I am up to speed. Rather than setting the seller's latest offering invisible and letting someone else go through a similar experience I have edited the offering to warn folks who go to that thread. Obviously, we hope the seller will resolve his issue with Jsuperman but until then we are warning new folks away from the seller's latest offering until this is resolved.
I will chime in from the "staff" side and say that we are reaching out to the seller as well as we always do when notified of these issues. Hopefully he will be responsive and this can be put to bed in a friendly way. Otherwise this will have to be resolved through the typical PP/CC approach and folks have given good advice in this thread as to how to move forward in those circumstances.
As people have said depending on how you asked the seller to ship should affect whether you are concerned yet. Let us know if he provided method of shipping and tracking number.
I believe old cases came in two forms although I have no idea what version it was - one with the button in the right place. And I can tell you from experience that I bought 2 A7750 cases a few years ago with working buttons (used them on my 7753 Pandas which had the crappier 2nd gen cases at the time). The button was frozen on those only due to the movement ring not having been drilled out. Ziggy actually did them for me.
And the speculation continues. If they did cheap out and use the 7750 sized date wheel and track to hold that date wheel the old case 7753's are still priceless. I feel vindicated. But these watches are still a wonderfully accurate rep for a fraction of the cost of all those frankens we all built so they are a great addition to the rep arsenal.
Saw this listing.
http://cgi.ebay.com/PANERAI-LUMINOR-PAM37-OP6511-PROTO-1998-RARE-VINTAGE-/130429843571?pt=Wristwatches&hash=item1e5e397873
Anyone ever heard of this one?
The more I look at the pics the more confused I get - and I am wearing a gen dial 188. The date window does not look to me nearly as obvious as a typical A7750 date window and nor does the gap. The overall size looks pretty similar to a 7753. The placement does look off but that can be a function of the layout of the dial. The date window does not fall in exactly the same place on a 162 as it does on a 188. I was curious so I looked this morning. I can't wait for someone to have definitive pictures.
If someone picks it up I will try and match up some shots from a gen I have to whatever pics you take so we can see. I looked at the pictures again and the dial certainly looks better than past attempts at Panda dials. Hope springs eternal. I have owned the gen for years and I still love it. If accurate this is a great rep and a little bit different from out PAM's out there.
I looked at the site and can't tell what is going on with the dial. I look forward to seeing pics from a member. if they get it right it would be great. Actually it would the first panda they got right. I posted a pic or two elsewhere of a gen 162. The dial should be black with very muted (non-metallic) sub dials.
If you go the high end route I would also suggest Picholine. Great taster menu with a wonderful selection of wines to go with the courses, If you are a cheese buff it is the only place to go. They have a fromageur who is wonderful. It will take 2-3 hours but a wonderful experience.
It is a relatively new addition for me and I am loving it but I am curious on the new one and whether it is a turbo 8 or 10. I prefer naturally aspirated engines so I pulled the trigger rather than waiting. Oh, and of course it is always less painful to pick up a used one with light miles for a lot less. Kind of like watches.
I am loving that Aston Martin.