Wow, I had no idea how difficult it would be to take a close up picture of two watches with no AR.
Anyways, I have my original 5218-201a (on the left) that I bought a few months ago when I first joined. Although I loved everything about it at first, I soon realized that ignorance was bliss. As I learned more, I saw more that I wanted to "fix" and decided to buy new 201a (on the right) to use as parts for the new build. My old 201a has a Swiss 6497 inside, and that's the one part I want to really keep.
I originally wanted to just do a minor mod where I would just take the crown and CG from the new watch and put it on the old one. Although the new CG fit fairly well to the old case, the crown stem was much thicker, and would not fit into the tube (?) on the old case. This was a shame, because I really wanted to keep my old case, with all the dings and scratches.
At this point, I'm thinking of now just doing a basic movement transplant, and basically keep the new watch, but using the movement from my old watch. I've examined all the parts and just wanted to get a second opinion from all the experts here:
Case:
Both cases and casebacks seem identical, except for the crown tube being different sizes. How easy would it be for me to keep the old case, but swap tubes somehow? Is there something I can do to dissolve the epoxy?
CG:
I like the CG on the new watch more. The pin is a bit higher, and the shape of arc on the outside of the CG is "bigger" (smaller radius) which seems more gen like. The lever is also tighter on the new one, as the old one has needed a hot glue fix twice since I've owned it. I'm pretty set on the new CG.
Crown:
The crowns seem to be the same thickness, but the beveled edge of the old crown really makes it seem skinny. The new crown looks fatter, with cleaner edges, and again seems more gen like. I'm pretty set on the new crown.
Dial:
The old dial has nice fat numbers and indexes, and the lume is fantastic, though a bit greener when side by side with the new dial. The logo on the old dial seems a bit too big compared to gen. The LUMINOR PANERAI also seems a bit bigger than gen.
The new dial seems to have a more accurate logo size and placement, and the LUMINOR PANERAI seems about the same size as gen, but it also seems to be squished vertically a bit too much, making it look fatter than gen. The indexes on the new dial also seem a bit too skinny compared to gen.
Opinions?
Hands:
The old hands seem too white, and the lume cutouts don't seem to go far enough. Are they even Pre-V hands?
The new hands seem like they match the new dial too perfectly, as I thought the hands were supposed to be a bit off color from the dial. But the lume cutouts seem accurate. Would the new hands be best off with the new dial, or the old dial?
Any opinions would be greatly appreciated.
Anyways, I have my original 5218-201a (on the left) that I bought a few months ago when I first joined. Although I loved everything about it at first, I soon realized that ignorance was bliss. As I learned more, I saw more that I wanted to "fix" and decided to buy new 201a (on the right) to use as parts for the new build. My old 201a has a Swiss 6497 inside, and that's the one part I want to really keep.
I originally wanted to just do a minor mod where I would just take the crown and CG from the new watch and put it on the old one. Although the new CG fit fairly well to the old case, the crown stem was much thicker, and would not fit into the tube (?) on the old case. This was a shame, because I really wanted to keep my old case, with all the dings and scratches.
At this point, I'm thinking of now just doing a basic movement transplant, and basically keep the new watch, but using the movement from my old watch. I've examined all the parts and just wanted to get a second opinion from all the experts here:
Case:
Both cases and casebacks seem identical, except for the crown tube being different sizes. How easy would it be for me to keep the old case, but swap tubes somehow? Is there something I can do to dissolve the epoxy?
CG:
I like the CG on the new watch more. The pin is a bit higher, and the shape of arc on the outside of the CG is "bigger" (smaller radius) which seems more gen like. The lever is also tighter on the new one, as the old one has needed a hot glue fix twice since I've owned it. I'm pretty set on the new CG.
Crown:
The crowns seem to be the same thickness, but the beveled edge of the old crown really makes it seem skinny. The new crown looks fatter, with cleaner edges, and again seems more gen like. I'm pretty set on the new crown.
Dial:
The old dial has nice fat numbers and indexes, and the lume is fantastic, though a bit greener when side by side with the new dial. The logo on the old dial seems a bit too big compared to gen. The LUMINOR PANERAI also seems a bit bigger than gen.
The new dial seems to have a more accurate logo size and placement, and the LUMINOR PANERAI seems about the same size as gen, but it also seems to be squished vertically a bit too much, making it look fatter than gen. The indexes on the new dial also seem a bit too skinny compared to gen.
Opinions?
Hands:
The old hands seem too white, and the lume cutouts don't seem to go far enough. Are they even Pre-V hands?
The new hands seem like they match the new dial too perfectly, as I thought the hands were supposed to be a bit off color from the dial. But the lume cutouts seem accurate. Would the new hands be best off with the new dial, or the old dial?
Any opinions would be greatly appreciated.
