Panerai Radiomir "1938" 232
Credit goes to taiji for first bringing this model to my notice and the steps on what to do to make it an "Ultimate". For a more indepth step by step as to how to make the franken, please read his review here.
This watch is frankened from a Josh/Andrew 232 case, movement, a DSN dial + hands. I was lucky, my movement already came with a high canon pin so now I have a spare set.
So on to the review of this frankened 232 vs. a Gen.
Front
1. Hour hand tip is noticeably shorter. Just the tip, the angle is off for the triangle. Take note, these are DSN hands which are more accurate.
2. The "A" in pAnerAi is still incorrect in the DSN dial, the bar is too low.
3. Most obvious tell on the dial, the "L Swiss Made L" is shifted to the left a little too much. Mine is approx correct in terms of closeness to the dial.
4. The crown tube is 1mm too long. The Gen is shorter. The crown itself is almost correct in terms of angles and sharpness.
The font for the numerals looks almost spot on, there are some very very minor differences, but so minor the only way to see them is to overlay the images.
The color and size of the font you can see is just a smidgen off. The Gen appears to be in a slight ivory shade. Other than that, though the dial colors look different, I can verify as can taiji that the DSN dial is bang on. In the shadows, the chocolate dial looks black as above.
Back
1. No engraved serial number
2. OP number is incorrect. The 232 has an OP number of 6659. The rep states 6609
Side
1. This to me has always been the biggest tells on the Radiomir series of reps. The case. The rep from Josh/Andrew has a "squarer" case more true to the gen, still not exactly there, but closer than the standard 183/210 reps. And the second thing to note is from the side profile, the reps always taper off to a squared/rounded point, whereas the Gen tapers to a sharp point as evidenced above. Biggest most obvious tell.
**Edit: Added flaw by ohmycocker
**: Added flaw by milesd
Capecod to the rescue!
Now on to some fun pictures;
Wrist shot;
Family Shot
Ultimate 232, Angus Ultimate 111E (Vaclumed), Gen RXW MM20
Lume over 2mins. 1sec exposure each shot
Overall,
this is a beautiful watch. The chocolate dial is stunning in person, a great departure from the standard black. I'm now awaiting this lovely strap from StrapCulture which will become the defacto strap on this Radiomir. SC Double Hatchet Light Brown;
It finally has some less obvious tells as compared to the standard Radiomir reps and I would be confident to wear this out. All up, a cheap rep as well, getting the watch head from Josh/Andrew and the dial+hands from DSN all up sets you back around $320 shipped.
Hope you all enjoy this.
