pam 339 review

[Tris1066 0]

Radiomir Composite© Marina Militare 8 Giorni - 47mm (Pam 339)

 

This is my most recent purchase, I thought this time round I would give a bit of background on the model as well as a little review since the 339 isn’t all that common.

 

Right then, the Radiomir Composite© Marina Militare 8 Giorni - 47mm, lets just call it the pam 339 shall we. To be honest this isn’t a rep I was ever expecting to see, at least not a good version. The genuine 339 was a 2010 special edition of just 1500 watches. Panerai developed a new type of composite, a chemical vapor deposition onto aluminum, producing a ceramic coat on top of a lightweight case. Due to the limited number of gens and the $15`000 asking price, I didn’t expect to see a 1:1 rep.

 

 

History of the previous 339 reps

 

This isn’t the first 339 rep, in fact there have been 2 previous versions by other factories. The first was awful, it had a very thin pvd coating (you could see the brushed metal beneath) and used a 6497 movement, meaning the position of the seconds subdial was in the wrong place, in fact it was so far to the left that the “9” was replaced with a half baton marker

 

The second rep fared better, it impressively used a composite titanium/aluminum case, which weighed around the same as the gen, approx 75g. However, the brown case was a shade to light and the seconds subdial was still way off ruining the symmetry of the dial. Again using a 6497 movement.

The rough sketch below shows the ever changing position of the seconds subdial.

 

 

 

 

This rep

 

This rep is the kw version. It uses a modified seagull ST2533 movement*, dressed up as a fairly convincing clone of Panerai`s p2002/7 movement. Most importantly, this movement allowed the seconds subdial to be correctly placed.

(*I’m reliably informed that the ST2533 movement is a seagull variation of the ubiquitous Eta 2824-2 movement.)

 

While the visual impact of the cloned movement is impressive, some concessions have had to be made. Firstly, it’s a 21600bph movement unlike the p2002, which runs at 28800bph, you would have to put it in a timing machine to notice though, I did and it’s running at -2s/day. Secondly, it’s an auto movement at heart, with the winding bridge and rotor removed. Being an auto, it has a clutch mechanism, hence no stop when the watch is fully wound. You could keep winding the crown forever! A better practice is just to give it 35-40 winds from stopped, you`ll just have to live with the fact that you can never know if it’s truly fully wound. Also unlike the genuine p2002s 8 days, it only has around a 40hr power reserve.

 

I neglected to snap any movement pics when I had the back off to re-grease the seals, but the pic below comes from kuvarsit and shows the movement quite nicely.

 

The case

 

The case is sadly not a composite, its 316L steel with a thick deep brown DLC coating. The color matches the gen but the downside is the weight, the gen comes in at 75g whereas the rep is around 110g (without strap) 132g (with strap). This in my opinion it the only thing stopping this from being considered a super-rep.

 

Although given the serious problems Panerai has been having with their composite cases I’m actually glad this is less than accurate in that respect (see below).

 

The DLC coating on the case (and buckle/lug wires/crown) is fantastic, for the life of me, I can’t scratch it. Strangely when tested with my diamond tester it actually reads as diamond/sapphire, maybe there’s a reason DLC stands for Diamond Like Carbon. It seems a lot more hard-wearing than a standard pvd coating and has an nice matt finish just like my ceramic 292.

 

Case shape is 99.9% accurate. Two caveats, one would be the caseback, it needs to be 0.05mm* smaller in diameter, as it overhangs the flat area on the rear of the case. Granted 0.05mm is nitpicking but still. The second being the crown tube, it’s too long by approx 0.03mm*, again it’s only a fraction of a millimeter, but worth a mention while I’m nitpicking 

(*Measured with a caliper based on visual observations of the gen.)

 

After checking the gaskets and re-sealing the watch, I took her to be pressure tested. My local watch place only tests to 100m but the watch passed with no issues, so this claims the prize as the only rep I own where the water resistance matches the gen



Incidentally, the brown color of the case is a nightmare to photograph, you’ll just have to trust me, it IS dark brown rather than black!

 

On a sidenote to the whole composite case thing. Panerai have had serious issues with the cases on their composite models, 339s particularly. Anybody with sweaty wrists or unfortunate enough to try and clean their composite cases with alcohol based cleaning solutions have found their watches getting severely discolored and going a light blue/grey (see pic) or in worst cases the coating flaking off completely. It is perhaps ironic that the rep is superior in this respect, with the exception of being 35g heavier of course.

Damage to gen case...

 

 

Dial and hands

 

The dial is correct as per the gen, a lovely tobacco brown, with ecru/brown text and matching superlume. Printing and finish is spot on. Nicely polished cannon pinion too, just like the gen.

 

The hands are one area where some modding is required, the gen has black hands, noticeably darker than the brown dial. The rep hands are a darker shade but not to the same extent as the gen, so I will be doing some repainting/replacing.

 

The lume is superluminova, judging by the color I’d say it’s a custom c3/natural mix. Its not a torch in the same way my 292 is, but it is still just visible after 6-8hours. I’ve posted a 15min lume comparison below.

 

 

Crystal

 

The crystal is a nice quality sapphire with a single sided colorless ar coating. I’ve shone a bright led light at the crystal from the side and can’t see any inclusions, which is a nice change for a rep crystal.

 

The colorless ar does its job, the reflective qualities actually remind me of a perspex crystal rather than sapphire, with a nice muted reflection. Obviously still not as good as a double-sided ar, but hey, the gen is that way too.

 

There’s a black gasket running around the edge of the crystal, just like the gen, frankly you probably need a loupe to see it but its nice its there, and the correct thickness/color.

 

While I’m nitpicking, the chamfer around the edge of the crystal is a fraction of a millimeter to high, granted you would only notice if you were looking really really closely and trying to find fault.

 

 

Strap

 

The rep comes with a nice aged assolutamente strap, like the gen. interestingly it came with a little Panerai strap tag thingy too, nice touch. The buckle is nicely detailed and DLC`d like the rest of the case, correct laser etchings on the back and nicely engraved logo.

Rather than have loads of individual pics ive opted to condense them down to a collage...

 

 

Verdict

 

While it can’t truly be considered a super-rep due to the different case material, it is by far the best 339 rep available and once the hands have been modded, it’s a nearly flawless copy of the genuine. Also, the cloned p2002/7 movement has a nice future in display caseback reps.

 

As an additional plus, this is the only rep I own where the quality control in the factory must have been top notch. Every other rep I have owned has always had some small minor defect, whether a smudge on the ar coating, or a misaligned gasket, fingerprint on the movement etc… This thing is flawlessly constructed, not a scratch, smudge or fingerprint in sight. Some of my gens haven’t been this well made!

[ALE7575 24]

I must say CONGRATS to Tris1066

 

This is a complete and interesting review. Very well written and perfectly structured and organized

 

You can take form this review an appropriate idea about the rep KW PAM 339 you are talking about

 

I agree with you about the quality and consistency of KW reps

 

I'm really grateful for this fantastic review

 

NICE JOB and keep the good work

I'm going to include this review in PAM GUIDE of PAM 339. Thanks

 

All the best

ALE

 

 

BTW: in the paragraf::

"Case shape is 99.9% accurate. Two caveats, one would be the caseback, it needs to be 0.05mm* smaller in diameter, as it overhangs the flat area on the rear of the case. Granted 0.05mm is nitpicking but still. The second being the crown tube, it’s too long by approx 0.03mm*, again it’s only a fraction of a millimeter, but worth a mention while I’m nitpicking "

I assume you are meaning 0,5mm and 0,3mm, instead of 0,05 and 0,03mm

Edited May 7, 2014 by ALE7575

[Tris1066 0]

 

 

BTW: in the paragraf::

"Case shape is 99.9% accurate. Two caveats, one would be the caseback, it needs to be 0.05mm* smaller in diameter, as it overhangs the flat area on the rear of the case. Granted 0.05mm is nitpicking but still. The second being the crown tube, it’s too long by approx 0.03mm*, again it’s only a fraction of a millimeter, but worth a mention while I’m nitpicking "

I assume you are meaning 0,5mm and 0,3mm, instead of 0,05 and 0,03mm

 

Quite correct, I did mean 0.5 and 0.3, we'll spotted

[Tris1066 0]

 

 

BTW: in the paragraf::

"Case shape is 99.9% accurate. Two caveats, one would be the caseback, it needs to be 0.05mm* smaller in diameter, as it overhangs the flat area on the rear of the case. Granted 0.05mm is nitpicking but still. The second being the crown tube, it’s too long by approx 0.03mm*, again it’s only a fraction of a millimeter, but worth a mention while I’m nitpicking "

I assume you are meaning 0,5mm and 0,3mm, instead of 0,05 and 0,03mm

 

Quite correct, I did mean 0.5 and 0.3mm, well spotted

[gvln68 0]

thanx Tris1066! very good job, well done!

[Rubengto 0]

Hello

 

Very good review. where did you buy the watch if i may ask :-)

[gtwc 1]

Tris - only just seen this.

What a great review - ALE quality !¬

One of my all time favourite Pams (that I just happen to need to replace).

Thanks for all the info.

[Tris1066 0]

Hello

 

Very good review. where did you buy the watch if i may ask :-)

 

This one came from toro bravo

[OceanView 0]

Thank you Tris1066

 

After reading your review, I placed an order today and am counting the days till it arrives.

Should be a fun watch to wear this summer.

[Jupiler 0]

I want one, no I need one! :-D

[Javadca20 0]

Great review, im on the fence but might pull the trigger.

[watchlvr91 0]

Thanks for such a thorough review!

[paulvillo 364]

Always loved the looks of "composite" PAMs but never took the plunge.

Wonder why V6F or ZF did not release a new version of the 339 with the new 72+ hours movement.

I mean, it's got that closed case back...

Thanks for this great review!

Edited March 28, 2016 by paulvillo

[romanokaplan 0]

Thank you very much for the perfectly accurate and detailed review.

[childishthing 1]

Nice pictorial - great photos. I wish I liked these watches, they are so popular.