Watchmeister

And this guy actually shows the date adjuster on the side of the case: http://cgi.ebay.com/LUMINOR-PANERAI-AUTOMA...1QQcmdZViewItem

Well, I can say with a straight face that I have accidentally lost numerous watches due to irresponsibility in college, moving, and for all sorts of other silly reasons. The highlight of my stupidity - I was given a Rolex sub with red writing on it in the mid-70's (you can guess which one) and managed to lose it in a drunken stupor while in College.

Dani- I agree on the speedometer look as well but the watch is still growing on me.

With the various QC issues that we are all aware of (i.e. no two watches are put together exactly the same way) I would not recommend going swimming with any of them without first making sure it is properly greased and sealed up. Even if it appears to be waterproof on that first swim, the second one may not be so pretty. Having said that I do have most of my watches in good enough shape to take them swimming.

As Victoria has guessed I am guilty as well. I do like frankens based on gen dials/hands and original movement vintages though. My first PAM was a 25E. My latest is a base. I never have more than 1 or 2 gen PAM's at a time and buy and resell them when I want a change. My next wants on the PAM front are a 233j or a 162 (but the stock market is just not cooperating ). I would also add that I suspect the number of folks that own gen pam's is a lot higher than any one would guess. Lord R- I envy that original movement fiddy. Wear it well.

I actually like the direction they are headed. How many more $3-5,000 watches based on $50 movements can a company sell? Moving into proprietary movements while maintaining luminor and radiomir based case designs seems to me to be coming as close to sticking to their original heritage as possible while ensuring the longevity and profitability of the brand. Make no mistake, I hate the new price levels, do not love all their new models (and they do need to get rid of the 69 Impala speedometer look for the power reserve ) But the 233 has grown on me and I am loving the pictures of the new diver with built in depth gauge.

Looking forward to meeting up.

Ubi- Yo, dude. Good to see you sneaking a peek. I'll give you a jingle in the next day or two.

Another fakey but no bids. http://cgi.ebay.com/LUMINOR-PANERAI-DAYLIG...1QQcmdZViewItem

In short, beyond the fixing of the markers on the second run I am not aware of any other improvements. I own the first generation and even went to the trouble to straighten the 8 and 10 markers, relume to tritium color and swapped date wheel but I still don't wear it. The biggest issues I have are whether the dial color is correct relative to the first or second blue used over the years. It seems and the operative word is "seems" to be some weird color between the two actual dial colors but I have not seen a gen to compare. The next issues on both it and the 243 are the crown which looks very different from the gen. and their not being a fix to the sub-par magnification on the cyclops crystal combo. Not trying to sell mine just warning you. I know you are a discerning collector. If someone says they have made a better one please let us know. I would be very excited if someone updated the dial and/or improved magnification:)

A- Congrats on a milestone. You have been great company with a lot of constructive posts over the last couple of years. Looking forward to the next couple. All the best, Kruz

F- Thanks for taking care of this. Honestly, this particular section makes it fun to pick a brand and peruse the whole ebay section. I only mention them when the price is getting out of hand and someone clearly thinks they are buying gen.

The price increases over the last few months are extraordinary and the 127 typifies that. And althought I am a PAM fan and own gens, reps, vintages, etc. I am still deciding whether they are going to go up and up or ultimately go out of vogue. A watch is a collector's piece until it simply becomes a used watch. If you look at Timezone or Watchnet the watches that trade like baseball cards are PAM's and Big Pilots. The question I am asking myself is whether PAM's are the Pokemon cards of fine watches? One of the more revealing things I found is that prices are not always what they seem. I was at a Christies watch auction a couple of months ago. Christies accounts for more than 70% of the legitimate sales at major watch auctions. The auction featured a number of fabulous watches including $50-100k rolexes and pateks, a full provenance 3646 and some more recent PAM's. In spite of all the talking about people spending $90-100k for a 3646 and others demanding premium prices for lesser PAM's the 3646 did not meet the reserve and the price range was $70-100k. The other PAM's sold at humdrum prices. On the other hand the Pateks largely went at or above the estimates and the truly unique the Rolexes sold even better and in a number of circumstances went well above the estimates. Time will tell whether the $25k 1950 with a $50 movement is a good investment or not. I am not convinced either way but it is food for thought.....

http://cgi.ebay.com/Panerai-Luminor-Automa...1QQcmdZViewItem

Freddy- Mystery dial looking good but can't wait to see the final results on your red.

I have to agree. I suspect this one is built better than the gen. Built by someone with a passion not by someone who simply needed a job at the times. I look forward to seeing the 2008 projects.

Keeping it simple this weekend - 03 with gen t-dial, hands and crown, Jimmy everything else:

Looks really good. Always like to see member's projects.

Very cool. It would look great on Jimmy Page's neck too - very British retro. We look forward to its tube debut.

I would welcome an update. Won't it be slow due to Chinese New Year though?

Dani- Very nice. And for all you folks who ran to Andrew's website give yourself a demerit. You should know better.

Wow! That is quite the collection. I do like the dial swaps. I have only one but I understand your brand obsession. You should see my PAM collection.

J- Thanks so much for posting this. Pictures speak a thousand words.

The rating system is meant to be constructive - not conducive to personal vendettas. Folks should take it for what it is - light entertainment and nothing more. I don't think we will see anyone running to buy a round of drinks based on a check or check plus on their post. Enjoy it and get a laugh. If any form of "internet bullying" is coming from this (my child's 3rd grade teacher explained this concept to me yesterday - ) than a careful rethought is in order. It did work well in the past and I trust it will in the future.

I am actually a fan of 300mm dive watches, cg's etc. We may not be deep sea divers but anything that is built to withstand hostile environments is more likely to survive our everyday use. And everyday use can put more stress than one might think in a watch. This is one that I would never buy the gen but the rep is growing on me. With the rise in prices of reps I do take comfort reading the very careful and nitpicking reviews. Since I can now buy fewer I am trying to buy more carefully. And on the whole "ultimate", super and 1:1 issue we all know it is hype. And that is what makes RWG and reviews like this so critical.