205/A...still available?

[RobbDizzle]

Reading more and more into the history of Panerai, I find myself (irrationally? ) attracted to the 205/A Slytech. Searching around the trusted dealer sites, I can't seem to find any for sale. DSN has one, but is there elsewhere to find them? Barring that, is there anywhere to source parts for a build?

 

[gelyte]

Coldi has one

Seriously, it's a rare bird and besides DSN, only FGD can make the matching dial and all you have to do is to source by your own the rest:
case: Jimmy Fu, 111J, EL, Old Helenarou, DSN
dial&hands: FGD, DSN
sapphire: BigCrown, DSN
crown guard: LH, WSO, DSN
crown: T48, PALP
caseback: Jakob, DSN

Good luck!

 

[RobbDizzle]

Coldi has one

Exactly what go me started on one. I've been aware of their existence, but I've never really wanted one until I saw Coldi's pic next to another PAM he was selling. Now I think I'm smitten :snort:


Thanks for the parts info. Gotta do a little shopping now...how do I get a hold of FGD?

 

[BOSS]

I bought one from Silix a few years back, may be worth a try......

 

[gelyte]

...how do I get a hold of FGD?

He's over the RWG as fishgodeep.

 

[COLDI]

this is one of the more sought after fgd dials that are now at a premium bc of the pre-v craze.

That and the 001 and 218 dials

 

[RobbDizzle]

Coldi, your picture has me nursing a semi-chub :rofl:

Are there any parts from my 111h that I can reuse or convert?

 

[COLDI]

Whats on your 111h?

 

[RobbDizzle]

Nothing spectacular at all...I might have a cartel case, and I flushed and flattened the CG pin. I was thinking of building it piece by piece using as much from the 111 as I could, and upgrading parts as I went (as opposed to dumping a whole ton of money at once). I was thinking that the movement, hands, maybe the CG could all be reused for the time being.

 

[COLDI]

Dsn cg is totally wrong. You will need to drill pre-v lugs, get a T48. LH cg or VG, pre-v hands.

Be prepared to drop some coin.

Oh and I've owned the dsn version. Its not worth the money brother

 

[hubrisin]

I'm so burned out on Pre-V's, they're beautiful but will frustrate you to no end to get the right parts.
I've got to the point with DSN that the discrepancies aren't worth it, it's better to build from scratch. It's always the same, crappy CG, wrong crown, dials... I could go on...

 

[RobbDizzle]

Damn ok, looks like I'm gonna have to start from zero if I build it. Are there any version for sale that ARE worth it? Or am I really looking at a major ground-up build here?

Coldi, I officially hate you for having such a damn fine watch, and getting the 205A idea in my head.

 

[COLDI]

I agree DSN is NOT the way to go for builds if you want it done right. For example, that 002a I have for sale, all I'm using is the mvt.

If you want this done right. You need two things - a TON of patience and some coin
What I would buy is:
111j case remove hex tube for round tube (75)
T48 (40)
LH (200) or V cg (250)
Jakob cb (130)
swiss mvt (175)
dial (anywhere from 200-300)
relume (50-80)
fgd hands (25)
modding fees ect-drilling pre-v lugs, hex tube ect, assembly (around 100)

 

[melidian]

maybe you can pick up a dsn dial and some good hands and slap something together to see if you like the way it looks on you. then go for the larger investment/project.

 

[RobbDizzle]

I agree DSN is NOT the way to go for builds if you want it done right. For example, that 002a I have for sale, all I'm using is the mvt.

If you want this done right. You need two things - a TON of patience and some coin
What I would buy is:
111j case remove hex tube for round tube (75)
T48 (40)
LH (200) or V cg (250)
Jakob cb (130)
swiss mvt (175)
dial (anywhere from 200-300)
relume (50-80)
fgd hands (25)
modding fees ect-drilling pre-v lugs, hex tube ect, assembly (around 100)

Holy moly. That's about a grand, give or take. Thanks for the list though, I'll start picking up parts here and there. I don't think I'm going to go all-out grail build at this point; I'll probably end up doing an A6497 insead of a swiss...pick up pre-V parts when they come up for sale (and when I have funds!). The dial, CG, and caseback are going to be the hardest to finance, I think. I almost hate that I wanna do this now. :lol:

maybe you can pick up a dsn dial and some good hands and slap something together to see if you like the way it looks on you. then go for the larger investment/project.

I think that's what I'll end up doing, Chris. Maybe get the dial and hands and put them in the 111 and see how it looks, before I dive in 100%.

 

[COLDI]

If you've ordered from dsn before, you should be able to order the hands and cb for 100ish

 

[hubrisin]

A grand sounds about right.....

I'm liking Pre-A's though the dials are impossible to find, I would agree that the dial is one of the most expensive parts to get between the dial itself and the luming.

Sometimes the right build happens when all the right parts are available, making the hobby a little less frustrating.


This year is a titanium build, with a 177L as my foundation.

 

[COLDI]

For a pre-v Ti build the 040 is the one. But the 001/004 dial to use is hard as crap to source

 

[hubrisin]

What about a 055 or 061?

L Swiss L dial might be the challenge here? I love the closed backs, it avoids all the rep movement issues, but we have far fewer build choices.

 

[QinetiQ]

I'm guessing more than a grand. I'm building my grail PAM and right now I have about $360 in it already........and all I have is hands, dial, crystal and crown