Vintage Panerai Ref. 6154
- Case set study -
- Case set study -
I recently had the chance to have at home three different 6154, built using three different case sets.
The first one is the cream 6154 based on the old River case set I already presented in the "Rust and Bones" thread HERE, second one is the newest Athaya case set and the last one is based on the new and improved River case. I won't go into the detail of each individual build as there will be a specific thread for the ones I have not presented yet.
All case sets have been aged and reshaped by me already, so this will be more about what you can achieve than about what you receive out of the box.
FRONT VIEW
Gen reference
Left to right: new River, new Athaya, old River
Looking at the watch from the front you will likely have a hard time identifying which case is which. They all essentially look almost the same, only minor differences can be noticed especially on new River's because of the hard reshaping it went through which rounded its corners a bit more than the other two cases. On the other hand, old River's case still features a nice and square-ish shape which looks pretty good on the wrist.
Imho the most important detail though is the frontal shape of the lugs: they have to be straight, same width from their start to their tip. In this area new River is best and Athaya follows closely, old River is not accurate at all as you can see the lug width thin down towards the tip.
CRYSTAL HEIGHT
Left to right: new River, new Athaya, old River
new River
old River
new Athaya
Crystal height is visually the same on new and old River, while Athaya has a slightly lower and rounder plexi which is imho most accurate.
Also interesting to note here that both old and new River's case sets have the dial closer to the crystal than new Athaya's. I wouldn't really know which height is more correct. Besides, new River case accepts a slightly larger dial base which allows for a clearer and more visible "gaposis dial" effect.
MID-CASE SHAPE
Gen reference
Gen reference
Top to bottom: new Athaya, new River, old River
Top to bottom: new River, new Athaya, old River
Left to right: old River, new River, new Athaya
Looking at the mid-case, the differences become way more evident, even though my reshaping went into the direction of getting new River's and Athaya as close as possible.
Gen 6154 featured a very thin and elegant case and that's why, although not very accurate, I am still liking old River's case a lot. It is quite visible though that both new genereation cases have way better midcase shape. New River case has very thick and flat upper half and fat bottom curve, the end results in a fat and almost rectangular shaped midcase which needed a lot of reshaping on top and bottom corners to achieve a good shape, although doing this by hand makes it inevitable to rounden up the corners a little too much.
I have been uncareful and did not take pics of the case out of the box, it would have made way clearer what I'm talking about.
Athaya case, on the other hand, requires only a minimal amount of shaping thus making it easier and faster to achieve a good result.
CASEBACK
Gen reference, 6154 on top 6152/1 on bottom
new River
New River CB is the one of the group Ilike less, although it at least tries to be similar to the gen. It has too wide chamfer on the edges, too rounded profile and too shallow engravings.
new Athaya
Athaya is the best looking and most comfortable imho, it is very thin, it has nice and crisp engravings which could be just a tad deeper and a good enough shape which is missing a chamfering near the edge.
old River
Old River's is the tickest, its shape is pretty good and the engraving are well deep and defined. If only it was about 1mm thinner it would be perfect imho. In any case it balances its own very thin midcase making the whole watch thickness comparable to the other two case sets.
BEZEL PROFILE AND SIDE CREASE
Gen reference, 6152 on top 6154 on bottom
Top to bottom: new River, new Athaya, old River
We can see here that new River case is the thickest of the bunch, while old River is the thinnest one. Athaya has imho the most correct thickness and also a bit better crease position and "belly". Old River case is not very accurate to gen, its pronounced thinness makes for great looking thin builds so I really like it nonetheless.
New River bezel profile is slightly too tall but still very good, old River's and Athaya almost equal. In all of the cases the bezel correctly protrude slightly off the edge of the midcase.
LUG SHAPE
Gen reference
Top to bottom: new River, new Athaya, old River
I think this is the most difficult area to judge. Gen pictures are varied so there is no "right" shape imho. Nonetheless the turtle head shape shown in most gen pictures is very hard to capture and, in turn, to replicate. I think all three cases did a fair job with the lugs.
New River's lugs are closer to the most frequently seen shape although they have too long and pointed tips.
New Athaya's are very close too, they only have a little too fat top curve towards the tip.
Old River is after all the closest to the gen reference I showed above, they're just a little too rounded and have too large holes.
CROWN
Gen reference
Top to bottom: new River, new Athaya, old River
Both new Athaya and River cases have a built in crown tube base, River one has a squarer shape. Old River case has instead an indent where the crown tube sits (which was filled with solder in this build). It is my understanding that in the gen watches the crown tube area was soldered to create a base for the tube, this is why no crown tube looks the same as another and I have also seen gens with an indentation like in old River's case. That's why I'd say all three cases can be considered accurate in this regard.
Top to bottom: new Athaya, new River, old River
Left to right: old River, new River, new Athaya
Athaya crowns are known to be exceptional quality and his 8mm crown is no less, sharper teeth, thinner profile and better overall shape than newer River's. I have to say though that some worn out crowns seen on gen reference pics show more rounded teeth (most likely due to over polishing during services), besides new River has also more defined BREVET and crown so I guess we can say it's a matter of taste, they're both accurate and very nice. Old River crown is nice as well, but it has a weaker and less gen like construction than can't be seen when mounted but should be taken into account.
CONCLUSIONS
In conclusion we are very lucky to have such beautiful cases to build around
The three cases here studied are all good options for a nice 6154 build, but of course the new case sets are much improved in every area although they still need a lot of reshaping, especially River's.
My personal preference goes to Athaya, mostly because it needs less works and shapes can stay a little more defined. I was very skeptical about new River's case once I saw the pics, but I have to say I was worng, it is imho overall the closest to the gen reference pics.
Well, I think I covered all or almost. Of course any opinion, doubt, or contributing is more than welcome and will help a better understanding of what's currently available.
Finally old River 6154 case is still a good option as well (if you can get a hold of one that is), especially if you're after a super thin build.
Which is which?
Well I think I covered almost every aspect of these cases, nonetheless I would love to hear your thoughts and opinions, even more anything I missed or got wrong. There is always room for improvement. Hope you found this interesting and helpful
Last edited:
