Damn- missed out on the franken 029 for sale

[malfa]

Seems that the super reps are starting to lose their lustre a bit with all these excellent new pams at such a low price point. Too bad they don't have a good 029 in the works

[malfa]

nobody wants good $ for an el 029?

[kbiz]

the hoblot factory won't do the 28xx models since there's so few models... and the soprod models are too complicated... they'll hit many of the 7750 and 7753 models.

[w0lf]

I'm with kbiz on this, the same sentiment about new models thoroughly trumping old ones will be reiterated over an over again until most people realize that if it sounds too good to be true - it is. The newer reps might be a bit more polished in some areas like case finish or nicer a/r or a crownguard with a rubber bushing, etc., BUT they'll never reach the coveted sum is greater then the parts status of the old Honpo and EL 27,28,29,63,187,194,188,196 models.

Most of the rarer old models with premium Swiss movements were produced in very small quantities, I'd be surprised to learn that there are more than 100 of the original Honpo 29's out there. Whereas the new models are produced in quantities far exceeding Panerai's own production numbers. They're cheaper because there's even more corner cutting than usual. I'm not saying this because I own oldschool models and want to see them keep their value, I realize that despite years invested into upgrading them with the best custom and OEM parts they're still only reps and are worth nothing in the real world. To me they represent something else - they're friendships forged, knowledge gained and shared, the excitement and anticipation of something that's not run of the mill, "best out of the box" that you can just buy for a couple hundred bucks.

There's a bit of a sell off going on right now but I'm betting there will be some serious seller's remorse down the road and whoever grabbed them will be one happy camper.

[Guest al12]

I completely agree with both of you guys. After handling the new reps I realized that the old school reps still are the best out there.

[cskent69]

As another thought to this thread. The new reps are aldo going to make great parts fodder for contnuing to upgrade some of our frankens. For instance, the new daylight cases are really superior for a 7753 transplant. The problem is you need a gen or dsn dial

[kbiz]

well and as many have discovered, the new reps have really strange case sets... bezels aren't anything like the Gen... 2 piece main set with a funky gasket... they look the part but probably aren't that water proof and you can't replace the bezel like old school EL cases and gens... yet again a trade off.

[Watchmeister]

I am with Kbiz on this one. Rep makers have made the conscious decision to improve reps closer to gen but with a fixed budget and limited resources and a target of $300-500 retail price all kinds of trade-offs are made. The two shockers for me were finding out that the A7753 is really just a rigged 7750 so everything is still off (but less so) and cases with improper bezel case construction. The older top end reps were more expensive and still required a lot of work but if you persevere they are a whole other level of better watch. And yes franken guys can still take the random improved part and incorporate it into an existing franken but there is a whole new approach now. Pick your poison.