PVD 111 arrived from DSN/noob coming out party

[fijikid]

Well, after exhaustive and competely enjoyable reading on this and a few other fora, the pull of buying a rep finally wore me down. I made my choice by what I thought was the best looking watch - I wasn't particularly concerned about the brand, but the Panerai reps are just so good looking and the simplicity of a swiss handwind movement appealed to me as well. I've always had a soft spot for PVD watches and have a few vintage gens with PVD or black oxide coatings and lately, I've been loving the look of the black watch on a fat tan leather strap - hence, the 111 PVD. The sandwich dial I find to be extremely attractive as well and the watch has a very unique vintage look right out of the box. I guess what I'm saying is that I love these reps because you can get a really really great looking watch for bupkis (all relative, I know). Sure it's kind of neat to 'feel' like you're wearing a $4,000 watch but I genuinely just love the way they look - I come from a background of collecting vintage gen divers whose price tag is usually $500 to $1000, so this is like staying in that world and getting really cool looking watches. Blah blah blah, whatever.

I chose a Panerai 111 PVD from Davidsen because it sounded like he made nice watches and had good customer service. I've since read some stuff counter to that, but I'll simply relate my experience. Communication: pretty responsive. I'd email and he'd usually get back to me in a day or so. I asked questions, he answered them. He was patient as I discovered that Moneybookers was not feasible for me and seemed like he built my watch while I made my way to the Western Union office to transfer the funds to him ($25 fee). He sent me photos of "my" watch last wednesday, was paid on Thursday and I got the watch this morning. I am very pleasantly surprised at how easy it all was and it came with two very nice thick leather straps. Based on my research, horror stories seem to get the most attention around here ;-) - they're pretty much the forum equivelent to a car crash!

Anyhoo, I've included som photos of the watch I bought. I have no idea if the CG is right or the cannon pinion is correct or for that matter if their are two small beetles turning a treadmill-driven second hand gear becuase I'm not opening it. The reality is, for me, as long as it keeps ticking, I will love it just the way it is and I think it's a stunning looking watch. Not trying to bury my head in the sand, just don't want to get nuts about the details: seems to sow the seeds of dissatisfaction for some!

So there's my real first post. I'm sure most of you read about a 1/8 of it or none of it - that's cool, cuz I've thought of you too and included photos

Edited December 5, 2007 by fijikid

[Victoria]

Magnificent! The post is also like a How-To on dealing with Davidsen! The watch turned out brilliantly, really. If I ever get a PVD, this may just well be it. Really happy you got a nice working one, with good straps you can use out the box.

As the smallest aside, you may want to lower or change the font of your post. I read it all, but it wasn't so easy on me eyes.

[fijikid]

Roger that. Done and done.

Edited December 5, 2007 by fijikid

[sanro]

Beautiful!

How come you only got 9 messages and you already know how to post spectacular photos?? Me fool...(old fool)...

[fijikid]

Beautiful!

How come you only got 9 messages and you already know how to post spectacular photos?? Me fool...(old fool)...

Thanks. Only 9 posts here, but many many on the other side of this world. Recipe: [censored] light box made with tracing paper attached to curved coathanger arches. A piece of white paper for a cyclorama wall (curved background makes watch seemingly hang in space). Two old desklamps shining into said tracing paper clad arch. Tripod. Always use a tripod. A little photoshop cropping and color balance. Upload to hosting site. Cake.

Thanks for the compliment, though. I do enjoy trying to get that beauty shot of my watches. AR coated saphire is a real [censored] when shooting dials. you gotta cut a hole in a black sheet of construction type paper and put the lens through that. Didn't bother this time.

Thanks for the kind words, though.

[Johnny Tran]

Very nice, I think I'm going to go for a 111H at some point in the near future... DSN's PAMs look really good.

[FxrAndy]

Damn nice looking watch, it seams that you read lots and made a good decision

[TeeJay]

I'm sure you'll get lots of happy hours wearing it

[fijikid]

Thanks for all the kind comments. Let's hope the honeymoon continues...and yes, I did read a lot before making my decision. I took the advice of the forum and I hope luck is the by-produce of my diligence. You guys have a really incredible resource here with more in-depth real watch info than most of the gen forums that I frequent. I find myself reading tons of old posts just for the info imparted therein.