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PAM 448 Radiomir California: Review and Pictorial

nicktan182

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31/10/13
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haha nice one man. yea i always loved the cali dial too ever since i saw an italian friend of my dad's wearing one, his of course was a gen i think was a 249. I ordered the 448 from angus the moment i heard he had it. really unique and classic imo. i love it way too much to be a daily beater though i think i baby it the most out of all my reps hahaha. got 3 diff oem straps for it too! my daily beater is a noob 005 v2.5. still deciding whether to pull the trigger on a 449 now haha...
 

rhaykal

Renowned Member
18/8/13
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I have a blackshark Rolerai 6154 (purchased on M2M). He does a great job with vintage pieces too. Great pics of your 448. I need to not buy....i need to not buy......dammit!
 

hughesj

Renowned Member
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21/6/13
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Hmm, I remember reading that the cali dial was originally made for display purposes only. Rolex made dials with all Arabic markers and dials with all Roman markers and the cali dial was made to display to potential clients what the markers would look like if they chose between the two, using only one dial to display that. The reason that they wound up in vintage Panerais in 1938 was that Rolex was trying to meet a deadline given to Panerai by the Italian Royal Navy and these "display purpose only" dials were all that Rolex had to supply Panerai with. That's the story that makes the most sense to me. Maybe after that Rolex decided that it looks good and patented it in the 40s. Why it's called the California dial, I have no clue.

Anyway, story time over.

Thanks for the review! The watch looks great
 

barney_stinson

Known Member
8/6/14
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Now I am very confused. Is this watch SF version or ZF version. In Ryan's website there are two PAM448, one of them is from ZF. and it is 318 dollars and another version which is called as "PAM448 O SLC DIAL ON THICK BROWN LEATHER STRAP P.3000 SUPER CLONE" and it is 218 dollars. Is it from SF? And what do you think about the price difference? Do you think it worths it or not
 

kilowattore

Sales Moderator / Section Moderator
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11/5/13
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This is the SF version, now on crazy sale at 218 usd.
The ZF is a new release priced around 320 usd with more recent decoration on the movement and slightly worse case finish (judging the pics on puretime's website since I have not seen a real life pic of ZF version yet).
Imho at the current price the SF version is the best choice.
 

NickOT

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1/10/09
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Yup from the final pics of the ZF 448 on puretime the case engravings are not very good. SF is def the way to go and even more of a bargain at 218. If you are lucky you might even get one with the latest movement which has the correct shaped balance spring arm also.

I'm still undecided about the fake jewels on the newer version of this movement as they seems quite obviously fake.
 

chubs3a

Known Member
24/8/12
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This is the SF version, now on crazy sale at 218 usd.
The ZF is a new release priced around 320 usd with more recent decoration on the movement and slightly worse case finish (judging the pics on puretime's website since I have not seen a real life pic of ZF version yet).
Imho at the current price the SF version is the best choice.

this is true!

However, I got an email saying that they are out of stock at the moment and will have it next week. I ordered this and the 346- can't wait!
 

htff

Getting To Know The Place
14/1/15
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the casing looks really good but so far any comments on the accuracy of the clone 2 movement ? if the clone 2 movement fail then is it easy to fit a brand new 6497 into the current PAM 448 casing ?
 
D

d4m.test

Guest
This is the SF version, now on crazy sale at 218 usd.
The ZF is a new release priced around 320 usd with more recent decoration on the movement and slightly worse case finish (judging the pics on puretime's website since I have not seen a real life pic of ZF version yet).
Imho at the current price the SF version is the best choice.

Agreed. All things considered The SF is a FAR better watch at $218. Even at equal price I would choose the SF with the V3 movement due to the pics I have seen of the ZF.
 

ALE7575

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18/1/11
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Agreed. All things considered The SF is a FAR better watch at $218. Even at equal price I would choose the SF with the V3 movement due to the pics I have seen of the ZF.

I have SF and I agree with you

ALE
 

hughesj

Renowned Member
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21/6/13
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is the case better on the zf? $218 for the sf is nice but if no one ever has it I stock, what's the point?
 

NickOT

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I think a few TDs are saying they are back in stock now? People have got QC pics.

The engravings on the ZF is poorer for sure.