible for myself to do. You are truly a master there! With your skills, I am sure you can tackle all kinda relume works! Perfect! and thanks for sharing!

Thats a wonderful piece!

May I ask if your dial fonts (LUMINOR PANERAI 1950) is the correct ivory color? Mine appears a little too dark and dull. I have Davidsen to send me another in fact. Here is the long awaited pics of unmodded mine with comparison to a 217:

would not advise you to remove ar from inside of crystal ... Do it from the outside .... check with the tech guy's REGARDING CRYSTAL PRESSURE ....( I used a vise grip pliers on my fiddy ... could not find a case back opener...LOL) sssurfer ..watchmeister ... delta ... flav.. The Zigmeister ... chieftang.. et all ...LIVE STRONG WEAR IT WELL

I see, I will be extra careful with I try to remove the AR then. Thanks a million for that advice! I never thought of that!

And oh, Babola, what strap is that in your Fiddy as shown in your avatar? Looks really neat! I am hunting for a vintage looking tan strap for mine.

Gen 217 owner !? Congrats !

So can we see some pics of your ulti-Fiddy in its current condition ?

cheers,

babola

Most definitely! I am in office now and will do so tonight~ I will post my 217 side by side with it too. :-)

when my ar crystal scratched... used aluminum mag rim polish .. if you don't have a dremel .. a rag will do .. took the scratch right out... works well on deep scatches on the metal too, for this you need a dremel .. after the dremel take out the fine swirls with a polishing rag and more Aluminum mag polish.. this works better than jewelers rouge... fine scatches in metal, just the polishing rag and some mag polish works great, ... get it at auto stores ...took out some of the ar coating too

Thanks alot for the advice! Will do so asap when I get my caseback opener! :-)

Mod ?!

On DSN Ultimate Fiddy ?!

Tell us more mate...

babola

well, I will need to redo the case so that the CG appears to be sitting away from the case more. Currently, you cannot really see the "flat" side of the CG before the curvy side of it. Secondly, I will need to remove the irritating AR from the crystal. The gen AR is sooo subtle that you almost can't see any AR at all. Thirdly, I will do a final finish touchup on the crown surface as the finishing currently appears a little too rough. I will also need to redo the inside of the CG lever too. And finally, I will remove those fingerprints on the gears, swan neck regulator and the movement bridges.... And maybe some little touch up here and there....

So, as you can see, its all very minimal work for me, but I am kinda a perfectionist here. And since it is so accurate, I thought that I should make it close to near perfect gen! I might post a picture with a gen 217 to compare when I am done with all the works.

...so are you guys planning to post some photos of the latest Ultimate-Fiddy...or do we need to beg ?!

Hello Babola,

I will, but not now as I am still in the process of doing my personal modd. Will definitely share pics when its done!

sssurfer = stainless steel surfer.

I found this more appropriate than silver to a replica forum.

----

Btw, just in order to avoid any possible misunderstanding in case anyone interested in removing AR coat read this thread in the future:

Cape Cod cloths are only to remove AR from sapphire crystals! DON'T use them on mineral crystals!

Stainless Steel Surfer, now that is really a good one! ROTFL

Thanks again mate. You have been a great help. I was just wondering for ALL DSN fiddy crystal, did you guys have to remove the AR as well?

4 freaking months! And I send a reminder mail almost everytime when he mentioned that it is ready to be shipped (almost every week!) Go figure....

got mine last friday. this thing was worth the 4 month wait. Awesome piece!! the strap is top notch too!!

Yes, I was most surprised at the movement. The movement just needs a little "rodico touching up" and remove those finger print smear and it looks really close to the gen! My friend has a gen 127 and we compared it. There is really minimal flaws between Davidsen's and this one....

The movement keeps time to +2-3 second for 3 days already! Top notch!

Well, those were two links to caseback openers for 47mm:

http://cgi.ebay.com/New-Arrival-custom-mad...VQQcmdZViewItem

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...atchlink:top:it

Hahaha... Sorry, I meant to say its time for me to get one, not find one! I saw your earlier post to the links!

Thank you for taking time off to help me here sssurfer! :-)

PS: sssurfer = Super Silver Surfer?

Cape cod clothes.

http://cgi.ebay.com/New-Arrival-custom-mad...VQQcmdZViewItem

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...atchlink:top:it

Confirmed.

Even if chieftang's double side AR coat is in compliance with military specs, i.e. it must stand at least 20 pumice-stone strokes without showing any scratches.

This puts it halfway between sapphire and glass. So, if placed on a glass crystal, that AR coating actually makes the crystal harder to get scratched.

Unfortunately, not the same on sapphire. But if one really wants double AR coating like on some gens (not PAMs), that makes for a fair compromise.

Thank you sssurfer! Now I need to find a good caseback remover to remove the AR!

Thanks again! I will post pics once everything is done!

One question about AR, in general. I read an Omega review yesterday where the writer said he doesn't approve of double-AR coating on watches. If anything, just on the underside of the sapphire crystal, since having AR on top is more prone to scratching?

Confirmation?

Definitely. The AR hardness is not as hard as Sapphire and when the top AR is scratched, the sapphire crystal will appears as though it is damaged.

Hello folks!

I finally got it! After tons of romancing emailing session with Davidsen, I managed to get the ultimate Fiddy!

My thoughts, the whole watch looks wonderful! I really cannot complain much... seriously....

The only few flaws I found is the AR on the sapphire is way too much. The gen looks almost NO AR in fact. Hence I wanted to remove the AR tint on mine. Any ideas how to remove it safely?

The other thing is, I am looking for a tool to open this caseback as this caseback is huge! Anyone can recommend me how to get the caseback opener for this fiddy? I even thought of using a clay and pressing it onto the caseback while the clay is wet to form the mould so that when it is hard, I can use it to open the caseback... LOL Not too sure if the clay will be too soft then.... lol

Thanks for any ideas mates! I will find time to post pictures when I have done all the necessary upgrades myself! :-)

hopefully someone remembered a particular wonderful post where this person made himself a very beautiful leather strap with a step by step approach to it.

He showed details of the stitching, etc, etc.

I just hope that someone has bookmarked it or save it somewhere...

Thanks for any links!!!!!!!!!!!

A BIG THANK YOU to you dadog! you are the best! :-)

check www.strapculture.com

and this link : PAW MARKER

there you should be able to find what you are looking for a reasonable price!

Hello folks,

I really love the vintage looking strap with a distressed look on a historic pam.

Would like to ask where can I get one without burning the bank? I know Mario Paci has beautiful straps, but I cannot afford one. I do know that V custom make straps but seems like its out of stocks? May I ask who else do/sell vintage distressed leather for both 24 and 26mm?

Thank you for any help!

Best Rgds,

Reficul

Geez... Thank you very much guys for helping a noob and being so very nice here.

Seems like the best of the box is Davidsen's and I guess I will get the 127 from him... Hope he still remembers me though! ;-)

Have a great day!

Hi Folks!

I would like to hear your opinions especially those who has owned a fiddy, and would like to share your experiences with everyone.

From the previous post, it seems like Davidsen's Pam has a hit and miss finish and poor fonts, etc? But it seems to me that he has the best fiddy isn't it?

I realised that most of the fiddy has a inaccurate wider case at 6 and 12 after the bezel which the gen doesn't have the extra size.

So would like to hear your opinions and comments... And of cos, if you got a Pam 127 fiddy for sale, please pm me! Would love one that is very accurate with no explosive crystal! LOL

Thanks guys!

reficul

Thank you Ettienne and Roland! You guys are great! These instructions are way better! Now, I need to find out from the net which part of the hemisphere I am in! LOL

Thank you again and have a greeeeat day!

From this website http://www.thewatchquote.com/Panerai-Lumin...tos-No_4058.htm, I found the instruction:

"Instructions for use: with the hour hand directed to the sun, turn the lunette to position the point corresponding to north half way between the hour hand and the 12 o