Watchmeister Posted February 9, 2008 Report Share Posted February 9, 2008 One of my holy grail projects has always been doing an original movement Fiddy. I don't know if it will actually happen but while I am dreaming... Assume I have the following: G Series Decorated Movement Eddie Lee original 4rth generation fiddy with his sapphire crystal (after market single sided AR though) My guess is: Davidsen Hands Davidsen Crystal (Is it better than the original Sapphire crystal that is on mine?) Davidsen dial (Same question) Anything else? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordRasta Posted February 9, 2008 Report Share Posted February 9, 2008 Good luck finding a movement. I bought the last one Michael had 2 years ago for $2,000 USD. I'm still looking for the "best" fiddy to put it in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Watchmeister Posted February 9, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 9, 2008 I suspect I have the movement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordRasta Posted February 9, 2008 Report Share Posted February 9, 2008 I suspect I have the movement. Sweet! It's beautiful isn't it? I guess I should look at a davidsen to put it in. I also have a gen strap for it and a non E0117 case back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PAMman Posted February 9, 2008 Report Share Posted February 9, 2008 Davidsen's dial is not accurate as the font is grey in comparison to the genuine. AFAIK EL's is an accurate dial, as is most of the reps. Indeed the 1950 dial is probably the most accurate rep Panerai dial, with the exception of DSN's. I have one of the first generation from River, with a sapphire crystal and the Swiss Unitas style bridges. The crystal is slightly too flat in comparison to my friend's gen but I don't have any other rep to compare. The case and dial are 'spot-on' and I've never noticed anything wrong with the hands. Some of DSN's have a secs hand that is too long. Interestingly the CG on the gen Fiddy has a looser lever than regular PAMs and is not significantly different to the rep. While I have a rep Fiddy I never wear it and it is on my list to sell for that reason. I've tried to love it but I can't so it's got to go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peepshow Posted February 9, 2008 Report Share Posted February 9, 2008 Where are babola and BigBadBrad to weigh in on this? I'm no Fiddy guru, but what I've gotten from reading other posts is that DSN's latest dial uses a font that is too dark, but more beige/tan than his previous dials, not grey. Whereas the "other" rep dials use a font that is a bit too light. Pick your poison. I know some people have uninstalled the dials and had them lightly airbrushed to darken the font to be more accurate. I don't know how difficult that is to have done, but it is possible. I know from experience that DSN's domed sapphires have VERY blue AR. I've not seen a gen Fiddy/217, so I can't comment on the accuracy of this. Sounds like a great project! I can't wait to see the final results. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cornerstone Posted February 10, 2008 Report Share Posted February 10, 2008 Sounds like you're already on the home straight! The EL dial with a quick trip to the relume man (if it hasn't already) I think is the way to go. Not sure about the hands. I always thought the advantage of the Davidsen crystal was avoidance of the 'exploding crystal' situation that blighted the EL ones. If you've already got a lightly AR coated crystal on there, it might not be bad. In terms of 'ultimate' crystals - I have seen the shape of the crystal discussed at length, but without having a gen sitting next to it, it's hard to say. We have a couple of gen owners in the house, don't we? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dluddy Posted February 12, 2008 Report Share Posted February 12, 2008 I have Davidsen's Crystal on my 217 since my EL crystal exploded at Ziggy's. I'm happy with it and it's light AR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sweattdogg Posted February 12, 2008 Report Share Posted February 12, 2008 eddie's dial with a relume should be good. I have the same dial. I'm gonna have The Zigmeister put the relume on it and throw a set of Davidsan's hand on it. Mine has the sapphire nicely domed with no AR which is nice. I think the crystal looks as good as Davidsan's, but without the blue AR. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jawo Posted February 12, 2008 Report Share Posted February 12, 2008 This is my DSN 127 I got a couple of months back. Does it look correct to you? Mind you I have had the dial and hands relumed, but is the color and alignment of the dial font correct? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
babola Posted February 13, 2008 Report Share Posted February 13, 2008 DSN's latest ultimate Fiddy comes with a dial that's slightly lighter (charcoal color) than previous versions which came in more correct black. It also comes with darker dial txt few members mentioned above, the color is more brownish (light brown), definitely not gray. The sandwich is thinner than it should be and the numeral '1' is of slightly incorrect shape. If you can source his previous Ultimate Fidd version dial, go for that one. I now own DSN's lates ultimate Fiddy rep, and managed to find one of his older 127 dials, so basically awaiting a transplant. This should hopefully close the chapter of my (now considered silly by most, myself included) "perfect Fiddy" search, which I wrote heaps about on TRC at the time. None of the rep 127 dials released so far are "perfect" and every one of them has a flaw, some easier to spot some not so unless you know exactly what to look for. Take it from a guy that studied hundreds of gen 127 pics, and owned 4 Swiss ETA powered Fiddy reps in last 2.5 years, sold 3 and kept the last DSN one. For example, Andrew's so called ultimate Fiddy from early '07 (you know the one that came with so called Swiss/Asian hybrid ETA mov't, originally identified by The Zigmeister) had almost perfect dial txt color (white/cream) and font size and placement, but the sub-dial 15sec cutouts were to small, that plus the fact that more than half of those sold had xtal exploded. Mine exploded while on my wrist @home writing a memo . Eddie Lee's from early '06 had perfect cutouts and almost white dial txt (which was not so correct) and "1950" txt placed slightly off. Not sure what version of EL's Fiddy's was that one, but didn't do much for me. @K, mate, I'd suggest you source DSN Fiddy Sapphire, it's considered by many the best xtal you can source for either 127 or 217 rep, if the blue-ish A/R really bugs you, there are many here that can help you in that respect, and as always, The Zigmeister springs to mind first. Just make sure the xtal is instaled properly (pushed fully) into the bezel, and bezel installed onto the case leaving no gaps. I can't stress enough the importance of this ofter overlooked detail - if the xtal isn't installed properly it will not give you correct distorsion, gen Fiddys are known for. If The Zigmeister's doing the job, than you're safe. Basicaly the distorsion should give you "broken" cardinal dial numbers at about 1/3 or 1/2 when you look from the edge of the dial, top down. I've seen many perfect Fiddy reps scr&wed up in this respect. Also if you send it to The Zigmeister for a relume, just remind him to apply the lighter color (white or silver) undercoat on the bottom brass disc, otherwise you can end up with non matching dial/hands lume...the dial one being too yellow, simply due to lume opacity and brass metal showing thru. Good luck with your project :-) babola Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Watchmeister Posted February 16, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 16, 2008 Thanks for everyone's suggestions. B- You have obviously given this topic a lot of thought. So my takeway is all basic cases are the same. I have Eddie's sapphire crystal with Chief's single sided AR so I will probably keep that. I will ask Davidsen for older 127 dial and hands. Do all casebacks have the same number on them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
babola Posted February 16, 2008 Report Share Posted February 16, 2008 Thanks for everyone's suggestions. B- You have obviously given this topic a lot of thought. So my takeway is all basic cases are the same. I have Eddie's sapphire crystal with Chief's single sided AR so I will probably keep that. I will ask Davidsen for older 127 dial and hands. Do all casebacks have the same number on them? :-) It's been a long term project of mine, still unfinished though :-) the main reason being my perfectionism. DSN hands are a must IMO, and even if you don't intend to use DSN sapphire now, I'd suggest you get it while he's got some in stock and keep it as spare. cheers, babola Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Watchmeister Posted February 16, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 16, 2008 B- Got it. Is it worthwhile to see if DSN has the older dial as well? Do you know if there is more than one caseback number option? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
babola Posted February 17, 2008 Report Share Posted February 17, 2008 B- Got it. Is it worthwhile to see if DSN has the older dial as well? Do you know if there is more than one caseback number option? Definitely something you should check. Just don't forget to mention to him that you're after his older Fiddy dial version that comes in black (not charcoal) and has off-white/cream dial txt. And as always, ask him to send you a photo of the particular dial first. I've seen so far 3 different serials on Fiddy casebacks, the very first one was e0485/1950 which dissapeared from the market not soon after, e0581/1950 that used to come on a Fiddy made by that "second" rep factory (the case was of slightly wrong dimensions and rougher finish especialy around the lug areas) and the omnipresent e0117/1950 that comes on a standard good version of the Fiddy rep, also the most recent one. The latter two are easier to source, the former is almost impossible to find "in the wild" these days. Hope this helps a bit, babola Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLIK Posted February 18, 2008 Report Share Posted February 18, 2008 (edited) My Fiddy has E0492/1500 serial and I am happy Edited February 18, 2008 by BLIK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turboGUATE Posted February 18, 2008 Report Share Posted February 18, 2008 I've been in the search for a different caseback than the e0117 too but had no luck yet. Let's hope there's someone willing to help us guys to finally make our own personal projects as we want. Cheers! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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