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H-Factory PAM 089E GMT Anthracite review


PolonusTM

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PAM 089E
 
I got this watch from Joshua / Perfect Clones, being probably the first or second person ordering it ;) Pam GMT, titanium and anthracite dial - enough for me ;)
 
Info about GEN 089E:
 
pam89_zps206df605.jpg
 
TimeKeeperss comment:
 
"The PAM89 44mm titanium GMT was made for D, E, F and G series in very limited quantities. The PAM89 was always a hot watch in short supply among authorized dealers and independent watch dealers alike. Most collectors simply refuse to part with their PAM89 titanium GMT and for that reason, there are not many of these available in the secondary marketplace.
 
The PAM 89 44mm titanium GMT has a completely brushed/satin finished look with no shiny parts anywhere on the case, bezel or crown protector. What makes the PAM89 standout is the silky anthracite (fancy name for charcoal) dial with jet black sub seconds dial at 9:00. The anthracite dial is chameleon-like; many people would swear it is blue while others think it is black. In reality it is a smoky grey that depending on the clothes you are wearing or the light that is shining on it, it takes on the appearance of its surroundings. This is a classic and desirable Panerai watch that is available in very short supply and is becoming increasingly harder to find in the secondary market.
 
THIS IS ALSO BILL CLINTON'S PANERAI OF CHOICE - THERE ARE MANY PHOTOS OF WILLIAM JEFFERSON CIRCULATING ON THE INTERNET WITH HIS FAVORITE 89!!!"
 
Interesting. Bill and his 089.
 
…back to the rep:
 
Movement
 
Asian 7750 with GMT module as per gen (which means it uses day wheel to move 24h GMT arm). When You pull the crown to the first position, rotating in one direction quickly set date while in other direction - jump-move GMT hand. It is my third watch based on A7750 GMT from H-maker - no problems so far. Seems A7750 GMT is exclusive for H-factory while i.e. A7753 is exclusive for Noob.
 
Anthracite dial
 
Anthracite is a type of mineral coal. Look here Anthracite - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
I personally do not believe Panerai used real anthracite for their dials. To me it is more like fashion way of calling the color/effect combination as "anthracite". I allowed myself to quote aladin_sane/WUS on this matter: "(…) it is highly unlikely that anyone is using coal as a dial material for a couple of reasons. First, coal, even anthracite, is very soft, and friable. I don't think it would machine well or stand up to shock. Second coal is full of volatile materials. If you took slice of anthracite and encased it under a watch crystal, in a short time, the heat of the sun would vaporize some of the organic material or even water that is present in the coal and it would fog the crystal." 
 
Can You even imagine cutting out subdial or date window in such a brittle material? Or.. solder the dial feet in place, and watch it burn? ;) (I know I know - just joking)
 
So what is it? Anodized / vertically brushed aluminum? Maybe… Does it react to light as gen on various photos? Yes, it does! However making photo of vertical brushed lines is a pita with artificial light.
 
Hands and lume
 
Hands are perfect as known from previous H-factory GMT releases (237 & 088). Polished Cannon Pin - in my experience you can pull or push minute hand on the pin to adjust surfaces to the same level.
 
Crown Guard
 
internalcorners_zps895011ff.jpg
 
CG internal edges are not sharp 90º angled corners. They are not even round, they look like three surfaces combined to make into a corner so I bet it was made by a machining process of broaching. Why broaching? Because CG internal corners are even more dull that on SS version of H-factory CGs, which is normal when broaching harder materials like titanium. You want to avoid 90º corners when broaching hard materials because the tool (broach) becomes dull too fast. The tool is probably custom made for H-factory replications, maybe they have two of them: one for SS and one for titanium (less pronounced corners). Why do I think they do this machining by broaching? Because broach is an expensive to make custom cutting tool. Easy 10-15 USD grands for one. Really. That's why they cannot just "sharpen" internal corners despite all our loud talking - the tools are too expensive to just forget about them. I guess Noob factory does the same job by CNC milling. More expensive, I guess - but gives you sharp corners.
 
example broaching tools:
broachers_zps1cb85ad1.jpg
 
Coming back to overall CG shape when comparing with gen: it is a bit different, but maybe can be recognized as variation in production as well. The arc of top surface of CG is a bit bigger on rep than on a gen (whoa… that was nitpicking at full speed!) Anyway, it is visible on the watch when looking from CG side. One-glance-to-know-its-a-rep is possible ;)
 
CG_shapes_zps7c8e6c89.jpg
CGcaseMatch_zpse3fc3681.jpg
 
Titanium case-set
 
dial-details_zpsd2ce0e4e.jpg
 
Well, it looks pretty much the same as case-set for PAM 240J. Good, satin brushed surfaces, dull in look etc.
 
sideview_zps2addf275.jpg
 
But when looking on gen to rep photos kindly presented by Joshua on PC site, I found that there is something wrong in lug shapes… maybe the angles of as photos were taken… but no.. I did quick overlay job in PS and here is the result:
 
lugshape_zps3b080bae.jpg
 
But guess what..  The lugs shape CHANGED on the gen: the gen E-series are having lower top of lugs while F-series of 089 have the same shape as from H-factory! Look:
 
gen_lugs_89f_zps782cc02e.jpg
 
The top of gen CG is more flat than the rep CG anyway, regardless series…
 
So… when someone knows about the lug shapes in connection to E and F series - he can prooobaaaablyyy spot the lug shape difference when handling the rep directly. But on Your wrist - never.
 
FINAL CONCLUSIONS
 
pros:
- they got the anthracite dial RIGHT
- sapphire with polished internal side walls of date loupe
- GMT mod of A7750 is already proven one and works well
- superlume
- titanium caseset is nicely machined
- nice strap in case of this version of watch bundle
 
cons:
- wrong CG shape
- wrong lugs profile for E-series but correct for F-series so no problem on a wrist
- price… but prices are slowly getting higher and higher
 
Possible modding: source Noob factory titanium CG… but the lever has a roller which is wrong for 089E… so maybe H-factory titanium lever will fit Noob CG?
 
As a watch: it is amazing! Anthracite dial makes it! Look very elegant / tasteful in combo with titanium case-set.
 
Super Rep? With correct CG it would be easily Super Rep, hands down. Now it is between First Class and Super Rep in my opinion.
 
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08_zps1ba41ee9.jpg
 
And HD Video:
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The strap is a rep. It is bundled together with the watch.

2e4aby2y.jpg

Of course I can recommend the watch! Flaws are very minimal and for nitpickers ;)

Sent from an iPad / Tapatalk HD

Edited by PolonusTM
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Thanks very much for the extra pic mate...I cant decided with strap tp get it with..For a rep strap it looks very good. What are your thoughts on the strap?

 

Also I was thinking with a shark skin strap would look like on this. I saw a guy wearing this watch and it looked really nice.

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