Quick Review of Panerai 372 P.3000 SuperClone

[atomic_doug]

Note: for a more detailed review of the movement itself, please take a look at Rolexman's truly excellent dissection of it. 

 

 

So I purchased the P.3000 SuperClone version of the 372.  I'm not normally an early-adopter type, but I've been lusting after the 372 for years (but I'm not paying 10k USD for one) and this one was close enough for me with the cloned movement.

Here's a rundown of what I've found:

 

The Dial & Hands

 

Very good.  The hands look slightly more reddish to me and the engraving of the lettering seems a mite thinner than gen.  (If I'm crazy, tell me, but I swear that the R's and A's in "LUMINOR - PANERAI" are thicker.)  The color of the paint for the lettering is correct.

The shape of the numbers is spot-on, as is the color of the lume.  The lume is strong, for fauxtina lume.  Like the gen, it takes longer to charge up than the C3 stuff and never quite gets as bright, but it holds charge for a long time.  I was easily able to read the dial in the darkness at 3 a.m. when my upstairs neighbor decided it was time to vacuum.

 

 

The Case, Crown & Crown guard

 

The shape is accurate to gen.  The polishing is well-executed, even in the normal tricky spots between the lugs.  The screws that hold the lug bars in are polished and rounded, the screws that hold the crown guard in are polished and rounded as well. 

 

 

The engravings on the lugs and sides of the case, crown guard  and caseback are crisp and deep.  The lever opens and closes with a secure, positive snap, though I did have to file the feet of the crown guard a little to have it press on the crown a little harder.  The lever pin is polished and sits flush with the crown guard body.  The lever does not wobble in the guard, nor is it over-tight.

 

 

(The scratches on the lever are my fault.)

 

The Plexiglas crystal sits appropriately tall above the bezel.

 

Operation

 

The advertised three days' power reserve is incorrect, this thing will run for 6 days.  (6 days, seriously)  It is mostly accurate, but with only 5-minute indices, accuracy is never that discernable.  The crown pulls out and in smoothly and setting the time is easy.

The gen feature of being able to set the hour hand independently in jumps is not in this movement.

 

 

The winding action was a little rough out of the box and felt quite stiff. I gave the piece to my local watch maker and he told me it was clean, but dry as a bone and needed to be oiled very badly.  The gaskets had been greased at the factory, though.  After he serviced it, the crown wound much more smoothly.  He did not test it for water resistance, but remarked that it should be at close to as water resistant as the 100m promises.  (Don't go swimming with it, but you're safe wearing it in the rain or on humid days.)

 

The Strap, Buckle, and notes on wearing it

 

It's a rep strap, of course it's terrible.  It's floppy and feels dried-out.  The buckle is nice and well-finished, without the typical razor-sharp edges of normal rep buckles.  The tang sits flush in the buckle body, the engraving is deep and crisp.  I have a nicer strap on order already, anyway.

 

I have a small wrist, at slightly less than 6.5", but it's flat.  This watch does not wear as big as 47mm would suggest.  The acrylic crystal means it's considerably lighter, and the lugs do curve down to hug the wrist.  It wears a lot more comfortably than the 127, which has straighter lugs and weighs more.  It is no harder to wear than a normal 44mm Luminor.  However, you never forget that you're wearing a very large watch.  People who comment on it (and they will comment) also don't let you forget it.

 

Final comments

 

I bought this from Toro and his service was rapid and excellent.  Was it worth the approximately 100 dollars over the Unitas version?  I believe so.  The clone movement, while not itself 100% accurate is closer than anything else out there and makes the watch on a whole feel more special.  On the downside, parts availability will clearly be an issue until this movement becomes more common and people know what it is and who makes it.  (Which it will be.  Why develop a brand-new movement for only one watch?)

 

Quick Pros & Cons

 

+ Looks very close to gen, including movement

+ Ridiculous power reserve

+ Good strong lume

+ Surprisingly good finishing from a rep maker

 

- Movement needs servicing, heaven help you if you need parts

- Dial engraving may be too thin...I think...I don't know...

- Rep straps...

- Pricey

 

[Rolexman]

Great write up. Funny how be both experienced the rep strap differently. I found it to be soft and very gen like

Wear it well!

[atomic_doug]

Thanks.  I think there must be multiple factories making straps because the product is always all over the map.

 

I try not to count straps as a serious 'for' or 'against' though, since I typically swap them out immediately anyway.  The only rep strap I've ever had that was truly good was an Assolutamente.  Durable, comfortable, indistinguishable from gen after a few days of wearing.

Edited January 15, 2014 by atomic_doug

[Eppenger]

p.3000, great decoration, almost like gen

[gianton]

Thanks for sharing this info, will be waiting a bit more till an updated version hopefully comes out from Noob. Availability of movt parts is a serious issue, but this clone movt looks awesome.

[hambone]

Great review. Thank you for the write up on the 372. You convinced me to buy it, as it has been the Pam on my list for awhile now. Just got a settlement check, so it is on the way..

[atomic_doug]

If I decide this one's a a keeper, I'm tempted to pick up another one for spares and I'm pretty much set for life then.  (Spare movement, spare handset, spare dial, spare crown, spare plexi.)