Watchmeister

Rolli has it right. The movement in your 196 is a highly modded 7750 with the date put in a different via transfer gears. That is why the date on a 7750 196 is sunken, different sized and slightly off from where the original date on a 7753 is. A skilled watchsmith can do the 7750 conversion but it requires significant movement skills. So save your Khaki.

Thanks for the compliments. Yes, it is difficult to read but then again I have many watches which glow like a torch. We can all pretend we are looking at our watch for the time. But then again we all have a cell phone for that. I don't know who stares at their jewelry more - my wife or me.

Thanks for the tip. That is a stunning watch.

Gee, do you think that the fact that it is offered by Sick Willie should be clue?

Bet you are glad you fixed up that bracelet. How does everyone run into these rude people? I have never had anyone do anything other than give a second glance to a watch. And that includes a humorous situation when I first found reps. Picture this: I show up wearing the kitschy Muller Vegas and I show up to a lunch with a client/friend wearing the gen larger size in gold. And yes he had bought it in Vegas when he had walked out of a casino way ahead one day. We spent half the lunch discussing the rep world. He found it more interesting than his own business.

How could you not?

Actually not quite as good as November but we do all eagerly await.

Actually wishful thinking. A new 7753 with the wrong case, dial and date wheel goes for $800-$900 from the dealers. The last 3 fully modded 196's which are not truly comparable as they are more highly modded (old case, individual case number, original dial with relume, single-sided AR and proper datewheel) all traded for $1500 +.

Can't wait to see it on the watch.

I haven't looked at one of these in a while. Obviously Paul is getting a premium for the Swiss movement. Check on the dial versus gen. Obviously the A's are low but that shouldn't kill it as it is much less obvious on automatics. I can't remember much about the other dial issues but you need to look at the marker thickness and boldness. There was one dial which had too thick markers and 12 but had better layout and another with the inverse. Also make sure the crystal is actually sapphire. They may well be making them now but at some point there were not sapphire crystals available. The headline is take some time to look at a gen and rep pic on the same screen as it is a good amount of money and you want to make sure you are happy.

8 and 10 are way off as well. Here is a gen 188 dial for comparison. It is easier to see it black on white. Truly rounded 0 on the 10 and Broader 8 which pushes all the way up to the sibdial. Can see it on a 162 (not my pic): The old school 196 rep Dial is also much better than the newer rep dials. I prefer to live with the longer hash mark at 6 and extra tick around 12 for the better number formation and overall layout:

Gentlemen- Be nice. It is a standard current "ultimate Fiddy" from the larger dealers. I have never seen those exact bridges on a Swiss movement but you never know. I actually would have guessed the movement was Asian owing to the lack of "spoked" wheels. The Davidsen is aesthetically superior for a number of reasons including crystal and AR, dial (although I detest the grey font) and hands. IMHO, the Fiddy although large in size is actually one of the more subtle watches out there and even within the 1950 genuines made (1963 including the OR's - those cheaters) there are some pretty substantial differences. For this model they made 2-3 different dials and 2 different crystals so not all is black and white. The universal obvious issue among all rep dials is the formation of the "6" and "9". The "long side" flattens out on the gen but not on any rep. I have had the opportunity to hold or wear virtually every combination of rep and gen parts (including all variants of gen and rep dials and crystals). You can over analyze it until you are blue in the face. Is the rep crystal really that different or does the more articulated (and raised) gen bezel cause the different distortion, etc. At the end of the day I would suggest either a Davidsen or piece together a classic EL fourth generation with Davidsen hands.

I like the subdials as well and I like the bolder font as well. They did it on the 250/251.

I would say the answer is "no" there has never been a 196 with recessed subdials. Here is the last year of the daylight in an I series: http://www.essential-watches.com/Panerai-PAM00196(PAM196)-PAM-196-Luminor-Daylight-Chronograph-Black-Dial-Original-Version-(Discontinued)-18841.aspx The watch above does look good but IMHO it is a rep. Lello datewheel (font and matte), lever on crown guard, etc. Oh and I believe I have that same dial sitting in my parts box.

OMG! He lives. Bill- It's great to see you back. You have been missed.

You're not getting older. You're getting better.

Picked up this HBB in the secondary market on a lark. The only other one I have owned is the Mellow Yellow which Ziggy was good enough to rebuild a Swiss movement for. Unfortunately it wasn't "mellow" enough for me. It looks very different depending on the light (within the black to gray range). You can even read the date every once in a while. See what you think. Pictures are from my telephone so no cracks. This one obviously has the fantasy ceramic case back, engraved rotor but no H, etc. Overall though, a very cool black watch and very impressive on the wrist. I find myself looking down not to tell the time but to see how different it looks depending on the environment.

Only one I have is on the right. Not a two tone guy.

Great tutorial. It is a huge improvement and not difficult to do. Here is another one done by RepAustria back in the day a couple of years ago.

Monday: Tuesday:

I must correct myself. Panerai did change the spelling to "meter" on the 188 and 196 for the H and I series. I don't know if it was based on region as well though.

JoJo- Work of art.

I think it is a function of two phenomenons. The first being that society on a larger scale continues to be more "me, me, me". But the other thing is that a 21,000 member forum is going to have its share of great folks and selfish beasts. I also think that on something like rep watches you are gonna get some interesting people.

i haven't chased down the link but the only daylight with "meter" is the 250 (black daylight). 188, 196 and 251 are all "metre". And of course the 250 and 251 both have brushed bezels versus their predecessors with polished.

Mickey- Congrats. That is a great looking watch. Someone finally recessed the power reserve area. It is interesting that the crown sits flat against the case. I have built a couple of these watches and the clearance with a gen crown and new tube was always too tight to get the crown pulled out to the last stop in most crown guards available. It looks like he solved it by pushing the crown that millimeter closer to the case. Enjoy it!