Luminor 8 Days PAM 563 KW
Model: PAM 563
Maker: KW maker
Movement: a6497 21,600 vph decorated to look like P.5000
Dealer: Hont
On my journey to an ever growing collection of PAMs I still had none with a white dial so when I saw Kuvarsit releasing their new 8 days I decided to jump in with a 563.
THE GEN
The 563 is part of the new 8 days line, meant to replace gradually the old manual Luminor serie e.g. 111, 113 and so on. As a matter of fact the 563 is very similar to a 113 without the recessed subdial at 9.
These watches also feature the new in house P.5000 movement with 8 days power reserve, hence the indication on the dial.
THE REP
The rep is a great looker and at first sight the effect is impressive as, in all honesty, happened with all the Luminors I had so far.
The white dial is striking and the black hands an numerals are a good diversion from my usual taste for brown dials/gold hands
CASE
The case is the biggest, but less obvious, flaw: I thought (and maker as well I would say) that these new 8 days came with the usual Luminor case we are used to. What was not taken into consideration is the inhouse P.5000 is thinner than a 6497 and allows for a slightly thinner case, Panerai has then decided to update the case.
This was promptly noticed by ALE (big thanks as usual for your constantly impressive work)
The rep comes with a standard Luminor case, thus thicker than gen, also the rehaut is vertical, while in gen the rehaut has a slight slope.
On a positive note I noticed a better position of the lug holes in comparison to the pics I have seen so far, they are slightly more centered.
Also, even though it could well be an impression, I think the lugs are thicker than before. Maybe you guys can help me with this detail I'm not sure of
CROWNGUARD
The CG is the detail that impressed me the most with this rep.
Having read the comparison posted by ALE and Klockis, I expected a wrong shape of the lever tip, a lever perfectly flush with the CG and a CG pin placed a bit too much to the external side of the crown guard.
As you can see, the CG pin position is clearly more closer to the internal edge than the external and it looks like a better placement than before. It is almost flush with the CG body while it should be a little recessed.
The CG features a beautiful polished line on its edge. This is one of the tiny details that make me love a watch and forget all the other flaws I may see
The lever has the same shape as before though, so this lead the upper part of the lever to be slightly recessed inside the CG.
Out of macro shots it looks very good in real life, lever tip is still a bit too detached from the case, maybe less than before though.
DIAL
The white dial is impressive as well, the glossy finish is superb and the painted numbers are thick and rounded, sort of a thick glossy sausage.
Other inscriptions are glossy and raised as well and the lume dots are well applied.
You might notice a defect in the painting of the upper marker of the seconds subdial, where as it seems the seconds hand has spread some paint around. They do assemble these watches in heartbeat don't them?
HANDS
Hands are black, correct color, but the lumed portion should end where the tip of the hand starts, creating sort of triangle.
CP is almost flush, better than my previous KW reps.
LUME
Lume on hands is a bit more yellow than the lume dots around the dial. When charged, hands are noticeably brighter than indices. Lume is very bright and long lasting.
CRYSTAL
Crystal is clear and has correct shape and bevel as far as I can tell.
The AR has a pink/purplish tone. In normal conditions it can't be seen, but under certain lights it diffuses in all the crystal, pretty similar to my 360.
CASEBACK
The open case back is well executed and features crisp and deep engravings. Fonts are extremely close if not spot on.
Of course the movement is an asian 6497 with decorated plates that make it look like the gen P.5000. The effect is very good in my eyes, mostly because the largestpart of the movement is covered by the plates, which are finely replicated.
Apart from the obvious different position of the balance wheel, the only difference I can tell from the outside is the balance wheel being larger than the gen one.
CONCLUSIONS
This is a great rep, with some issues that are minor in my book, but could demand a noticeable effort from the makers to make them right.
The different case in the gen 8 days is not very noticeable at first sight or from a pic, but I think a side by side comparison could tell the unavoidable truth.
The decorated movement on the other hand is one of the nicest I have seen and looks very gen-like, with a beautiful finish that impressed my watchsmith as well
I heard ZF is working on a correct case, but who knows if and when will it be out and what will be the price. I think it will also be interesting to see what movement will they use given that Panerai itself had to wait for a thinner inhouse movement to reduce the thickness of their cases
At the moment these are great looking watches, unsuitable for the super rep title, but still a pleasure to wear and to look at!
Now on to my
Usual excessive number of pics
And the mandatory wristie:
I wait for your opinions and please do correct me if I said something wrong, I'm always happy to update the review
:cheers:
Model: PAM 563
Maker: KW maker
Movement: a6497 21,600 vph decorated to look like P.5000
Dealer: Hont
On my journey to an ever growing collection of PAMs I still had none with a white dial so when I saw Kuvarsit releasing their new 8 days I decided to jump in with a 563.
THE GEN
The 563 is part of the new 8 days line, meant to replace gradually the old manual Luminor serie e.g. 111, 113 and so on. As a matter of fact the 563 is very similar to a 113 without the recessed subdial at 9.
These watches also feature the new in house P.5000 movement with 8 days power reserve, hence the indication on the dial.
THE REP
The rep is a great looker and at first sight the effect is impressive as, in all honesty, happened with all the Luminors I had so far.
The white dial is striking and the black hands an numerals are a good diversion from my usual taste for brown dials/gold hands
CASE
The case is the biggest, but less obvious, flaw: I thought (and maker as well I would say) that these new 8 days came with the usual Luminor case we are used to. What was not taken into consideration is the inhouse P.5000 is thinner than a 6497 and allows for a slightly thinner case, Panerai has then decided to update the case.
This was promptly noticed by ALE (big thanks as usual for your constantly impressive work
)The rep comes with a standard Luminor case, thus thicker than gen, also the rehaut is vertical, while in gen the rehaut has a slight slope.
On a positive note I noticed a better position of the lug holes in comparison to the pics I have seen so far, they are slightly more centered.
Also, even though it could well be an impression, I think the lugs are thicker than before. Maybe you guys can help me with this detail I'm not sure of
CROWNGUARD
The CG is the detail that impressed me the most with this rep.
Having read the comparison posted by ALE and Klockis, I expected a wrong shape of the lever tip, a lever perfectly flush with the CG and a CG pin placed a bit too much to the external side of the crown guard.
As you can see, the CG pin position is clearly more closer to the internal edge than the external and it looks like a better placement than before. It is almost flush with the CG body while it should be a little recessed.
The CG features a beautiful polished line on its edge. This is one of the tiny details that make me love a watch and forget all the other flaws I may see
The lever has the same shape as before though, so this lead the upper part of the lever to be slightly recessed inside the CG.
Out of macro shots it looks very good in real life, lever tip is still a bit too detached from the case, maybe less than before though.
DIAL
The white dial is impressive as well, the glossy finish is superb and the painted numbers are thick and rounded, sort of a thick glossy sausage.
Other inscriptions are glossy and raised as well and the lume dots are well applied.
You might notice a defect in the painting of the upper marker of the seconds subdial, where as it seems the seconds hand has spread some paint around. They do assemble these watches in heartbeat don't them?
HANDS
Hands are black, correct color, but the lumed portion should end where the tip of the hand starts, creating sort of triangle.
CP is almost flush, better than my previous KW reps.
LUME
Lume on hands is a bit more yellow than the lume dots around the dial. When charged, hands are noticeably brighter than indices. Lume is very bright and long lasting.
CRYSTAL
Crystal is clear and has correct shape and bevel as far as I can tell.
The AR has a pink/purplish tone. In normal conditions it can't be seen, but under certain lights it diffuses in all the crystal, pretty similar to my 360.
CASEBACK
The open case back is well executed and features crisp and deep engravings. Fonts are extremely close if not spot on.
Of course the movement is an asian 6497 with decorated plates that make it look like the gen P.5000. The effect is very good in my eyes, mostly because the largestpart of the movement is covered by the plates, which are finely replicated.
Apart from the obvious different position of the balance wheel, the only difference I can tell from the outside is the balance wheel being larger than the gen one.
CONCLUSIONS
This is a great rep, with some issues that are minor in my book, but could demand a noticeable effort from the makers to make them right.
The different case in the gen 8 days is not very noticeable at first sight or from a pic, but I think a side by side comparison could tell the unavoidable truth.
The decorated movement on the other hand is one of the nicest I have seen and looks very gen-like, with a beautiful finish that impressed my watchsmith as well
I heard ZF is working on a correct case, but who knows if and when will it be out and what will be the price. I think it will also be interesting to see what movement will they use given that Panerai itself had to wait for a thinner inhouse movement to reduce the thickness of their cases
At the moment these are great looking watches, unsuitable for the super rep title, but still a pleasure to wear and to look at!
Now on to my
Usual excessive number of pics
And the mandatory wristie:
I wait for your opinions and please do correct me if I said something wrong, I'm always happy to update the review
:cheers:
