Watchmeister

Amstaff- Thanks for the link. Enjoyable read. I do love watch marketing articles. The secrets of the pyramid? It is more like "there is a limit to how many $15,000 in-house movement watches I can sell so I better fill in the middle of my line". I think of it more like 'say hello to the Panerai 5 series." Richemont has totally professionalized this company. I do love Panerai watches but do miss the "boot strapping we are always broke early years". I don't think they are bidding on the Italian Navy contracts these days.

Rolli- That watch looks great. Wear it well. I have always loved that watch and the dial. IMHO, the best blue dial Panerai ever made.

I think you would be surprised. Heck, I was on a really boring conference call a couple of weeks ago and couldn't resist taking apart a 190 from a clock I use as a desk clock at work. Nice big movement - lots of room to figure out what goes where. And when I do finally get to the point where I can't get it back together - off it goes to Ziggy to fix it. As we speak, the plates from my 240 are sitting with a world class cnc shop.

Congrats on a great watch. Wear it well.

I have only tried the seconds at nine case (and I am using a gen movement). What you mention is what I am concerned about with the seconds at 12 but it may just be a function of the steepness of the inner bezel such that it "spreads" too far over the dial. I will know in the next couple of weeks.

I initially preferred the seconds at nine for exactly that reason - they work. And then I found out the hard way that a gen dial and inner bezel don't fit. The dial does but the inner bezel doesn't. I am appreciative that the seconds at 12 has the correct case construction. And I am hoping to shortly answer the question as to whether a gen dial and inner bezel into a seconds at 12. Having read the movement review I concluded that you have to add the cost of an initial proper servicing to any of these watches you buy.

Excellent review and much thanks. It makes me want to pull out one I have had sitting in the watch box for a while and throw it on the wrist.

Sheer genius.

B- Congrats on your degree. I wish I could remember that far back. And I have to agree that the friends I have made through the community have been far more important than any of the watches. I have had the opportunity to meet with members from all over the world. I have even had one or two over as house guests. I have never found any community where folks truly wanted to be so helpful. I was not one of the original mods on this forum but was honored when I joined the team. And sitting here today, I can say that my closest friends over the last few years have come from the forum and it has little to do with watches.

Thanks so much for the post. I can't believe anyone was questioning the validity of the movements in the first place. Anyone who has taken apart an Angelus would know that no one would bother to rep them prior to their becoming popular in the last few years. And if you look carefully at a 203 it is crystal clear what was done to redo the plates.

Much thanks.

Unfortunately, that is about the going rate for an alarm version. They now start at $900+ and often trade at the $1200. Sad part is it was not that long ago where the proper non-alarm movement was not that much more.

No they are not interchangeable. They layout differently. And I know this because I have looked at the two datewheels at the same time.

Huge thanks to FGD and RMC for all their wonderful efforts. Here is my 09 with 2nd gen dial. And the next one up will be the Pre-V second gen.

Welcome to the forum. Take a look around and see what interests you. Hopefully, you will enjoy the company. Any favorite brands?

ETA swapped over to the 25j format in the mid to late 80's. As Logan said the incremental jewels are for the chrono mechanism. I prefer them for a different reason. To the best of my knowledge ETA had not set up plants outside of Switzerland prior to the switch over so you are getting a true Swiss movement. It is more likely that they will need servicing though given the age.

It's all in the hands.

Not quite sure what to say about this other than we have a word for this on the mainland - Kizmet. Dude I will cathc up with you later today on the watch.

Doc- It is. I finally couldn't resist. I have been interested in a couple of projects and concluded that the book was a must read. Actually the pictures are worth a thousand words.

Gotta agree. Now picture FGD generation 2 in true tritium on an old school PAV strap.

Work of art.

Much thanks for all the information. So there were 4 or so 2533's. Two other questions for the vintage experts. Any ideas on the numbers of the other models made above? Also I was reading about a weird coating on the case (but not the bezel) of the transitional 3646 where they replaced the 618 with a 240 and added the solid lugs? It got its own little section in the big book. I think it was the same coating as the big Egi. Any guesses what it was? I would love to make one of those one day.

So all 6152 Angelus were made as new post 1960? When were the 6152's first made (with 618's)?

My pleasure. I am hoping the experts will chime in over time and fill in the voluminous gaps. I hadn't thought about the Rolex "schism". It does make sense. When Panerai sold to the Nazi's Rolex did not want it's name on it so perhaps Angelus was their only choice until they moved on to ETA's in the 90's. My assumption has always been that the 3646's and 2533 were all retrofits of existing watches. I have never figured out about the 615X's though.

I recently picked up the wonderful big book on vintage Panerai and then got curious about how many vintage Angelus movement PAM's were ever made. Here is my math so far. Can anyone fill in the holes? Am I missing any others. Total Number of SF 240 movements made: 350 Number Panerai Actually Got @ 90% : 315 Less 203 and reserves for 203: 200 Total number of possible Angelus based Panerai watches: 115 Big Egizano 30 3646 3646 Transitional ??? 2533 ??? 615XXX ??? Here are some interesting facts that I never knew before reading the book: Angelus based Panerai had nothing to do with WWII. The SF 240 movements were not even produced until 1956. As a result I believe many of the pieces in existence today were renovations and upgrades of existing Rolex 618 pieces. When watches were renovated they often replaced the Radium dials with less toxic ones, changed wire lugs into permanent lugs, etc. By the way, for anyone who can afford it and is interested I highly recommend the book. I do hope some of the folks who are far more knowledgeable than I will pipe in here.