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Probably - but sometimes you just gotta get 'em while you can. This movement is unfortunately housed in a very rare vintage Enicar. The collector of such a watch would be aghast at the thought of harvesting it's organs for a rep. Aghast I tells ya!!!

OK, while I'm not big on brown nosing, I do owe something to this forum for helping me find my first rep. I know the Daytona freaks are always looking for V72 movements and I'm sure you've all seen this, but here's a link anyway. Certainly not cheap, but playing the vintage Daytona game well just isn't. enicar sherpagraph

Thanks for all the kind comments. Let's hope the honeymoon continues...and yes, I did read a lot before making my decision. I took the advice of the forum and I hope luck is the by-produce of my diligence. You guys have a really incredible resource here with more in-depth real watch info than most of the gen forums that I frequent. I find myself reading tons of old posts just for the info imparted therein.

Thanks. Only 9 posts here, but many many on the other side of this world. Recipe: [censored] light box made with tracing paper attached to curved coathanger arches. A piece of white paper for a cyclorama wall (curved background makes watch seemingly hang in space). Two old desklamps shining into said tracing paper clad arch. Tripod. Always use a tripod. A little photoshop cropping and color balance. Upload to hosting site. Cake. Thanks for the compliment, though. I do enjoy trying to get that beauty shot of my watches. AR coated saphire is a real [censored] when shooting dials. you gotta cut a hole in a black sheet of construction type paper and put the lens through that. Didn't bother this time. Thanks for the kind words, though.

Roger that. Done and done.

Well, after exhaustive and competely enjoyable reading on this and a few other fora, the pull of buying a rep finally wore me down. I made my choice by what I thought was the best looking watch - I wasn't particularly concerned about the brand, but the Panerai reps are just so good looking and the simplicity of a swiss handwind movement appealed to me as well. I've always had a soft spot for PVD watches and have a few vintage gens with PVD or black oxide coatings and lately, I've been loving the look of the black watch on a fat tan leather strap - hence, the 111 PVD. The sandwich dial I find to be extremely attractive as well and the watch has a very unique vintage look right out of the box. I guess what I'm saying is that I love these reps because you can get a really really great looking watch for bupkis (all relative, I know). Sure it's kind of neat to 'feel' like you're wearing a $4,000 watch but I genuinely just love the way they look - I come from a background of collecting vintage gen divers whose price tag is usually $500 to $1000, so this is like staying in that world and getting really cool looking watches. Blah blah blah, whatever. I chose a Panerai 111 PVD from Davidsen because it sounded like he made nice watches and had good customer service. I've since read some stuff counter to that, but I'll simply relate my experience. Communication: pretty responsive. I'd email and he'd usually get back to me in a day or so. I asked questions, he answered them. He was patient as I discovered that Moneybookers was not feasible for me and seemed like he built my watch while I made my way to the Western Union office to transfer the funds to him ($25 fee). He sent me photos of "my" watch last wednesday, was paid on Thursday and I got the watch this morning. I am very pleasantly surprised at how easy it all was and it came with two very nice thick leather straps. Based on my research, horror stories seem to get the most attention around here ;-) - they're pretty much the forum equivelent to a car crash! Anyhoo, I've included som photos of the watch I bought. I have no idea if the CG is right or the cannon pinion is correct or for that matter if their are two small beetles turning a treadmill-driven second hand gear becuase I'm not opening it. The reality is, for me, as long as it keeps ticking, I will love it just the way it is and I think it's a stunning looking watch. Not trying to bury my head in the sand, just don't want to get nuts about the details: seems to sow the seeds of dissatisfaction for some! So there's my real first post. I'm sure most of you read about a 1/8 of it or none of it - that's cool, cuz I've thought of you too and included photos

Great caeser's ghost! Simply beautiful.

Manischewitz!!! That's a fine looking timepiece. Would love to own one of those - really classic. Nice work. Would love to be able to confidently tackle such projects.

Anyone use Moneybookers???? He recommended it as the cheapest, but I have my concerns.

Thanks for the replies.

I want to buy a PVD 111 pam from Davidsen and he's offered a couple of ways to pay: moneybookers, western union or bank wire. Anyone have an opinion on the best way to send the dough? I searched the forum and couldn't find an answer to this specific question so I beg you to share your experience/thoughts if you have any experience buying from Davidsen. Thanks in advance. chris

Thanks for the warm welcome - I have already read many posts authored by you as well as hundreds of other posts and threads. I'm in my wonderful age of innocence when it comes to reps. I'm sure I'll be a jaded nit-picker in no time (and I mean that in the best way!). chris

Your forum is truly massive. So much info about a world the average person doesn't even know exists. Hidden in plain site on the internet - just crazy. I'm a vintage dive watch collector for the most part and my lust for a vintage 1680 rollie has lured me to the replica world. I've never been a true believer on the $3,000 watch front and have long held the opinion that old Seiko divers were the best pound for pound watches around. Seems like some of the super reps may take a shot at that title when you add in the prestige (though faux) factor of the name. I don't think I'd ever want a modern Rollie rep, but I think the vintage ones are pretty cool. On the modern front, the Panerais are just so damn beautiful, I think I'm a gonna get me a Fiddy or something from DSN (?). I'll take my questions to that part of the forum. So hi there, fellas (mostly, right?). Thanks to all those who have contributed the very useful information found here and also to the folks that keep these forums up and running for whom I tend to believe it is a labor of love not profit. Well done. Thanks for letting me swim in your pool. chris