mikellem

I agree with Gran... PayPal is getting a lot tougher on Replica Dealers.. This is why a lot of our dealers are going thru 3rd party billing. This way the dealer is protected, except I hear it's very expensive.. Thanks for the heads up gran.. MM

M, I like it.. How did you get your strap so dark? MM

Tx, Thanks very much..You thoughts are very well respected! I am sure there has to be a new Noob in the work, I hope anyway!! MM

Why don't you double check with watcheden yourself? MM

Red did an incredible job! Thanks my friend... MM

I don't know what you guys expect from a QC Pics, but this is as good as it gets... Don't pick it apart! Remember, these are reps and they are not perfect.. Watch looks great, ship it! MM

Me too! MM

+1 most definitely! Good call...

Thanks Yann, keep us posted! MM

Pics look great, but you doing something wrong to not capture the brown dial. Your dial looks black.. I have the watch so I know the real color... MM

Most reps the lume does not last. That's why we send out watches out to be re-lumed! MM

Thanks HackR, we had a great time. I was amazed at the Photo Equipment! Top notch and very professional. And Redwatch's shots prove his professionalism Also Asimplefarmer is a great guy also. Very smart and also a professional photographer more into fashion... We had a fun time... But than night Redwatch was doing all the work taking pics... Thanks Red and thanks Asimplefarmer. Two top both guys...

Thanks guys, I could not have done the review with out great photographer Red Watch! Yann, I am very curious about doubt what Connie says about the N V2 if it's going to happen or not! Email me please. Thanks Yann...

The rep is on a replica strap. It's very heavy leather except not a copy of the gen step which you can buy for $230!

I went to Beverly Hills Boutique. They were out of stock, except a customer whom was buying 2 new pams was wearing one. The rep is as close as can be! MM

Hey K, thanks for helping MM

I agree K! MM gianton, me too! MM

And great photo shot! I could not have done it without you Red! MM

I don't know but trying to find out! Thanks guys, I am glad I can help! MM

General Specs What a super cool watch! This has to be one of the greatest dive watches introduced by any company. Super rugged and great looking. Keeping with the simple theme, this Panerai watch is classy and simple. The automatic movement (with sub second and date feature) makes this a great tool watch. With the patented locking crown and sleek unidirectional bezel, this watch is unmistakably PANERAI! This has the newer luminova painted black dial. The 44 mm brushed stainless steel case is large and captivating. You won't be able to take your eyes off this watch. But try to keep one eye out for sharks if you are diving. This is your next favorite watch! Gen Movement Specs Automatic mechanical exclusive Panerai OP III calibre, 13¼ lignes, 21 jewels, Côtes de Genève decoration on the bridges. PANERAI personalized oscillating weight. Glucydur® balance, 28,800 alternations/hour. Incabloc® anti-shock device. Power reserve 42 hours. Chronometer certificate (C.O.S.C.). Functions: hours, minutes, small seconds, date, calculation of immersion time. Case: diameter 44 mm, brushed steel AISI 316L. Helium valve on the left side. Bezel: brushed steel with polished edges, anti-clockwise unidirectional rotating bezel with graduated scale for calculating the time of immersion and ratchet click at minute intervals. Back: screw, brushed steel, 3 mm thick. Device protecting the crown: (protected as a Trade Mark) brushed steel. Crystal: sapphire, formed of corundum, 5.1 mm thick with magnifying lens over the date at 3 o'clock. Anti-reflective coating. Water-resistance: 1000 meters. Strap: rubber with PANERAI personalized steel buckle. Now that I have shown the Gen specs let's take a look at the two replica 243's that I have in my hand. For this review I have the 243H Factory and the 243 Noob Factory. Bezel At first glance, the Noob looks more like the gen. The reason? The Bezel is totally different from the H Factory. The H Factory bezel IMO looks like it's not part of the watch. The Noob version has a much better copy of the bezel and makes the watch look balanced like it should. Bezel Clicks The gen has a 60-click bezel. The Noob has a 60 click bezel. The H has a 120-click bezel. According to Andrew and Josh, the H Factory made the bezel 120-click for a reason. They say that a 60-click bezel will wear out in a short period of time. I personally have no comment on this since I really do not know. Crown Guards Both crown guards are good except the Noob is more refined and fits the case better. Sapphire Crystal The H Factory has a gorgeous and very clear crystal. The Noob Factory crystal in very cloudy and will have to be re-manufactured. You will see later in the pics how bad the Noob Crystal is, and how good the H crystal is. Lume H factory does have Super-luminova, and has a decent glow. The Noob factory was suppose to have Super-luminova (except on my series there is no Super-luminova and the glow is terrible). Case Back Both are engraved ok, except the H Factory has a nicer, deeper engraved back. Conclusion I am personally going to send my Noob 243 back and wait until the corrected version with Super-luminova dial and hands. I am also waiting for the crystal on the Noob Factory to get replaced. I personally am not concerned about the 60-click bezel, as I will not be using it much. Plus, I still do not understand why Josh and Andrew are saying that the Noob bezel with 60 clicks is going to wear out. Maybe they are 100% correct, I don't honestly know. The H Factory 243 has a gorgeous clear crystal, very good lume, Super-luminova dial and hands. The H Factory has also sharper engraving on the back case. To me and to asimplefarmer (who owns the H Factory version used for this interview) the H Factory bezel feels the same but looks out of place. The angles are all wrong. Before I thought about doing this review, one of our very knowledgeable members, txcollector, explained to me the differences in the dial before I even received my watch. Boy was he correct. So in conclusion, both watches have their positives and negatives. Now let’s let the actual photos tell the truth. The pics below were taken by our good friend redwatch. He has a professional photo studio that is just amazing. Thanks red for all your help, and I also want to thank asimplefarmer for bringing his Pam 243H to the photo shoot! Cheers guys, hope you enjoy the pics below...file://localhost/Users/doddsbook/Library/Caches/TemporaryItems/msoclip/0/clip_image002.gif MM H-Factory PAM 243 vs Noob Factory PAM 243 (H-Factory is the one with the brown leather strap, Noob Factory with the black rubber)

You welcome guys, Thank you! I have never written a review before, so I tried to be as thorough as possible. If I left anything out, I apologize and free free to ask me! Later Today. Short Review on the Pam 243 Noob Factory VS H Factory.. You will enjoy this review. I had both watches in my hand for the 243 review.. Also photos for the 243 review were taken my our wonderful Redwatch, I have the Noob 243 (which is going back to the dealer because of too many problems that need to be addressed. Asimplefarmer had the Pam 243 H for this review.. See you later today for this review.. MM

Panerai History and Pam 390 Review In the 1860s, Guido Panerai set up a workshop in Florence, Italy making precision mechanical instruments. The workshops carried on into the 20th century as "Officine Panerai”. By the 1930s the workshops were making a range of wrist-worn instruments for frogmen, compasses, depth gauges and the like. In 1935 Officine Panerai were commissioned by the Italian Navy to construct watches for use underwater; specifically ones that could be read underwater. After some initial prototypes Officine Panerai delivered its first product diving watches in 1938. The prototypes were fitted with Rolex movements and Rolex crowns and case backs. Officine Panerai progressively improved its designs with increased luminosity of numerals, hands and the now famous crown-locking device. Later models were fitted with an Angelus 8 day (marked "8 giorno") movement. The radioactive radium which gave such legibility to the Radiomir models was replaced with the distinctly less toxic compound "Luminor". Things get a bit hazy here, but as far as I can see the equipment-manufacturing end of Officine Panerai drifted out of business after World War II ended. In 1993, Officine Panerai started to reproduce the Luminor and the Mare Nostrum chronograph, basically targeted at the collector's market. These were produced in very limited numbers. In 1997 Officine Panerai was acquired by the Vendôme group. Under the new management the same models were produced, still in small numbers. However in a clever marketing move, a few "unique editions" were produced each year with an intriguing movement or case design. This brings us to the present day. There seems to be no great rush to produce Officine Panerai watches in huge numbers. Collectors are snapping up vintage models and "pre - Vendôme". Panerai has just launched their most exciting range of production watches and unique editions yet. It will be intriguing to see what happens in the next few years, but with a steady hand on the helm, Panerai might well become one of the most collectable brands around whilst still not being seen on every street corner. Panerai PAM 390 What we know so far about the PAM 390 is a Special Edition of 2000 pieces. This comes in a special edition presentation box (larger than the standard issue) together with the famous "Scroll" that accompanies all Panerai Special Editions. They will be only available through boutiques worldwide. As we have seen there are many owners who have been kind enough to share their new acquisition with us. This watch was little known around the Panerai community and as with many of these micro edition sprung out of nowhere to "now here" (the love guru) and blindsided most. However, as many have also noticed there where catalog pictures last year but no mention until they hit the streets. Mr. Bonati played this one very close to the vest and was able to keep the surprise and the lid on this release as the Internet buzz has once again beaten the street with AD's scrambling to find out about this beauty. This is a keeper and is sure to find its place with collectors that like the PAM 249 and many more. The Panerai 390 is a real beauty with the famous "chocolate" dial and aged patina application for the numeral and index application. The watch sports the classic OP1 movement with a highly polished case reminiscent of the PAM 000. In fact, it is very similar except for that gorgeous brown dial and aged patina that gives a more historic feel to it. And yes, gold hands that pop unlike the subdued hands of the PAM 000 which almost blend into the background. OK I won't bore you with any more fluff and take you to the pictures. On a side note, the brown dial is almost impossible to represent in photos without using artistic licensed Photoshop and the pictures here are sans Photoshop, but with the reference of a black dial and a brown 232 you can get a feel for the color. Below are some pics of the Gen 390 (borrowed from a couple of Paneristi reviews). There will be some more comparative pics to come at the end of this review. Also below is a pic of the Pam 000, 390 and the 232. Very similar in my opinion except for the brown Tobacco Dial on the Pam 390. It is stupendous! As noted, these pics have been borrowed from Paneristi. Our photos will follow shortly at the end of the review! The 390 that we are reviewing was purchased form my favorite dealer Andrew, at trustytime.com. I have always found Andrew to be the most knowledgeable and comfortable to deal with. He is always honest and upfront, and handles problems immediately without trying to confuse the buyer like many other dealers do. I have been dealing with Andrew for about 8 years and personally I would not trade dealers ever. Lets take a look and talk about the Pam 390 H Factory Rep. I have one in my hand as I am writing this review. I normally in the past have not liked brown Pam watches. The 390 dial is a gorgeous Tobacco Brown which pops with the antique lume and subdued gold hands. The crown guard is excellent in construction and the fit to the case is extremely well done. The crown guard lever is a little loose, except it snaps closed with a very positive action. Clean and smooth. This is probably one of the best Pam reps I honestly have ever seen. The rep looks Gen!! The fit and finish of this could not be better. All case edges are very clean and smooth. The crystal of course is Sapphire with colorless AR as per the gen. I happened to take a stroll to Rolex in Beverly Hills Ca. The store was out of stock except a visiting customer was wearing one. Looking at the gen and looking at my rep when I came home was scary. I feel this will be one of the super reps of the year. The 390 case back has extremely crisp writing. It has the "pig" or Torpedo Logo engraved on the back case. This a Boutique Watch with 2000 pcs. made in Sept 2011. When the watch first arrived, it sold for about $4500. Right now they are going for $8000 to $9000, and according to Panerai, they are very hard to get. This is one model that is not dropping in price in this poor economy, like other modes have. The watch is lumed with a Patina Superluminova. The watch has correct vintage style gold hands. MOVEMENT: Asian 6497 Manual Handwind Movement, Cortes de Geneve Decoration on Bridges, Correct Shape Dagger Swan Neck Regulator, Highbeat 21600bph. This is one watch which should be in everybody's watch box. You will not regret it. Here is where I purchased my Pam 390: http://yourtrustytime.com/ written by mikellem photos - shot by our famous redwatch asst - asimplefarmer Replica and Genuine photo comparisons to follow. I want to thank Andrew at www.Trustywatchguy.com, for getting this watch to me right before the Chinese New Year. When Andrew promises you something, you can guarantee what he says is going to happen! And that's a fact. Thanks Andrew. I also want to thank redwatch for using an incredible professional photo set and his asst. (another RWG member) asimplefarmer And now on to the pics: Here are some side by side comparison shots:

+1 K Good judgement wm.. MM

Nah... MM

He is very credible. I have picked something up from him once.. Not a problem,,,order it! MM