Pre V

Dubbed as the City of Gold, Dubai is a thriving economy and a dumping ground for luxury timepieces. Since 1/4 Century ago, knowledgeable Airline personnel have been buying watches from Dubai and reselling them at a hefty margin to those unaware of this "Watch Haven", a large number of buyers from Japan. A year ago, I was there and astonished by the development rates of their real estate scene. Discounted rates on Rolexes are one of the best in the world, so I have heard. Dubai is renowned for their Dubai Shopping Festival which happens once a year in the month of February (if memory serves me well). I only had the chance to visit Ahmed Seddiqi & Sons at Wafi City Shopping Mall, and there was Chopard, Panerai, Patek Philippe boutiques on the ground floor. At Ahmed & Sons, I was drawn to F.P. Journe who has been my favourite watchmaker for the past 2 years. Immediately I asked for the best price on a Luna as well as Calendria. Was shocked when the discount given was well, and very very well below the RRP in my region. Tempted as I was, Desirable as those 40mm brilliant tick-tocks are singing to me, I held back. Abeit the discount, it was still in the region of tens of thousand dollars. I believe you will find Ahmed & Sons in every major malls in Dubai. Happy Watch Hunting!

Morbid as it is, watch companies will always use history in its favour to achieve profit margins. That said, I have held an RJ piece in flesh. Very heavy watch. If you reckon a Panerai 187 1000m Submersible at 200+ grams to be weighty, an RJ is on par, if not heavier. What amazes me about RJ is the rubber strap they have on their offerings, very soft and "stretchable" makes it a comfortable strap for those in tropical climate. Titanic...branding to market in hope of $$$ reaping.

Hey lanikai, is that a Tudor Daytona? What a historical beauty!! Wristerizing a 207A for the mid-week

They say "Variety is the Spice of Life", I couldn't agree more. Since my first acquisition of a white-faced Rolex when I was 14, I knew that deep within me, there's something about a White Dial that dawns upon that unexplainable nostalgia in me. (others perhaps) There's no doubt that I love my Black, Blue, Silver dialed watches, but I will always retain a fraction of Whites in my collection. I was very drawn to the advertisement rolled out by Rolex back in the 80s where the white-faced Explorer was featured. It was then I knew I had to have one. Sadly, I never did owned an Explorer till date. Perhaps in the near future. Fast forward to a few years back, when the whole Panerai craze was burning up in flames and like a wild forest fire, everyone was chatting about Luminors and Radiomirs as if they were the next Beatles. When I picked up a Panerai catalogue, there and then again, I was attracted instinctively to the White Dial. Why? Could it be due to a replica Bvlgari that I have been wristed for 2 years? Definitely maybe. Many long-timers are no strangers to this 5218-207A, as it was first posted by my brother Quarks (who have semi-retired from the scene for while due to work) about 18 months back. I have told him that I was very shocked at the out-of-the-box finished product with no mods whatsoever from DSN. It was the full-bodied flavour that led me to request a safe-keeping guardianship for this timepiece. He had a Mario Paci Decima before on this 207A but I have since strapped on an ABP Lizard to inject a classier look, and keeping the blacks contrasted on the white dial. On closing, I am on the a Daytona 6263 fever and am once again torn between Black or Silver/White Dial. But I am on this thread, ain't I? The answer of choice is obvious.

One of my favourite subs.

That's what you called a Fiery Wrenching Return in an effort to view your movement.

Very nice 201A self-built iPAM my friend! Titanium casing makes it all the more special.

Love the Mark II Chronoscopio - very nice and chunky, and of Italian heritage, coming from Ex-Panerai's factory in Florence. downside is that strap changing can be very challenging... How much discount off retail did you pay?

PAM 24 A to C with the polished bezel is definitely one of the nicest Submersibles of all time. Love the lume job on this magnificanto!!

OTOTOT kye_lin, have you sold your gen Fiddy yet? Market's pretty quiet and everyone seems to be dumping their gens... What are you thinking of getting next?

I hear you. Well in that case, seems like your mind is all made up! Go for it my friend, after all, the satisfaction will be all yours to savour. Godspeed on the project and I can't wait to see it. An individual's creation in the mind is like an Art, some love it, others not so.... Make it a Reality and you'll be glad you did!

A 1st Generation Greg Strap (modified to have the look of a PAV 91 Wrinkled-Looking Hide) on a 1st Generation Davidsen PVD 201/A. A Mario Paci Black with Gold Stitch on a 1st Gen SS 201/A

IMO, PVD or DLC Coating will look better on a Luminor as opposed to a Radiomir. As to franken'ing the dial, I wouldn't do it. Try it on a rep and see if you like it first. After all, I believe Davidsen is offering a PVD Radiomir. 2 cents worth...

Very nice timepiece....simply love it. Kind of regretted selling mine off.... Got to love the wrinkled Metta hide...

Amazing Pre V box! Love it and Rolli, you've got a Private Message.

Georgie, you got Singapore confused with Hong Kong. These 2 countries are 3.5 flight hours away. Singapore is still as sovereignLEE as ever. ed11, don't worry about your package. Unless you bought from a dealer who declared a whopping figure more than SGD $ 400 on your parcel, it might be stuck at the sg customs pending a GST invoice, it should be arriving anyday now. Do verify with your dealer that your address checks out correctly. EMS packages usually take 3-5 working days to arrive. (minus saturdays and sundays)

It's no surprise at all.... with regards to the pricier market prices for rare PAVs... Over the last month or so, I've rejected a well-known Fannaristi's offer of USD $ 650 for a brand new OEM PAV99 with PVD logo buckle (circa late-1990s). Just about 1 year back, PAVs were popping up everywhere at a price range of USD $ 280 - USD $ 350. Nowadays, it's the seller's market and most who have purchased their PAVs over the past 2 years are hanging on tight to theirs. With the OEM PAV91 going through the roof begining of this year at a market price of USD $ 1000 + (bearing in mind "used PAV91"), I have a feeling the rest of the PAVs will follow suit.

The Logo Buckle on V's PAV 91 is surgically transplanted over from an OEM MX strap (if I am not mistaken). TCStraps does not sell any PAVs with the OP Logo. Hope this clears it up.

Glad to hear of the happy ending my friend! That "plastic watch" part is really amusing! 130 Euros is totally outrageous. Enjoy that J12! Looks great

hey vacuum, sent you a PM! Great work on the 243! I love it!

Hey Manuel, can you whisper to your friend and tell him that when he's sick of the AP, I would love to stamp my name on it. Sweet pieces...I am sure they'll soar through the jet-plane skies in no time.

There are different versions of PAM 111 in the replica market. From the G Series with painted dial/decorated bridges to H series with sandwich dials/cortes de geneve bridges. Asian Movements to Swiss ETA ones....Swan Necks versus Earlier versions without... It all depends what you are looking for actually... Hit me a PM with your email if you are search of a 111H Swiss ETA old style movement and I am close to where you are...Orchard of Boulevards right in the midst of Centrepoint creamed with Takashimaya....you get the drift.

I just got back from BangKok and been to the stall. Basically, if you read what Leonardo has posted, you wouldn't go wrong. If that information and map has been deleted, so much for the afterglow. You're better off making a purchase off TTK if you are in search of Vintage Rollies. There ain't jack-zits displayed. The AP Roo on display has no A-doo-Mars Pea-Gay on it and it's going for a whopper. How so? Beats the rockin' dead horse outta me. If you want the dealer's direct number, send me a PAM 243 Ziggified with Snow White lume my way and I'll gaurantee your success in finding the stall. A bribe on a Sunday is always well-recieved, especially a timepiece worked on by Zig......LMAO! TTK , V I N T A G E Rolex...repeat after me..... TTK, Vintage Rollies....that's it!

Yeah..... whatever....

Hmm..... 111 Sandwiched and covered in Virgin Vapourisation of the Dark .....