sicknote Posted April 19, 2008 Report Share Posted April 19, 2008 I've been looking for an affordable unbranded PAM for a while now (a 111H clone, specifically) with no reasonable results. Most of the unbranded ones are $400+ while a decent rep is $200-250. So I was thinking maybe I should just buy a standard rep and try to sterilize it myself. I could just change the caseback and use a solvent to remove the markings from the dial. Do they still use stickers for the "Officine Panerai" markings on the movement bridges or are they engraved now? I don't think it's going to be worth it if I have to swap the whole movement. Anyone done this before? Thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peepshow Posted April 19, 2008 Report Share Posted April 19, 2008 Who are you pricing unbranded 111 clones from? I don't think you'll find a superlumed and Swiss powered rep for $200-250... I DSN charging that much for his A6497 powered sterile watches? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sssurfer Posted April 19, 2008 Report Share Posted April 19, 2008 http://www.rwg.cc/members/index.php?showtopic=50174 (BTW: welcome to the forum, on this occasion of your 1st post). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeeJay Posted April 19, 2008 Report Share Posted April 19, 2008 I've been considering sterlizing my 127... I did a photoshop mockup to see how it would look, but just can't decide... I'm worried that the lack of printing, which 'pulls the dial together', might make the dial look huge Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cskent69 Posted April 19, 2008 Report Share Posted April 19, 2008 Great topic. I have a mini-fiddy that I was going to swap a cali dial into (which is by definition - unbranded). However, the cali dial does not show the second hand (by design) which I think it kind of necessary on a wind up. SO - the question is - can you easily sterilize the dial? I do not mind the lack of print on the dial. Right now it says RADIOMIR PANERAI. I guess I can send to our great friend The Zigmeister and see what he has to say. My guess is that any solvent that takes the print off with also ruin the black paint - so it would have to be re-painted and then relumed. It is a sandwich dial so it might be possible to un-sandwich the dial before repainting the top (but then it also gets rid of the white lines around the second hand. If it could be done easily - that would be great. Not sure though. Does anyone have any experience with this? BTW - I love the mini-fiddy case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cskent69 Posted April 19, 2008 Report Share Posted April 19, 2008 Hmm - just saw the other link with a post from The Zigmeister. I guess it is not easy to sterilize the dial without starting all over again from scratch. Oh well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sssurfer Posted April 20, 2008 Report Share Posted April 20, 2008 I plan to try it again on a watch that I just ordered and that I should have here in 2-3 weeks. As I want to erase any texts and all the original black paint and repaint it in brown, I'll have a chance to perform some tests on it before removing anything. We'll see. (cskent, this is exactly for my minifiddy project that I posted elsewhere. I have a few ideas to try and preserve the white lines around the small seconds hand. If it works, I'll let everyone know). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sicknote Posted April 20, 2008 Author Report Share Posted April 20, 2008 Who are you pricing unbranded 111 clones from? I don't think you'll find a superlumed and Swiss powered rep for $200-250... I DSN charging that much for his A6497 powered sterile watches? I've got the impression that discussing who and how much is a bit of a no-no around here but I think I've tried most of the modders providing these, and they're all around the $400 mark with Asian movement and superlume. Swiss is a bit more, basic lume a bit less. It seems that none of the "collectors" can supply unbranded watches. Puretime has a superlumed 111h with Asian mvmt (which I'm perfectly OK with) for $228, although it's currently out of stock. DSN is out for me because of the dials and cases. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sicknote Posted April 20, 2008 Author Report Share Posted April 20, 2008 http://www.rwg.cc/members/index.php?showtopic=50174 (BTW: welcome to the forum, on this occasion of your 1st post). I remember someone casually mentioning that they removed text from a dial a while ago. Need to find that post. (Thanks, I've been lurking for a couple of months now, there's a lot to read ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peepshow Posted April 20, 2008 Report Share Posted April 20, 2008 ...DSN is out for me because of the dials and cases. Why is that? You already have a dial that you want to use, or......? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pugwash Posted April 20, 2008 Report Share Posted April 20, 2008 I picked this one up a while ago and have been wondering what to do with it ... Maybe I should get it superlumed, get a Swiss movement or just sell it. Ideas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sicknote Posted April 20, 2008 Author Report Share Posted April 20, 2008 Why is that? You already have a dial that you want to use, or......? The numerals on the sandwich dials are too fat and the lugs on the cases too short for my OCD tendencies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peepshow Posted April 20, 2008 Report Share Posted April 20, 2008 Why would that matter on a sterile piece? There's no gen standard to live up to.... Hey, you know what you like, and that's what is important. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musicale Posted April 20, 2008 Report Share Posted April 20, 2008 I'm interested in this at well. Sterile homages generally seem really pricey, it's cheaper to buy a rep, but I don't want a PAM rep. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pix Posted April 20, 2008 Report Share Posted April 20, 2008 Hi, you get such watches under 100 USD on ebay. Never tried and can't say how the quality is. Try a search on MARINA MILITARE or LUMINOR htxp://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?from=R40&_trksid=m37&satitle=marina+militare&category0= You'll see the skelleton PAM from Silix pop up I'm not a PAM expert, but look at this one : 120249233927 Looks good to me, especially the canon pin. The movement looks different from the usual Unitas clones however. In the worst case, the parts are likely to be used to sterilize a rep. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sssurfer Posted April 20, 2008 Report Share Posted April 20, 2008 My problem is just that I want a sterile & brown sandwich dial, with small seconds & date, and for Asian auto movt. Not so easy to find, believe me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
statikman Posted April 22, 2008 Report Share Posted April 22, 2008 http://cgi.ebay.com/MARINA-MILITARE-DAIL-F...1QQcmdZViewItem Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.