Watchmeister

If you work in the finance industry you see Pateks's reasonably regularly. Younger folks have the standard lower end Calatrava and more senior folks who stay with Pateks move up to one of the automatic calendars. And interestingly I have never seen a rep in the wild. I do work in that industry and currently work with at least 10 folks who wear them on a daily basis. The progression in the industry tends to be Rolex to Patek.

The watch looks great. I can't wait to see the new strap. It will really make the watch.

A great read. It is unfortunate that the factory has accidentally made it worse by double siding the ar while trying to improve the product. Hopefully one of the dealers will read this and pass it onto the factory. Even in the gen world I have never been a fan of double sided AR because no matter how good the coating is there is always the risk that you end up with that horrible rainbow effect from damaged AR.

Very pretty. That is one gorgeous block of steel.

Can't wait to see the pics when you get it back. congrats.

F- Great to see you back, if only for a little while. - Kruz

Glad you think so.

+1. Go with the latest for a relatively no brainier. Anything else will likely require significant incremental work. And IMHO gold is ridiculous unless you are that rich.

I don't think the number is 100 or even 200 for a factory to make a change. It isn't like the old days. Now the real minimums are certainly in the 100's or 1,000 plus. The dealers who actually request changes typically can sell 100's of just one model. And even then the factories are slow to make any change.

That watch is stunning. The AR makes a big difference. wear it well.

And the funny thing is that the ones I see (and I have seen a few in the last few months) were more often than not gold. And the guys wearing them were neither NBA stars or rappers. I do travel the world and often meet with fairly well to do folks in my business life and I never saw one on the wrist (rep or gen) until a couple of months ago. I still can't figure out who buys the gens. I never see them in the EU or USA. Who is buying the gens? The owners sold the business a couple of years ago for $175 million. Someone has to be. Back to the topic at hand. Hublot is definitely the one brand (not Rolex) I assume is always a fake.I can see someone shelling out $3-4k for the original status symbol but not $7k plus for a Hublot. It is interesting because several years ago when the Panerai reps came out there were so few gens in the U.S. I often assumed many were reps. Now there are so many gens out there that Panerai gets my benefit of the doubt.

Pete- You are too kind. And you may be right on fitting the movement to the case. of course it will all be about the spacing between the dial and the stem (crown tube). What I find frustrating on these type of mods is that by the time you add the Asian pieces you end up with a Swasian mess.

My guess (and a guess it is) is that there are certain pieces they add to make it look aesthetically closer to the gen which changes the overall thickness and also requires you bastardizing the swiss movement to add the asian parts. Ziggy went through hell years ago converting an HBB for me to a Swiss based movement. It may be able to be done but by the time you are done adding the plates and other required parts from the Asian movement you have a mishmash.

Now that would be the cat's pajamas. I might have to join you on this one. That is what I thought too.

Thanks for all the kind words. I see a lot of good friends chiming in. And as we always say....it's not about the destination. It's the journey. And everyone here makes it a great trip.

Well it's been a wonderful 5 or so years here at RWG. On the occasion of my 10,000th post I thought it only fitting to show the bulk of my collection (rep, gen and franken) and my other stuff. It has been a really fun ride and I am looking forward to the next five years. A huge thanks to all my fellow forum members. And a special thanks to those still around after all these years and putting up with my silly questions - Ziggy, Ubi, wOlf, Chief, TT, etc. and to those we don't see too often anymore - archibald, finepics, palpatine etc. The knowledge and friendships I have gained while spending time here has been amazing. Panerai: Rolex: Breitling and IWC: AP: Need I Say More: Randomly Tucked Away in Boxes: The Straps: And the Infamous Parts Box:

The piece de resistance would be to CDG the backplate for viewing through the dial. Then you have a kick ass rep.

My one experience - pay the money and receive nothing. Wouldn't be surprised if someone outed him to Rolex and they are going after him.

Quote from one of the Risti threads: "The OPXXIX movement was in OP stock and when it was decided to produce this Special Edition with a special price" To be read as those rat bastards thought they could pull a fast one on their loyal customer base. The reps are more "honest" than OP.

It is getting interesting. Apparently Panerai is offering to swap movements without "admitting" a mistake. Someone had the nerve to designate the movement as a new caliber. In any case if you are curious there are a couple of interesting threads on risti about the uproar and Panerai's response. http://www.network54.com/Forum/353391/message/1320959034/Whilst+in+transit+I+will+provide+as+much+info+as+I+can%2C+as+I+learn+it%2C+about+the+318... http://www.network54.com/Forum/353391/message/1320958470/But+it+can%27t+be+official+right-

What I have noticed on the friend requests is that there is no rhyme or reason. Sometimes they come from people who have been around for a while and sometimes from noobs. I still have yet to figure out what the purpose of it is.

And the bizarre thing is that these are the same folks asking Haute Horologie collectors to pay $100k for a tourby. Do they really think they can be Breitling on one end (strike that, Breitling decorates its movements ) and Patek on the other.

I tend to agree that it was not some conscious decision other than the assemblers were told to get them out the door and they had no standard movements in house. Having said that in truth that movement is true to the real Panerai heritage. In it's prime (pre-Vendome) Panerai was always broke so they used whatever they could get. Ever wonder why no two pre-V's were the same. But seriously, I would hope that Panerai would own up to the mistake and offer to swap movements. And if it isn't - than shame on them. Panerai has rapidly morphed into a brand which I am a lot less proud to own. Then again that is what I am hearing from a few of the original Risti as well.

Very sorry to hear about his personal issues. in spite of the lack of communication the important thing is Francisco is doing the right thing and getting watches back to their owners.

So true. The diver/survivor buckle has the biggest tong I have ever seen.