Watchmeister

So you are going to start with the A7753 version and then swap out movement and dial? You may be better off buying a V1 Swiss 7753 and starting from there.But if you are going to start with the A7753 case make sure you can find an older V1 dial as the better 7753 dials are becoming very rare. Any of the aftermarket date wheels (Taka, Leo or even a select number of the Lello's are a big improvement). I take it from your post you are doing a 188. Here is a fully modded v1 188 both in rep dial and gen dial format. Rep Dial: Gen Dial:

Yes, mine is the result of 2-3 years of parts collecting. But I think yours is stunning as well. Wear that one well.

Congrats, a great watch delivered in a really nice way. Wear that one well.

Actually I am not playing fair. Everything on that one is "special" other than the case back.

You animal! Go for it.

Looks good to me. Here is mine for comparison.

Kudos to Wolf for taking this on.

I don't own the rep so I have never seen the gap between the date wheel and the dial.I am betting it is fairly tight though. I don't think CNC'ing a datewheel is realistic. You might be able to remove the paint on the current one and put on a micro thin overlay. Be forewarned that many have tried and few succeeded on overlays. Making all the numbers look good and line up in the date window is way more difficult than it looks. Also coming up with the right material that looks good and is thin enough may be difficult. Remember that the datewheel has to have appearance of paint and a silk screened seind layer with the numbers.

Looks nice. Wear that one well. I got me one of those too. My favorite strap with that one is an old school matte brown croc - it is the shizzle.

Just curious, once you have gotten the proper lay out and font what are you going to do with it? Source a new date wheel and print from scratch, create an overlay which has a whole other set of issues with fit and alignment or simply try and redo the one in yours? I will warn you that many people have tried and a very few have ever come up with a good solution other than sourcing date wheels and then reprinting. If the font is really off (I have never seen the rep one in the flesh) you might talk to one of the folks who make after market datewheels - Leo, Taka, etc. Otherwise I fear you are in for a whole lot of hassle. If the date window is not the exact same size as a gen 7753 I wouldn't spend the time. Based on the pictures I have seen the accuracy is somewhere in between the A7750 and a genuine 7753. If it troubles you that much you are probably better off sourcing a daylight with gen 7753 movement. But that is my 2 cents.It is coming from someone with a gen and 7753 frankens though.

Everything sounds fine on your watch. I will say that my gen movement does change the date over more quickly than my franken with generic 7753. I don't know this but have always thought that might be due to the rework by Panerai on the movement and using a stronger spring or ratchet. I once had Ziggy service a gen at the same time as a franken and he noted a fair amount of rework. Even little things like the date setting pusher having a 3 piece mechanism designed to ensure the pusher contacts the movement correctly as opposed to the rep which has the pusher and spring simply sitting in a hole in the movement ring. On the crown I always push it in before shutting the lever on both rep and gen.Why put the stress on the stem/keyless works? Given the way the lever works when you close it you are by definition putting lateral stress on everything when it is designed to simply go in and out.

Canada Post can take a while. But I am something like a 100/100 so no worries.

Babola has it exactly right. One of DSN's better Fiddy's. Unless you stumble upon an Eddie Lee this is about as good as it gets.

Hike- That is an awesome collection.

I was wondering the same thing. I remember there were 2 versions and was wondering whether that was because it is the other version. I know Theo will know.

Absolutely beautiful pair of watches. Wear those well.

J- And here is your fatal flaw. I would build the Daytona or something else. -W

Stunning watch. Wear that one well. Way back in the day I actually received one as a graduation gift. Of course no one knew that the red logo would be "the red logo". Fast forward a couple of years to a fabulous party in college. I wake up in the wrong room and there is no sign of the watch.

Jakob's case backs have great engraving. As I understand it he is ramping up production of the case back itself. And given that the originals had thinner case backs this next round should be incredible.

I had an '86 535 and loved it - a gift to myself for finishing grad school. One of my best friends has that M5 from the same year and he still has it in pristeen condition. Although not necessarily a cool car, my favorite workhorse is the E39. I bought one years ago for less than $10k and it now serves as the spare car. It has more than 125k miles and runs like a champ. Still fun to drive as well.

On the DSSD I do have to say that it does wear funny. It feels very top heavy due to IMHO a too skinny bracelet and tall profile. It seems to wear much better with a Zulu strap or something which properly holds that "tuna can" on your wrist. Although the clasp is very cool the bracelet is just not substantial enough for the watch. As for WM9 - great stuff if you are into contemporary subs or Kermits. If they start getting too expensive start saving your money for a gen.

This and the 187 are on the top of my list for Christmas - for myself.

Don brings up the other thing I forgot. There was no consistency when and where Panerai used varnish which pretty drastically changes color.

Yes. For several reasons- not the least of which is the hands have a base coat of white paint underneath the lume.

The good news is they are all small issues. I would have the watchmaker clean it up. That dial should be sitting flush against the rehaut - maybe the movement clamps aren't seated correctly. On the chrono hand you may as well adjust and have the smith glue it as long as you are re-seating the movement/dial. It looks great though. Loving that dial.