Watchmeister

That is like wearing an oversized White Castle burger on your wrist. 44mm x 20mm just seems to be poorly proportioned. If you want to go that direction buy a vintage PAM compass and strap that on. At least it will appreciate. To give you some sense, the PAM 187 with 47mm case and 5mm crystal is only about 17mm thick and that falls into the category of wearing a hockey puck.

If you stare from the top down the pin appears to be better finished (not just a circle) but David is right that the key is the rubber sleeve on the pin. The easiest fix would be to take a rubber sleeve from a Jimmy Fu crown guard and duplicate it. That is the biggest plus to his crown guards for which he gets $55-60. The feeling of opening and closing is a lot closer (read not exact) to the gen crown guard.

Finepics is right. This is one of very few original movement PAM reps with an engraved rotor. And yes, typically PAM OEM movement parts like the rotor are virtually impossible to get as are the whole movement. The biggest issue is that PAM is not a large seller of any one model and on the older models, unlike Rolex or Omega or Breitling, there were not a large number of units made. In fact, one of my friends with a large number of PAM gens says that even PAM can lacking decorated parts and substitute generic ETA parts.

As one who I consider a valued member and friend here, I am glad you do. I find most gen forums spend time discussing the vagaries of their watches and allowing folks to puff out their chests. This place is down and dirty but more importantly much more informative. I learned more about movements in my first week at RWG and TRC than in 25 years of buying, selling and losing gens. A membership composed of both rep and gen owners is a very good thing. And the best part is that I have made a number of friends from all over the world and from all sorts of socioeconomic backgrounds. But there is one common denominator - a true love of horology. And I have to admit, there is something titillating about pursuing this "illegal" hobby.

Without question, it is the one genuine Rolex I would consider buying since iscovering this place. Darth - to you.

But seriously it will survive until either someone stops paying the light bill or the power goes out and there is no one to call the repairman. While it is still there it is a good resource and amusing to follow some of the loops. What I also get when I visit RWG I is a renewed feeling of gratitude toward the Mods and Admins here who stepped up and developed this place. Many thanks. And by the way, a little discipline is a good thing. Many of the valued members who fled RWG I have reappeared here.

Do I want to ask?

Good point. I assumed there was a picture and my remote connection was just very slow.

The swan neck is the evidence that the movement is a true ETA 6497. The going price for a state of the art 217 with sapphire crystal, ETA movement with swan neck, Cotes de Geneve decoration and proper engraving in blue is $350-375. I know. I just bought one. It is the first time I have bought from the dealer so I will review and post pictures when I receive it.

I emailed him yesterday to see how he is doing and to ask what he is going to do on the watch front. I am sure almost all folks here, with the exception perhaps of the teenagers, have lost a close relative. Different people respond very differently to personal loss. I lost my father at age 24 and I think I took all of of 4 days off. It was a month or two later that it hit me. Frankly, I am concerned that he is sitting on his couch in depression based on his last PM. Of course, we all wish him well but I do hope he gets going sooner rather than later for both the right reasons and selfish ones.

admin, you had an exciting weekend compared to some. I headed out to the Suburbs, took the younger kids to the park each day and watched with amusement as my 13 year old son continues his quest to get laid (kids are very advanced here in New York). Oh, and I did fire up the barbecue for Easter. More exciting on the watch front though. Heard from Ziggy that I have a couple of watches including an MBW and Daylight or two on the way back. Started surfing around for new watches. 217 Destro and new RG Radiomir 231 on the way from AAAplus. My first order from Lisha so my fingers are crossed. Pricing was very fair. Both pieces have the swan neck 6497 with CDG bridges and all "blue engraving" as it should. The 231 looks pretty much dead on compared to the pictures on Timezone. And I'll have mine before the gens are released in June.

Dani- You are scaring me. I got a lot of PM's when I bought my first MBW. Both wellwishers and ones expressing incredulity. You will love it. I now have Comex - Ziggified and Red Sub - Tribalized and Ziggified. You can increase you're rep budget now.

I would wait on the crown. An esteemed Board member (read not me) is expecting prototypes of a new and better crown shortly. Couple that with the fact that the cyclops are not coming out for several weeks and you are better off waiting. I would recommend wearing the watch as is until you amass the necessary parts to do several mods at once. If the new crown never arrives there are a number of people with Lello crowns that are willing to sell. I think Davidwis said he had a couple of extra. So I would wait. If no better version of the crown comes out prior to the cyclops, I am happy to hunt around for a spare Lello. I know I have a few lying around. PAM's crowns too.

Don't feel too bad. In New York, a stock 3 bedroom apartment averages well over $2 million. That 3 bedroom townhouse starts at $4 million. It's all paper anyhow. And yes, London is unbelievable.

That movement is a must have. The rotor thing is silly. I have three different 2893's and they all have nicely decorated rotors which you will never see. Yeah, there is a missing "i" in "Officine" on the movement. Has anyone told Ted what all these mods will add up to: new crown and installation - $100, relume (I forget but let's say) $100, cyclops $35 plus installation, datewheel, if it comes, $60??. So you're are looking at something in excess of $300. But you will have one hell of a watch.

Congrats admin. Although you might be able to hang on a little longer and get a little more, I suspect that it will turn out that you have sold out near the peak. In the US most major urban areas have peaked. Inventory is up. Number of days on the market has lengthened. And far fewer houses are subject to bidding wars. The market in most major markets in the U.S. is now characterized as neither a seller's nor buyer's market.

If you are serious about this and you really are taking the GMAT's as opposed to the SAT's, take a full fledged course. A very wise person gave me the heads up. Thank god. Although it was many years ago, there were two sections which have nothing to do with common sense or business experience. There are simple rules that the teachers will teach you that will ensure you get everything in those sections right as opposed to wrong. This is coming from someone who (immodestly but accurately speaking) had one of the highest scores in the nation for SAT's and went on to an unnamed but most prestigious university in the U.S prior to taking the test. I was fortunate and ended up with solid scores, but I know full well that if I hadn't taken the course I would have done poorly. But I have never heard of taking the GMAT for college. The good news is that you can take it as many times as you want and I believe only the score of your choice gets sent.

Stop taking pictures and wear that thing of beauty. Tell me you own the 8 day movement.

Narikaa makes a very good point. In any case, if you move forward have him provide a signed letter attesting to its authenticity specifically mentioning the serial number as well as a xerox copy of his driver's license or passport if foreigner in advance of payment. You can do this via PDF for quick turnaround. If he is a scammer it may make him think twice.

The picture is of a gen. If you are going to go through with this from afar have him provide you with a picture of the serial number. You can check on the forum for the standard rep serial numbers. Then, if it still exists, you choose a delivery service which requires COD (cash on delivery). They typically charge a modest premiun and you should offer to pay it. In any case, it protects both of you. If it is the real deal you will get the proper serial numbered watch so that you can be comfortable irrespective of your expertise in identifying reps. If not, keep you're money. That is how I dealt with a similar situation a number of years ago.

As we come to a close on the pre-order period in the next couple of days and are clearly looking at a sell-out, we are all very pleased to see that the membership has stepped up to get involved early on. This is what makes both TRC and RWG great. Six weeks until D-day.

Hey Darth- Let me know when you are ready to get rid of the Frankenwatch.

I hope it is naked women and not watches. Have fun. No, I've got it. A strap made out of the same leather that was on the reins of the chariot that Achilles drove to meet Hector in battle. Oh, wait a minute, that was Brad Pitt.

I think that crown looks pretty good. It looks as good or better than PAM's crown and there are often issues with installation of Lello crown's so I would wait. Someone who actually owns this watch should weigh in.

admin- I would hold off. I own both of them and I am holding off putting them on my watches. There are rumors that someone else is trying to do it properly. Apparently it is in prototype. No PM's as to who or what. If it happens we will all know and if it doesn't it didn't matter.