Hi all,
back with another one of my reviews on Panerai, I don't know what it is about Panerai's, I keep trying to run away from them, yet they reel me back in every few months.
Anyhow, here is my review on the "old" Angus 111E Ultimate which has been Vacclumed. Other than that, no difference from what you would get from Angus. Take note, Angus produced two versions of the dial, one which had whiter text, but thinner font, and one with greener lume, but thicker font. If you're going to get it relumed, try and hunt down the original fatter font dial. Also, take a look in Vaccs section on some issues with the 111E as well, regarding the incorrect size of the dial causing some issues with the keyless works and damaging the sides when installed. Besides all these issues though, to me, this is one of the best damn handwound Panerai's out there.
Let us start at the beginning, the front face;
Please follow the numbers on the above pictures as they follow sequentiatially as below;
1) The first most obvious difference is the thickness of the font. The gen dial font on all indices and numbers is noticeably slightly thicker. The most obvious place to see this is the 9 o'clock seconds subdial. As mentioned above, Angus did produce two versions of this dial, so for modders and those going to relume, the first version is what you would want. Mine is the second version via milesd, thanks mate. That said, on the wrist, it isn't an easy tell.
2) The quintessential tell on nearly all Panerai reps. The A. All reps have a low bar A in "MARINA, PANERAI". Most gen's I've seen have a high A. DSN has a few dials which this is not as obvious.
3) The tip of the CG lever. You'll see this mentioned more later, but on initial looks, it seems to be slightly longer and not curved enough.
Other than that, the front looks near perfect. The crown looks thick enough with the right amount of bevel. The gap between the case and crown is obvious. The CG is perfectly sized for this model, just the right thickness and the CG pin is flat and polished. The "L SWISS L" is perfect as well as is the Font used.
Now lets move to the side
1) The length of the CG lever becomes more obvious here, as well as the lack of a "curve" to the tip. Other than that, the thickness of the CG itself looks correct as does the centered pins and the side pins.
2) This surprised me. The lugs are quite different between the two. The rep has what looks like slightly shorter lugs, or could just be an optical illusion of a longer base, but to me seems to be a combination of both.
Again though, everything else and to me the biggest tell, the CG, is perfect in this case, so very hard to call out.
Now moving on to the beautiful see through case back;
Apologies, it was very hard to find a good clear 111E caseback shot, so I am using a 112E caseback photo instead.
1) The first thing that jumps out to me was the lack of bevelled polished edges for the ruby endcaps.
2) Though this is utilising the Incabloc shock protection system, the tell is that there is no notch at the end closest to the dagger swan neck regulator. The gen has a small v shaped notch. Its an improvement over the Swiss Novadiac shock protection system which just utilises a clover arrangement and is obviously very different from the gen, this could pass brief scrutiny.
3) The wrong serial number is utilised, E208P/4000. Never seen a P in there before. Also, there were only 3500 watches issued for the E series.
4) Here the long flat base of the lugs becomes more illustrated and the shorter length
5) Again the length of the CG lever is more easily seen
However, unless you had two "E" or "G" series movements in hand, you'd be hardpressed to spot the differences. Yes the slight wavy line engraving as seen here is not as obvious, but it is there. Again to me its a pass except for the serial number.
**Update 15/12/2009:
DSN has come out with a set of E series casebacks for the 111E and they are amazingly accurate. Here is a comparison shot with a 111E caseback I've found.
1) Only flaw, the base of the caseback is brushed as well instead of being polished. A simple flaw and easily fixed with a cape cod cloth.
Everything else is accurate, from OP number to serial number and number of watches issued.
**Edit: Added flaw mentioned by PrestigeWatchCo
Overall, I think this is one of the most accurate handwound Panerai's still available from time to time. Should you ever see them come up in the for sale forums, jump on it. All they really need is a relume and service.
Yes you could get LH's new H series dials, V's CG and a DSN doner watch, but the amount of money you'd invest in that would be pretty high, and even then you would still have inaccuracy issues I think with the movement accuracy and some dial issues
Whatever it is, I'm a happy puppy for now. Hope this helped.
For eye candy on this puppy, please go here.
back with another one of my reviews on Panerai, I don't know what it is about Panerai's, I keep trying to run away from them, yet they reel me back in every few months.
Anyhow, here is my review on the "old" Angus 111E Ultimate which has been Vacclumed. Other than that, no difference from what you would get from Angus. Take note, Angus produced two versions of the dial, one which had whiter text, but thinner font, and one with greener lume, but thicker font. If you're going to get it relumed, try and hunt down the original fatter font dial. Also, take a look in Vaccs section on some issues with the 111E as well, regarding the incorrect size of the dial causing some issues with the keyless works and damaging the sides when installed. Besides all these issues though, to me, this is one of the best damn handwound Panerai's out there.
Let us start at the beginning, the front face;
Please follow the numbers on the above pictures as they follow sequentiatially as below;
1) The first most obvious difference is the thickness of the font. The gen dial font on all indices and numbers is noticeably slightly thicker. The most obvious place to see this is the 9 o'clock seconds subdial. As mentioned above, Angus did produce two versions of this dial, so for modders and those going to relume, the first version is what you would want. Mine is the second version via milesd, thanks mate. That said, on the wrist, it isn't an easy tell.
2) The quintessential tell on nearly all Panerai reps. The A. All reps have a low bar A in "MARINA, PANERAI". Most gen's I've seen have a high A. DSN has a few dials which this is not as obvious.
3) The tip of the CG lever. You'll see this mentioned more later, but on initial looks, it seems to be slightly longer and not curved enough.
Other than that, the front looks near perfect. The crown looks thick enough with the right amount of bevel. The gap between the case and crown is obvious. The CG is perfectly sized for this model, just the right thickness and the CG pin is flat and polished. The "L SWISS L" is perfect as well as is the Font used.
Now lets move to the side
1) The length of the CG lever becomes more obvious here, as well as the lack of a "curve" to the tip. Other than that, the thickness of the CG itself looks correct as does the centered pins and the side pins.
2) This surprised me. The lugs are quite different between the two. The rep has what looks like slightly shorter lugs, or could just be an optical illusion of a longer base, but to me seems to be a combination of both.
Again though, everything else and to me the biggest tell, the CG, is perfect in this case, so very hard to call out.
Now moving on to the beautiful see through case back;
Apologies, it was very hard to find a good clear 111E caseback shot, so I am using a 112E caseback photo instead.
1) The first thing that jumps out to me was the lack of bevelled polished edges for the ruby endcaps.
2) Though this is utilising the Incabloc shock protection system, the tell is that there is no notch at the end closest to the dagger swan neck regulator. The gen has a small v shaped notch. Its an improvement over the Swiss Novadiac shock protection system which just utilises a clover arrangement and is obviously very different from the gen, this could pass brief scrutiny.
3) The wrong serial number is utilised, E208P/4000. Never seen a P in there before. Also, there were only 3500 watches issued for the E series.
4) Here the long flat base of the lugs becomes more illustrated and the shorter length
5) Again the length of the CG lever is more easily seen
However, unless you had two "E" or "G" series movements in hand, you'd be hardpressed to spot the differences. Yes the slight wavy line engraving as seen here is not as obvious, but it is there. Again to me its a pass except for the serial number.
**Update 15/12/2009:
DSN has come out with a set of E series casebacks for the 111E and they are amazingly accurate. Here is a comparison shot with a 111E caseback I've found.
1) Only flaw, the base of the caseback is brushed as well instead of being polished. A simple flaw and easily fixed with a cape cod cloth.
Everything else is accurate, from OP number to serial number and number of watches issued.
**Edit: Added flaw mentioned by PrestigeWatchCo
Overall, I think this is one of the most accurate handwound Panerai's still available from time to time. Should you ever see them come up in the for sale forums, jump on it. All they really need is a relume and service.
Yes you could get LH's new H series dials, V's CG and a DSN doner watch, but the amount of money you'd invest in that would be pretty high, and even then you would still have inaccuracy issues I think with the movement accuracy and some dial issues
Whatever it is, I'm a happy puppy for now. Hope this helped.
For eye candy on this puppy, please go here.