PAMman

Excellent review of what seems to be an excellent watch. I emailed Jay about a blue one yesterday but no reply yet. CNY no doubt.

Not exactly a missed opportunity but I bought a 2893 029 a couple of years ago and then soon afterwards tried to sell it for about $300 but didn't really get much interest. Now it has been modded by The Zigmeister, with a gen crown, new cyclops, new datewheel and a relume. Needless to say it's not for sale any longer and it is one of my favourite watches.

Looks amazing - hard to believe it's a rep. I'm tired of chronos with dodgy movements and this ETA rep makes total sense. Wear it well.

2. A 005 long arrow and a 116. An SS marina with logo and closed caseback and then a Ti base with display back and tobacco dial.

Depends what you're looking for. If you want a good long term watch movement a new, plain ETA 6497 is a good option in a closed back watch eg A - D series Panerai 001, 002 etc. In that case, because thay are inexpensive anyhow, you would probably be best advised to buy a new fresh movement directly from an ETA supply house (ofrei / cousins) as this will not require fresh lubricant etc. If you want a display back and your priority isn't a visual replication of any particular movement then a decorated 6497 is available but at greater cost. I have picked up a few on ebay very reasonably as well as a Hamilton 6497/2 with blued screws and sunburst wheels and also a unique Bulova which would look good on display. Just take your time and the right thing crops up from time to time. Also try Tourby, here on the forum - he can supply new ETA movements.

Looks really good, both as a true replication and as a quality watch. I had just decided to buy no more reps and to complete the mods on some of those that I have, then thin the herd, keeping only the best. Now this crops up and seems to tick all the boxes.

Excellent review of an unusual piece. It says 'Oversize' and it's not joking.

Please give Angela some slack here. I ordered a black SMP and then hadn't heard anything until after the first posts reporting that members had received the wrong watch. At that point I contacted her and pointed out my concerns and asked her to confirm that I would be getting the watch that's shown in her ioffer ad. She acknowledged that she had been having some problems and that, in order to sort this out she was having all watches sent to her for inspection in US. The next contact advised that she had now received a correct batch of watches and that mine was being posted with tracking etc. My watch duly arrived and it was posted in US as she said and it was 100% as per the ioffer ad. Angela was totally truthful to me and demonstrated that, even after having supplied some incorrect watches, she could still get the correct items. It is CNY and China seems to be suffering extreme weather conditions with communication lines down etc. I can understand the frustration but from my experience she is doing her utmost to sort this out. Hang in there.......paypal disputes will damage the hobby for everyone. The clasp on my watch is faulty and I have contacted her to have a replacement clasp sent. Hopefully it will come through too.

Surely this has to be of interest to someone here. Please buy it before I succumb. http://www.tz-uk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=37671

I'm wondering if anyone has bought a Submersible from any of our 'dealers' recently and whether there has been any revised versions available. The 087 has been getting my attention but I'm not sure which version is currently available and which movement is being used now. Queries to different dealers is resulting in mixed messages that can't all be correct. Any recent experience would be very helpful. Thanks.

It's a genuine dial OK. Just check that it suits the Breitling version of the 7750 as Breitling used a variety of movements over the years. Not all 6 9 12 chrono dials will fit the ETA 7750.

Yes, I'm certainly interested, particularly in an accurate 9411. Is there a link to photos? I'm not a big Rolex fan and I have only a Palp-modded DRSD which will quickly go to make way for a proper 9411.

Thanks very much for the submissions. I will probably have a Swiss 7750 dropped into whichever one I get so the movement doesn't worry me too much. However, a misaligned bezel would probably irritae me and it would have to sit totally off 12 o'clock rather than simply misaligned a tad. The general build quality was my main concern and to be honest I am undecided. Story of my life - that's why I have so many watches. Maybe this will end up with 2 more.

I am certainly not a Breitling expert but AFAIK, functionally the best is the 6 9 12 configuration which comes only in the series speciale 'Fighters' version. Cosmetically the best variation of this watch is the earlier 21,000 'Old Asian' movement because it has a better alignment of the bezel / dial slide-rule scales. Additionally, this 'Older Asian' version can be swapped for a ETA movement without any problem as the hand sizes match, unlike the later 28,800 Asian movement. The gen Fighters Navi is brushed while the rep is polished but there are so many variations of Navitimer that I wouldn't be concerned that anyone outside of the rep world has ever seen a gen Fighters or would spot the difference. The 3 6 9 configurations are based on a modified Asian 7750 which may be problematic in itself, although not as bad as a secs at 6 modification, but this modification does result in a sunken datewheel and slightly off-position date window. This means that you cannot easily swap to the Swiss 7753 movement, which the gen uses, unless you also get a gen dial to match. However the gen 3 6 9 looks best IMO. I have a Navitimer and it is the Fighters 6 9 12 with a Swiss movement. It looks and feels like an older Navitimer.

Thanks for that. Anyone else with any thoughts?

Has anyone reached a conclusion on the relative quality of these 2 reps? I don't have either (yet) and I'm not concerned about minor resolvable issues such as dust under the crystal etc but I am mainly thinking of the smooth operation of the rotating bezel. I am assuming that this is probably the main area of potential difficulty arising from poor machining or tolerances.

Excellent job. You are obviously very handy with the scissors. BTW, how large is your dining room table......in other words could you carry out this mod for many other members?

The most noticable difference between Davidsen's case and the genuine preV is the too large screw holes in the lugs. Both lugs should have the same size hole as the regular gen / rep, but this case has grossly oversized holes. I don't agree that the dial engraving is OK as it is. Don't forget that each dial will have to be individually engraved and then hand lumed. All we need is to have the original engraving setup file amended to the correct shape. There is no reason why this shouldn't be done as the lume is being applied by hand so there is no corresponding print file for the digits to be similarly amended and registered accurately. It seems as if the logo is marginally too big but it may simply be that the slimmer 6 is making it look that way. Fix the 6 and 9 first and we have a winner.

The font printing should be slightly heavier and be marginally reduced in height. Logo is a good shape but is slightly too large overall. However the biggest problem remains the shape of the 6 and 9 - these should both be wider, with the enclosed black area wider than they are tall. There has been a lot of effort put into this project but unless the basic engraving is corrected it wil remain a case of 'defeat snatched from the jaws of victory'. PLEASE, before this dial goes into production get the CNC engraving file amended. This could easily become the 'grail' of Panerai reps if it's done properly.

You will have a problem getting any discount from an AD in Europe except for 183 / 210 which aren't that desirable any more. However, I would try the sole Irish AD, Weirs in Dublin, as I have found them to be willing to offer some discount a couple of years ago when the brand was new to them and generally unheard of in Ireland. There is little point in trying to get a discount agreed via telephone, due to the Panerai policy on 'no discounts', but Ryanair flights to Dublin aren't costly and it's a great weekend destination so it wouldn't be a wasted trip.

I have used nail varnish remover (acetone ?) with good results on both Panerai 005 and MBW Seadweller casebacks. I brushed on the liquid with fine art brush and then used a wooden toothpick to remove the softened paint from the grooves.

Can anyone help me with contact details for Davidsen or a link to his Photobucket / website?

I assume that you want to get the day correctly aligned, rather than change the day from FRI to SAT. The best, and possibly the only, way to sort the alignment problem is to replace the Asian day and date wheels with ETA equivalents. This also gets you the correct font so it's well worth the effort and minimal expense if you can do it yourself.

Mine arrived about an hour ago. If you look back in this thread to post #221 (18 Jan ) Angela PM'd me to say that my watch had been inspected by her and was being posted that day, to UK. She gave me a tracking number which worked in the US system but didn't appear on the UK radar at all. I had it sent to my office and first impressions are excellent, albeit with one issue. I have a genuine black SMP and an older rep Bond SMP so I will be able to do a comparison review later. Also I haven't been able to remove the back to check the movement but it appears to be an ETA alright. Firstly, the 'issue'. The clasp doesn't have the stud of the locking device - in other words it can't lock - it's simply missing. Otherwise the clasp looks well finished and operates very smoothly. The bracelet is excellent with polished sides and pins (not screws) and the polished segments in both the mid & end links are separate pieces just like the genuine. I don

Yes the 9 is exactly the same as a 6 rotated through 180 degrees. Even the 'bump' is the same.