Luminor Submersible Slytech Panerai
5218-205/A
5218-205/A
Well, how am I going to start writing about this build?
A few days ago I read about Grimlocktime's new 5218-203/A and how that very watch was the one that dragged him to his Pre-v fascination.
Well, for me it was the 205/A Slytech. I'm not sure why, I'm not that much a fan of Stallone, so the promotional aspect of the watch is not the reason. Most likely what attracts me is the combination of a four liner dial with tritium indices and seconds subdial, and the word "submersible". God knows what clicks in our minds sometimes.
Anyway, I tried DSN's version of this watch and was very happy with it, as reviewed HERE. But I wanted more, I wanted it to be as perfect as possible. So when I heard rolli would have been making a batch of 205/A dials I sold the rep and started to prepare building my own.
Last December, when Rolli released the dials, I thought I was almost ready for the build and the only thing that was missing was the dial. How wrong was I!
In the last four months I went through three different case sets completely reshaped and refinished before I was "satisfied".
Now that's where I'm at and although there's always room for improvement, there's no way I could have been able to do it any better than this.
During the whole process of this build I have been in contact with Rolli, asking his advice on specific matters. He sent me links to reference pics, gave me technical advice, event sent me drawings.
I bothered him especially in regards to drilling lugs and crown tube, because this was the first time I did it and I did not want to mess things up. Well, as a matter of fact I did mess up: the first time I drilled the case, the tube hole came out too large. I mentioned this in one of my emails and since Rolli was having a few crown tubes produced, he was so kind to have the maker produce one in a slightly larger size to fit my case. I was really in awe for this gesture, thanks my friend
Here's what went into this build:
- noob v3 case set completely reshaped: softened the edges, lowered the shoulders, polished rehaut, lugs drilled to accept Pre-V lugbars, crown tube drilled to accept Rolli's OEM spec tube.
- Crystal replaced with Davidsen's no-AR "french" sapphire
- DSN Pre-V crownguard with CG pin sunken and radial brushed.
- DSN crown... I think. I am not sure how I came into possession of this crown, as I said I had a few cases pass in my hands and more than a few crowns. I even ordered one during the build process, and it is probably this one, but I'm not sure. Fact is the crown is different than every other DSN crown I have seen so far, the crown teeth have a crisp and defined bevel and the bevel itself is larger than in any other crown I have seen, except gen. Maybe it's a recent improvement from DSN, but I guess I won't be sure until I order a new one (very soon tbh
)Anyway, lucky me this crown is exceptionally nice
- Rolli's new batch 205/A dial + FGD hands. No need to introduce this, you'll see for yourself. Black paint was removed from the inside of the minute hand tube in order to show a hint of brass. No other work to be done, except trying to avoid damage to these incredible parts.
- Vintage swiss ETA 6497, CP and hour wheel swapped for a new H3 set with CP polished by me.
- Jakob's perfect caseback. To make this build a little more special, I went for a 201/A CB with a serial number confirmed as one of the first 205/A prototypes presented to Stallone for acceptance before production started.
- Last but not least, there was no better match to this build than an Orloff OEM spec black vacchetta strap with thin black stitching and a special sewn in buckle from a small batch he had made a while ago. Perfect strap in every detail
Here's a few pics of the case work:
And here's the final product:
Final wristie!
Thanks for looking.
:cheers:
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