PAM 001

[steveb]

Hi,

I'm new here and for the past three days have been reading post after post trying to gather as much information as I can.

Originally I'd been thinking about ordering a custom finished PAM 111H through a member on another forum.

Then I thought about getting all the parts together and doing it myself.

It was through my search for parts that I found this site

I had been thinking about going for a sterile dial but now I'm leaning towards a full blown copy

One of the things about the 111H is that it has a display back.

I'm not a huge fan of the look of the Swiss/Asian copy. I'd much rather have a solid back.

So after a lot of searching I think I've narrowed it down to a PAM 001.

I've only been able to find the models on two of the recommended sites:-

Perfect Clones

Trusty Time

Which of the two would you you say is the better copy/quality. To me they look the same but as I mentioned I'm new to this.

Trusty Times is $110 more but comes with a bracelet. Do you think the difference in price is just for the bracelet or are you paying for a better quality case?

From looking at the numbers on the case back it appears that the two are different.

The quality of the case is the most important for me. I know things like the dials, cannon pinion and crown guards can be upgraded or at a later date.

But I don't want to buy another case....

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Steve

[ta8088]

Have you looked at Davidsen's 001 as well. Out of the box with all the mods done.

[steveb]

Thanks TA8088,

I've just checked it out and it looks really good:-

Davidsen PAM 01A

You say its had all the mods done, but from the pics. it looks like it has the short cannon pinion???

The lume on the hands is also a different colour to the lume on the dial... Which looks kind of strange.

I guess they could be re-done.

It costs $300 Do you think its worth twice the price as the one from Perfect Clones?

Thanks for the advice,

Steve

[cc]

Davidsens 001 is an "A" series. It has a "T swiss T" dial as it is tritium. As tritium ages (with pam varnishing), it turns to a yellowish color which is correct on the T dials.....so no need to relume it. As for the short cannon pin, davidsen's offering usually come with the high H3 cannon pin already installed.

good luck on your search.

cc

[peepshow]

I believe that Angus/PureTime is still selling his "Ultimate" 001B as well, isn't he?

[cskent69]

Ultimate 001B? - you mean this one:

http://www.pc-80108.com/pn00101-swiss-unitas-6497-p-778.html

It's nice - but ugh that dial.....

[peepshow]

That's not Angus' website...

Also, how is that dial any worse than any of the other rep sausage dials?

Edited May 26, 2008 by peepshow

[cskent69]

Yikes. My mistake. Sorry about that.

Here:

http://www.puretimewatch.com/index.php?productID=221

Same dial prob. I am waiting for a better 001B dial, myself.

[steveb]

Thanks for all the replies

I'm still unsure which one to go for...

I'm leaning towards the model from Perfect Clones. Mainly due to the price and it looks OK compared to the real thing. But I'm sure others will disagree

This first pick is the real thing:-

Next is the model from Perfect Clones followed by the one from Trusty Time.

Finally Davidsens 01A with "Tritium" dial.

So which is the closest to the real thing?

In my eyes the Perfect Clone and Trusty Time models looks really good compared to the genuine one.

I know the dials have slight problems with the font sizing but unless you have it next to a real one I doubt you would notice a problem.

Does it have another major flaw that I'm not aware of cskent69? What's your reason for not liking it?

With regards to Davidsens 01A. I can see that the crown is a better copy and the colour of the lume looks nice and aged.

But as I mentioned before the colour of the hands is completely different. Maybe this was just an early model he'd made up and

the ones he's selling now all have the same coloured lume. I guess an email to him might clear it up.

The lume strength isn't important for me so I wouldn't be looking to have it re-lumed. Neither is the movement. If I really like the watch I might get a

Swiss ETA fitted. All I'm looking for is a reasonably good copy with a good case and dial that doesn't cost a fortune. Just like everyone else is...

Any thoughts?

[cskent69]

Oh - don't mind me. These are great reps. I am just a little anal about the low cross bar "A"s in PANERAI and MARINA. It has been a long time complaint of mine - because I feel it should be such an easy thing for the rep makers to fix. Yet they still manage to mess it up - even when they can replicate a Breitling or Chopard dial to near perfection. Ironically, the worst rep dials are the Panerai (bad A's), Omega (wrong Logo), and Rolex (just finally getting good after literallly years of crap) which are the most desired replicas. Conspiracy? Perhaps.

I am hopeful for the effort to create a more accurate PAM dial. I believe that the 111H was first up but can't seem to find the thread now.

[sssurfer]

Andrew's model is priced higher as it is declared Swiss unitas, while Josh's is declared Asian.

[ta8088]

With regards to Davidsens 01A. I can see that the crown is a better copy and the colour of the lume looks nice and aged.

But as I mentioned before the colour of the hands is completely different. Maybe this was just an early model he'd made up and

the ones he's selling now all have the same coloured lume. I guess an email to him might clear it up.

The lume strength isn't important for me so I wouldn't be looking to have it re-lumed. Neither is the movement. If I really like the watch I might get a

Swiss ETA fitted. All I'm looking for is a reasonably good copy with a good case and dial that doesn't cost a fortune. Just like everyone else is...

Any thoughts?

The lume/hands on Davidsens looks pretty good. They should be different colors on an 01A T dial. If you look at the FS listings on the various Paneristi sites you will see that the dial lume / hands looks different. There was also a gen 036 on one of those forums. Again a T dial and the dial lume / hands look different. Guys correct me if I'm wrong.

[steveb]

Hello again,

Thanks to everyone for replying to my original post .

I was tempted to go for one of DSN's but having read about his recent QC issues I decided go for the Perfect Clone model from Joshua.

I'm living in Japan at the moment so I was a little unsure about it getting through customs... I ordered it on the Monday night and on the following Saturday I got a knock at the door and it was the postman with a small box. After signing for it I noticed a label stuck to it. It was from Japanese customs informing me that they had opened it!!! I wasn't charged anything and they didn't confiscate it

It came well protected in a card board outer box, a polystyrene inner box and the watch itself was bubble wrapped.

I tried to take these pics at the same angles as the ones I found of an original. The original is the first one each time. I think it looks really good compared to it

What do you think?

I've got to say I was really surprised at the quality of the watch when I first saw it. As it was my first rep. I was kind of expecting something pretty cheap and rough looking. But this is totally the opposite. It has a great looking case that's well polished and feels very heavy. It has a tiny mark near one of the lugs but that's it.

The case back is really well done also. I don't know how its engraved, but however they did it they made a very clean and crisp job.

The crown guard sits perfectly with the case and the lever fits in virtually flush with no gaps.

The crown is sitting a fraction further out of the case than it should but I'm sure this can be easily sorted out. I've noticed another forum member is hoping to produce some thicker crowns so I will try to pick one of those up and make the adjustments then.

Its got a sapphire crystal with the blueish AR coating and although its not the same colour as the gen. one, it does make it look like a quality watch!!!

The dial has the usual "A" problems but they are so small you don't even notice them. The dial markings themselves are again very well done and have very clean edges to them. It only has the basic lume, but if its had a good charge during the day it will glow away all night long. The quality of the lume wasn't important to me so it came as a nice surprise.

It came with the standard cheap repro. strap which was too small for me so I had a go at making my own strap. This is the first one I've made and I know its far from perfect but It'll do for now!!!

I've now had it for three weeks and the only problem I had was yesterday when I tried to adjust the time time and it wouldn't work I took the crown guard off and the crown and its stem fell out All I needed to do was take the back off and put the stem back in. I found that the tiny screw that holds it in place was not tightened up enough. It fine now though

So for anyone looking at buying their first replica Panerai, I can certainly recommend this model from Perfect Clones. I've got a genuine Omega Speedmaster and it certainly looks good next to that

Thanks again,

Steve

[StormTooper4]

Thats a cool Pam, enjoy wearing it

ST4