wraithride Posted January 22, 2009 Report Share Posted January 22, 2009 Ok, so I finally went and did it. I placed an order for my first ever pam. I decided on the 111H from PT and now I start the agonizing wait process. I had a few questions that I thought some of you more experienced Panerai owners could assist me with. Yes, I assure you I used the search feature, and there is a ton of great material out there. This is more of a double-check my info, to make sure I'm making the right decissions. Fist off, the Strap. Everyone has mentioned that the straps that come with the reps are pretty much crap. Since I have to wait for the chinese new year to be over before i get my watch, i figured i'd have plenty of time to order a strap and have it waiting for the watch to arrive. I believe from my searching that the width of the strap I'd need to purchase is 24mm, does that sound right? Now on to the buckles. The place where i'm getting my strap, offers panerai style buckles. How are the buckles that come with the rep? If I get an aftermarket one, it won't have "panerai" on it, small detail and not a big deal, just curious. The 111H I got, is supposed to come with the cannon fix, sapphire glass, and superlume. From what I've read, the only way to tell if the cannon pin fix is there, would be to crack open the watch. I might try that some day, but i'm in no rush. As for the lume, is there an easy way to tell if it's been relumed? I know that I shouldn't expect anything breathtaking, but I'm just looking to tell if they made any effort at all. Any advice? I think that's about it, Once it comes in, I'll post pics. WR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scoobs1971 Posted January 22, 2009 Report Share Posted January 22, 2009 First of all congrats on your purchase! Trust me when I say this is not going to be your only PAM... I assume that PT = Angus and not PT from the UK. I have Angus's Ultimate 111E w/o superlume, but with fixed cannon pinion and AR. 1. Cannon pinion: this is the pin that holds the hour and minute hands. It is fixed if the pin is on the same level as the minute hand. If not, you will see a small hole in the minute hand tube. 2. Lume: don't expect too much from it. If you are lucky it will be an improvement over standard rep lume, but by far not comparable to the relume that someone like The Zigmeister delivers. You will notice if it's 100% SL when you walk from outside in the sun into the shadow and the lume starts glowing like hell and stays that way for a while. Typical rep lume doesn't charge that fast and won't last for a minute or 2. 3. AR: genuine single AR is not as impressive as double. Double AR makes you forget that there's a glass in your watch. Rep AR in most cases ain't nothing but a film with a blue or purple teint which won't take away any glare from the glass. Sometimes the hue is way too much and an easy giveaway from a distance. You may wanna redo the AR with people like Chief. 4. Strap: The size of a Panerai strap without buckle is 24mm on the watchhead end and 22 mm at the buckle end. Some strapmakers deliver 24/24 straps with a sewned in buckle. Bob has very affordable entry level straps, but the quality is average. I can recommend The Watch Boys, Toscana Straps and Mikah from my own experience. They are around $100,-, but really worth the money. A lot of gen PAM owners use these straps too including the sewned in buckle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikerblade Posted January 22, 2009 Report Share Posted January 22, 2009 Some quick answers for you Strap will be 24mm, I will be up to you to figure the lenths you will need depending on the size of you wrist & if you like a long tail or short. Buckles will again depend on what you like but the rep buckle will probably be a 22m as the rep straps are normally tapered, you can get 24mm stamped buckles but you may have to hunt around in the sales sections on here to find one. Cannon pin will be easy to see without opening the case, if the hands sit flush with the pin its fixed, if the pin sits shorter than the hands its not. If its been relumed you will know, standard rep lume will be fairly poor whereas a superlume job should be a lot brighter & also glow for a long time. Pam's have been done to death on all the forums, you shouldn't find it too hard to find pictures of our modded versions with cannon pin fixes & lume jobs. Be carefull buying Pam's, I started with one to see what the fuss was about, now I have 6 that I have modded & a few in bits still to be modded. There watch crack to some of us & for the life of me I don't know why Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikerblade Posted January 22, 2009 Report Share Posted January 22, 2009 Bah Scoobs types faster & better Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scoobs1971 Posted January 22, 2009 Report Share Posted January 22, 2009 Bah Scoobs types faster & better , but at least we agree on all points. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wraithride Posted January 22, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 22, 2009 Thanks for the fast replies guys, very helpful. I'm glad that the cannon pix fix will be easily visible, so I'll check that as soon as I get it. As for the lume, yeah, I'm not expecting much in that area, just wondering if you can even tell if they bothered. A re-lume from The Zigmeister will be a thing legends are made of, that's on the list of things to do. The biggest piece that I'm taking away from this is the strap. I'm glad to know that they one coming with the watch is tapered, so the buckle wouldn't fit the aftermarket strap I'm looking at anyway. I'll go with a 24mm-24mm, since I like the look of the straight strap. It's nice and chunky . I'll just plan on getting the screw type buckle, along with the strap and have it waiting when the watch arrives. Why do I feel like I just got myself in deep here? Wr Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kornblomst Posted January 22, 2009 Report Share Posted January 22, 2009 Why do I feel like I just got myself in deep here? Wr You're definately not the only one....I'm cracking my head on which pam to choose....the chinese new year just bought me a little extra time to decide. I'm thinking the same as you got or the pam36 or pam177 - I love ti /korn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikerblade Posted January 23, 2009 Report Share Posted January 23, 2009 You're definately not the only one....I'm cracking my head on which pam to choose....the chinese new year just bought me a little extra time to decide. I'm thinking the same as you got or the pam36 or pam177 - I love ti /korn I would avoid a new 036, I've never seen a decent new one & I've been looking for a long time. The Ruby one's do come up from time to time but people have started asking big money for them & with the pound to the dollar right now it's just too expensive for me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kornblomst Posted January 23, 2009 Report Share Posted January 23, 2009 I would avoid a new 036, I've never seen a decent new one & I've been looking for a long time. The Ruby one's do come up from time to time but people have started asking big money for them & with the pound to the dollar right now it's just too expensive for me Ohh...tha's nice to know. Do you know what is wrong with it? I've been thinking about buying one from TT, which has some updates...cannon pin fix among others /korn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spooky driver Posted January 23, 2009 Report Share Posted January 23, 2009 For us brits it is the worst time ever to buy new. The exchange rate as it is makes everything so expensive. I think some people are going to see negative equity with their watches, similar to the housing market, IF the exchange rate ever improves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wraithride Posted January 23, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 23, 2009 FYI, I just got the message from PT that the payment went through. I'm not sure when he'll ship, as it's still the holidays over there. Now I wait for the EMS notification WR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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