questions about lume, swan necks and winding

[nielsen]

So I'm delighted with my Davidsen PAM 112. It runs great and looks wonderful.
Here are a couple of questions for you afficionados: 1)the lume in my watch is amazing in low light conditions--like neon, but largely non-existent when there's no light, though I can read the time. Is that the way it is supposed to be? This strikes me as different from when I was a kid and alarm clocks blazed away in green all night long. My Soviet Vostok, too, shines away at night.
2) is the Swan Neck the curved piece of steel by the time adjustment lever I can see? What's its purpose and why is it a good thing that mine has it?
3) Davidsen, in his blog, describes movements as 'swiss/asian'. I asked for a Swiss movement and like to feel confident that that is what I got, but the swiss-slash-asian strikes me as a barn door for questionable behavior. Is there some sort of rep. etiquette about this sort of language? How can I tell, without taking the watch apart, that mine is the genuine swiss movement as it is supposed to be?
4) finally, another dumb one. How do I know when to stop winding the watch in the morning. The first couple of days it had stopped by the next morning. I wound it a bit more, and now it runs at least 24 hours. I assumed it would be best not to wind it until it stops. Is that true?

 

[hooligan]

1. Your lume will glow more intensely right after it's been "charged" by a light source, yes. It will slowly lose its intensity over time, but it should certainly retain enough light energy to remain visible throughout the night.

2. Yep, that's the swan-neck. It's used to control the movement of the regulator dagger, allow more controlled adjustments. Is it a good thing yours has one? Sure, it makes it visually more accurate compared to the genuine article.

3. If your movement has engraved bridges (either the "PANERAIPANERAIPANERAI" engraving or the CdG waves), it has Asian bridges installed onto an undecorated Swiss 6497. Hence the Swiss/Asian designation. This is as Swiss as it gets if you want a decorated movement, I'm afraid. I don't think anyone has ever announced a complaint that DSN has tried give them an Asian movement when they ordered Swiss. If it would make you feel better, post a pic of your movement and we can tell you straight away if it's Swiss or Asian based.

4. Yes, wind it until you can't wind it anymore. You'd nearly have to TRY to break one of these movements in order to do so. Believe me, you'll know when it's time to stop winding.

Good luck!

 

[ThreadLocker]

1. Your lume will glow more intensely right after it's been "charged" by a light source, yes. It will slowly lose its intensity over time, but it should certainly retain enough light energy to remain visible throughout the night.

2. Yep, that's the swan-neck. It's used to control the movement of the regulator dagger, allow more controlled adjustments. Is it a good thing yours has one? Sure, it makes it visually more accurate compared to the genuine article.

3. If your movement has engraved bridges (either the "PANERAIPANERAIPANERAI" engraving or the CdG waves), it has Asian bridges installed onto an undecorated Swiss 6497. Hence the Swiss/Asian designation. This is as Swiss as it gets if you want a decorated movement, I'm afraid. I don't think anyone has ever announced a complaint that DSN has tried give them an Asian movement when they ordered Swiss. If it would make you feel better, post a pic of your movement and we can tell you straight away if it's Swiss or Asian based.

4. Yes, wind it until you can't wind it anymore. You'd nearly have to TRY to break one of these movements in order to do so. Believe me, you'll know when it's time to stop winding.


Good luck!

+1 on a fantastic response. Excellent answer Holi

 

[nielsen]

Thanks for the reply, Hooligan. The movement has the waves you write about, I think, on the bridge (all these new names to learn....). You've cleared up my confusion. I think you are saying that it is a swiss movement with the one visible plate replaced with an asian bit to make it look authentic--which I suspect is the case since I can see a couple of minor fingerprints on the plate. Can I assume that this plate really has nothing to do with the movement's logevity/quality? I'll post a photo tomorrow if I can figure out how............ so what are CdG waves anyway? Cheers!

 

[hooligan]

CdG is a shorthand for "Cotes de Geneve", the type of decoration Panerai currently has on their 6497 based movements. Which, by the way, Panerai doesn't work on and decorate themselves, they have a company called SOPROD do it for them.

Here is a CdG-style movement that has been used from H series on:

Here is the "graffiti" decoration that was used of the E/F/G series watches:

These are both rep movements, obviously. The top is an Asian 6497, the bottom is a Swiss movement from DSN. The bridges that have the "PANERAIPANERAI" engraving on them are, indeed, parts made in Asia, as is the swan neck and dagger regulator. The rest of the parts are bog standard Swiss 6497.

 

[horologie_unitas]

Hooli...appreciate your efforts to answer questions to the ones searching for answers.
nothing i can add. very well done !

 

[nielsen]

Hooligan: well, I tried, my daughter helped, but we coudn't figure out how to get a photo of my 112 Davidsen onto the board, so I'll just assume it is the Swiss version ETA because davidsen has a good reputation for being a square dealer. The bridge has the ridges rather than the graffiti. You mentioned that you can easily tell whether the movement is swiss or asian. Can you describe the telltale signs?

 

[hooligan]

Sure. The two biggest/easiest tells are focused on the balance wheel and the shock protection system. I the picture above of the "graffiti" movement, you'll see that is is using the Novodiac shock protection system, the small metal disk that surrounds the jewel is solid and the clip that holds the jewel in place has 3 lobes on it. The CdG movement above that is using the Incabloc shock protection system, the small metal disk around the jewel has a slot cut into it and the clip that holds the jewel in place only has two lobes on it. Incabloc = Asian, Novodiac = Swiss (despite the fact that the Incabloc is the more expensive/better system). Now, on to the balance wheel that is the gold colored 3 spoke wheel right below the regulator/shock protection system area. If the spokes of the balance wheel flare as they reach the outer edge of the balance wheel, that means Asian.

So -- straight spokes on the balance wheel and Novodiac shock system means Swiss; Flared spokes on the balance wheel and the Incabloc system means Asian.

Oh and to post a pic just type: [ i m g ]imageurlgoeshere[ / i m g ] (removing the spaces from the opening and closing image tags)

I hope this helps...

 

[nielsen]

Hooligan: Thanks for the great info. Yep, my 112 has a Swiss movement, as it is supposed to have. I'm learning so much so quickly that it is high time for me to make a donation to the board. Will do tomorrow.

 

[hooligan]

Glad to help, my friend!

Thanks, in advance, for the donation to the forum!