LUMINOR SUBMERSIBLE 1950 3 DAYS AUTOMATIC CERAMICA
PAM00508
Pictorial review
PAM00508
Pictorial review
I must admit I thought that given the complexity of the production process for this material, a proper ceramic rep would have never materialized.
Well, I'm happy to say I was wrong, and by far.
The first 438/441 ceramic releases were already very good, apart from some issues with pointy CP and short hour hand (already fixed in most recent batches). It was pretty obvious that the ceramic submersible would have followed up, and here it is, in all its beauty.
THE GEN
During SIHH 2013 Panerai presented three special limited edition submersibles: PAM507 in bronze, PAM 364 in titanium and PAM 508 in ceramic.
In my opinion PAM 508 was the most interesting piece of that year, since 364 is not really my cup of tea and the bronze 507 is only a 382 with power reserve indicator on the face and it cannot really be defined as a novelty.
It is obvious that the ceramic case represents something exotic and appealing. The sandblasted matte finish of the ceramic material gives a very unique look to this watch. Case, dial, markers rings are all black, while all the lumed parts and the bezel markers are in a beautiful shade of orangeish beige usually called "vintage lume".
There's very little "vintage" in this piece though, thanks to the particular material, the case has a very modern look, it reminds me of the monolith from "2001: A space odissey"
Here's an extract I found regarding the production of the ceramic case:
"Upon closer inspection of the 47mm black ceramic case we see that it has a fine sandblasted finish, resulting in the uniform matte appearance of the case. The material, which is synthesized from zirconium oxide powder (Zr02); to achieve the color, a pigment highly resistant to heat is added during the production process.
A ratio of ~80% zirconia powder and 20% binding powder are warmed and mixed slightly, then forced under extremely high pressure into the mold that takes the form of the component being produced. While still soft, components are further shaped and refined by turning, milling and drilling. Then, over a period of about three days, the components are heated to 1500C and then allowed to cool down; at this stage components consist of 100% zirconia ceramic (binder has been removed via a chemical process) and has a hardness of 1200HV, about about 5x that of stainless steel. The hard ceramic is then workable, via diamond grinding, to its final shape and sandblasted to a matte finish. In addition to its hardness, the ceramic has additional desirable qualities such as light weight, excellent resistance to scratches and corrosion."
For this watch I had Orloff make a custom strap for me resembling the cracked leather look of the gen strap, as usual his work looks beautiful and offers top comfort on the wrist, I can do nothing but recommend him
Let's see how this rep is:
THE REP
Model: PAM 508
Maker: KW/V6 factory
Movement: a7750
Dealer: Supermirrors
Since the initial release of this watch there have been various revisions of the pearl on the bezel, which as usual seems to be the most difficult part to replicate adequately, who knows why.
Many pics with different pearl shape and color, and even different case and CG were spread around the forum during the release days, and some members apparently got some "pre-production" samples. I waited a few days before placing my order, and this seems to have the definitive version of the pearl.
This is what I received:
Saying I was amazed having the watch in my hands is euphemistic. Possibly not even the bronzo had this effect on me, and my first thought was "OMG that's perfect!". Well it obviously isn't, but the quality of this rep is incredible.
Let's see it in detail:
CASE
GEN
REP
The more I look at this watch, the more I am impressed by the great work the maker did with replicating this ceramic case. I don't know if they used the same process used for the gen, but the result is breath taking. The watch has a presence that's emphasized by its perfect finish and touching the case somehow feels like touching a stone.
The ceramic material allows for very sharp lines but in some specific areas the lines are softer, just like the watch was sculpted, check for example the slight curve on the inner side of the lugs where they meet the case, or the inner shape of CG in order to see what I'm saying.
As said before the finish looks perfect, closing up on the case you can see how the sandblasted finish gives a sort of porosity to the ceramic material. The result is a clean and matte surface that changes color pretty easily depending on how it is hit by the light.
GEN
REP
The shape is almost perfect, even though I am under the impression that lugs should be a tad longer to be like gen. A very minor difference in any case.
BEZEL
GEN
REP
The bezel is superbly built, it is perfectly firm and solid, the 60 clicks as per gen specs are crisp and satisfactory.
The chamfered edges around the bezel are sharp and clean, though on the bottom side the chamfering angle looks to have a little less inclination, as also observed by Mysterio in his 569 review. The notches look to be a little deeper than gen.
Bezel dots and 15, 30, 45 markers are perfectly applied: they are raised on the outer side and almost flush with the bezel in the inner side. To me it looks like they're made from the same ceramic material used for the case, but they are not sandblasted on the surface, the different finish and their angle on the bezel determines the way they reflect the light and makes them look darker at certain angles. The gen looks the same, this effect is only a bit less pronounced on the rep.
The numeral markers on the bezel are shaped perfectly, with a nice softened edge. Engraved numbers are ever so slightly smaller and thinner than gen and not so perfectly centered, especially 15 and 45.
The bezel dots are, again, well shaped and have softened corners, just not as much as numeral markers an not as much as gen. They are also a bit taller than gen.
Some small painting imperfections, only visible in macro pics.
PEARL
GEN
REP
(notice the grain of the ceramic material due to the sandblasting process)
Despite the various versions showed during the first days since release, the pearl is the only detail that is still not perfectly dead on with the gen. Nonetheless the result is pretty good in my eyes and I think it now is more than acceptable.
Index bars are shaped correctly, very sharply engraved. The first index is a bit more detached from the pearl compared to what we usually see in other subs bezels. The rep is just like gen in this regard.
Color is a bit darker than gen, but tbh all painted/lumed parts look a bit darker than gen so it is hard to evaluate without having both gen and rep side by side.
Pearl rim is thinner than gen and results in a bigger looking pearl.
As Polonus correctly explained, the pearl cup is first filled with the lume material which is then covered with a transparent compound that gives the pearl a domed/rounded look. This is an acceptable compromise, but the gen pearl has a more uniform gloss and a less pronounced domed profile.
It is very hard to take a pic of it that shows how it really looks in real life because the transparent layer is visible in pics only at certain angles, and as you see in my pics it often looks to be concave instead of convex. IRL the transparent glossy layer is more noticeable and gives the pearl a more gen like shape.
All in all I'm very satisfied by it, despite the imperfections.
CRYSTAL
Nothing special about the crystal, it's clear, has single sided AR as per gen and the coating is colorless and good quality imho.
DIAL
GEN
REP
Dial is black with a semi-matte finish and shinier seconds subdial, the hour markers are surrounded by black rims. Lume is well applied, but a bit more grainy and opaque than gen.
Inscriptions on dial are well placed, look slightly glossy and the font used seems right.
I can't really say if the colors used are exactly as gen, but I can say the color scheme looks right to me and makes the rep plausible:
- Hour markers match the bezel markers color, they are creamy rose gold color.
- Datewheel and seconds subdial markers match the hour markers.
- Lume on hands is a lighter beige/cream color matching the inscriptions on dial.
- Pearl does not match hour markers nor hands, it is a darker shade of the latter color.
All in all a very convincing result imho.
Lume shot:
Lume is average.
HANDS
Hands are matte black, skeleton shaped as in many Panerai submersibles. Length is correct and lume is well applied. Some small imperfection on the paint near the CP, totally invisible IRL.
CP is slightly recessed, but it's perfectly flat and polished, very gen-like.
CROWNGUARD
GEN
REP
CG is as perfect as it can get imho
The shape is great, the chamfered upper and bottom corners are impeccable, REG.T.M. engravings are well placed, maybe REG. is slightly too close to the edge, but it's a matter of microns.
The lever tip is almost spot on, it should only be a little softer in the upper part. Lever has no ball bearing like gen.
CG pin is placed correctly and again it's dead on in shape.
Crown looks very good as well, no difference that I can tell.
CASEBACK
GEN
REP
The closed case back is made of titanium, once again perfectly repped. Engravings are crisp and well defined, fonts look good.
Advertising pics from Panerai show the word "DIVER'S" among the inscriptions, that's funny because the actual production samples show the word spelled "DIVERS" instead. The maker replicated the correct "DIVERS" spelling
Movement shot:
Movement is an older revision of the P.9000 decorated A7750 with incorrect INVERTED layout compared to the gen movement.
CONCLUSIONS
Well, I tried to be as impartial as possible in this review, not an easy task because this level of replication, considering the use of a ceramic case looked to be such a challenge that I can't help being totally amazed at how good the maker did.
This time I had to use a loupe along with macro pics in order to find some of the imperfections I stated in the review, and I think this fact alone should make clear how good the rep is.
The overall finish level is impressive, and even going through the smallest details the differences found are the slightest.
We had a deluge of new reps from KW from the end of 2014 and the beginning of 2015, most of them have been very impressive like the 389, the 438/441 (these two even more with the latest improved hour hand and flush CP) and the 569. PAM 508 definitely deserves to be among these, one of the most beautiful looking and better built PAM reps currently available.
And now a few more pics
Any comment is welcome, please let me know if I missed something so I can update the review.
Hope you liked reading it as much as I do preparing it
:cheers:
