Watchmeister

Kind of like the 082.

Here are my guesses as I am not a Rolex expert: 1.) I believe the original watches did have a very thin ring around the pearl - nothing like comtemporary pearls (smaller too). But for whatever reason people prefer to eliminate the ring rather than have a too thick one. 2.) The original watch came with silver date wheel. However, often whenever one went in for service and a datewheel was swapped it would be replaced with a white one. Now let a real expert weigh in.

Wow, that is really ugly. Kind of looks like a gold sector or casio.

I don't do gens anymore for myself. I had reasonable discretionary income at an early age (read as when I was single) and bought a number of more expensive gens but I had a lot of trouble with them. And when I had an issue I always walked away another $750-1,000 poorer and having lost the watch for 2-3 months. For gen owners how many times have you walked into the AD and heard "we will send it back to Switzerland for proper repair. We will call you when we get it back". But I am rethinking it now as I have well over $??,000 into reps. My wife wears the pants and gens in my house. Her daily wearers are Breguet and Cartier. I always say I am going to get into vintages but haven't so far. In the end though I would have to say that what started out as a passing interest has turned into an obsession because of the fun of spending time with some of the better people around here and always trying to improve our reps. The projects are always a lot of fun.

V- You are a genius. I didn't bother clicking the pics and it did pass my smell test. What is scary is that it has to be someone from one of the forums. The date wheel and crown are too good to have come from anywhere else. My usual tell has been to identify old or new case and then go to the 6 o'clock marker to see if it sticks up too close to the subdial. It initially didn't look off but now that I actually take a close look... And plenty of 196 Daylights do not have Luminor on the top of the case back. But if you really are going to buy any gen PAM from someone you are concerned with I go straight to the crown guard pin. The pin on the gen is beautifully machined on the top. Not even the Jimmy's are near that good. With that in mind gen crown guards are rare enough that it makes it a lot less likely to be fake.

I consider 1:1 to refer to basic details such as case dimensions, basic materials (metals, sapphire, etc.) and proper hand and subdial size and placement. The dial should be very close. Rep dials are virtually never completely accurate and correct date font is still a rarity. And on the HBB, unless you are trying to sell it as gen , there are so many variants that you are unlikely to be called out anyhow. The movement will never look exactly correct either unless you have the same engravers. By the way the engraving on the gen is pretty crappy anyhow. The most fundamental flaws on that watch are the lack of engraved materials on the back other than on the Mellow Yellow.

Oops.

No, that gen is showing 10 to midnight - it is in the process of changing over.

I agree that Rossi is the most incredible rider. But I guess we will also see this year whether a better bike can help the lesser rider win. I used to like Superbike except it was so clear the equipment rules didn't work as Ducati won every time.

The pics are legit.

Rossi is a great racer. But my key complaint with Motogp is that the bike is the most important part. Nicky Hayden is not nearly as skilled as Rossi and yet he won the championship last year. If I remember correctly it was with Rossi's old team. Heck even rossi was bored with winning every race with the best bike when he quit his original team.

The gmt function scares me as well. It is a cool watch though.

So far so good. When I have a sense of demand I will order additional ones if it is warranted. What I do know is they are going on 4 2893's, 3 Daylights and my 24A. But I am in no rush. I can do the second group if warranted. And yes the saving is significant. I had bought a few and they were creeping up in price over $100.

Bump to let folks know the first group has been received. Please check the Watch Repair and Upgrade Section: http://www.rwg.cc/members/index.php?showto...t=0#entry257312

I have received the first group of PAM crowns as discussed in the following loop: http://www.rwg.cc/members/Interest-in-Genu...wns-t26930.html The crowns are offered at $67.00 plus shipping, a couple of dollars over cost to provide a little cushion. I will only take paypal and will ask for an initial payment for the crown and then a subsequent payment for shipping after I have determined the exact cost of shipping to you. I will utilize the lowest cost method available from USPS which includes tracking. Breaking up the payments will make sure everybody gets charged accurately for shipping and will allow me to reorder more quickly if demand exceeds supply. Everyone will be on their honor to send the second payment once I inform them what the shipping cost is. The first group was only 25 (and I want a few ) so I suspect I will have to reorder. No worries if you are not included in the first order. Since I have a busy schedule like many here, I am going to take one trip to the post office for the first group. There is no implied warranty or guarantee. If you have any concerns don't buy. What we know is that they are all 0.9 mm so they will not fit handwinds. We also know that you will need a watchsmith to potentially make modest case adjustments and/or adjust gaskets. Ziggy has fit one on my 2893 and they should fit 7750's as well but I have not tried it yet. They are available in SS and PVD. Most PVD's will likely be in the second batch as I got only a couple in this order. I can give no advice as to installation as I don't do it so questions regarding installation will not be answered. Needless to say, I reserve the right to sell to whoever I want in whatever order I want. If you intend to have Ziggy install your crown please let me know when you pay--all of the crowns going to Ziggy will go in one package on the day I ship. Please do not respond via PM. Please address inquiries to watchmeisters@gmail.com. Sound familiar? I will provide paypal info in my response.

Oops. I guess I should learn how to read (the dial that is). Can I spell CHRONOFIGHTER. I am betting the IWC comes out in a rep. That is too easy. And if I were a betting man I would bet on the Swordfish too.

Ah the sword fish is finally out. Looks really good. The IWC is the Antoine (42mm) is a limited edition variant of the 3717 and clearly a 7750 movement. There is another gen version with a very cool looking power reserve function. That was rumored to be coming out as well. Big thanks for the pics TTK. I am curious to know what they did for the movement on the Swordfish. I have never seen a gen, does the big pusher control all the chrono functions?

If it gets that pricey I'm with you.

That ain't luck. You have to have the vintages in the first place.

I just ordered my first watch from Jay. It wasn't on the website. I do hope they get more vigilant about posting pictures - even if they are the ones straight from the factory. A lot of people swear by them and it was only because another member mentioned it to me that I knew it existed never mind that Jay was selling it.

Beautiful work. IMHO, you buy this work for the craftsmanship and movement. It would be silly to pretend this is a gen vintage Panerai. As Arch says there might be 5 guys who would wear it (including Ralph of course). And most likely none of us are one - at least I'm not. And in truth other than a Paneristi convention no one is going to care what it is. You buy this for what it is - a beautiful homage piece with a very cool movement.

Great minds...

I received mine a couple of weeks ago. It did not have any QC issues. Clean crystal, good (not perfect) date alignment and well working inner rotating bezel. My key complaint is that the lume on the inner bezel is not as good as the rest of the watch. Just be sure that new improved version is not just new. In spite of the good karma mine is already with ZZ for relume, movement and day/date wheel swap.

I would go with 231 Radiomir. Strap on that big piece of gold and go for a wild ride. Then again, don't listen to me I'm on my third wife.

Make it fun. Take close-ups and we will have fun picking the reps from the gens. By the way, nice collection. I am sure there is a plausible explanation for 4 blackseals.