Jurgenk

siesta that's a beauty you just took that to another level... btw thanks for all the help on my 'project'....

I don't often like vintage pieces, but this one looks really nice, and really much more fun to wear than a brand new reissued Cali gen or rep...

jot9, sorry this was your observation earlier in this thread is this a gen picture or a rep? I was curious cause it looks like the hex bezel screws are sunk a little into the bezel didn't know if that was the way it was supposed to be

Wow i can't believe I just noticed what jarpo has been referring to. The new dial lacks steel frames for the numeral hour markers, subtle in the pics but believe me this is quite important when viewed in person, it makes the numbers on the dial pop. Two steps forward one step back What else is new, GZ? Guess we'll have to wait for V3!

Just to add-- No rep will ever have a convincing copy of this in house JLC movement, even superficially Yeah, rep factories, you can take that as a challenge ...

a grail watch for me for sure one of the members on another forum has a gen and it looks spectacular a perfect choice for a gen purchase imo can be had for <$6000 slightly used or "New" old stock (which I rather think to be convincingly reconditioned old stock that may have somehow never had a warranty or purchase registered). No rep at all "in house" movement courtesy of Jaeger Le Coultre Cool two crown GMT adjustment Beautiful 42 mm radiomir style case. It is one of my top 3 gens on my wishlist

Okay, I might be biased since I own the original white dialed version, but I think that it's a stunning watch either way. You can increase the look of authenticity by getting the gen strap, or an equivalent hornback strap, but realistically, no amount of tinkering with the dial will fool anyone who really suspects because of the placement of the crown in relation to the pushers. Anyone who will recognize the brown vs. black numeral color defect will already know from the placement of the crown, the relationship of the datewindow to the edge of the dial, the depth of the datewindow, the finish on the bezel screws, and the general "sub swiss" standard of finishing on the rep. It is the best finished rep that I have owned by quite a considerable margin (better than any breitling or PAM rep by far) but it is nowhere close to swiss standards. I would get the nearly correct cream dial and enjoy it if you like the design. You won't be going into an AP shop or going to a gen AP get together any time soon no matter what they do with the numeral color which IMO doesn't impact the aesthetics of the watch.

this one's pretty messed up, the bezel screws are sunk about 0.5 mm below the bezel

I know I've said that the hornback is imperfect, but the rep strap still draws compliments from people with reasonable taste. From a distance it looks nice, it's just not supple or subtle on closer inspection. I can only imagine that any reasonable hornback (HK tan, AP bands, or even the gen AP hornback) ought to just drop jaws in person, because they look amazing in all of the pictures that I've seen. Now with the new improved safari dial I think it's a good investment.

That HK tan strap looks sharp. The thing I love about Aaron's work is that the quality of the hides are first rate, and the work looks clearly hand-made and "custom", i.e., the opposite of mass produced. Just a warm fuzzy feeling from wearing... This is probably the best next thing to getting the actual AP strap, looks much better than the other commercial offerings with hornback like hides. By the way, did you have him make the strap to fit a conversion kit, or the hardware that comes with a secs at 12 leather strap model? I guess this is important for that custom fit...

oops my mistake is that what they call a bezel??? yeah, what he said! So now I am intrigued, how do you remove the top bezel from the case, is that where the tweezers come into play? I thought I recalled from reading Archimede's post a while back that he used an special screwdriver he got from an AP service guy, in order to separate the front bezel from the case? Is there another technique?

Gen safari's have a cream bezel and dial face with silver white subdials

This is a big improvement but before I start rooting around for a bezel removing tool (special screwdriver) I'll need to have a cream bezel too. I'm actually very happy with my off white/silver dial as it is. It's taking on a bit of creaminess from sun exposure. But just to have the contrast in the subdial / dial color would be nice. Wait for them to make the bezel match too before you order. They need to get these things right the first time.

I don't take this as an insult In my environment it would be gauche to flaunt $120,000 worth of gen watches in a week. I can't wear most of my collection of reps for this reason, and actually don't wear high dollar value gens or reps when I am going into meetings where this would be off-putting (especially ITE - in this economy)... your experience in this hobby follows a hegelian triad you'll start pleasantly surprised by the quality of reps these days (korus), then be emboldened enough by the quality of superreps to think they are nearly gen/1:1/parts exchangeable/BS (hubris), and then have that all become shattered by noticeing some minute but completely damning flaws. you'll then spent weeks if not months findings ways to circument these damning flaws. you'll fix them, and go through the cycle again with your super modded uber rep, be thrilled only to have those flaws be replaced by even more damning flaws, as your eyes and judgement get even more trained. finally you can only cure this buy buying gens or making frankens... And you'll go whichever way your sensibilities and your finances allow.

nice SOH and strap combo! for me, bone stock with thin date fonts and all, awaiting aggressive modification shortly...

This guy seems to reside in Long Island, and there's no clear connection to Rene Rivkin

You have to admire the persistence for taking on and completing a project like this. MBW Frankens with gen movements of this sort used to sell for $3400+ several years ago or so I have heard...

Interesting collection... of all kinds of stuff

That's a great 233K and a nice strap to go with... How do you like this strap compared to HK Tan? Was it a long lead time?

your result justifies all that work-- a beautiful watch, you'll enjoy it all the more because you had the satisfaction of pulling it all together.

Really nice, Kruzer. I am inspired...

And old fave

Agree with Takashi This was a cost cutting/anti piracy move on Panerai's part... Many changes going on at Panerai Economy changing everything in terms of scale, marketing, production numbers, apparently. Manufattura in house movements, new designs, made to boost exclusivity and kill piracy Decreasing productions of current models Reducing overall production to reduce oversupply

Okay, got it. Thanks for the other advice too. I didn't know you could get down to 100 ft. I'll have to try diving with this too after I grease the gasket. Oh, and nice, umm... watch display...

Happy belated birthday Kruzer Thanks for your advice ! Those movements look amazing Even the datewindow is perfect, I can't wait to see the finished result...