Well, it's been a long time since I've posted a review. Mainly because the other reviewers are getting their PAMs much faster than I can. :lol: But as providence would have it, I came across a rather uncommon replica. I say uncommon because I've seen this particular rep only 1-2 times in all of the rep fora but unfortunately they were never reviewed. It just so happened I got this from a local seller (hence I was able to get one much quicker than my other team members Hehehe). I thought, well maybe some of you might be interested in reading about it. Let me present to you...
PAM00615 Luminor Submersible 1950 3 Days Chrono Flyback Automatic Titanio
Let me get this out of the way first. This is by no means a Super Rep nor even a First Class one. This is simply a very good copy. It is a fun watch to wear, simply because the size of the watch demands attention and the busy dial with the many hands make for an interesting watch. I got it through a local seller who is not familiar with factory names (Noob and H-Factory and Kuvarsit, they are all Greek to the seller). Watch apparently came by way of Hong Kong, which we all know is simply to say, it came from GZ, China. :lol: Normally I would not pay more than 200$ for it but as it is an uncommon replica, I gladly paid around 270$ for the watch. So let's get on with the review.
Case Construction:
Case is made of stainless steel (gen is made from titanium). This gives the watch a particularly heavier feel than compared to say the PAM389 rep, which is made of titanium. But the features are all there like on the gen, including the pushers at 8 and 10.
As nice as the pushers are (they unscrew to enable pushing on them, and screw back to lock the pushers in place), they are simply faux pushers and serve no function on the watch. It's understandable as there is no movement that has subdials at 3 and 9 and pusher locations at 8 and 10. Still, they look the part.
On the other side, we can see the typical submersible crownguard, with the fat crown.
The bezel is made of stainless steel as well with what looks to be a ceramic insert much like the PAM389. Hour markers are placed on the insert with numbered ones at 15, 30 and 45 minutes as well as a lumed pip at 12. You can also see that the inner rehaut is brushed, same as the gen.
Dial:
Details on the dial are accurate enough with the lumed circular hour, and 6 and 12 markers. The subdial appearance is similar to gen, only the function of the one at 3 is not like the gen (as normally it should be the hour counter of the flyback). Hands are nicely done, with the glaring inaccuracy of the minute hand, which should be a sword shaped one instead of the pencil hands on the rep. The hands of the chrono are also not accurate in function as they merely move with the second hand. Appearance wise they are fine especially the blue highlights.
Bezel teeth are well defined and nicely machined as shown in the close up.
Caseback:
Caseback engraving is nice and crisp, nothing to complain about, especially on something that is rarely seen.
I appreciate the fact that the factory used the correct lug system. Sometimes to cut corners, only the screw in lugs are available. This one uses the gen-correct Quick Release system (and it works ).
Lume:
I really was not expecting anything lumewise, especially from such a rep. I just expected it to glow. Also the seller said that the lume is not accurate to the gen so I expected it not to be great. But I was pleasantly surprised when I found out a more than passable green lume on the dial (though gen hands are blue). Also, the lume pip at the 12 o'clock position was blue, like the gen!
As compared to its fantasy twin, the full PVDed version of the PAM615.
So there you go, a review of the very nicely done rep but still a lot of improvement to go. Maybe the next one will have at least a correct titanium case and correct sword hands. I leave you with some wrist shots and a group shot with the PAM615 full PVD and the PAM389.
Thanks for reading!
A special thank you to @tridad for allowing the PAM615 to be reviewed before I sent it to him (and coincidentally it just arrived at his address. ). Thanks bro.
PAM00615 Luminor Submersible 1950 3 Days Chrono Flyback Automatic Titanio
Case Construction:
Case is made of stainless steel (gen is made from titanium). This gives the watch a particularly heavier feel than compared to say the PAM389 rep, which is made of titanium. But the features are all there like on the gen, including the pushers at 8 and 10.
As nice as the pushers are (they unscrew to enable pushing on them, and screw back to lock the pushers in place), they are simply faux pushers and serve no function on the watch. It's understandable as there is no movement that has subdials at 3 and 9 and pusher locations at 8 and 10. Still, they look the part.
On the other side, we can see the typical submersible crownguard, with the fat crown.
The bezel is made of stainless steel as well with what looks to be a ceramic insert much like the PAM389. Hour markers are placed on the insert with numbered ones at 15, 30 and 45 minutes as well as a lumed pip at 12. You can also see that the inner rehaut is brushed, same as the gen.
Dial:
Details on the dial are accurate enough with the lumed circular hour, and 6 and 12 markers. The subdial appearance is similar to gen, only the function of the one at 3 is not like the gen (as normally it should be the hour counter of the flyback). Hands are nicely done, with the glaring inaccuracy of the minute hand, which should be a sword shaped one instead of the pencil hands on the rep. The hands of the chrono are also not accurate in function as they merely move with the second hand. Appearance wise they are fine especially the blue highlights.
Caseback engraving is nice and crisp, nothing to complain about, especially on something that is rarely seen.
I appreciate the fact that the factory used the correct lug system. Sometimes to cut corners, only the screw in lugs are available. This one uses the gen-correct Quick Release system (and it works ).
Lume:
I really was not expecting anything lumewise, especially from such a rep. I just expected it to glow. Also the seller said that the lume is not accurate to the gen so I expected it not to be great. But I was pleasantly surprised when I found out a more than passable green lume on the dial (though gen hands are blue). Also, the lume pip at the 12 o'clock position was blue, like the gen!
As compared to its fantasy twin, the full PVDed version of the PAM615.
So there you go, a review of the very nicely done rep but still a lot of improvement to go. Maybe the next one will have at least a correct titanium case and correct sword hands. I leave you with some wrist shots and a group shot with the PAM615 full PVD and the PAM389.
A special thank you to @tridad for allowing the PAM615 to be reviewed before I sent it to him (and coincidentally it just arrived at his address. ). Thanks bro.