5218-201a from davidsen...

[Cucumber_Jones]

My 201a from Davidsen is great. There is a small problem with the botom lug screw too, but at the end of the day I am very happy with the whole watch. I am not worried about small details as the spring bars work very well with my watch and straps. The good thing about Davidsen is that he is willing to help with problems if he can.

One thing you need to remember about Davidsen is that he is creating these watches on his own (some help here and there). He is not just buying and reselling reps from factories. He is making watches that we cannot get elsewhere and I consider that when I look at what he has built.

Here is my watch is on the left and the right is a gen.

I will note that he is on his 3rd or 4th version of the 201a, mine is a 1st version dial and 2nd version case. - with some love from enzo.

 

[longshot]

i do agree with chris that that 201a is a stunning rep. my 'newest' version is actually (imho) better looking than his :wink: they are so stunning i was actually willing to accept the misaligned hands and the wonky movement. but not those issues and a replacement sent with the same problem i returned the first one for.

i'm sending this one back and trying again.

i do appreciate the effort davidsen puts into getting us reps of pams that are otherwise not available and his accepting input into things like fonts and crown sizes. but if you are selling higher end reps there also needs to be attention paid to quality control. that's why for almost every non-pam rep i've bought i've paid a bit more with joshua instead of someplace like silix...

hopefully the third time is a charm

 

[hk45ca]

the springbars with the faux screwheads i was sent are smaller in diameter than the tubes and once a strap has been stretched to fit the tubes they are well over a mm to small and the fit is very loose and the gap is actually visible when mounted on a watch.

hmmmm... well all i can say is i have straps that are made like that from the beginning and they fit like that with or without tubes. you will not wearout your straps useing spring bars without tubes because they rotate, with all that said, my 195 was pvd'ed without plugging the screw holes and the screws will last about 2 times and they strip. thats why i started useing the spring bars.

 

[Highflyingclive]

I am surprised you are even bothering with threaded lugs, ask him for spring pin replacements, the change-over will make you want nothing but, on ALL of your PAM models

i tried the springbars with the end that looks like a faux screw, but the ones i was sent would not fit thru the tubes. because all my pam straps have been stretched to use the tubes i found the sloppiness really unacceptable. plus if i buy a pam rep that uses screws and tubes, well...

I bought some springbars from River. His are a 1:1 replacement for a Panerai tube-and-screw set. See photo below, tube & screw on the left, River's spring-bar on the right.

The diameter of the spring-bar is the same as a pannie tube - so no "sloppinesss"

 

[ThumbModds]

"took my watch into the watchmaker to get it slapped and he had nerve to ask me if I had been slapping it myself!"

I totally agree you should never slap a mechanical watch chances are you will cause more harm then good.

 

[hk45ca]

I am surprised you are even bothering with threaded lugs, ask him for spring pin replacements, the change-over will make you want nothing but, on ALL of your PAM models

i tried the springbars with the end that looks like a faux screw, but the ones i was sent would not fit thru the tubes. because all my pam straps have been stretched to use the tubes i found the sloppiness really unacceptable. plus if i buy a pam rep that uses screws and tubes, well...

I bought some springbars from River. His are a 1:1 replacement for a Panerai tube-and-screw set. See photo below, tube & screw on the left, River's spring-bar on the right.

The diameter of the spring-bar is the same as a pannie tube - so no "sloppinesss"

my point exactly.

 

[bigbadbrad]

The solution to the pin issue is contact river and get a few sets of his spring bars. They work very well - I use them on my 201a. They make strap changing a snap and you never need to worry about thread isues.

Didn't know about this. May also be useful for my 195 - thanks mate!

 

[lacklusterplus]

Those pins look great. When you say get them from "river" what do you mean? Who is river and how do I contact him/her?

 

[Natron]

River is a dealer in our forum. Just go to his sales section and look for these. I am waiting for a few that I purchased because of stripped screws.

Natron

 

[lacklusterplus]

Thanks.

 

[bigbadbrad]

hey - there's some qualifiers here

Well, if you're sending it in for service regardless, what do you have to lose? :wink:

because a number of real watchmakers including ziggy have posted that it does NOT work. including, i believe as a response to one of your posts on one of the other forums? i'm not a hack. i don't beat on mechanical equipment in a childish attempt to make something i don't understand work...

Yes, I am most definitely not a "real watchmaker", nor even a watchmaker , but in my early days on RWG I had knocked a 172 against a door going through AND THEN it started running fast, and someone suggested the spring being twisted. I don't normally "beat on my mechanical equipment in a childish attempt to get it to work." No indeed, I send it to ziggy etc.

But in this one instance, and as it happened after it had been banged, and I looked at it and the spring seemed slightly caught-up, then I gave the suggestion a go - and it did work.

I would never suggest that people wholesale beat their equipment - a la Basil Fawlty whipping his mini w/ the branch of a tree [funny shit!] - in a blatantly futile attempt to effect repair. Geez.

@ longshot: I am sorry for you that you have a frustrating go-around w/ your 201A. I feel for you!
I have had some similar experiences w/ bent screws and go-arounds, and it does get to one.

But please, no need to dish out scatter-shot sarcasm - after all, I never even made the suggestion in your 201A's case (as movement was out of kilter from the get-go, have the same issue w/ one of mine even AFTER a ziggy service) 8) But as your reply was indirectly a response to a quote I made, I am, by association, included.

Cheers mate, and hope it gets worked out. I LOVE my 201A and it's worth any angst!

 

[Cucumber_Jones]

I hate to admit it buy a gentle slap has helped a watch of mine too....

 

[hk45ca]

i have a freind of mine that is an avionics machanic for american airlines and he says the first thing they do when they have a guage that doesn't work is hit it and see if it starts working. lol

 

[vaccum]

Re: attention all watch slappers

I hope none of you work in a nuclear power plant, or hospital, or have anything to do with NASA or commercial airplane maintainence ...

"took my watch into the watchmaker to get it slapped and he had nerve to ask me if I had been slapping it myself!"

:lol: :lol:

 

[bigbadbrad]

Re: attention all watch slappers

I hope none of you work in a nuclear power plant, or hospital, or have anything to do with NASA or commercial airplane maintainence ...

"took my watch into the watchmaker to get it slapped and he had nerve to ask me if I had been slapping it myself!"

:lol: :lol:

I missd this - phuckin' funmny!

Oh, regards the other & @hk45ca's comments: I too have a mate who was a Chief Engineer w/ QANTAS - and he too 'slapped' stuff a bit' sometimes! :wink: