{*PCTeam*} A Rare Franken: The PAM029A

[d4m.test]

My Franken projects seem like they never come together in a linear way. I rarely get to collect a set of parts ---> Build ---> Enjoy

It's usually a disjointed process as the watch grows and improves... a new CG... an updated caseback... relume the hands... etc... This build was no different. This is the story of a build that was almost a 29B headed for the sales forum. At the last minute it transformed into an incredible Franken for my keeper box.

Late last winter I basically stole an Eddie Lee PAM029B off of eBay. Likely story: The seller received it as a gift and had no idea what he was selling. I looked past the cloudy crystal, bad datewheel, and second hand with a clipped tail and saw a great piece of rep history for an unbelievable price. I also knew there was a chance I would open it and discover it had a gen ETA 2893-2, the same movement as the genuine Panerai 029 GMT



I opened the caseback and saw that it was the EL 2836 version. But no matter, the movement was still a gen Swiss.



This thing was a jewel in the rough... GREAT CG, GREAT case set that seemed to have a nice thin profile just like the gen. All it needed was a gen crown, relumed dial, and new date wheel. But, I decided I had to take a shot at fitting the gen 2893-2 GMT. After some searches on other forums and consulting with some of the old timers, I discovered this was rarely done and often ended in failure, but I had to try. The case and CG were too nice not to.



So, I got the 2893-1 in the mail and added the H5 pinion kit and 24 Hour GMT wheel, thus turning it into a 2893-2. I also added the DSN 2892 date wheel



I added another special piece. A decorated Honpo rotor with the notorious "OFFICNE" misspelling.



I then purchased a gen double ring auto crown and had NeckyZips make me a custom tube.



I gathered the hands, movement ring and crystal off of a noob PAM029M and sent the dial off to Vac to have it relumed. Then at the perfect time, I was presented with the opportunity to buy this... A genuine 1998 Panerai 29 A Series dial. Lumed with tritium that has almost burned out and left a gorgeous banana yellow patina. I hesitate to venture a guess at the hand full of these that have come up for sale over the past 18 years. It can't be many. This dial is special due to its tuxedo striped finish. The genuine is made by coinage stamping a brass plate, bead blasting it and coloring it in a galvanic bath.







What are the chances that a dial like this would come up for sale while I'm doing this build?

I had to get the hands relumed to a vintage yellow. I had some worries that my lume would end up too thick which is a huge problem on one of these GMT builds. So I deferred to a lume master: Strodda

He did an amazing job.







finally time to build. The 2893 fit perfectly. I had to go through a couple of spacer rings to get the right fit, but when I did, it fit like a glove.











That EL CG with a perfect sloping contoured top edge





Thin lug profile





The Gen...



The movement



The Gen...



As far as things to improve? I need a gen crystal. I don't know where I'll find one, but the noob crystal has an odd magnifying effect that makes the rehaut look deeper than it really is.



Regardless of that flaw... I can't take this thing off.







Thanks to Strodda and Necky for taking care of the things outside of my skillset and making this great franken possible

 

[panasol]

holy *****

this makes my honpo 029 look like s***.....

incredible work mate.....incredible....

 

[TheLoveOfBotham]

You've just won the internet. Mate, your dedication to perfection leaves any of my collection look like pure crap. So jealous, yet so grateful you could even attempt this. Makes me keep hope!
As we say, wear it in good health brother. This is a real masterpiece!

 

[BirkinTourbillon]

Whoa I am simply amazed by your incredible work mate, that's really a kind of masterpiece

 

[fredl187]

speechless! This is an amazing build...I am really jealous! Thanks for sharing!:thumbup:

 

[slaughterer62]

What grimlocktime describes in the 10 minutes it takes to read his post looks like an a non-linear building process with an acquisition span of many months, maybe years. Who knows how many man-hours went into this build, but I reckon it was quite alot. Really impressed that you got the 2893-2 to work with this build. Did Necky do the movement ring for you or was it available through some other channel? The sense of chance and fortuitous luck reminds me so much of my PAM Franken builds of the 127 and the 372. When you go through an experience like this, no way you will ever sell the final product. It is like almost freezing to death climbing Mt. Everest--something you do niot want to let go of.

 

[Abba Zabba Zoo]

Congrats Grim. Love the 29/A, and you've done an outstanding job!

 

[d4m.test]

holy *****

this makes my honpo 029 look like s***.....

incredible work mate.....incredible....

Your 29B has better parts than this build (except for the dial )

What grimlocktime describes in the 10 minutes it takes to read his post looks like an a non-linear building process with an acquisition span of many months, maybe years. Who knows how many man-hours went into this build, but I reckon it was quite alot. Really impressed that you got the 2893-2 to work with this build. Did Necky do the movement ring for you or was it available through some other channel? The sense of chance and fortuitous luck reminds me so much of my PAM Franken builds of the 127 and the 372. When you go through an experience like this, no way you will ever sell the final product. It is like almost freezing to death climbing Mt. Everest--something you do niot want to let go of.

The movement ring is a straight-up swap out of a noob PAM029M. An Easy and beautiful addition.

I probably spent 60-80 hours researching, learning, building, tearing down, tweaking, polishing, rebuilding, fitting, testing this watch in real hours. In both the 29B and 29A forms. If I was a watchsmith and I had all the parts and knew exactly what I was doing, it would have taken me probably 8 hours. But I had to teach myself and learn along the way, which is the cool part of this hobby. I have built and sold several frankens, but I think this one will have a special place in my watch box for a while...Next to my 28A and 87C.

 

[Watch-er]

Looks killer - very nice build.

 

[winz]

looks very amazing, superb build

 

[Pamtastic]

Great build! And agreed on strodda, he's a true lume master.
looking forward to seeing more wrist shots of this in the future!

 

[kilowattore]

Nothing short of perfection Grim!
Great skills, great attention to detail and that bit of luck that's always welcome to find that beautiful gen dial. Much like your LaBomba build, nothing will get close to it with that dial.
Congrats

 

[Pannyforme]

looks sublime!congratulations!

 

[Bozz]

the accuracy of your projects and builds is unique . Passion , knowledge and research combined with excellent results , impeccable . My compliments!

 

[kenny_stiady]

nice mate gotta nice reference for my next project

 

[ALE7575]

Congrats Grim on this build
You are an example to follow in this hobby
Thanks for sharing
Keep the good job
ALE

BTW: nice and interesting the discussion and your explanation in RG about the datewheel

 

[d4m.test]

Thanks gents. This one was a learning experience from having to learn so much about the 2893, tearing it down to replace the center wheel and test fitting a movement in a case that wasnt designed for it. Once I got everything figured out, no sweat, it was easy

Kilo, the gen dial is spectacular. There's something very special about the way it shimmers.





Pictures do it no justice. Its a finish too hard to reproduce with paint, which covers up the fine bead-blasted brass texture. That's why you'll never see a painted rep dial equal a gen. The closest you can get is a Rolli dial, but that's only because he's basically making gen dials using the same process identical to the gen.

You can get a glimpse for how it's colored if you look at the back of the dial



notice the reflection near the center. That is BLACK in normal light. But due to the color being applied using a galvanic bath, it shimmers a silver reflection. Seeing this in person will ruin a Noob 29M for OCD people like me

ALE, the comment you made above about the date wheel... I do think its intersting how the DSN date wheel appears even larger I think there is a distorted telescopic effect at play here because the DSN date wheel sits slightly lower than the focal point of the noob. You can see there is only a small difference between the 2 date wheels but they look quite a bit different under the cyclops.

 

[d4m.test]

So I like I mentioned in my original post... I need a gen crystal to be 100% happy with this build. The lack of refraction and the strong AR on the Noob 029M crystal causes a weird distortion that makes the rehaut look a mile deep. It's something you wouldn't notice unless you knew to look for it... But it tweaks my OCD.





I have a feeling I'm more likely to get a gen A series crystal by actually buying a gen than finding one for sale... So, what to do? Then I remembered that DSN gave me a sample of his high grade sapphire with no AR and 6mm cyclops... I had it installed on my 27A. Time for the swap





Problem solved... VERY high quality... NO cloud.... "Frozen Halo" on the cyclops is almost not even there (better than Noob) DSN continues to raise the bar.





Plus the gen A Series has no AR and plenty of lovely refraction in the crystal, so this is perfect.





As a final perk, the date wheel doesn't look so bold because the mag is a little more weak on the DSN





A GREAT Franken just got better!

 

[Abba Zabba Zoo]

Absolutely no envy here. None whatsoever.

 

[cdub25]

Great job with that build. Loving that dial!