PAM 252 North Pole - updated Blue dial

[lanikai]

My PAM 252 North Pole arrived with it's updated dial... this is the latest dial to be introduced .. and I'm told this is by the makers of the HBB rep. .. so I had high hopes that the dial and the rest of the replication would be improved from the previous submersibles ie. 092

I am striving for effect of natural light in these pics so please excuse the crude handling of my hand in the pic as I am trying to manipulate the dial so you see what "my eyes" see..

the Genuine is directly below.. and the rep in the other 3 pics.. I am trying to duplicate the lighting in the genuine pic as the rep will change shades according to the light and sometimes looks almost black in the shade.. also the Ar coating comes into play.. to my eyes anyway it would seem that the dial colour is very close to the genuine,.. the colour of the lume also will lighten in direct light..

Movement Modified A7750 28800

for the latest updated dial .. it would appear that they did a above average job in matching the colour.. it will lighten at times to a flat navy blue and then transcend into a Azure and almost midnight blue according to the light.. then morph into a almost black in the shade.. i could not get the right angle to visually see with the lens the lighter shade of this rep dial .. but it is there ..the pic to the right of the genuine comes the closest to the light colour.. it does not get much lighter than that.. I think I was being to subjective in attempting it..

The hands to me look pretty much spot on in size and if there is a difference in the rep i cannot ascertain it visually... so I'm not saying it's perfect .. just that if you have to study it for too long .. forget about it.. it's passable. the cannon pin does need correcting.. but it is correctable unlike dial colour...

Genuine

the lettering is noticeably off on the "North Pole" it is closer together on the genuine and the L Swiss made L is off alignment... but you need a loupe or magnifier to see the error on the L Swiss.... so it is not a major concern with me at least... my main concern is the overall appearance of the dial colour .. so if you want to take a little off the dial for accuracy, as far as the L swiss and the lettering inthe North Pole ... up to you..

... here is another shot of the cannon pin,.. (recessed) .. and the dial is not flush with the inner bezel as a member was concerned about .. a bit recessed.. and the Lume is greener than it appears in the pics.. but it will be relumed regardless,... the lume is good out of the box ... does not last long .. but thisto me is not a major concern as to repeat it will be relumed at some point and time

....the Date font and mag. IMHO there is no font out currently from the makers that is spot on with the genuine... so a Lello DW will be swapped.. also the mag.. i had to work all angles to get this shot.. the rep mags are just too distorted.. when you view a genuine the clarity in the optics is incredible as the pic of the genuine will testify to .. the only one that comes close is .. chieftang's cyclops.. here is a pic

... I did not have to manipulate the camera to get this clarity and see Lello's DW .. better... also this is a Ziggy watch.. where the Lume colour is what the genuine should look like on the 252.. the lume on the rep is very close but ..Ziggy... nuff said..

And now the Crystal.. on the genuine you have to look very carefully to see the AR.. as this rep has captured that very well.. but in direct light the AR will be pronounce ..not as in the Breitlings but as it is in the genuine Pams..IMHO again notice the colour change in the dial partial shade..

Bezel

perfect 60 clicks and the problem with the fit of the bezel has been "fixed" there is no play as in my 092 and the alignment is perfect as far as i can tell.. this maker did an excellent job of addressing this concern.. or maybe it is not an issue with this factory..??

Ok.. I wish I had some earth shattering news that the makers had an epiphany .. and the CG flaws were now not an issue.. but we are dealing with a part that would be very costly given the machining for each CG etc.. so nothing new to report on the CG issue as you can see.. but the crown would seem the right spacing from the case, still aOEM crown will be fitted.. and with a little work the CG can be milled to fit a little tighter..

Lever ... the lever is pretty much Ok .. still needs mod. .. I did have to shave some metal off the lever.. it was too tight on the crown and causing too much stress on the stem.. the stem would be Doomed if i didn't release some tension.. just with a small file .. the metal is relatively soft and all you need is a hair width off..

Lugs this is a pet peeve.. the attention to detail when drilling the lugs ... yuck.. but fortunately we have the spring bars that will make this space look better at least... eBay...( they resemble the screws but are actually spring bars and I don't have to worry about stripping the threads

Case back ,, the case back is very well done.. as far as the deepness of the etchings or engravings .. the markings .. since i am not adept in this .. some members may want to chime in ..

the I series and the markings appear to be the same as the previous version.. but I dont know if this is exactly the the same since I have not viewed the previous model of the rep in person

it has gotten too dark for any wrist shots so I will add those tomorrow..

So in conclusion.. the Replications of the Panerai .. is a labour of Love.. as IMHO this is the rep that will sink you in for modding perhaps more than other reps will .. not including genuine parts for say the Omega's but the rewards of the "hunt" are for me enticing ... I am very pleased with this updated version of the 252 .. my negatives were apropo since it is the most common with our PAMS .. but the negatives are "fixable", and that is all that's important to me.. or you can just "wear it as is" that is to me the personal choice we make..GTG.... or the search for perfection that keeps me coming back.. again and again

Thanks for viewing..

Lanikai

[cskent69]

Lankai,

Great review - much appreciated. The CG does look like it is going to need a little attention and some hand work. The dial looks pretty good to me.

Can you talk a little more about the Bezel? Is it on very tight or loose like the last batch? Also - how are the NSEW markers? In the last version - they were very "sharp" and also felt like they actually might have been made of plastic.

Thanks again for the great pictures.

[lanikai]

Lankai,

Great review - much appreciated. The CG does look like it is going to need a little attention and some hand work. The dial looks pretty good to me.

Can you talk a little more about the Bezel? Is it on very tight or loose like the last batch? Also - how are the NSEW markers? In the last version - they were very "sharp" and also felt like they actually might have been made of plastic.

Thanks again for the great pictures.

thank you ..

the bezel is "tight" no loosness vertically and exact 60 clicks it is very well done compared to the last GMT's ie. 092 w/correct (supposedly) font and mag..

the markers are a little on the sharp side again 'fixable" they appear to be made of metal to me..

yes the CG will need a little bit of work .. but i have seen worse. I'll take it..

[mikellem]

Wow Lani,

Excellent Review...

I think your best! or one of them...

Thanks again...

-MM

[HammerTime]

Great review Lanikai.

I think your factory did a better job on the bezel than mine. Also, after closer inspection, I believe my cannon pinion is slightly raised as well.

Regards,

HammerTime

[jdkno]

So when we are talking about the CG's need work is this refering to the angle of the part that fits against the case? It seems that after looking at pics the top and bottom edge of the CG's do not sit perfectly flush to the case. I have never been big into PAM's but the NP has been my unicorn for a while and I always hear about the PAM CG's but never a really could tell one from the other.

Also the cyclopse, is this a seperate piece that can be taken off of the rep crystal and replaced with a lello cyclopse or do you have to change the entire crystal?

[Watchmeister]

Great review. I would be careful on those bezel markers. If they are polished they may well be chrome or some metal plated on a base metal. If it is like the original 187 you can rub that finish off. Are the markers on the bezel correctly sized and placed on the bezel? That used to be a continuing problem.

[TK471]

A lot of good points on this watch. The dial looks really good, seems like everything else is pretty fixable.

[breukelen]

Very nice. I've been in the market for a 092 or 186. I'm curious to know if the dials and bezels on the either of these were updated along with the 252 - does anybody know?

[lanikai]

So when we are talking about the CG's need work is this refering to the angle of the part that fits against the case? It seems that after looking at pics the top and bottom edge of the CG's do not sit perfectly flush to the case. I have never been big into PAM's but the NP has been my unicorn for a while and I always hear about the PAM CG's but never a really could tell one from the other.

Also the cyclopse, is this a seperate piece that can be taken off of the rep crystal and replaced with a lello cyclopse or do you have to change the entire crystal?

First the cyclops is from chieftang.. and he is doing some that are going to be AR'd.. can't remeber if this is a sanwhich crystal.. anyway you need to contact chieftang for cyclops.. or lello if he is doing it also..

The underside of the CG needs to be milled or in my case I file it .. and then use sandpaper and a wooden stick that is shaped like the case .. what you want to achieve is to get the CG to sit in a better position on the case ergo allowing the ends to sit more flush..

what you are doing is form fitting the CG to the case it takes time and patience.. no over abundance of talent

what you want is this area of the CG to be as flush as possible with the case.. so you will shape the high areas of the underside of the CG to accomplish this..