kilowattore 2 Posted January 4, 2017 Panerai 082 C Amerigo Vespucci Limited Edition My build with DSN dial and case back After a long series of complex builds which required a lot of shaping, sanding, drilling, test fitting and so on I felt the need for a break and wanted to create a more simple build. I went through my parts bin and found an old titanium H Factory case, most likely from a 61D. It was in good conditions, it had a nice crystal, a nice A-F crownguard and a round crown tube. I started thinking about which watch could have been built with it and I remembered a post Hugop made a few months back about his new 082 dial, which looked rather interesting to me. The plan was set then, I contacted Davidsen and asked him for a dial, a caseback and a set of hands, waited a few weeks for the parts to arrive and in no time I had a completed build. Not having to deal with parts not fitting, stems not aligning, movement holders that need filing felt so refreshing and satisfactory, in a word: easy When I finally strapped this watch on my wrist I was amazed. The Luminor case is so well balanced, it's just perfect in every shape. Alessandro Bettarini designed one of the best watch cases ever imho. Besides, the combination of titanium and this blue iridescent dial is just so wow that I can hardly find the words to describe it. This is Davidsen's new 082 dial, released a few months ago. The ugly outlines of numbers and indices that were present in older batches are gone, and now the dial is very good imho. Ok, there are still issues like a little too big inscriptions and number shape to be perfected (especially 12). Also the lume structure is different from the gen, which has a sausage style application (numbers and indices engraved on the dial then filled with lume mix) while the rep seems to have a thin layer applied on the surface of the dial. The advantage of this choice is having a very flat application of the lume mix which gives a good gen-like impression, nonetheless it's missing the depth of a real sausage dial. Anyway, the key feature of this dial is the brushed finish blue base which changes tone depending how the light hits it, and this has been replicated very very well. I tried to capture its essence correctly in my pics, it is indeed one of the most amazing dials I have ever seen whose color turns from almost black to aqua in the blink of an eye. Truly stunning. Here's a pic under direct light which shows the texure I'm talking about: Lume is not very strong, but acceptable: Davidsen's caseback is pretty good as well, nice finish and detailing. The only issue I see is the different placement of the engraved dots on the sides of TITANIUM. Of course the H-factory 061D ismissingthe engravings near the lugs. GEN REP The strap I chose to match this build is one of the latest creations from Orloff, it is made of a vegetable tanned vacchetta hide with a special threatment called "colored crust" and an orange eel lining. This special process makes each strap essentially hand-painted so no one will look the same as another. 200% satisfaction as usual from Mario and a perfect match to this watch imho More pics: Hope you enjoyed Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rusty peters 0 Posted January 4, 2017 Wow. Truly exceptional piece. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bearlowry 0 Posted January 4, 2017 ^^^^^^ that!!! Now how much?... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
the_frenchman 31 Posted January 4, 2017 .....simply amazing. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Left Coast Guy 24 Posted January 4, 2017 Yeah, that is pretty fucking nice!! I understand what you're saying about the sausage dial and lume application, but honestly, I've compared with gen and I couldn't really tell with the naked eye. I wasn't using one of Davidsen's dials, just a rep of another model. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kilowattore 2 Posted January 4, 2017 Yeah, that is pretty fucking nice!! I understand what you're saying about the sausage dial and lume application, but honestly, I've compared with gen and I couldn't really tell with the naked eye. I wasn't using one of Davidsen's dials, just a rep of another model. This is different than other rep sausage dials. Usual rep dials (e.g. a noob 005) are made of a brass disc on which numbers and indices are engraved then filled with lume mix. The filling has an exaggerated "sausage" shape which is different than gen, but you need a trained eye to spot it. In this DSN dial the shortcut taken is another: there is no engraving that I can see on the dial, the lume is simply applied on top of the brass disc. This allows for a flatter application (in this regard more similar to the gen), but the lack of engravings is a clear tell once you inspect the dial closely. So many words just to mean the dial is beautiful but not perfect yet Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kilowattore 2 Posted January 4, 2017 ^^^^^^that!!! Now how much?... Not for sale. ATM Anyway a build like this is fairly cheap, let's say more or less a half the cost of a vintage build. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dalboy 2 Posted January 4, 2017 Quite simply ...... Stunning !! Complemented perfectly by that strap , who's character will only improve with age .. A nice build ... Less is more as is the case here . First dibs when it hits M2m Well done . Dal. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ALE7575 24 Posted January 5, 2017 Kilo you have got a very nice and simple watch !! Congrats The dial is amazing and looks better than old PAM 082 dials with very noticeable contoured marks. This new dial looks pretty nice Awesome strap which matchs perfectly the watch Thanks for sharing it ALE Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kilowattore 2 Posted January 5, 2017 Indeed, I spent the last two years byiluilding watches, trying to push my limits further with each build. Going back to the basics felt so refreshing Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
strozzi 1 Posted January 11, 2017 You're an artist, man. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
preppyr6 0 Posted April 2, 2017 No no no no!! I just thought I bought my last PAM (356) a couple weeks ago! Is this 44mm or 47mm? Nevermind Im googling this now...thanks new-to-me forum, thanks! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jeromebr 0 Posted January 8, 2018 Mine say hello :). (Pam082c by DSN fitted with Gen6497 by Natas) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites