Panerai... The Good The Bad & The Ugly

First the Good and there's a lot of good things going for it :) Community and cool GTGs! good food, drink and merriment, bonding with cool dudes (they must be yuh they wear PAMs) and of course some very nice watches!

dinner is served! Makan time!

fellowship of the pam... one 47mm to rule them ALL!

the usual watch giveaways ;) ok it be the table shots

interesting watches and interesting folks who pop by wearing 3 different kinds of watches(i heard this guy gets off on inanimate objects based on his nick). 2 real pams and another italian make mazzu-somethin or other(ok ok its a mazzuoli)... hey if it ain't a PAM ;)

some interesting things on the menu for sure... look what i had for my main :) yummy 5218-202/A [this costs a pretty penny same as the 201s i've fondled before)

and my 372 finally arrived! (in my dreams...) still waiting... waiting... but deliveries are happening. I think people can get it for about US$11+k or about S$16k on the secondary market if they can't wait but you can pay the round the US$10+k / S$13+k list if u have patience since there are like 3500 pieces that will be making its way to the market...

on to the bad... the 372 was givin the people what they want but panerai then issued the 390 and 422 and it's more milkin pam dna for all its worth. and i don't think there's any signs of stopping which IS the scary thing. the 422 though is a very nice watch so maybe the bad thing of issuing many many many many many many many releases (wif recycled nice bits) to please the ristis and the masses, ain't so bad? :)

nice and nicer

seconds instead of the 9... for folks who need the second hand on the dial. there are actually quite a number out there who do

movement has a PR indicator for the 3 day PR

and finally THE UGLY and i mean that literally... Panerai for some reason put in unfinished fugly eta movements in the pam 318 or brooklyn bridge special edition. it was special alright!
i haven't heard the official word if they did it knowingly or it was a genu-wine mistake but my view is that they didn't think to care about putting the usual lightly decorated etas for this batch coz they figured the folks buying it would never pop them open themselves(or wouldn't know what they were lookin at if they did) and would always send it in to a pam service centre. and people who buy closed caseback pams don't care about the movement ANYWAY right? its just the dial and the looks and thats it.

The big joke is this. some of the AAA replicas out there actually use better quality/finished eta movements in them and look close to 100% the same as the pam issues and cost a lot less than the real deal so why bother with the real deal if they're gonna shaft you if they can? again if you are only goin for the dial and the overall case/looks than the replica has got you covered no? [Sigh... it should never come to this... i advise folks not to buy replicas as it is just not the way to go]

Ok it's not that bad (cognitive dissonance [LINK] kicking into gear as i am STILL gonna recommend u buy Panerais :) u could look at it another way... never buy a closed back pam and buy an in-house movement pam if u can't bear the thought of what u're about to see ticking in your pam... i heard that other closed back pams don't have this crappy movement innit but it is sad to see it happening at all in a watch priced as it is from a company that should have a little more pride or respect for its clientele in what it's issuing out

NOTE the following pictures are not for the faint hearted...

AAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!

AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

and that's it. apologies for the girl like blood curdling screams...

for me, i do still want to buy A pam. thank goodness it's a clear back piece. so i'll focus on the good and gloss over the bad and the ugly (and suggest u do too if u want to buy PAMs) or be a haute horology ignoramus like some in the legion of fans the brand has garnered the world over, which is not a wrong thing at all and may not even be a bad thing ;)

cheers, raph

Got time on my hands :) A Quick Look At Lange's Upsized Up Down Datograph

So thoughts? It's better that they increased the diameter to 41mm as it was a bit thick for 39mm. at the same time though, they didn't make it any thinner so its gone from 12.8 to 13.1 which isn't much but i'd have to feel it in the metal to see if it feels proportionate or a tuna can. weight distribution while it sits on a wrist may be a consideration too. the original felt like a plat ingot on the wrist at times.

AB/AUF = Down/up = power reserve(PR) is upped from 38 hours to 60 hours and there is a new power reserve indicator at the 6 o'clock position which wasn't there on the original. i like more PR, the new PR indicator is a question mark still, especially the red on the dial... the roman numerals II, VI, X on the original are gone which visually makes me feel the new dial is a bit more sparse where my mind believes these romans to be, being used to seeing the original, but if i only saw this watch by itself and not do a side by side i would say this dial is cleaner, less 'packed' in a sense. oh and the date display has been increased by 4% :) its still a flyback and maintains most of the aesthetic cues of the original which means its a very handsome piece.

what u can be assured of too is the extremely fine finishing from Lange, probably the best movement finishing in a production watch, gorgeous multi-layered movement in German silver, the chaton settings, similar as the original with added PR stuff of course.

for this watch lover, the original will always have an important place, being birthed in 1999 and under the watchful gaze of Gunter Blumlein but this new datograph is a great evolution of the piece and both are wonderful and worthwhile acquisitions in any fine watch collection. if u can't get both it might come down to size(relative to your wrist size), price(a factor since u can't get both. the old can be had for below S$50k for the plat. not sure about the new ones pricing as yet), and feel of both on your wrist and how u feel with them on. i hope to do an in the metal review in time, the only issue i think is that i may not want to give the watch back if i have it in my hands ;) cheers

i have some live original dato pics here

2011 exit stage left... 2012 enters...

Another year is coming to an end... Christmas is here for all the Christians out there to celebrate and most of the world has the day off (except Japan and a couple of other countries. I still can't believe India doesn't take 1 January off ;) the thing is, what's most important comes into focus at this time of year. it comes down to family, friends and good folks in your life. people who mean you and yours well.

its not about the watch you can't score or the toy u r yearning for. these things are material luxuries and don't really mean much of anything. u can live, survive and thrive without them. its all in your head/heart... what u can't do without though is health. love. hope. so my wish for u, is u and your loved ones have good health, have lots of love, and have hope for better days ahead... coz the times, they are a changin'

Merry Christmas, Blessed New Year and happy holidays to all!

damn... this watch is nice... scratch what i said above. anyone looking for healthy body parts, drop me an email ;) hehe.. may you acquire your dream watches in the year ahead

Long Time Since I Caught A Movie...

Having 2 kids means its not often me and the wife have the chance to catch a show but we finally did tonite after a very long time... I can't even remember the last show we caught together but I do remember the first... it was a movie with ewan mcgregor and scarlett 'pouty lips' johansson... the island in 2005... anyways i digress. mission impossible 4, was a good switch the brain off and enjoy the stunts in digital glory show. most would notice the cars of course and bmw is an official partner but i of course notice the watches. Simon's got a g-shock on, the renner guys got a rollie sub and Mr Hunt is wearing a very nice tudor heritage chrono... the black dial version. i thought I saw a couple of the russians sporting omegas but i may be wrong.

Ethan must have went watch shopping in Dubai

image source http://www.missionimpossible.com/

what can i say they have good taste in watches ;)

you can read more about the tudor heritage chrono ~ monte carlo here

Some Great Pieces on Auction at Antiquorum on 7 Dec 2011

fine watches... so many fine watches... for folks with the $$$ to buy, do check out some of the great pieces at the antiquorum auction on 7 dec 2011. their website has the full catalogue with estimates, to check that out, click here. some of the pieces caught my eye... and here are some quick pics of them. hope u like em.

my first time taking this beauty... three bridges tourbillon. a beautiful watch

an in the hand shot... love it

some nice pateks were around too...

and a grail among rolexs... paul newman, take a bow

RM002

urwerk

some other fine pieces were there... lot 90 audemars piguet repetition minutes

three bridges in a different case

and an interesting movement in the parmigiani...

Rest In Peace Sir George Daniels

truly a great watchmaker and someone who made most of the parts of his watches that could be made with his own hands. i wrote about him before here and i do suggest u visit that post and hear the interviews where he spoke about his passions and his views on horology. a man who made exceptional timepieces... a huge loss to the watch community

but his work lives on in the pieces he's made and the work he has inspired(many great independent watchmakers), his book which made every horology enthusiast believe for a brief moment that they too could become great watchmakers, his co-axial movement in the Omegas and in his fellow Isle of Man watchmaking talent, Mr Roger Smith. and those are good things indeed...

Sincere condolences to his family and loved ones...

for more info click here

What A Machine... What A Masterpiece! The Legacy Masterpiece 1 by MB&F

The official name is Legacy Machine 1... unofficially i will call it the Legacy Masterpiece 1 ;) the horological machines birthed from the mind of Max Busser and realised by a great team of artists and artisans have always been a marvel to behold. the best person to introduce the Legacy 1 though is Max himself so do follow the link that follows to a great video where the man shares about horological machines and legacy machines and some of the genius behind this piece... LINK

the guilty parties names can also be found on the barrel-less movement!

there are also fantastic photos of this watch on the site but for me it has always been about that first hand experience of holding that fine watch and knowing what its like on your wrist and in the metal... so some of my photos to share with you here of a wonderful amazing timepiece... Thanks to Max and the people who work with him in realising horological masterpieces and fantasies! & thanks to Michael and The Hour Glass for bringing it in to the watch lovers in Singapore :)

one barrel comin up... (thats a jaws moment right there but i digress) two dials and two different times that can be set independent of each other... many gmt/dual time watches only show another time in hourly or half hourly differences from the main time. with this you can set it to entirely different times... one for earth other for the far side of the moon perhaps? ;)

the power reserve rises from the dial... it's stirring to see it rise as i powered it up ;)

floating in space...

any movement with kari's name on it has got to be... magnificent...

wristshot!!! they had to pry it off me to give it back to them...

mb&f logo on one crown

& world logo to signify its dual time function on the second crown...

it says machine... i says MASTERPIECE!