Ready for 1st PAM. Need help find the most accurate w/ mods

[maxse]

All right everyone. I have been readon and reading and I am ready for my first PAM finally. BUT I need your help in obtaining that "perfect" PAM.

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It needs to be a base and by that I mean just the second hand, no chronos or anything.
Has to be SS nice and shiny
Dont care if it is a Sausage or a Sandwich Dial
I am willing to do the mods necessary...
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Now here is what I have come up with. I was about to get a fully modded 111H even with the fonts stained to the correct off-white color. BUT then realized the problem with the "Officine Panerai" writing on the back of the movement. This watch is going to cost a bit more then usual reps due to the mods, so I do not want to have such an easy tell...

So I figured I would get one with a closed caseback and a sausage dial. 005, perfect... Except the fact that the Panerai logo is not as slanted as it should be and as a result is not pointing in between the letters. In addition the font color is white and it is impossible to stain it to the off-white color that it should be b/c its a sausage dial?

Finally I stumbled on here and realized that there is a different older model. The 001B which incorporates a sausage dial, no logo, closed caseback, and a polished CG (perfect since I prefer the polished one).
However I am not sure if the fonts on this one are correct to the gen in their color. Also Baloba mentioned that dealers aren't carrying a "true" 001b rep anymore, and are just using all parts (ie: incorrect caseback, cg, crystal, etc...). So now I am stuck and I need your help. Im willing to send it off to one of our mod experts for modding but this is going to cost me, so I want to make sure I get an accurate rep as a result. I apologize about the long post but perhaps this can be used for reference by other people looking to achieve the same thing. Thanks in advance.

 

[red]

5218 201A from Davidsen is probably the next watch that I am getting.
The dial isn't perfect 1:1, but its so damn close.
All you would do is switch the hands to some base hands found on the 111,112.....
And then buff out the AR. Davidsen said he can take about 90% of the AR off, and the rest will be up to you.
The caseback is correct, and there will be no signs of the movement.
Davidsen's crowns are really close to the gen. I can't speak of the crown guard as I have had numerous problems with my 111H. Although he was prompt with sending replacement screws I ended up using a repair kit for some glasses.
Hope this helps.

 

[maxse]

thanks but I just need to have a seond, hand..

 

[canuck88]

My EL 177h with mods (pin, lume, crown) and a nice GeF strap has fooled 2 gen owners so far...

Trust me when I say that most of the gen owners I've met are not WISs in any way (and they certainly don't hold it up to their face to determine if the 'A' is correct or not...

 

[hooligan]

Panerai 005 has a second hand and closed caseback. Davidsens fonts aren't perfect, but his logo is better than any of the other ones.

How about the new 092 with improved datefont? It's got a seconds hand and closed caseback. Get that bad-boy relumed and throw a Palp crown on there and presto!

 

[cc]

davidsen pam 176 or 055 white dial. it comes with leather straps but can always purchase the ss band later and oxidize it.

 

[JCM1662]

if it's perfection you seek, OR close to it, you should go w a Davidsen. Take a look through his photobucket and see what catches your eye. He is very receptive to pm's and even a custom project if you want something specially made.

Good luck!

 

[maxse]

guys keep it coming. This will by my only watch for a while as I will be getting some straps to, so it should last a long time...

I think some of you are missing my "requirements." I would like a shiny SS case... 111, 111h, 000, 005 like that no titanium...

Oh and I forgot to say that I want it to have a black dial since I already have a white-dialed Bentley GT. So I want a black-faced one.

I talked to Flavor Flav and he suggested to go with a 111H and have him fully mod it. Although pricey, it will be very accurate (I think). But for such an expensive rep I'd rather not have such a simple tell on the back. So keep it coming.

 

[JOEJOEJOE]

I think some of the more accurate pams you can own after modding (including CG & crown fix) are the following:

1B - dead on

2B - except for the caseback #

4B - except for the caseback #

9B - except for the caseback #

61D - except for the dial color - may be a bit lighter brown compared to gen)

111E or F & 177G - movement will be shown though, which may be a giveaway.

112E or F & 176G - movement & wrong caseback

112H - if you have to buy an H series historic pam, I would choose 112. White font is not as visible (only one line of text), and even the gen has "L SWISS MADE L" closer to "6" than it is on 176H.

Although 111H looks great (I own one), it is not the most accurate in my opinion. Pams I mentioned above do not have easy giveaways (well for some of them, as long as they're on your wrist).

Basically, my (PAM) goal in the next few years is the own all the above

 

[dawg]

you tell me which is the gen and which one is the rep. One of them is a replica! mods on the rep done by Flavor Flav. Lets see if you can point out the rep.

 

[dawg]

 

[JOEJOEJOE]

you tell me which is the gen and which one is the rep. One of them is a replica! mods on the rep done by Flavor Flav. Lets see if you can point out the rep.

Left is Gen -

CG & Crown, dial color, placement of "L SWISS MADE L" are the giveaways...

You do prove a point here though that I am a super nit-picker

 

[dawg]

Joe you have a good eye my friend! You are correct on all points. The watch on the left is a gen 111i the watch on the right is a 111H replica. But only a expert such as yourself could ever tell me the truth. Most people could not pick the gen from the rep. Good job Joe. My point was that you can get a rep real close to a gen with the right mods done on it.

 

[JOEJOEJOE]

Joe you have a good eye my friend! You are correct on all points. The watch on the left is a gen 111i the watch on the right is a 111H replica. But only a expert such as yourself could ever tell me the truth. Most people could not pick the gen from the rep. Good job Joe. My point was that you can get a rep real close to a gen with the right mods done on it.

Thanks

I believe FlavorFlav now offers font darkening service to match gen.

In my opinion, it's as close as it gets for 111H. I hope someone can provide flushing the CG lever pin in the near future - doesn't seem like a difficult mod... take out the pin, shave off the rounded top to make it flat and put it back in haha we shall see.

 

[babola]

you tell me which is the gen and which one is the rep. One of them is a replica! mods on the rep done by Flavor Flav. Lets see if you can point out the rep.

I'm not even going to start...

Despite a 'little million' of flaws & differences, the 111/112H reps when nicelly moded, are hard to beat for the money.

cheers,
babola

 

[maxse]

thanks guys. So I am pretty much set on the 111H from FF and have him do all of his crazy mods to it.

I would LOVE to get a 1b. Especially if it is dead on. I actuially prefer the sausage dial and the polished CG. HOWEVER, the one I saw on Josh's/Andrew's site all have the wrong font! It is way too thin and larger then the gen (I just posted a gen 001b in the replica forum, perhaps I should have moved it here)...

Do you guys think the 001B with the thin fonts looks more accurate to the gen than the 111H? I disagree Unless there is another version of the dial somwhere or they are just bad pics.

BTW, what's wrong with the CG? And yea I will go for his font darkening service because it is also obvious for me. Which is another thing I like about the 001; the white font is accurate to the gen!
Someone help me! Im not feeling great about spending so much $$ on mods to have such an easy tell on the movement.

 

[JOEJOEJOE]

thanks guys. So I am pretty much set on the 111H from FF and have him do all of his crazy mods to it.

I would LOVE to get a 1b. Especially if it is dead on. I actuially prefer the sausage dial and the polished CG. HOWEVER, the one I saw on Josh's/Andrew's site all have the wrong font! It is way too thin and larger then the gen (I just posted a gen 001b in the replica forum, perhaps I should have moved it here)...

Do you guys think the 001B with the thin fonts looks more accurate to the gen than the 111H? I disagree Unless there is another version of the dial somwhere or they are just bad pics.

BTW, what's wrong with the CG? And yea I will go for his font darkening service because it is also obvious for me. Which is another thing I like about the 001; the white font is accurate to the gen!
Someone help me! Im not feeling great about spending so much $$ on mods to have such an easy tell on the movement.

CG - rep CG is too small... and it's a bit wrong shape (I've been told), but this is not the issue. The biggest problem with rep CG is the Lever Pin, IMO. It's rounded on the top, VS Gen is flushed to the CG.

It seems like nothing, but this is something that can be so easy to spot when looking at the watch up close.

001B dial does have thinner fonts than 111H, and it's supposed to be. If you compare 111E (or F or G) to 111H, you will notice that 111E fonts are quite different in size and placement compared to the H series.

I think 001 dial fonts are more accurate. Although some would argue that the number makers (the lume parts) are too thin... I think it's almost impossible to tell unless you're comparing the watches side by side.

 

[maxse]

thanks joe. It was great talking to you.

So I have decided on the 001b. Now to find one. If someone could point me in the right direction that would be great. Seems like Andrew/Josh dont have theirs with the polished CG.

BTW is the caseback for the 001B supposed to be black or just regular engravings?

 

[maxse]

guys, question...

Is this the model I need to have 99% accurate one?
I would just need the standard re-lume and canon-pin mods, and no AR (I doubt people would notice the presence of AR as a flaw though so Im not too concerned about that) correct?
Also the caseback is correct on this one right?

h**p://www.perfectclones88.com/pn00101-swiss-unitas-6497-p-778.html

 

[JOEJOEJOE]

guys, question...

Is this the model I need to have 99% accurate one?
I would just need the standard re-lume and canon-pin mods, and no AR (I doubt people would notice the presence of AR as a flaw though so Im not too concerned about that) correct?
Also the caseback is correct on this one right?

h**p://www.perfectclones88.com/pn00101-swiss-unitas-6497-p-778.html

It's got the correct caseback - OP 6518.

A/R shouldn't be there, but I belive that specific model does come with it. This is what I read from Paneristi though - If you send older pams to service center to replace the crystal, Panerai puts in A/R coated crystal no matter what, or you have to wait months and months to get it. So some gen owners do have a/r coated crystals on the Pre-C series pams.

Also - Josh's 001 now comes with Brushed CG, which is wrong for this model. He can't source it anymore.