Watchmeister

V- I took the liberty of updating your post for recent additions. It is always fun to look at this one once in a while and see what the members are collecting. So here is the trivia question - do frankens with all gen parts count? And if you have a gen which is cannibalized to make a another franken does that count as one, two or none?

Actually it is worse than that. The Fiddy hands are either not Fiddy (232 perhaps) or he lost the seconds hand. And I own a number of the remainder of the parts and he is more than double what I paid. But the best one of all was a limited edition Panerai jacket he offered for $1400. At the same time he was offering it I bought one from a seller in Italy for $140.

He understands it. He is just willing to wait an extended period of time for that one person....

My guess would be that it is a Watchmaster case and crown but I didn't bother looking at the pictures carefully. And with a Unitas movement to boot. If anyone wants to pay me anything like that for my WM with Rolex marked Cortebert movement just let me know and it is yours. Heck, I will throw in the solid caseback. Just kidding on a serious note. But it never ceases to amaze me when people make offerings like this. Then again I suppose it is like the homeless person asking $10,000 for a cup of coffee, When asked why he was doing it his response was....it only takes one.

$5,000 for a Homage Watch with Unitas movement. http://cgi.ebay.com/Panerai-Rolex-Radiomir...id=p3286.c0.m14

Clint- That is a fabulous project. It is wonderful to see another skilled vintagizer show their projects on the forum. Both this one and the 6152 show such a level of commitment to the project. At last Madasboot, VDBroucke, RMcsherry and whoever else I forgot to mention have some company. It is great to see skilled modders increasingly show their projects. Projects are my favorite posts on this forum so I do hope this trend continues. And Clint, I can't wait to see your next project.

T- You will be sorely missed. I would ask you to remember that the world is not black and white. Don't just disappear. You have obviously built up a supportive "cyber family" and so when the times get tough remember your friends are with you in spirit if not in person. Once all the uncertainties clear up I do hope you will come by from time to time. You have obviously made enough friends here that an occasional stop by will be a blessing and not a burden. In any case those of us who have come to know you (and I count myself as one) will sorely miss you so please stop by when you have a moment. After all you can't spend every minute of every day with those kids. They will drive you crazy. Although we all found this forum in search of horological personal interests that was just the beginning. And I know that you among a few others know that better than many. All the best, W

IMHO, Fiddys and their availability come and go. The 117 case is now standard issue and is a damn good case. After that it does get a little more hazy. The biggest issue and most difficult to solve when either buying one assembled or doing it yourself is the dial. For whatever reason they now all appear to have grey font. Deltick was offering a nice looking base watch with Asian movement for a reasonable price. I don't know whether he still has them. You might start with that and then add parts as you find them. But in my mind the biggest issue is finding a good dial. I never understood why they all went grey on the font. Bear in mind that as I say this the basic Fiddy rep is one of the best PAM reps on the wrist. As with any clear backed PAM once you flip it over it will be obvious.

Congrats on another Ziggy masterpiece. A unique piece. All of the vintagizing looks great on this watch. Wear it well.

Lello- Please add the following for me: 1 PAM black seconds at 9 7750 1 PAM White 7753 - Kruz

Don- That is a work of art and clearly a labor of love. I love seeing the Frankens and this is a fabulous one. Wear it well.

A fabulous first review. Unfortunately the watch is not worthy of the quality of the review. I do look forward to further reviews if you are so inclined. This is a watch I have wanted since it was announced. After wearing PAM's and other larger watches for years my Rolex collection has been rapidly losing wrist time. I can't wait to see the later versions. Most importantly - great review.

It is a work of art. Wear it well.

The sport clearly needs something as it is dead as it currently stands. I say good for him. It his reputation at risk and no one else's. Cycling can't be the worse for his reentry. And yes I agree that he better have a decent team to back him or it will be a disaster. It may well be a disaster anyhow but can cycling be any the worse for it? Maybe he will reignite a little more interest in the sport.

If you are a movement fan and are not concerned with resale Chopard, JLC, Ulysses Nardin are all names which command no respect in the secondary market, make beautiful movements and start at a price point where you are not buying the bottom of the line model. At $5k you can easily pick up $8-10k of retail value. If I had to pick one SS dress watch I would probably pick up a JLC Master Geographique in ss in either the 38 or 40mm size. In the Chopard line they have a beautiful GMT with ceramic bezel in the same price range. If you want to go bigger perhaps you should consider a PAM or Breitling you might not otherwise get as a rep. And finally believe it or not the Slevin in gen on bracelet is a fabulous looking watch which jumps off the wrist. My 2 cents.

Very nice work. Congrats on what I know was a good amount of effort. Wear it well.

Well, if you are going to install a 7753 movement you will also need a dial. And unless you have access to a 7753 movement it is often cheaper to simply buy a 7753 based watch. I wouldn't recommend dismantling the gears so you can move the datewheel closer. If you gum up your movement along the way you will be right back where you started. And you still have an improperly placed and sized date window. IMHO, the placement and sizing of the datewheel/window is just as big a flaw as the sunken element of it.

No idea but you might try right clicking on one of the empty boxes to display all pics or clicking "unblock all content" at the very top.

And fine pairs of shoes they are. And great minds think alike... I did the same thing with a more contemporary PVD (albeit they look fabulous on the Pre-V's). By the way, I will get the stems out this week.

Thanks. That one is looking good.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Panerai-Pam-113-Excell...id=p3286.c0.m14 What can I say, every once in a while I do a global search and get more entertainment out of the fakes than finding anything real at a decent price.

It is amazing how creative folks get. http://cgi.ebay.com/Panerai-Luminor-Marina...id=p3286.c0.m14

Really not much else to say. http://cgi.ebay.com/Panerai-Luminor-Marina...id=p3286.c0.m14

Great shots. You definitely should put a couple of movement shots on the wall. Just tell the GF (if she doesn't like it) that you would prefer if she got naked and posed for a few wall shots. See where it goes.... You have no down side.

Beautiful watch. But you forgot to eliminate the 1 in the serial number. Standard rep is #0117. And one look at that crown says it all. The finish on the gen crown is infinitely better. Most importantly, congratulations on a beautiful watch that doubles as an investment. It is certainly doing better than the global stock markets,