Researching Crownguards

[Rocketeer]

OK I've been researching crownguards and came across this quote from Dirk Grandry

Pre-V 5218-209, Pre-V 5218-210 and pre-A OP6500 share the same case & crownguard.
The case and crownguard are a little different for the OP-6502 reference (50-60% of pre-A, A-series, and approx. 50% of B-series), although only a trained eye can notice the differences.
Halfway the B-series, they split-up the case references: OP6518, OP6519, OP6520 and OP6521 are a little different from OP6502 cases, but they continued using the same OP6502 crownguard.

So the later Pre-V's used the 6500 case and 'guard but the 6502 onward had a slight change. Anyone have any idea what the difference is?

Next - the post 2003/F series historics reverted to the 'Pre-V' crownguard; taller bridge, centred lever and brushed finish, with the top face following the shape of the case.
However the earlier ('98/99 - '03, A-F) watches seem to be harder to tie down completely. The lower bridge height and offset lever are constant features (not worrying about finish here). The 'flat' top face versus the 'shaped' top face seems to be the harder part to pin a guide to, so how do you decide which 'guard should be on a particular style of watch or is it just a matter of checking the model ref/year everytime?

 

[hooligan]

That's out of my depth, Rocket. Perhaps babola or enzo could chime in.

FWIW, I thought that all of the Pre-Vs and some of the Pre-A used what we think of as the Pre-V style case - that is, two-piece screws and the fat, brushed, curved-top CGs; Then some of the Pre-As all the way through F series used the single piece lug screws and the flatter, polished CGs. G series marked the return of the fat, brushed, curved-top CGs on the Historic line.

That was my understanding, but I could be wrong...

 

[Rocketeer]

As usual Panerai throw a spanner in the works. It's like plaiting fog :lol:
The Pre-V 209 & 210 were the start of a planned new run of 500 watches but only a handful were ever built. The stock of parts that carried over to Vendome became the Pre-A 6500 series - I've read that 400 cases etc came from the original case maker and the remaining 600 were made by Vendome. This apparently is the same reason that there's some cross-over on the dials as well, old stock that was absorbed during the takeover.

 

[hooligan]

Yeah, I just thought that Vendome used up all the "leftovers" during Pre-A. I didn't know the parts bled over into A series and later. I knew some of the dials did (hence the B series 040 with the Pre-A style "T Swiss T" dials), but not the case parts.