PAMman

If you really want a hard working, everyday watch I would be slightly wary of picking a chrono. Sure I've got chronos, and no doubt I will end up with more, both Swiss and Asian 7750s. So far the Asians have been fine but as I have 20+ (maybe 30+) watches none of them gets used every day. I have had a couple of Asians swapped to Swiss movements and more to swap later.

I consider that, out-of-the-box, the Ingy and the Breitling Steelfish are possibly the best 2 reps in terms of quality and robustness with proper Swiss movements. These are watches that you can wear anywhere without fear of being 'called out' and you can reasonably expect them to last a lifetime of regular use - proper, no-nonsense, understated but classy watches. Get one of these with the ETA movement and if it is serviced properly it will outlive you.

I have been considering buying one of these as I have a Swiss 7750 without a home and I know that the genuine sub-dial and centre secs hands are easily available, so the Swiss movement can be matched to correctly fitting hands. Just add the gen crown / tube and this must be a solid performer, close to gen quality.

Can anyone confirm if these Seamaster chronos are all the same from all sources, or are there minor variations from one seller to another?

Excellent watch and a great post. I have been considering one of these as I have a Swiss 7750 without a home and I know that the genuine sub-dial and centre secs hands are easily available. Just add the gen crown / tube and this must be a solid performer, close to gen quality.

Can anyone confirm if these Seamaster chronos are all the same from all sources, or are there minor variations from one seller to another?

I have one of the 'old school' Bond reps with the good bracelet etc but I recently got a genuine clasp that I wanted to swap into the rep bracelet and so far it's proving to be a problem as the pins aren't the same thickness, so I fully agree with the above comment that a braclet swap is likely to prove frustrating.

What about buying the current rep and, if the braclet is a real let-down, you can always put it onto a genuine Omega blue shark strap which is an option on this watch? I bought an unused one of these on a gen forum, complete with the genuine Omega buckle for

I drive an Audi too, an A4 though, and I found a genuine Audi chrono which was a white dialled Audi version of the 1980s Orfina Porsche PVD watch. I have only seen one other example listed with a dealer of collectors watches so it's fairly rare but for an Audi owner / watch nut it's a keeper.

Once more, an amazing review. Glad to see one of my favourites scored so high. However, I'm going to question one bit:

Every single pusher on my strap works as per the genuine. The only possible fault is the off-coloured link, but I've seen gen photos where the same link is off-coloured.

Yeah, every link on my bracelet works too. I don't see how the pin would stay in place unless the correct locking mechanism was in each link. I took the bracelet of my SS totally apart to polish the centre links so I know that they all work properly.

I have had a genuine GST chrono in my hands and the clasp link was off coloured as well, but slightly less so than my rep and the Ti Aquatimer is the same. It is obvious that the link that is attached to the bracelet clasp needs to be SS so that it can be welded to the clasp, which (in my mind) confirms that the link is welded rather than glued as many suggest. Surely if the link was glued onto the clasp then it would be Ti to match the bracelet. I suspect that the gen uses a SS base for this link and then it's Ti coated (if that's possible) or else it's SS blasted with aluminium oxide which would account for the closer colour match to the Ti.

These are sweet reps and top of my list of desirables.

Fantastic post. I really got 'into' reps because of my interest in Panerais but this model quickly caught my interest. First of all I bought an SS version and got The Zigmeister to fit a genuine ETA 7750 and now I have a titanium version, a decorated Swiss ETA movement and a genuine dial waiting to go to The Zigmeister for a movement / dial swap and AR. Now I have both the SS and Ti versions and both will have the ETA movements and the gen dials really set them apart from regular reps (I have now got a gen SS dial to get fitted too).

You can probably tell that I am a big fan of these which I consider to be one of the best 'super-reps' available.

The Omega Dynamic 'RAF' is a lovely watch, similar in concept, but with its own style and both great quality and value.

Thanks for all of the comments. Maybe it's just time for a complete new PC. This one has a 1.3 P4 with only 256Mb RAM (4 X 64) so it serously needs more RAM. I just couldn't figure out the 168 v 184 pin issue. The modules in mine look the same as the pics of any 184-pin modules (long with 2 notches in the middle) and unlike 168-pin DDR modules which appear to be shorter.

If I get 184-pin Rimm / Rambus modules which physically fit in the board is that a fair indication that they are correct, or am I missing something here?

Maybe someone here can help me with a computer problem. I have a PC with an Intel D850GB Motherboard and I want to upgrade the RAM. The motherboard handbook (on the Intel website) states that the board supports Rimm / Rambus Single- or double-sided RIMM configurations PC600 or PC800 compliant RDRAM in four 168-pin direct Rambus / Rimm sockets.

However 168-pin Rimms seem to be very scarce while 184-pin are readily available, and at least one supplier has told me that 184-pin is suitable, another says that it's not and the rest seem to not know. Can anyone advise me? Can I use 184-pin modules in the Intel D850GB? What's the difference in 168 / 184-pin?

For me this is the best variation of the 001 / 111.

The 01-94 is a chrono and this caseback should be 01-92, like it says on the dial. Also the blue dial is a limited edition of 500 pieces all in black carbon finish. I love the B&R range but the 46mm is just too big for me. However I found a used / mint genuine 03-94 at a really good price and pulled the trigger. A bunch of other stuff will have to go to help pay for it, but then there is a bunch that wasn't getting any wrist time anyway.

Those pics look very familiar and you may notice that a identity mark in the photos has been whited out also. More likely that this is a scam and the seller has no watch to sell, just a few pics that he lifted from some legit dealers website, rather than a stolen one.

I have found Parcelforce to be far too costly but Royal Mail is much better. It's weird as they are both part of the same outfit but their pricing structures are very different.

I have found that anything via EMS goes through the 'Customs Charging' route but regular airmail doesn't seem to. However it will likely be released without any charge.

Of course you are in right.

You can see in spanish Gen forums , a metallic piece inside al the end of the strap. There I have seen them.

hxtp://www.relojes-especiales.com/foros/showthread.php?t=44530

But I dont know who much is the price , doesn

Very very nice - mine has the older 21,600 movement and is waiting to go to The Zigmeister for an ETA movement swap, lume and Chieftang AR so now I can see what it will look like. I'm anticipating that this will be my favourite non-Panerai rep and will result in a major sell off of a large chunk of my collection.

This is no surprise to me and fully supports my view that a well cared for example of certain watches, from trustworthy members, are frequently worth more than new watches directly from dealers. This subject was discussed in another thread where used watches offered at a higher price than new was being criticised. If you buy a used watch from a forum member you will be able to see photos of the actual watch that's being offered for sale.

There are a number of reasons why I would be happy to pay more than the 'normal' new price for a used watch, for example;

I would be prepared to pay a premium for an 'old Asian' movement 6,9,12 Navitimer or IWC 3717 in mint condition from within the EU, because it would be my intention to swap for the ETA movement. Without the intention to swap the newer 7750 would be a better bet. Additionally, I would avoid the customs risk associated with importing from Asia and I would expect the watch to be the actual one shown in the photos, thus avoiding misaligned dial markers on the 3717 etc. Again I would be prepared to pay over the odds for certain PAMs because you can never be certain what exact combination of bits will be shipped from any of the dealers. Crowns vary, CGs vary so do casebacks etc.....an older PAM may have the correct F series caseback that's not available anymore.

In short there are a lot of watches that have got worse in terms of quality and detail as time has gone on (SMP, Avenger chrono, 6,9,12 Navitimer & others) and I would value some older examples above a new equivalent. However, only a minority of people may recognise the worth of some of these variations and 'thread crapping' from others who don't will unreasonably cast a slur on the original poster.

Judging by the reports of watches being impounded by customs in countries like Germany, or having high duties imposed by Denmark for example, I would assume that a watch being offered for sale locally would be of significantly higher value to a member of that country. It would be totally unfair of me, who has suffered very little from UK customs, to completely disregard the value of that watch to its current owner or fellow countryman.

I think that the bottom line is that those of us who have been here for a while should be able to weigh up all of these matters for ourselves and rather than encouraging thread crapping, as a method of 'helping newbies', we should be prepared to respond more positively to the 'newbie' request of 'who has the best sub etc'. There is a certain amount of hypocrisy in encouraging

I have my blue dial on a 24mm Taikonaut Watch Strap navy canvas strap from ebay seller 'strapblog' and I love it.

Personally, I can't honestly say I've seen a seiko w/ better fit and finish than the top 6 or 7 reps I own, but there may be many seiko's I don't know about that do surpass them. The jimmy comments are dead on accurate: I sunk 1165 into a PAM 03 w/ OEM crown, custon tube, and jimmy everything else. Granted, this is a rare bird but it keeps time as gen, is as durable and gen, excedes gen water resitance ratings, and is indistinguishable from the gen w/ serial # 1167, which for all we know is the one for sale for 7 grand on Paneristi as I type.

My takeaway is that not only is it far more satisfying to spend a bunch of time, effort and money on a top notch rep than driving to the mall to pick up a Jazzmaster, but also that it's possible to end up w/ a better watch, too.

Yes, creating a top-notch rep gives a real buzz. I have 2 with gen dials - one preA1 and one 3T dial. The preA has a gen case, tube, crown, CG, crystal, dial, tritium hands, all screws and clamps etc. Literally the only non-Panerai parts are the movement (CdG decorated ETA) and caseback. The 3'T' is all JF with the same decorated movement. These look, function and feel like gens.

Really no idea if this is a genuine RXW that has been PVD'd but be careful as these have also been repped fairly accurately. The price seems completely OTT as you are almost into the range of a used genuine Panerai 001D, particularly one that has had a 'normal' life. I would prefer a well used gen 001D which would be a good basis for a PVD project.

Depends on the individual watch:

Today some guy is going to walk into a jewelry store and plunk down $2800 for a PO and think he got a good deal. Any UPO owner knows he didn't. But the other day some guy picked up a used JLC master hometime for $2800 on TZ: Manufacture movement, near-Patek fit and finish, a rock bottom resale value of say $2000. What rep can you get for $800 that even comes close, quality-wise?

If by low cost gen's you mean Seiko's, Hamiltons's, etc. a good rep of a high end watch is always a better deal in every respect from fit and finish to resale value to brand cachet and on down the list. Unless a warranty is the deciding factor of your watch purchases, they just don't compare to the best reps.

Agree with the comments on the JLC but I cannot agree that 'a good rep of a high end watch is always a better deal in every respect from fit and finish to resale value' when compared to Seiko or Hamilton etc. The fit and finish of a Seiko will be better than the best rep. A Seiko is much less likely to strip threads on the crown or tube than the best rep for example and, depending on the model, if bought used will hold its value fairly well thereafter.

In my experience a rep Swiss 6497 Panerai carefully built using a Jimmy Fu case and the best rep parts is the closest rep to the gen in terms of quality, function, fit and finish. I accept that there are visual flaws but that's not the point here. The case can be sealed to gen spec, there are no crown threads to strip, the movement can be to gen spec and finish for the older models (where you use the CdG version). These can be visually enhanced by using gen parts but then we are straying into the franken / gen territory.

I believe that certain reps have got to a point where their quality is so close to the genuine that it really makes buying the real thing a questionable value.

Yes, I think that the SOSF is probably the best example of this and the 2892A2 & 2893 Panerai 27 & 29 are other potential candidates.

Breitling SOSF or Breitling Heritage. Both ETA movements and require no mods.