Watchmeister

Do you offer them here first?

If you are in the U.S. PM me.

It is the tone more than anything else. To quote myself, TRC is a James Taylor concert, RWI is more of a mosh pit and RWI ??? (Haven't spent enought time there to have formed an opinion. Of course, many people participate in both TRC and RWI. TRC is kind of like a beach vacation from the city. RWI and its darkside kind of freaks me out.

As far as I know, post Chinese New Years.

I am with Namor. The ETA party is largely evaporating. I have already stockpiled my 7753 and 2892/3 based reps - and yes they are as advertised. All mine go to Ziggy upon receipt.

Serious or kidding? If serious you should take a quick look at what Panerai actually makes. If outrageous movements or complications are your thing, Panerai is not your brand. Here is a good basic reference. http://www.lacotedesmontres.com/Galerie-No_4092.htm All the best as you embark on PAM mania. Kruz

Thanks.

I have to second that. Patience, determination and cooperation are key part of these projects. Usually, they are labors of love. No one ever gets rich off of these. In fact, most of the time you lose money. Whether it is Lello on the original Lello datewheels and crowns, Mark on the 7753 and 2892 datewheels, the Watchmen on the first generation cyclops or Chieftang's most recent efforts on cyclops and AR coat. And not all ever work out. I am the happy owner of an extensive crown collection - 2 generations of Lello crowns, Homer crowns, PAM crowns, Palp 2.1's, etc. Some I use some I don't. I have 2 or 3 generations of various datewheels as well. But I never mind contributing to the effort. I have been a silent partner in a number of projects (read as cheerleader and occasional financial backer) from the first gen cyclops to various datewheel projects and so I have had a birdseye view of all the trials and tribulations. To give people a sense of what I am talking about, on the first gen cyclops (Watchmen project) there was a fair amount of guesswork using the best information the group could find and ultimately it had to take on the financial burden of the entire project waiting to see whether they would work. As a member of the Watchmeisters I have watched Arch and Ubi spend countless hours developing solutions to the Vintage Rolex and PAM Asian 7750 date font issue. Hundreds of dollars and months of work identifying the right materials and vendors have been invested. Having searched the universe for tools that would provide the required level of accuracy we have ended up having custom tooling done for each movement. The Rolex is now in final production with the A7750 to follow shortly. Over time this same process can be applied to virtually any datewheel for which there is enough demand to justify the expense. But make no mistake this has been a labor of love (kudos to to Arch for sticking with it). So cheers to all and bear with all those striving to make the rep world a better place.

Riverwind- Glad to hear you are happy with the watch. Is the date sink really noticeable on this one? It drove me nuts on the Asian 196. That is what has held me back. Ziggy can fix everything else.

This one is still going on? I say lets make all the truth-in-advertising folks happy and go back to photobuckets and arbitrary pricing - the good old days. Thanks to those dealers who did comment here though. Of course, if we are going to stick with descriptions blatant mistakes as on the B&R and Omega 2892 movement do need to be corrected. IMHO, the real moral of the story is that we will have to be ever more vigilant as to the watches we buy. Anyone who comes upon a dud should be posting to this effect ASAP. That is a core forum principle.

On the Swiss transplant issue, my 88 is already on the way to Ziggy for repair (along with my FM "2892" for movement disection) and I have asked him the same question.

It's kind of like moving from a James Taylor concert to the mosh pit. Enjoy the show.

Actually, gen hands may be a great investment. I bought a set for my 63 and they have increased 40% in price. Can you say that about any of your reps.

Please update as to timing because if you are getting things shipped from Rob I could add a few more that are already with him.

Can't wait.

I second that. With John's commitment and Ubi's wisdom this should have a great outcome. I am the "cheerleader" on this project - and not a very attractive one.

The real deal. And priced as such. http://cgi.ebay.com/PANERAI-44m-SILVER-3-H...1QQcmdZViewItem Otherwise go with Davidsen.

You guys are so loving. He even admitted "I thought I would give it a try".

Airport lounges are always good viewing posts for watches. Pre-selection process as flyers are either frequent flyers or in first or business. I have seen any number of great watches in that same lounge if that is the one for Cathay Pacific.

Flav- Per usual, it looks great. I like the idea of mixing C1 and C3. I went with C1 and am still wondering. I had not noticed that Panerai moved to the contemporary bridges when they swapped the words on the dial.

I am less concerned as to the why this has happened as our dealers are often takers not makers of products than knowing this is the case. I do hope that what does come out of this is people continue to sound off warning bells when they come upon watches which are either persistently problematic or are blatantly not as advertised and mispriced as a result.

Economics. The manufacturer has to determine whether he will get additional sales or can charge a higher price for AR coating. If not, they won't do it. It's one more step and one more cost. I do notice that they are increasingly coming on the more expensive reps so perhaps it is becoming evident to the makers and the sellers (who hopefully are requesting it) that it does pay to do it. We are of course talking about our small subset of better reps.

No guts, no glory!

Pug- You started this mess. Just wait until that next limited edition run comes out. No soup for you. Lest we all forget, obviously all the rantings and ravings over Paul have put him out of business. He is selling franchises. Well, if someone actually keeps track of those watches which truly are not what they say then something good has come out of it.

And it goes on and on.... Anyone know how to end this loop - oh yeah stop reading it. Well I did learn one thing I didn't know before I started - never buy an Omega with a 2892 in it. Thanks for the info. Oh, and for those who don't like what any specific dealer is doing with their advertising I have a solution - don't buy from them. Because if you are - then you are the ultimate hypocrite.