California

[mmg2]

So the Pam fever continues....



Im looking for a pam with the cali dial as my next piurchase. Ive seen some of you all get very creative with your cali dial watches, and would love to see your ideas



Im looking for something either 44 or 45mm (debating on luminor vs radiomir case), and likely with blue hands, maybe with plexi crystal. But im open to the creative power of the forum and want to hear what ideas you all may have, or see what watches you all have with the cali dial.

thanks!

 

[Highflyingclive]

Watch from Joshua... vintage distressed strap by HK Tan.

 

[bigbadbrad]

enzo for calis

-

enzo is THE man for Californication :!: :lol:

 

[Hambone]

@Clive, very nice 249 and that strap makes an excellent combo. As far as a 44 or 45mm Cali dial, I think it only comes in the 47mm, but if you want a fantasy custom, it can be done of course.

 

[turbogt]

I was also thinking of making a fantasy cali.

What would you think of a Ti case with black cali dial?

How about the movement? Maybe ala 036? Or perhaps a G series? Or H?

Please give me any thoughts... My mind is towards making it look as a vintage proto watch.

Cheers!

 

[Highflyingclive]

Your California does not have to be a Panerai.

Rolex also used the Cali dial.

There is one here:

http://www.watchestobuy.com/images/Role ... Romanb.JPG

- albeit with a refinished dial.

 

[savage_here]

I went through this same hunt, so maybe I can help at least a little.

First, if you can live with the "California" text on the dial, then the one that Josh (and probably others) have is probably your best bet. I believe it's an Asian clone movement or whatever that's being called these days, so you'll have to decide if that suits you or not.

I decided that I couldn't live with that text, so I moved on.

Next up was Davidsen's 249 and 262. The dials on those look pretty good to me. I'm no expert and I didn't really get into the fine details of the dial, but it looked pretty good. What I didn't like was the plexi crystal. It just looked like the wrong shape to me. But, on the plus side, you can get a Swiss movement from Davidsen.

Every rep that I've seen so far has the incorrect crown. The gen crown is so nice and simple, but all the reps have the regular Rad crown.

If you want to go 45mm vintage, then everything I found had fixed lugs. Now, I make straps, so it would be no big deal for me to stitch on a strap (since I absolutely hate the look of those screw-type straps for fixed lugs). But, I like to change straps every now and then so the fixed lugs would be a pain.

So, what I ended up doing was getting the RWC rep 1938a from Davidsen. It was really the best of all worlds for me. It has removable lugs, nice dial, nice plexi. I got it with a generic crown, generic caseback and Swiss movement. So, basically it's an unbranded homage Cali.

Sadly, it's on its way back to Davidsen because the lugs could not be tightened correctly. So, I can't show you any pics.

Lastly, I don't think that you'll be pleased with the way that the 249 blue hands look on the 45mm case. I believe that they're about 2mm longer than the stock hands (at least on the 1938a that I got), so they will look strange. I'm going to live with the stock hands for a little while and then see if I want to try to mod some to get the blue.

Anyway, hope this helps. Let us know what you end up with.

Best regards,

Savage

 

[turbogt]

Thanks for your insight Savage.

I also spoke to David for building the custom Ti Cali. However, mine I wanted to be something special and kind of a hommage.

I'm still debating between the color of the hands. David offered blue hands and gold hands. But as you stated and if I'm not wrong, they would look weird on a 44 mm case.

And last, as I mentioned before... first I wanted a swiss h movement. Though if I wanted to be pseudo vintage/homage maybe a swiss B movement would suit better.

Please any thoughts anyone?