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Who asked me about blue AR on gen PAMs?


sssurfer

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A few days ago a member asked me in a PM if it is true that no gen PAM has blue AR coating.

I promised to check my gen pics collection as soon as I had the time to do it, as I was very busy at that moment.

Now I seem unable to find that PM and who that member was (my apologies, fellow, I get several tenths PM in a week).

So I am posting here what I found, in hope that he will recognize his question and he will read this answer.

Actually, I found no blue AR.

On just a few pics hints of purple AR can be seen, especially in the cyclops area or when the watch is put in some special positions.

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2D's and 112's definitely. Well known fact that Panerai has used any number of AR coating services. Coatings can even vary within the same year on the same model. Heck even their dials vary within the same model and year. Look at the Fiddy - 2-3 different dials. Now the infamous "rep blue" has never been on a gen PAM. But plenty of purple hue around. :lol:

DSC_0046.jpg

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Also.. 111 I series has greenish tint and 112 I has purple tint.

Aaron/Quarks sold his 111 and got a 112 because he prefered Base and because he didn't liked the greenish tint on his 111.

As I see Slai's 111 has also that greenish tint. My 112 in every corner you will see it it will never be green.

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Interestingly the pink/yellow/green AR was probably a better coating. But with the single surface coated only, sadly it just wouldn't be noticeable.

In general, I'd say blue/purple or violet is perfect for 95% of PAMs. And if you're really concerned about the precise hue, you should not be... it's just too difficult to see it in normal lighting conditions anyhow. :)

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Wow, this "emergency" post of mine looks as it's turning into something much more useful to the community -- thanks to all experts who chimed in! :D

I would just like to stress that I am taking no parts in a blueish-vs-purplish debate, I feel not qualified to do that.

I was just referring what I found on checking my gen pics, and only in reply to a specific question by another member.

I too agree that many variants actually exists, and nuance is often linked with occasional occurences as different light angles and subjective color perception by the observer.

In the end, I personally feel that the only inaccurate look is the general, evident blueish tint that can be found on some reps.

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If/when i get a gen rad, it's definitely getting double-ARed (along with a trip to The Zigmeister to fit gold hands). :D I was tempted to do it with the 111, but it makes cape-coding the bezel virtually impossible without damaging the coating.

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Interestingly the pink/yellow/green AR was probably a better coating. But with the single surface coated only, sadly it just wouldn't be noticeable.

In general, I'd say blue/purple or violet is perfect for 95% of PAMs. And if you're really concerned about the precise hue, you should not be... it's just too difficult to see it in normal lighting conditions anyhow. :)

Then in your opinion the type you use will make a virtually invisible AR on the dome crystal of a Fiddy? Specially if it's only single sided?

A while back I posted the practically imposible to see yellow/greenish tint my 190 had... And I really wished the my DSN 127 had the same effect.

Cheers!

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I think Chief's original single-sided AR looks great on the Fiddy. I have compared the gen to a rep coated with that coating. They both are very close to colorless. On the gen it seems like they were trying to achieve some improvement in visibility while maintaining the vintage look. Then again, maybe I am overthinking this. ;)

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  • 3 months later...

The Gen 212H AR is virtually invisible. Gen 111E is also very faint but you can make out some blue/purple. Gen 86D is also almost impossible to see, maybe because of the dial?. I don't remember what my now-sold 000G's AR looked like.

IMO the rep AR is an instant tell.

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This varies quite a bit from year to year and model to model in my experience. I recently saw a PAM (I want to say it was an 89, but it may have been a 36 as I looked at both that day) and the AR was a real light powdery blue kind of like on my IWC AT Chrono. I had never seen that on a PAM as I remember it being more purple.

Speaking of which, I am getting close to pulling the trigger on the new Jubilee vintage AT and that AR is totally different that the regular AT as I just mentioned is sort of a light, soft blue. Anyway the Jubliee AR is much more powerful and more purple and yet from the same line. I wonder why a watch company would vary from piece to piece like that? Makes no sense to me.

BTW, my UN diver has AR which is dead clear. Totally colorless but really powerful. Never seen that before either. Anyway, the moral of the story is that I have never seen one manufactory that had consistent AR across all models and years. I wonder if any of our AR experts have any ideas as to why that might be?

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