prolly the best out of the box fiddy ever?

[paneristi]

While watching through the forum I came across a new source as a newbie and was suprised by the price and the quality of the watch detail taking into consideration the nice engravings on the Gseries SWISS unitas eta moevement, Crownguards finish, real sapphire non distorting from shharp angles(not synthetic). Pls refer to the following link: http://www.pam111.com/product_info.php?cPath=21_52&products_id=1809

Even tough I am still a novice it seem to be the best offer I have ever seen. The pictures speak thousands words. Its cheaper than davidsen by 130 usd too. Is it too good to be true??? Has anyone bought this particular watch before and how is the lume of the watch. Besides there panerai flyback selling at 650 usd is far the best replication I have ever seen (for this particular model).

[Pugwash]

Is this a joke?

[hambone]

Bad humor is nothing new here. The DSN 127 remains the best out of box 127 Fiddy available.

[paneristi]

Bad humor is nothing new here. The DSN 127 remains the best out of box 127 Fiddy available.

Hm no its not a joke! From my newbie eyes this watch looks pretty good innit? The seller has also confirmed it to have proper sapphire and a swissmade unitas eta. The ictures are nice aren they. Pls let me know if there are inherent faults with the watch I have mentioned before. 330 sounds like a good deal to me but I might be wrong if there are faults on the watch. I am confused now. pls enlight me.

[Watchmeister]

Gentlemen-

Be nice. It is a standard current "ultimate Fiddy" from the larger dealers. I have never seen those exact bridges on a Swiss movement but you never know. I actually would have guessed the movement was Asian owing to the lack of "spoked" wheels. The Davidsen is aesthetically superior for a number of reasons including crystal and AR, dial (although I detest the grey font) and hands.

IMHO, the Fiddy although large in size is actually one of the more subtle watches out there and even within the 1950 genuines made (1963 including the OR's - those cheaters) there are some pretty substantial differences. For this model they made 2-3 different dials and 2 different crystals so not all is black and white. The universal obvious issue among all rep dials is the formation of the "6" and "9". The "long side" flattens out on the gen but not on any rep. I have had the opportunity to hold or wear virtually every combination of rep and gen parts (including all variants of gen and rep dials and crystals). You can over analyze it until you are blue in the face. Is the rep crystal really that different or does the more articulated (and raised) gen bezel cause the different distortion, etc. At the end of the day I would suggest either a Davidsen or piece together a classic EL fourth generation with Davidsen hands.

[paneristi]

Thx a lot Mr Kruzer for your professional opinion. I am already an owner of a Davidsen MM20 (less domed sapphire) but just wanted to try out other relible dealers. Maybe I should get the fiddy from Davidsen again. Do I need to bear in mind anything when I place the order e.g. dials, lume composition etc. I am also planning on a project to turn my mm20 in a unique masterpiece by adding chief AR, Vac lume, better CG and Crown and last but not least an avitt dlc coating. As you know the mods that I intend to do will easily be in excess of 500 usd. I am not sure if this is worth the whole procedure or just get another DSN fiddy and simply get it DLCed. BTW what do you think about this watch http://www.pam111.com/product_info.php?cPath=21_52&products_id=1397

[Watchmeister]

I haven't looked at one of these in a while. Obviously Paul is getting a premium for the Swiss movement. Check on the dial versus gen. Obviously the A's are low but that shouldn't kill it as it is much less obvious on automatics. I can't remember much about the other dial issues but you need to look at the marker thickness and boldness. There was one dial which had too thick markers and 12 but had better layout and another with the inverse. Also make sure the crystal is actually sapphire. They may well be making them now but at some point there were not sapphire crystals available. The headline is take some time to look at a gen and rep pic on the same screen as it is a good amount of money and you want to make sure you are happy.

[archibald]

I like the "EL" fiddies out of the box. The crown is superior to DSN and so is the dial. Once you remove th AR (a 10 min job) you are 99% on the wrist. For the best all rep fiddy, you would swap the xtal and hands for DSN, maybe try to find a CG from the first crappy asian cartel version, which looks about like all the other rep CG's but you can get the crown closer to the case as per gen since this CG has a longer tab on the lever. Or you can be an idiot like kruzer and I and spend a gen 223's worth of dough on a bunch of gen parts (keeping only the rep case on my piece but to be 100% honest you'd only fool another .01% of the people who will see your watch.

[paneristi]

Is davidsen also the best dealer for an ultimate pam217H. I am quite an impatient guy and want to get the best out of the box panny. I really like this http://www.pam111.com/product_info.php?cPath=21_52&products_id=1063 but am unsure if Davidsen's version is also better. How do they compare with regards to lume, dial, casing hands?

[MarkJ]

Kruzer00 is right on, it's made in China and uses an Asian 6497 which works very well I might add. The watch overall is quite good in materials and worth the price. Even the finish on the case is done well. I won't mention the factory but they are high tech. Oh, they were using plexi crystals but have, within the past year+, started using sapphire.

Edited August 12, 2009 by MarkJ

[paneristi]

Kruzer00 is right on, it's made in China and uses an Asian 6497 which works very well I might add. The watch overall is quite good in materials and worth the price. Even the finish on the case is done well. I won't mention the factory but they are high tech. Oh, they were using plexi crystals but have, within the past year+, started using sapphire.

How can you guys be so sure it s an asian movement. Paul confirmed that the ultimate he sells is a 100% genuine swiss unitas eta movement. I have ask him if it is a swinese or asian movement but he insist its a swiss made. To be honest I expect the engravings to be finished in asia but as long as the base movement is swiss its fine with me. Not saying that asian movements are no good but I just want to get what I am paying for. An honest seller should not lie to potential customers or at least I hope. I do know that the swiss movement will be further enhanced and refinished in asia such as engravements. Than on the other hand can you tell if the e movements sold by DSN are 100% swiss?

[MarkJ]

I've actually had one in front of me. The one I saw came from a factory in China and it's dead-nuts on with this one from the pic. The jewel color, the balance wheel, the blued screws all tell me China. I also know this particular China factory makes parts for Switzerland. But, I agree, you should get what you pay for and that should be made clear before you buy.