Review of My PAM 082 from Davidsen (PICS!)

[watchlover]

Hi all! Welcome back to a nice and cozy review presented by the lovable watchlover !! 8) 8)

First a message from our sponsors.. (mic feedback) ahem..

This watch came together as a package with the pam 036. You can read my review on the Pam 036 here:

http://forum.replica-watch.info/forum/vie ... hp?t=15686

As you can see from the unpacking pictures in the above thread, the packing is very well done,
and seems to be able to withstand some postal ppppppppun..pun...punishment ... (pun intended)

Let us begin the review.

0. The Genuine Article: What this tries to be

(pictures of gen stolen from some guy's sale thread)
The price that the guy wanted for this was US$ 7650

I think the actual watch price is US$3000, and poor fellow just paid US$ 4650 for that limited edition key :lol: :lol:

PAM082 was a Limited Edition of 300 for the year 2000.
The PAM082 is sort of a hybrid of the original 036 Marina Militare,
and the current titanium Luminor Marina models.

This watch has a beautiful blue dial, which is uncommon, and a nice caseback engraving.

The Amerigo Vespucci is a training ship used by the Italian navy
Its purpose is to train officer candidates in basic nautical training.

The PAM082 comes in the standard panerai wooden presentation box.

Now, Let's look at it's clone, Davidsen's 082, and see what it has to offer

1. The Face: Dial and Hands



I would like to present exhibit A, which is a very nice-patterned dial,
unfortunately messed up by sloppy lume

Pay attention to the hour markers, the 12, the 6, the 3, ahem, well all of them. :shock:

First, the numerals on this are thinner than the gen.

Next the dial lume is NOT C3. The hands lume is C3.

Couple of lume shots vs Seiko Black Monster. I did not cheat because I could not: I only have a regular camera.
I set the exposure to +2, and the ISO to 50

Charging time 5 minutes using a halogen bulb. Picture taken right after charging. This is a NEW picture:

Note that the hands glow comparably with the seiko monster, but that dial is just well different

2. The Crown and Crown Guard

Real Ti crown is nice to have, if it's not crookedly installed.

And what is with that bulging CG lever when closed? Is the gen like this?

Turns out gen has this problem too--but the bulge on Davidsen's is larger..

Oh, the 036 that I reviewed before does not as big a bulge... why the variations? Poor QC maybe?

Allright, lets unlock the lever

OKAY! Lever unlocked!

Lets pull the crown out, so we can set the time 8)

ACK! To set the time, you must take the crown until it hits the crown guard...less than that, and the gears wont bite

I'm experiencing some grinding action here while trying to set the time... grind grind grind...

Those of you who dislike the "chalk on whiteboard joke" will not like this too.. it's the sound of metal being shaved off..


3. The Caseback

Is nice. Even if it's laser engraved, it is still nice. Good attention to detail, wrong font issue that has been beaten to death,

BUT those lug serials are really nice.. no really. Very well done..

4. The Conclusion

I'm tempted to wear my watch upside down, to showcase the 'amerigo vespucci' engraving and those lug serials... 8)

....and because the dial is in such a sad state of affairs.

My 082 watch needs a re-lume job, a stem adjustment. This all can be avoided with better QUALITY CONTROL

I don't recommend this if you think you'll get what you expect in a US$360 dollar watch

Be prepared for further mods and poor workmanship...

I'm in discussions right now with Davidsen on where to return my watches (this and the 036). sigh...

OR you might just get LUCKY!! It's a 360 USD lottery ticket folks... get a good watch or crap watch.. it's a lottery :roll:

For those of you with deep pockets and US$360 cash + possibly a US$200 fixing fee to burn, Go ahead and jump on it!

But if your pockets are REAL deep, and you have REAL cash to burn, then go ahead and get the gen. You won't be dissapointed.


All that said, This watch is a one-of-a-kind rep!! You can have it for the 'uniqueness' in the rep community

 

[takashi]

Well said and hope that all QC issue should be fixed.

Nice dial though.

 

[d4m.test]

Wonderful review...Thank you so much for it! I've been contemplating both watches...and now
I have that much more info!

 

[dtan888]

Agree with takashi... sorry to hear this bad news watchlover.. i think.. all my next pam rep should come from davidsen.. gotta think it much harder. Please update us as how your adventure goes with davidsen. I am sorry again.
And one more thing for super lume dial and hand from davidsen with charging 5 minutes -- it is dissapointment. Below is gen111H and rep pam177H out of the box without super lume - chareged less than 5 second (lume shot for comparison)
Dan
enlarge it

 

[Novesh]

Good review!

well thought of points!

 

[crumpdaddy]

Thanks for saving me 360 bones....

This product goes against the grain of the high compliments I've heard about D in the past....I must say I am shocked, to a degree.

 

[bigbadbrad]

great review, some follow-up on 082

Well said and hope that all QC issue should be fixed.

Nice dial though.

Good review. I think the numerals' QC does need work.

I love the dial. Very valid critiquqe on thinness of the font - mine has exactly the same issue, also the irregularity around the numerals. This needs to be better.

I will take some pics when I can as a comparo (traveling to sunny San D tomorrow) - thankfully my CG / stem looks better, thankfully. But I have experienced the same stem-jam issue on a 195. It is annoying.

I am pleased to have the opp to own this rep. I think the dial (colour, satin-brushed look) is blooy awesome - as well as the engraved back. So, I'm emphasizing the +ve and tempering my my annoyance over the dial lume.

Last point on the 'lume: I got our my 195 & 111H (both after market re-lumed in C3) and charged them along w/ the 082. I'd say the lume is 70-80% there, indeed, I'm starting to think that ON MINE the lume is equally luminiscent, BUT, that it's the relative thinness that is causing the differential efficacy.

Will more formally test this out w/ my own photos.

Oh, just one more thought: the 082 became the HOT pre-sell rep of early 2007. Expectations soared... this often sets up for disappointment. Think of 187 w/ markers falling off & poor lume; keenly sought 127 Fiddy of a year ago w/ wrong movement (H, not E), or non-working Swan's, or piss-weak lume, needing pin fix - yet selling for $500 (I have one of these :shock: now corrected at huge expense)

This keeps happening. Makes me temper my expectations - same as I do when the markets suck.

Good luck @WL and hope it all gets sorted.

[smilie=occasion14.gif]

 

[red]

Very Informative Review. The dial remarks really changed my opinion of this piece.

 

[Aquaracer]

I think we've all learned by now- Reluming a silkscreened dial looks like crap- Sandwich dials look excellent.

If Panerais had proper lume marker with raised metal sides like a Sub that would be one thing- but the sausage dials relumed by hand need a lot of care- probably more care than they are willing to expend in China.

 

[zetterdawg]

I am assuming Davidsen uses a silkscreen on his dials, and it looks like maybe the screen is too coarse or too fine-grained for the lume pigment.

I love the look of this watch, and I want to give Davidsen (a great guy and excellent watch maker) a chance to address these issues.

 

[Ferrariman]

Thanks for saving me 360 bones....

This product goes against the grain of the high compliments I've heard about D in the past....I must say I am shocked, to a degree.

No kidding. I thought I was the only one to think this looks like crap. No reflection on the writing at all Watchlover, your review was well done. Thank you. After all the hype on the davidsen product I have to wonder if someone is reping his stuff. :shock:

 

[rogerwine]

I have been dealing with mine now for 3 full days. I got the watch to start working again after messing with the crown stem and getting it to reengage with the inside of the case. My dial is not as bad as the one pictured in this post, but with a 4x loupe it looks pretty bad ( here is where I would like Enzo to weight in here to address many of the inconsistencies of gen dials, as well). The biggest problem on mine is the second hand dial where the 4-15 second markers are barely lumed and are only a little bigger then the rest of the markers. Now the color of the dial lume uncharged is starting to get to me. Just to much of a green tint. Yes it's the dial, just to many little problems to make it a keeper. If Davidsen can provide an upgraded dial to this one then I will just go with having it replaced, as the rest of the watch is a keeper.
Rogerwine

 

[watchlover]

I'm a bit jaded at the fact that I ordered TWO, not one but TWO watches that are _similar_

..and BOTH of them have bad cosmetic, build, and mechanical problems...


why not get it right the first time? Heck there's TWO watches to try to get it right on...

What IS his QC process anyway? Does he even have one?

WHICH EMAIL MESSAGE WOULD YOU PREFER?

Mr. Davidsen:
"Sorry Mr. Watchlover, we found something wrong with your watch after checking it.
We'd rather get it right first, rather than having you go through the headaches of returns.
We know we promised you monday, but now it'll have to wait till thursday.
Sorry to make you wait"

VS

Mr. Davidsen:
"(I don't know and plainly don't cyare about the quality of your damn watch Mr. Watchlover
All I cyare about is sending as many as fast I can to cuystomer hands...
WHAT? You've done building it? SEND IT NOW)
You wchat si redayy. Her i EMS tkring numrbe"

(typing too fast, no spell check, didn't even read the messages he sent,
..kinds of reflects the way one handles one's watches)

My last question is:

WHICH TYPE OF EMAIL MESSAGE DID YOU GET FROM HIM?

:roll: :roll:

 

[ssalxpanerai]

Common Davidsen. I know you can improve it. Lots of people out there will jump in once your quality reach acceptable level. You come this far. Don't let the flaw that can be fixed stop you. Your 82, 36, 55, 113 are on my list. Once the flaws are fixed, I will jump in. Colleting money now though.

Hi Watchlover, thanks so much. Your review is very clear and very friendly. I like it a lot. This kind of review will raise up the quality level to match the price level. Waiting is the best thing to do now.

 

[007]

Bro, I am really sorry for not one, but two busted watches.
It is just unacceptable. Why is it so hard to lume the dial with the same pigment as the hands were done with?
We all complained about the green lume way ahead, and despite of that the watches were shipped with the wrong lume.
I am sorry, but at that price tag these issues show a lot of ignorance from the seller's side. And I am twice that sorry I have to state that about Davidsen.

 

[watchlover]

Folks, Thank you for your kind words and support.

Maybe I'll get a better camera in the future so I can take better pics,
and can make more reviews on other watches


Hopefully Davidsen will read this review and will increase his QC,

..so future Dvdsn watches will not suffer from the same fate..

PS. One of my fav watch is a blank Davidsen Sandwich-dial PVD. (sent back once after initial receipt)
Dial is still not as advertised (C3) though...

I'm still in love with that watch. My WIS friends loves it too...

Best of luck to you Davidsen.. now go fire the slacker in your QC dept [smilie=thumbsup.gif]