I blame milesd for this review. If not for his stunning pictures here of the 040, I would never have gone and ordered one.
Background, DSN has a new dial, :undecided: , doesn't he always? Whatever it is, it looks stunning, a huge step up from his previous attempts recently, but, with DSN, get'em while it lasts and before he changes again!
The 040 is a vintage Titanium cased, black dial, solid caseback, manual wind 44mm Luminor Marina watch. The first commercially available Titanium cased watch from Panerai, so basically the grandfather of today's 177.
As with all my reviews, just follow the numbers
Front
1) The first thing that strikes you is that though the shade and shape of the numbers is bang on, the size is off. The gen has thicker numbers and indices
2) The printing is fantastic, though a little thin. Also, for the very first time, DSN is using an off colored white on his dial, but this is wrong for this model, it should be pure white. Oh, and the A bar looks accurate too
3) T SWISS T, some have complained about this, not as big an issue for me, the gen has a flat top and bottom T SWISS T, DSN's are rounded. But size and sharpness wise, perfect
4) CG Pin hole is off, bit too far out and small. First DSN CG that I've had where by it doesn't suffer from a floppy lever. But I'll pop the pin to give it a matte finish
5) Not so visible here, but the lever tip is very thick on the gen. DSNs have a continuous thin taper.
6) Not shown, but the crystal has AR. The gen due to it being a B series didn't. Panerai only started using AR on their D series PAMs onwards. However, DSN's AR has improved significantly. Very mild bluish tint and amazing to look at.
CG Side
1) DSNs CG is thicker than the GEN?! Its a tell, but for me a good one. I rather have a thick CG than a thin one.
2) The crystal sticks out a hair's breadth more over the bezel on the gen as compared to DSNs
Case Profile
1) Profile of lugs is close, but wrong. DSN's lugs have a distinct hump to them
2) DSN's lugs also have rounded edges versus the sharper ones on the edge, very pronounced the sanding here
3) The bezel base is also 0.5mm thicker than the gen, only noticeable here, and definitely not as bad as his older 240 case.
Crown
This is the first whereby I can honestly say I have no desire or need to really swap out the DSNs crown.
1st is a gen 040 crown (measurement is based off an LH crown).
As you can see, the bevel between the gen and DSN's is close. Hardly any extreme bevel as seen on the stainless steel DSN crown taken from his 201a. Even when the crown is physically thicker, the bevel makes it look visually thinner. For me, this is good enough and I won't be ordering a T48 Ti crown to replace it.
Back
This is where all the disappoints come.
1) Much thicker engraving
2) Wrong OP number, should be 6510
3) The 040 was only ever released as a B series. It was a "special edition" of a sorts
4) Only 200 units were ever released as well.
Lume
DSN201a on left, 040 on the right. 1sec exposure, 2mins interval, only cropping done in PS.
I will admit, this 040 is the least bright of all my PAMs. That said, this is meant to be a tritium dialed 040 that was released in 1998. So I would expect the glow to be more muted. (Lets not discuss the accuracy of a torched 201a) Further to that, you can see the numbers have a lovely yellow tint to them, giving them a great patina, including the hands, which adds to the character of the watch for me. So I'll gladly sacrifice a bit of lume power for this added vintageness.
My thoughts
Titanium watches have very rarely been my thing. I can't handle the extreme lightness of the case, plus the dullness sometimes gets to me. However, I'm enjoying the vintage expect of this piece. The dial is wholely accurate with minor flaws that most people won't be able to call out, the most obvious being the size of the numerals. The crown is fine to me. The crown guard, the most obvious tell on Ti models is accurate, thicker than gen and perfect profile. The only big tell is the caseback. Two options, don't take it off, don't show it to a paneristi or just enjoy. I'll just enjoy it. Most people won't remember the exact specifics anyhow
One thing to note, Ti scratches easily, I wore it one and you can see a scratch already today... Add to that, I've found with Ti watches, the movement is louder. I can hear the 040 quite clearly, but not any of my other 6497s. With the casebacks off, they are of equal loudness. So one thing to consider as well.
Overall, a lovely piece from DSN and with this new dial, a real stunner
Background, DSN has a new dial, :undecided: , doesn't he always? Whatever it is, it looks stunning, a huge step up from his previous attempts recently, but, with DSN, get'em while it lasts and before he changes again!
The 040 is a vintage Titanium cased, black dial, solid caseback, manual wind 44mm Luminor Marina watch. The first commercially available Titanium cased watch from Panerai, so basically the grandfather of today's 177.
As with all my reviews, just follow the numbers
Front
1) The first thing that strikes you is that though the shade and shape of the numbers is bang on, the size is off. The gen has thicker numbers and indices
2) The printing is fantastic, though a little thin. Also, for the very first time, DSN is using an off colored white on his dial, but this is wrong for this model, it should be pure white. Oh, and the A bar looks accurate too
3) T SWISS T, some have complained about this, not as big an issue for me, the gen has a flat top and bottom T SWISS T, DSN's are rounded. But size and sharpness wise, perfect
4) CG Pin hole is off, bit too far out and small. First DSN CG that I've had where by it doesn't suffer from a floppy lever. But I'll pop the pin to give it a matte finish
5) Not so visible here, but the lever tip is very thick on the gen. DSNs have a continuous thin taper.
6) Not shown, but the crystal has AR. The gen due to it being a B series didn't. Panerai only started using AR on their D series PAMs onwards. However, DSN's AR has improved significantly. Very mild bluish tint and amazing to look at.
CG Side
1) DSNs CG is thicker than the GEN?! Its a tell, but for me a good one. I rather have a thick CG than a thin one.
2) The crystal sticks out a hair's breadth more over the bezel on the gen as compared to DSNs
Case Profile
1) Profile of lugs is close, but wrong. DSN's lugs have a distinct hump to them
2) DSN's lugs also have rounded edges versus the sharper ones on the edge, very pronounced the sanding here
3) The bezel base is also 0.5mm thicker than the gen, only noticeable here, and definitely not as bad as his older 240 case.
Crown
This is the first whereby I can honestly say I have no desire or need to really swap out the DSNs crown.
1st is a gen 040 crown (measurement is based off an LH crown).
As you can see, the bevel between the gen and DSN's is close. Hardly any extreme bevel as seen on the stainless steel DSN crown taken from his 201a. Even when the crown is physically thicker, the bevel makes it look visually thinner. For me, this is good enough and I won't be ordering a T48 Ti crown to replace it.
Back
This is where all the disappoints come.
1) Much thicker engraving
2) Wrong OP number, should be 6510
3) The 040 was only ever released as a B series. It was a "special edition" of a sorts
4) Only 200 units were ever released as well.
Lume
DSN201a on left, 040 on the right. 1sec exposure, 2mins interval, only cropping done in PS.
I will admit, this 040 is the least bright of all my PAMs. That said, this is meant to be a tritium dialed 040 that was released in 1998. So I would expect the glow to be more muted. (Lets not discuss the accuracy of a torched 201a
) Further to that, you can see the numbers have a lovely yellow tint to them, giving them a great patina, including the hands, which adds to the character of the watch for me. So I'll gladly sacrifice a bit of lume power for this added vintageness.
My thoughts
Titanium watches have very rarely been my thing. I can't handle the extreme lightness of the case, plus the dullness sometimes gets to me. However, I'm enjoying the vintage expect of this piece. The dial is wholely accurate with minor flaws that most people won't be able to call out, the most obvious being the size of the numerals. The crown is fine to me. The crown guard, the most obvious tell on Ti models is accurate, thicker than gen and perfect profile. The only big tell is the caseback. Two options, don't take it off, don't show it to a paneristi or just enjoy. I'll just enjoy it. Most people won't remember the exact specifics anyhow
One thing to note, Ti scratches easily, I wore it one and you can see a scratch already today...
Add to that, I've found with Ti watches, the movement is louder. I can hear the 040 quite clearly, but not any of my other 6497s. With the casebacks off, they are of equal loudness. So one thing to consider as well.Overall, a lovely piece from DSN and with this new dial, a real stunner
