Watchmeister

They all eventually figure it out. At the very high end of watches they keep remarkably good records of parts inventory. AD's and distributors for the haute horologie brands are personally responsible for inventory. Folks like Panerai are increasingly having everything sent to the local service center and no used parts are returned. Build them while you can.

I think it is another guy freaking out over the fact that Panerai is now the "it" watch for the twenty something twits. In the last couple of months I have met up with a couple of "legendary" Risti's who were reducing their collection to a couple out of disgust for various reasons.

That watch is falling like a stone in the gen market. People figured out it is just another handwind in a fancy box. It is pretty though.

Complete waste of time. Go buy a gen for $8k and call it a day. The cheapest movement I have ever seen was $3k or more and complete case was $2500.

That Jaeger is very cool. Proff positive, you have shown a great pic which will cause me to do a little research.

+1. I find the same thing. You think no one is selling a model until you ask. Then you just have to find that guy who is lacking funds and "jonesing" for a 390 or whatever the latest flavor is.

I am not convinced that the reps are having a meaningful effect on the gen sales. Most owners of gens do not sell for a rep. It is more the other way when the rep owner can no longer live with the rep movement or whatever. What I do think is happening is that Panerai is coming out with an ever larger number of new models and people often sell to buy. Back in the day when Panerai handwinds were actually hard to find in the U.S. people tened to keep them. Now they are available everywhere.

I tend to keep a couple of watches on a bracelet all the time but otherwise tend toward leather or croc (my favorite). Half the time the bracelets don't fit my wrist properly (rep or gen) other than Rolex. Rolex may be made like crap but that microadjustment is priceless. Without that level of adjustment on the deployant they are difficult to adjust if your wrist swells. Lastly I have always felt that rep bracelets don't wear or look the same as gen. So I go with fewer bracelets and always gen.

+1 Couldn't be better said.

+1 I must confess that I would have guessed 3 was gen and 2 was rep as far as the crystal goes.

I have fit a number of gen straps on the reps. Your choice is to buy AP Bands endlinks for a good bit of money or to enlarge the top holes in the rep endlinks to give enough play to fit the gen strap.

It actually doesn't tell is much other than labor at the dealer level is a very small piece of the costs. The average wage for legit full-time union jobs in factories in Guangzhou is under $800 a month. The minimum wage for legitimate jobs was just raised to $233 per month. You too can have a full time staff of 8 for anywhere from $20k-$80k. And that assumes that "black market" inudstries pay minimum wage or more. Or put differently a person working full time for a month in a legitimate industry is worth somewhere between 1/2 and 2 rep watches at retail price.

Definite DSN 36B.

Great comparison. Actually the EL fairs better than I would have thought.

Fabulous review. What a rep. Should my takeaway be that they got the right overall dial color and finish correct? Is the lettering the same color?

Pho- Good luck with the contest.

Very nice movement. Great find. I love the "winding wheels" and the hypnotic swirl.

Wow, those are gorgeous. Does the price change substantially if you opt for the "other" buckle?

If you are focused on movement accuracy than go with a solid caseback. The 312 movement is a copy of an in-house movement so by definition it will be inferior to others based on a stock ETA. I have to agree that if you want a clear caseback go with the Fiddy (127).

I am sure big dealers make a good amount of money but my perception (and it is perception) is that the industry has changed pretty drastically. The factories are making the bulk of the profit. At some level dealers are price takers. So my guess is they sell a lot more watches but there is no 50-100% mark-up (at least not on the better stuff) and at the same time they have had to up their infrastructure. I am not saying they are not earning a good living but I used to think they were quietly making milions of dollars on watches they bought for $100 and sold for $200. That is definitely not the case. In fact I have anecdotally heard they even take on lost leaders these days to get traffic in the door. Starting to sound like a legit business......

You might try the nice gent who posted directly above. He makes great stuff for a good number of members, is reasonably priced and can make it to fit your wrist. Standard lower end possibilities include Panatime or Bob straps. Also if you have a smaller wrists I would go with a tang buckle rather than a deployant.

Why do you think it's acronym is WUS. Just missing that extra "s".

I will always go with Noob as my base. When a factory can't even have a gen bezel case connection I can't get excited.

Another alternative is to buy a Diver buckle and strap. I am going to get a horn back made to fit my buckle.

If I am reading correctly the 203 Pre-V is shaped differently from either a Pre-A or later cases. As you suggest the lugs are generally chunkier and the case is also different.