mjmurphy926 Posted January 14, 2011 Report Share Posted January 14, 2011 I just ordered a 111J from Andrew. Once it arrives, I'll do a comparison with my highly modded 111H project watch that I completed over a year ago. My project watch consists of the following: 111H cartel case Standard cartel high beat A6497 dagger movement (cleaned up as pretty as possible) V CG T-48 crown Little Hero dial Standard cartel handset. DSN sapphire crystal with single sided Chief AR Zigmeister lume on dial and hands and movement service. Let's see how the $200 OTB stacks up against the mega buck project. Stay tuned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pabler Posted January 15, 2011 Report Share Posted January 15, 2011 We want pics of your current mega beast! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjmurphy926 Posted January 15, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 15, 2011 We want pics of your current mega beast! I'll work on that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simonporsche Posted January 15, 2011 Report Share Posted January 15, 2011 I'll be very interested to see this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lobster Posted January 15, 2011 Report Share Posted January 15, 2011 likewise interested in this buddy. thanks for planning this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TK471 Posted January 16, 2011 Report Share Posted January 16, 2011 I'm very interested in the LH dial comparo. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porschespeedster Posted January 20, 2011 Report Share Posted January 20, 2011 I'm also into this...re-evaluating things is always a good idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjmurphy926 Posted January 20, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 20, 2011 I just approved Andrew's QC pix yesterday on the 111J. I hope I'm not going to be one of those 8 week guys... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjmurphy926 Posted January 24, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 24, 2011 It's here. I approved the QC pics on 1/18 and received the watch on 1/24. Great transaction with Andrew (as usual). First impressions: They certainly have stepped up the quality and accuracy on the 111. CG looks great and fits nice and tight to the case. The lever is nice and tight and snaps closed. The one bad thing I did notice about the CG is that the lever is not finished as nicely as to rest of the CG. It's almost like it was a little too thick and sticking out from the CG body when closed, so the roughly removed some material and sanded it smooth, but it's not particularly even. I wish they would have left it alone and let me take it to it's final shape. The crown is a little tricky to push back in after setting the time, but I can probably figure that out and fix it. The dial is nice! At first glance, when compared to my Little Hero dial, the cutouts are very close and the print is very similar in color. The biggest difference is that the font is thinner on the 111J and the word PANERAI is a little lower on the dial. I'm not sure which is more accurate. The canon pin is much better than older 111H reps, but it's either not quite high enough, or the minute hand needs to be set a little deeper. I'll take some pictures during the week of both watches and post a review soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
txcollector Posted January 24, 2011 Report Share Posted January 24, 2011 I have 111j, OEM dial, used to have a LH dial, and I have (or have seen) the other parts. The 111j case set is miles away from most rep parts. The dial with LH is kind of a wash and both different from the OEM. The top plate on the OEM is thicker than both reps and that gives a nice shadow effect that wasn't replicated. The 111j CG and spring loaded crown give you the right gen action. The T48 is nice cosmetically but the lack of a spring compromises the action. The issue you see on the CG is the rubber used for the lever pin. You need to replace it with something sturdier. The pin needs to be shaved a little too. In my franken I have OEM dial/hands/movement. Even the movement on the 111j is better than others I've seen. The engraving is way better than most reps. The AR on the 111j is too blue. In all the $200 rep is probably better than the sum of the parts you have listed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjmurphy926 Posted January 25, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 25, 2011 Upon closer inspection, I have to say I'm pretty disappointed with the finish of my 111j. I'll follow this up with some quick pix later this evening (I hope), but the CG is overworked to the point that's the curved top surface is notably different on the bottom half as compared to the top half. Also, the awesome case is pretty much ruined aesthetically by the fact that the upper left and lower right lugs have rather significant tool marks on the inside of the lugs that show as indention when viewed from the top just before the lug meets the case. I'm guessing that not all cases will have this issue because I have seen this same thing on at least one of the 7 or 8 older 111 cases I've had in the past, but most were fine. The dial and movement are still impressing me though. Case back is very nice too! If bezels are interchangeable with older cartel 111 cases, I may swap the bezel and caseback to an older case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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