lfovco

That looks really good!! Works nicely with that strap as well.

I'm really beginning to like PAM 243L more and more. The Noob version looks pretty sweet, it appears to be really well made and close enough to Gen. Right now I'm thinking of possibly picking one up sometime next month after CNY. Meanwhile, here are some nice photos on some very cool straps that I found: http://www.wristwatchphoto.com/2009/07/on-request-19-strap-combos-for-panerai.html It looks really cool with brown leather.

You have an answer to that above, just read what The Zigmeister said, he is an expert. And yes, either one should be serviced.

In those screw threads wear out quickly and they go to a trash can.

Very nice choice, it works so well!! Great strap.

I have seen several QC pics at that angle and all of them looked pretty good. CP will appear flat based on the angle and how the light hits it, sometimes it will appear a bit raised so i guess we won't really know until the watches arrive.

Ha, yeah. My lens came in and the 390 has been shipped as well.

Thanks Paneraiguy, you are right 005 is the top one.

Some people will tell you that wearing a rare model will get you called out sooner then a popular model, some will tell you that it does not matter. You can listen to countless opinions for weeks. But what matters is really what do you like. Don't worry about being called out wearing a rep, most likely that will never happen. In 7 years of wearing a rep where I live, where you run into someone wearing Panerai every week, up to 3-4 a day sometimes!!! I never got questioned even once. So I say don't worry about it. At the same time don't parade around telling everyone what a cool "expensive" watch you just got ;-) being transparent with reps is a best thing. Both those reps are pretty good, 005 Noob is really as good as it gets today for a closed back base. 247LE is a nice variation if you are into it.

It will be interesting to see what factories will do about cloning the looks of those movements somehow, especially that so many models are and will be coming out with open backs.

That's good to hear that straps on reps are actually getting better. I personally like using strap that works for me plus I like having them custom sized as far as length etc. so the out of the box stuff usually does not work for me.

I was sooooo close to getting 360 and then the 390 showed up. I ended up ordering 390 but 360 is super nice. In the end you kind of have to have both.

Don't worry about the strap, they are poop leather anyway and you need a custom strap. it does not matter if they are like gen or not, they are garbage.

Looks great.

Latest 390, 005, 029, 127, 247LE and 243 cover various styles and look pretty good. They all have small flaws here and there, but the flaws are really small and this is best you can get. Instead of someone telling you what the flaws are you should try to find them yourself against Gen pictures and see what works for you and what does not. Everyone get's stuck on different thing. Some people will hate incorrect shape of the CG lever like in the 088 GMT, some will complain about center pin being raised like in 390, etc. You have to decide for yourself what it's ok with you and what is not. All reps have flaws and there are no 1:1 reps. Have fun, find the flaws and decide for yourself.

$368 seems to be the standard price, there is $400+ price as well but it's because it comes with a different strap. $368 is not bad for what you get.

It's a great investment if you buy the right model. The problem is that even if you get on a waiting list you get bumped down a lot if you are not "connected". I was never able to get what I wanted that way. Actually it is amazing that despite the downturn, luxury watch prices went up in general, some brands much more then others.

Relaxman: Sweet!! Mine is going to be few days behind yours. At least today a new lens for my DSLR arrives :-)

It does look really good, I looked at QA pics and video. I don't think you can go wrong with this one.

They are shipping this week.

$20K only cause of flippers and the crazy PAM market in general, the MSRP back in 2002 was $6800 if I remember correctly. BTW, where are you guys getting the $400+ price from? You can get it for $368.

I looked at the pics that included the back, all of these new guys have in-house movt. Very nice stuff, love the 422.

Here are some pictures that show 000 and 390 side by side: http://tinyurl.com/6y76m2f

Relaxman: yeah, we exchanged few emails finally so it's all good.

Watchmeister, you are totally right. Due to manufacturing process, machines and materials used etc, they just cannot make it at the same level. But imagine if they were making reps that you cannot tell are reps from the pics, scammers would go crazy with selling those.