greg_r 81 Posted January 18, 2011 I've been wanting a 203 for a long time. It was never going to be a terribly accurate rep as the gen was a limited edition of 150 watches built around 60 year-old Angelus movements, but I'd always liked the look of the dial and therefore it's been high on my wants list for the last year or more. Unfortunately, by the time I got around to trying to buy one, they'd pretty much disappeared from the market as the previously-available rep hadn't sold in large quantities and had therefore been discontinued. Robert tried to find me one last year with no luck and a friend out in Shenzhen managed to track a cheapie down, but of such poor quality it wasn't worth having. Therefore I was very pleased to see a 203 on Timesshops' 'new products' list just before Christmas. It was only an $88 cheapie and the dial wasn't quite right but I decided to put an order in anyhow. A couple of days later I received an email from TS saying that the version they had was slightly different from the photo and did I want to go ahead? It was clear from their description that the new dial was quite a bit better than the first, so I gladly agreed. Anyhow, the watch arrived yesterday. First impressions were good - the dial was indeed an improvement on the one pictured on their site (which had the words 'Luminor' and 'Panerai' separated top and bottom of the dial, which is incorrect. The one I received is as per the gen). The case is one of the better budget 47mm cases I've seen and there's the usual display caseback which shows the completely incorrect but nice looking 6497 movement. Downsides? Not much considering the very low price. The crown is a little too thin and I've seen better CGs, although it is at least nice and tight. Both are issues that are easily fixable and I may well do so in due course. The lume isn't much to write home about and the rep strap was... well.. .a rep strap and has been replaced with a nice leather Getat strap that suits the watch well. Overall I'm very pleased - it's a great watch for $88 and will, I suspect, get a lot of wrist time. TS was, as always, a pleasure to deal with. Enough drivel - here's some photos to be going on with. Will try and take some more - including a wristie - in due course. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
deja123 0 Posted January 18, 2011 ...nice mate i like it :-) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
solkryssare 109 Posted January 18, 2011 That looks sweet imo. But what do I know about pam's...... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pollux1 3 Posted January 18, 2011 Looks VERY nice on that strap G, I'm amazed at the price what a bargain! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Del 4,484 Posted January 18, 2011 That looks really nice, and the strap is perfect . Great price for such a nice watch - don't you just love TS?! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
greg_r 81 Posted January 18, 2011 Looks VERY nice on that strap G, I'm amazed at the price what a bargain! Quite - I'm constantly amazed at how good budget PAMs can be... I've had a few reps and homages at less than $100 a piece and they've all been great. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mondeov6 0 Posted January 18, 2011 That looks great!! Very nice combo! At 88$ you can simply not go wrong. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Vector 0 Posted January 18, 2011 Bollocks .... think this needs to go on the wanted list too . Nice strap combo too Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Silverspeed 10 Posted January 18, 2011 That looks pretty good....love the dial! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dingle 57 Posted January 18, 2011 are the hands gold or is it just the lighting? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
greg_r 81 Posted January 18, 2011 The hands are gold. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
randy3y 0 Posted January 18, 2011 I bet the strap cost more! Nice. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
greg_r 81 Posted January 18, 2011 Actually, no - Tat's straps are ridiculous value. That would have been about $40 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites