w0lf Posted March 29, 2013 Report Share Posted March 29, 2013 Evening gentlemen and an occasional lady,Before we begin our submersion, if you're not sure what the big whoop about whole case nomenclature is but want to know, take a quick look here. Tonight's segment is about a Panerai case, that in my opinion is King among the stalwarts of the early to mid. '90s Panerai and certainly is a quite unique interpretation of the Bettarini Luminor design. It is among the rarest, most Italian and most "transitional" of Pre-Vendome creations, the CORO or as its more widely known, the OP6500 case.Its manufacture was contracted out by Panerai to an Italian concern CORO Spa with final fitting and detail by Fabiano Alessi's company Croem. Some make the mistake of referring to the OP6500 as a PreA only case; though Panerai did deliver their PreA models 01,02,04,09 in OP6500 under Cartier/Vendome in 1997, it actually first premiered on Pre-Vendome models 5218-209 and 5218-210. In the very beginning of Cartier's reign right after the takeover of Officine Panerai by Vendome Group, the new company didn't immediately move away from the OP6500 design, later referred to as "Lacking" by A.Bonatti. Instead, they ordered 500 more sets from CORO, possibly to case up the remaining inventory of dials and watches. The key features that set this case apart from other cases is the combination of its unique lug shape, soft mid case detail, lack of any strap lip like the earlier Montres Valgine made cases. It's also just a hair, almost imperceptibly so to an untrained eye, larger than a contemporary Luminor case in its stance.A piece with a pretty interesting story that came out in OP6500 that deserves a mention is the 5218-218A. It certainly merits a separate discussion, but in the interest of keeping this somewhat laconic, the things that stand out about it are:-While often referred to as a Pre-Vendome model, the 5218-218A was actually finished under Cartier in 1997-It used a Montres Valgine double screwhead strap change like the classic-Pre Vendome models 5218-201/A, -202/A, etc. and unlike every other model cased in OP6500.-It has a unique color and type of Nitride PVD applied to it.A few photos of genuine PreA model profiles for some perspective. Albeit, most are shot with a lot of lens distortion but should still provide distinct and useful elements:As I wrote in my last year's case article, in my opinion OP6500 has really no equivalent in rep form aside from the very obscure old PAM111F that was sold back around 2004-2005. So naturally when I managed to get a hold of one of these pieces, the only thing its case was going to be used for was, yes - you guessed it. As it stood the case still needed a lot of work, but after about a month of nights and weekends of research and careful sculpting, here's my finished piece. As you can see it's double bored to become a 5218-218A after some very special PVD coating. Thank you for reading and good night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
omgiv Posted March 29, 2013 Report Share Posted March 29, 2013 Those contours are soooo nice!!!!! Excellent job and I can't wait to see more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeteM Posted March 31, 2013 Report Share Posted March 31, 2013 Its a shame that there are not more comments here as for me this is the best thread on the front page of this forum and several more beyond... The thing about PAMs is they are a package of history, variation, ambiguties and anomalies that will keep you learning from now until eternity.... Its threads and work like this that push the boundaries of our hobby and in turn push the makers to look at producing new models ...it is only by the responses and involvemnt of guys here that will help to do that... but it seems threads on QC or 'whats the best..' gets more interest than what this actual interest is about... or more importantly how you can learn and appreciate more.. I recall my first thread on here as ..'What do PAM casebacks mean by the letters next to the numbers..' since that first completely daft and noobie question I would like to think I knwo a bit more about PAMs and because of what I have learnt I have grown to love this marque.... not because its fashionable or an expensive watch or to impress my friends workmates etc but because it has a character and a history.... and anything is possible And the reason I have that love is because of guys like Mike...whose knowledge and experience is way way beyond anything that any one has here... and its because of him that I know more about PAMs.. I have replied on another forum regarding the actual OP but here I just want to say a big public thank you to Mike for the time and effort he makes in this hobby/interest and the fact he is willing to take the time to share it with us... I aint trying to have a go here just to gently remind you guys that without these sorts of threads and members like Mike we wouldnt have the standard of PAM OTB reps we do and wouldnt have sections like this attracting such a wealth of info and shared knowledge... actually about PAMs rather than just 'Who has the best sub..?' Great work Mike Thank you for making me a better PAM head Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
projectologist Posted March 31, 2013 Report Share Posted March 31, 2013 Great work Mike Thank you for making me a better PAM head This says it all! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ogladio Posted March 31, 2013 Report Share Posted March 31, 2013 Agreed. Perhaps the best and, at least for me, most informative thread so far 2013. Thanks Mike! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m3amg Posted March 31, 2013 Report Share Posted March 31, 2013 Its a shame that there are not more comments here as for me this is the best thread on the front page of this forum and several more beyond...The thing about PAMs is they are a package of history, variation, ambiguties and anomalies that will keep you learning from now until eternity....Its threads and work like this that push the boundaries of our hobby and in turn push the makers to look at producing new models ...it is only by the responses and involvemnt of guys here that will help to do that... but it seems threads on QC or 'whats the best..' gets more interest than what this actual interest is about... or more importantly how you can learn and appreciate more..I recall my first thread on here as ..'What do PAM casebacks mean by the letters next to the numbers..' since that first completely daft and noobie question I would like to think I knwo a bit more about PAMs and because of what I have learnt I have grown to love this marque.... not because its fashionable or an expensive watch or to impress my friends workmates etc but because it has a character and a history.... and anything is possibleAnd the reason I have that love is because of guys like Mike...whose knowledge and experience is way way beyond anything that any one has here... and its because of him that I know more about PAMs..I have replied on another forum regarding the actual OP but here I just want to say a big public thank you to Mike for the time and effort he makes in this hobby/interest and the fact he is willing to take the time to share it with us...I aint trying to have a go here just to gently remind you guys that without these sorts of threads and members like Mike we wouldnt have the standard of PAM OTB reps we do and wouldnt have sections like this attracting such a wealth of info and shared knowledge... actually about PAMs rather than just 'Who has the best sub..?' Great work Mike Thank you for making me a better PAM head Hear, hear Pete!Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Watchmeister Posted March 31, 2013 Report Share Posted March 31, 2013 Just found this thread. Great info and really interesting. W0lf, keep it up. Love these posts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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