Panerai 240 Ti Review (DSN vs GEN)

[unregistered]

So, is this the best out of box Ti rep out there? Everyone even myself has been speaking of this piece for sometime, and its actually been out for several months. Remember, this is straight out of the box review with no mods...yet. Anyhow, I finally acquired one today and here's the review with my tried and tested review style;

Front

1) Font is mildly not bold enough on the rep

2) A still has the low bar on the mArinA

3) Bezel on the rep is at the wrong angle, making it appear thinner than it should be

4) CG pin is too thin (bit of sanding should fix this easily)

5) Crown thickness is correct but the bevelling on the edges is too much, almost no bevelling seen on the Gen.

6) The CG lever tip appears a bit too long as compared to the Gen.

7) The position of "PANERAI-Automatic" is too high. The upper level of the PANERAI should be in line with the lower tip of the 4 & 8 o'clock markers.

(Not pictured) The CG lever has the new rollerball design, the DSN has the old non-rollerball lever

Angle

1) Thickness/height of the bezel. The DSN is noticecably thicker here, almost 1mm thicker

2) Not as apparent in this photo, but the edges are rounded and soft on the DSN, much sharper on the gen for the lugs

3) The depth of the 9 o'clock subdial. The DSN dial is significantly more recessed. Personally I prefer it, but it is a flaw, notice how its shadowed quite prominently

Side

1) The 240 uses the new quick release system for strap changing, as such screw-in bars should no longer be used

2) Profile shape of the lugs is incorrect. Gen is slimmer and more acute downward profile

3) CG though very very nice and thick has a flat top, whereas in the Gen you can see a slight curve at the edges

4) As mentioned above, the thickness of the bezel is illustrated here, very prominently thicker

**Apologies, couldn't find a nice 240 side profile shot, so I utilised this 279 shot instead. They are the same watch except for the Ti bracelet on the 279 (In fact the 296 is the same too but with the new style Ti bracelet).

Back

1) No quick release strap changing system implemented

2) Not really a flaw, but seriously, a PAM 240 with serial number 240??? OP number is correct.

Lume

From the left: DSN 240, VacLumed 111E, Gen RXW MM20, DSN 232 Franken

I would have thought the 240 and 111E would be on par since both are painted on dials and not sandwich dials, but the DSN pigments just can't compare with Tritec as can be seen in the elapsed timeshot. It still is bright and fantastic, much better than Cartel watches though. As to how it compares to the Gen, I'd say pretty close in terms of color since the Gen looks to use pure C3.

Conclusion

hmmm...at first I thought this was truly an out-of-box king. However, after having it in hand, there were more flaws than I expected, yet on the other hand, it still is an amazing piece. I've listed a bunch of the flaws above, some are minor and will never be noticed, like the depth of the subdial or can be fixed like the CG pin. Others are a bit more prominent like the thickness of the bezel base. Yet here are the pros for this piece to me:

1) Color of the dial is bang-on, went to an AD who had the 279 in the window and the color is amazingly close.

2) CG is nice and thick, a huge improvement over his old CGs and one of the most obvious tells on Ti models. The top down profile is pretty much bang-on and the side profile can be modified to get the curvature.

3) Feels great on the wrist, as in, it really feels very well-made and genuine. It isn't a featherweight even though its a Ti model which I enjoy since I can't stand something too light on my wrist

4) Lume. Its not Tritec, but its close and you can't complain about lume

5) Fonts are accurate from the 12 to the 6 (oh...thats it). You know what I mean, you don't have to worry about the curvature of the 2, or the thickness of the one, or the squishiness of the 6. They are perfect.

6) L SWISS MADE L position bang on and correctly sized. Do note, later models of the 240 do have a different positions L SWISS MADE L, i.e. L swiss 6 made L instead. Those are correct and this is not a flaw on the DSN model

Overall for me, I feel this piece is going to be hard to be called out on unless you have another 240/279/296 next to it. There are a number of small flaws, but not enough to kill my enthusiasm for it. Just look how beautiful it is on an Albut6 maroon strap, really compliments that dial;

And now for a family shot;

From the left: DSN 240, VacLumed 111E, Gen RXW MM20, DSN 232 Franken

Edited February 11, 2009 by unregistered

[Dani]

Thanks for the review

Cheers

[Viennawatch]

Very good straight forward review man! Despite the flaws, nice watch, wear it well!

Vw

[lazarini]

Great review thx for sharing.

Laz

[mwee]

Thanks for the timely review! I have been thinking of getting a Ti Pam and the 240 was the model I liked!

[chubbchubb]

Great side by side review, thanks for taking the time to put this together...

[StormTooper4]

Awesome review, thank you making the effort with it.Really great to see the comparison like thatST4

[unregistered]

Thanks guys also, first mod done; mentioned by Quick Brick on RG, seems that DSN and a few others have been getting flipped CG pins. i.e. the fatter part should be on top as shown and mentioned above. So you remove the pin, ream the hole out a bit with a round jewellers file and then ram it back in.

Something like this eh?

Just did it...flipped it, reamed it, rammed it.

[coolfire]

Damn... I'm falling for this...

[watchturbo]

great review! thanks for the comparison pics which showed exactly the differences

[wheaton26]

nice watch, and thanks for the review! any better shots of the date font?

[fishgodeep]

Just did it...flipped it, reamed it, rammed it.

You flipped reamed and rammed it well ....looks great!

Excellent review also -one of the best I've seen in a long time ....credit to you and all those that take the time and effort to do these!

Enjoy that 240!

FGD

[dluddy]

Great review. This is a model that doesn't get much attention but it is a real looker

[unregistered]

nice watch, and thanks for the review! any better shots of the date font?

I wanted to edit the review but don't seem to be able to, anyhow, here is what you requested;

DateWheel

1) Datewheel is not fully centered. Mag on cyclops seems less on the rep

Second photo shows issue with uncentered dates for datewheel

Hope that helps.

coolfire: Geddit!!!

[wheaton26]

I wanted to edit the review but don't seem to be able to, anyhow, here is what you requested;

DateWheel

1) Datewheel is not fully centered. Mag on cyclops seems less on the rep

Second photo shows issue with uncentered dates for datewheel

Hope that helps.

thank you. a little off centered but font is good.