McGilli's Panerai 177 Review

[McGilli 1]

PANERAI REVIEW PART I

I wanted to treat myself to a higher end replica. I actually treated myself to two. This is the second I am reviewing for a few reasons. First, I’ve never owned ‘real’ leather watch straps before. And all my experiences with faux leather left me bitter. Second is that this is a watch that needs manual winding. I think the last time I owned a manual wind watch was about 40 years ago. I think. Anyways, I wanted to give this some time to get me used to it.

WATCH ORDERED:

I asked my TD for a PAM 177 with silicone strap. I was told that those were not available at this time, and the only way to get the PAM 177 was with a genuine crocodile strap. It was more money - and I have reservations about ‘real’ leather from China - but - I put my trust in my TD.

 

PN177NLE2 - PAM177N TI/LE Black (Croc) HF Asia 6497 21600bph

H Factory PAM177 N Serial Titanium Top Grade

Case construction 1:1 as per Genuine

MOVEMENT: Asia 6497 Manual Hand Wind movement, Platinum Plated Cotes De Geneve decoration on bridges, 17J, 21600bph

CASE DIAMETER: 44mm

THICKNESS: 15mm

DIAL COLOR: Black Dial, black subdials with Numeral/Stick Markers

Remarks: Superluminova C1+C3 on the markers & needles

CASE MATERIAL: Full Solid Titanium Case 1:1 (Same color tone as Genuine)

BRACELET: Real Alligator High End Leather Strap with Pre-V Tang Buckle

FRONT GLASS: Sapphire Crystal with Colorless AR Coating (Swiss Grade)

CASE BACK: Display case back with random serial engraving N XXX/800

BEZEL: Same construction like Genuine

HACK MOVEMENT: 

CLASP TYPE: Pre-V Tang Buckle

 

UNPACKING THE WATCH:

Packaging was solid. Tightly packed and taped. It arrived from Hong Kong to BC Canada in just over 40 hours.

 

PANERAI REVIEW PART II

THE STRAPS:

It arrived with the brown crocodile strap, and I’ve ordered 3 more straps - and won 1 more from a contest here! As they arrive I’ll update with more photos.

GENUINE BROWN CROCODILE STRAP: The included croc strap is quite stiff. I’ve been wearing the watch 24/7 for 3 days - only taking it off for showering. It’s very slowly starting to become more flexible. I’ve never been a huge fan of brown straps, however I have to admit I like it much better than the black silicone strap that just arrived. This croc strap gives it a fancier look to be sure, and I'm glad that I paid the extra $ to have this otherwise I would have been missing out.

 

SILICONE 'OFFICIAL' STRAP:

This strap is a rugged strap. It's a good medium between flexible and stiff. I have to admit I don't like the texture. It feels rough, and not comforting as I expected it should. In my head I'd envisioned this being my most used strap but I feel it cheapens the look of the watch, and makes it look too sporty for my taste. 

 

HEAVY STITCHED LEATHER STRAP:

As soon as I saw this strap online, I wanted to have it. As soon as it arrived and opened it, I wanted to wear it. This, is a fabulous strap. It has a great feel to it. Feels heavy duty, yet its stitching gives it a 'tough' look that is more in line with my style. Of all the straps I have, this is one I would be most likely to wear. I really like this one and it will remain on the PAM now. (at this time I still have two more strap incoming - will see if wither of them can dethrone this one)

\

PANERAI REVIEW PART III

SO HOW IS THE BUILD QUALITY?

If I could - I would only ever use titanium watches. I’ve always loved the metal. I made the switch from carbon to titanium a few years ago for what I consider my job and I love the mystique about it - in the sense that it’s stronger and lighter than steel, yet it scratches easily and is more brittle in certain applications. 

I have no problem with titanium products I own showing their age, or their use in the way of scars and scratches. Otherwise - the build quality here is superb. this is a bigger watch than many of mine - yet it’s lighter and easier on the wrist. 

The crown guard has a perfect surliness and a soft click when it locks into place - yet is easy enough to flip out. The crown winds smoothly. I’m not used to a watch with a crown guard, so my winds are quite small for now especially since I always wind when it’s on my wrist. I find it relaxing to stop everything for a minute… and just wind away until it’s done. The winding movement will get stiffer after a while, and then it will totally stop at a certain point. There is never any fear of over-winding. This feels well built.

PHOTOS WITH STRAP REMOVED:

 

PANERAI REVIEW PART IV

THE LUME:

Obviously PAM’s are well known for the fantastic lumen on their watches. And this has been translated perfectly onto this replica. It’s bright enough all night long as I wake up many times per night, and of course the famous lumen shots right after it’s been charged - let’s see some of those!

 

ULTRAVIOLET TEST:

As I do with all my new watches, I test with an ultraviolet light to look for any stray dandruff or dust under the sapphire. This watch comes out aces - no problem at all.

 

PANERAI REVIEW PART V

HOW DOES IT KEEP TIME?

After the first 12 hours - it was dead on still with my control timer. It ran out of juice soon after as I’d only given it about twenty small winds just to test it. So, I wound it up full and let it run. After another 24 hours, it was again, dead on with my control timer. I notice that the watch appears to have already been regulated, I suspect by my TD - you can see here:

So I once again brought out a watch time regulating app. This app was extremely accurate with my Rolex, so I’m confident with it on the Panerai. Setting it up and letting it run for a few minutes shows the following:

As you can see - it’s dead accurate at 0 sec +/- over 10/30/60 seconds. This reflects my ‘long timing’ I was doing, so I’m quite happy with this. I found that the only way to make the watch inaccurate - is to wind it while it’s running. It seems to then lose about .5 seconds with 50 winds. I can live with this, happily.

HOW LONG DOES IT RUN?

On a full wind I was given 58h 05m.

 

PANERAI REVIEW PART VI

HOW DOES IT FIT?

The watch is 15mm thick and 44mm wide. It’s bigger than many watches, but with the light weight, there’s no problem here. I find it fits well.  With the crocodile strap it is in between how loose, and how tight I usually wear watches with metal bracelets.  So it sits up more on the top of my wrist, and doesn’t slouch so much.

 

IN CLOSING:

Thank you to the forum and the members past and present. It’s been a lot of fun gathering the courage to spend this kind of $. I genuinely am enjoying this watch and it will fit well into my dressed up and casual outings.

And a bonus Ti on Ti shot of it on my daily workhorse - see my profile description on the left if you don’t know what it is and need a hint

[Glaude 1,615]

Well done my friend ! That's a very very nice review you've done here ! 

This challenge me to do an even better one for my next watches !

As for the watch, this is a beauty but it's clear to me that the rubber take something off it, a very nice leather strap of your choice in the future will be great ! For now this strap look perfectly fine to me !

[McGilli 1]

4 minutes ago, Glaude said:

As for the watch, this is a beauty but it's clear to me that the rubber take something off it, a very nice leather strap of your choice in the future will be great ! For now this strap look perfectly fine to me !

I agree. I thought I'd love the silicone - but I don't. I do have a black/white python strap on the way - and I still get to choose a custom made Nero leather strap from winning the contest on this site. So many great ones to choose from! I think this watch will forever be a leather wearing watch.

[Thommo82 1,397]

For a Noob your reviews are top notch mate.  Great looking watch you have there. 

I’ve gotta add a few PAM’s to my collection 

[paccbet 7,176]

[Lerxst 0]

Heluva watch and writeup. Nice job...

[GC 4,461]

[autochrono 0]

Please tell the story of your tattoo on your left arm.

Great review BTW

 

[black263 228]

My only (minor) adverse criticism is that the regulating screw should be touching the adjustment arm.  In its present position, there is nothing to stop the spring from moving the adjustment arm, and knocking out the accuracy you're getting.

[tonyh7 223]

Great watch and great review. Pams are a slightly decisive brand, you either like them or hate them. People who like them like them a lot. And that's the problem. One is not enough. And your review has just made me realise I don't have a single sandwich dial in my collection. How did that happen?

[BadPickle 2,738]

Unpacking in the bathroom so your wife/husband (well it is the 21st century )  doesn’t find out you’ve been spending the rent money again..... I like it  

[Jibuti 958]

Stu, doing it in the bathroom (I ALWAYS do it in there) is main reason most of reps are now water pre-tested!

[McGilli 1]

19 hours ago, autochrono said:

Please tell the story of your tattoo on your left arm.

Sure! My left arm is for my daughter. From age 4 I had a saying of hers tattooed on there. Then for 4 more years I had her write me something - and I got it tattooed. I would give her a piece of white paper cut to the exact size I wanted the tattoo. Hand her a black jiffy marker and she would print something for me. Then my tattoo artists would just create an exact copy of it onto my arm. Hence, why some of the words might be misspelled - that was when she was 5 and she was sounding out words.

19 hours ago, black263 said:

My only (minor) adverse criticism is that the regulating screw should be touching the adjustment arm.  In its present position, there is nothing to stop the spring from moving the adjustment arm, and knocking out the accuracy you're getting.

Ahhh right! Ok I see what you are saying. I'll have to look into that. This is all still so new for me, so thanks for pointing that out!

Thanks everyone else for the good words and observations!

[autochrono 0]

That is awesome, thanks for the response.

 

[McGilli 1]

Hi everyone!

I've redone PART II which is the strap section since I am acquiring many straps for this watch. I'll update this thread over the next month as my other 2 straps get here.

ALSO - I've updated PART V of the review to tell that on a full wind - this watch will run for just over 58 hours.

[Glaude 1,615]

3 minutes ago, McGilli said:

Hi everyone!

I've redone PART II which is the strap section since I am acquiring many straps for this watch. I'll update this thread over the next month as my other 2 straps get here.

ALSO - I've updated PART V of the review to tell that on a full wind - this watch will run for just over 58 hours.

The heavy stich looks good, not my fav but the watch is a completely other style with it, so that's a bonus !

[mwcool728 0]

Nice review !!! The straps are exceptional by the way..

[mysterio 18]

Nice review. I would probably remove some , if not all, of the unpacking pictures as they are not really glamorous and not a necessary part of the review of the watch. Also, the silicone strap is actually a rubber strap, called caoutchouc by Panerai (a French word which means unvulcanized natural rubber). Although it does look too sporty, it is one of the three possible options you have if you wish to bring the watch to water (assuming you have your PAM properly sealed and tested). The other two would be a bracelet, or a waterproof leather strap.