Panerai 250 and 196

[William Campbell]

I would like to know if there are any reviews on these watches. Does anyone know if the movements are reliable? Are the seconds at 9 on this watch?

Thanks.

[blackbard]

I have one and it has been flawless. Seconds at 9 has not been an issue. It is also such a robust model, close to gen, that I and quite a few of us convert them to Swiss 7753 which is basically the same as gen. Very heavy and cool watches...

[William Campbell]

How much does it cost to convert, and what are the benefits? I noticed that the dealers have a Swiss 7753. Is this the same?

[blackbard]

Not sure what the dealers have. To gather the parts, which I have for sale can be time consuming and costly. Also, there are a couple gen Dials out there that the dealers dont have. Check the watches for sale page and you'll see my posting. Watch is 250, movement can run up to 600, dial is 100-200 etc....Good project if you have the patience. Otherwise, the rep is of very high quality if you get a good one...No need to change over unless you are anal like some of us. I have a swiss 7753 188 (white version of the 196) and on the open market, they can run ~1000+.

[blackbard]

By the way, I have heard the dealers dont have the true swiss 7753...Cant confirm or deny that rumor...

[Drulee]

I asked them two months ago (Josh/Andrew) and they didn't. But I'm not sure about now.

I have heard that one of them told another member, this past month, that they had some of the Cartier chronos with 7753, but can't verify it myself.