Arism 26 Posted May 29, 2012 (edited) So it finally happened, the bug finally hit me. When I first joined this forum I was, like many, a Rolex guy. Admittedly, I am, still, a Rolex guy, but the Pams and the APs are certainly growing on me with frightening(for my wallet) surety. Having small-ish wrists, I was always under the impression that a Pam would be too big on my wrist and would therefore look ridiculous akin to say, a tricycle with 22" rims with spinners for example. That was until a mate of mine lent me his gen 288K. Sure it took some getting used to, but it had such marvelous wrist-presence that a Rollie could never provide. From then on, I knew I'd have a Pam in my collection sooner or later, the question was, which one? My first choice was a 288K, a gorgeous watch indeed, that is fairly popular within our community. Having set aside funds for my LHOOQ & Ebzen inspired Space Dweller project, I spent my time browsing though the forums and TDs looking at Pams. But the more I looked the more I was drawn away from the 288k. I had become fond of the simpler dials, the 288k started looking busy and cluttered. That was when I stumbled onto the 292. This was the Pam I needed to get! Unfortunately some complications had arisen in my Space Dweller project and I was yet again made to wait for my first Pam. I had resigned my search for my first Pam when I noticed Foodmaker's sales thread. I couldn't believe it! A 292 with little wrist time for sale at a decent price. My PP was all charged up when I noticed one thing, it was a 292K. In my earlier research into the 292 I had heard about a flaw that could render the watch useless; namely case separation. This is where "the ceramic case separates from the internal steel case" as said by Del. He wasn't trying to ruin Foodmaker's sale thread, in his defence Del mentioned not all 'K' series 292s suffered from this flaw, but this put me off. I didn't want to risk buying a watch that could turn into an expensive paperweight at any given time(with this reasoning I have stayed away from the modified 7750s). Fortunately other members of our community chimed in; specifically Member X and Watch.aholic. Watch.aholic reinforcing Del's early statement that not all 'K' series were affected and Member X informing me that if the worst were to happen, Wiz had a fix for the case separation. With this new knowledge in hand, I promptly shot a PM to Foodmaker, bargained a little and settled the payment! The package was sent on the 19th and it arrived at my door on the 24th. Pretty good if you ask me! I promptly ripped it out of its packaging(very securely done by Foodmaker), gave it a few winds and slapped it on my wrist. The watch looked amazing, no obvious signs of wear and keeping fantastic time. K1296/1500 serial number. An odd thing I did notice though, was that this 292k had a PIG logo at 6' o'clock. I'm not sure whether this is accurate to gen AFAIK the pig dials stopped in the J series? I still prefer the non-pig dial but as you can tell by the photos, it is nearly invisible and I could only get a good picture by jigging my loupe onto my camera. The famous frogmen. There was some slight wear on the caseback inbetween the lugs, but it's not noticeable enough to bother me and just as expected for a used watch. My heart sunk into my stomach a few days after receiving the watch. I pulled the crown out to set the time, pushed it back in, and the bugger just wouldn't engage. I fiddled for a bit and all of a sudden the crown and stem fell out of the case. I thought to myself, "did I just break my watch only two days in?" Thankfully with some reading here and next door at RWI, it was a simple fix. Popped the case back off, inserted the stem and tightened the 'stem release screw' and it was back to working like a charm. The Ultra-tiny Micro Adjustment Screw. Curiously though, I did find a tiny and I mean TINY screw floating around in there. Turns out its the Micro Adjustment Screw from the Swan Neck regulator. Not sure how it came loose but I'll put it back in it's proper place once the watch winds down(taking forever I might add!). Lume shot. Lume on the hands slightly weaker than the rest of the dial. I'm not that enthused about the lume in this watch, but that is mainly the result of being spoilt by all the gorgeous lume shots here on the boards, but the stock lume is decent for now, even though the lume on the hands is a bit weak in my opinion. All in all I'm more than happy with the watch considering what I paid for it. Though a dial change and relume would probably come up sometime in the future. It was an excellent transaction with Foodmaker and I wouldn't hesitate buying from him again. The stock strap on the rep is decent and wears fairly comfortably but of course, as with all Pam owners, I've developed a bit of a 'fetish' about straps for my watch. Machiavegli posted a topic about his gorgeous Dark Oil strap from Gunny and having bought from Peter before, have no doubts one of his straps will be on my current(or future) Pam(s), but I probably should finish my Space Dweller project first! Once again I'd like to thank Foodmaker for the excellent transaction. Del, Member X and Watch.aholic and all others who convinced me to buy this watch. I haven't regretted it! Thanks for reading this rather longwinded post, hope you enjoyed it! And for prospective buyers of the 292K, to quote Watch.aholic; Just feel like mentioning here that I've got a 292k and it does not suffer from any of the alleged issues that a few 292k's were inflicted with. Therefore this being a 'k' should not be a deterrent to prospective buyers. GLWS. A final wristie for your time! -Arism- Edited May 29, 2012 by Arism Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
James. 4 Posted May 29, 2012 Lovely write up. Bangin watches. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Del 4,461 Posted May 29, 2012 Congrats mate - glad it all worked out well for you! (Great story and review btw!) Just be careful with the strap changes - it doesn't take much to chip the ceramic case around those lug bar holes.......I should know! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MadeOfCheese 0 Posted May 29, 2012 Just be careful with the strap changes - it doesn't take much to chip the ceramic case around those lug bar holes.......I should know! Also, the screws are like liquorice and the black coating comes off the lug bars very easily. Still a great watch though. Try it on a chunky vintage tan strap for that 'casual' look - looks great! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jeffw69 0 Posted May 29, 2012 Very nice review and pictures, thanks. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
watch.aholic 538 Posted May 29, 2012 I am glad you bought this one mate and I just hope the lugs hold out on this one or I'd have to find a hiding place :yoohoo: The 292 is a beautiful watch and I absolutely adore mine...It's so comfy and sits so well....Besides it ain't tall so easily goes under the cuff.... Great buy mate...... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
machiavegli 6 Posted May 29, 2012 Nice review and pics, Arism. Cool technique to use the loupe as a magnifying lens for pics, too! -Mach Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Serge D 0 Posted May 29, 2012 I would be a little more carefull posting pics of my thighs. Im surprised noones bothered by the unusual background J/k. Nice watch mate, wear in health. I have 5 luminor cased pams, just bought 288 and wonder how it feels on my wrist since its a 45mm. I didnt realize when the bug got me, i was so busy with pams. My wifes "OMG another watch?" wasnt scarring me at all. But being bitten by a bug sounds much scarrier, my friend had to point it out to me. Trying to keep myself calm since then lol. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Arism 26 Posted May 29, 2012 I would be a little more carefull posting pics of my thighs. Im surprised noones bothered by the unusual background J/k. You don't like my thighs? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gtwc 1 Posted May 29, 2012 Nice review and write-up. Great pics. I also thought that these later 292's were supposed to be 'Pig'free - can anyone else shed some light on this? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Serge D 0 Posted May 29, 2012 I would be a little more carefull posting pics of my thighs. Im surprised noones bothered by the unusual background J/k. You don't like my thighs? Definitely more entertaining than borring Panerai brochures Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Member X 91 Posted May 29, 2012 Excellent stuff I hope it all runs well and has no issues now! lol The pig dial is interesting, I wasn't aware any of the H-Factory versions had it on?? Make sure you use the blue loctite threadlock stuff on the screws once you've changed the strap, as if you lose one it's a long wait for delivery of replacements from Panatime lol Interesting about the swan neck screw thing too - I've a feeling that my 177 may have had its one come out as well, but I can't find any pictures on my computer of it to check Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Arism 26 Posted May 29, 2012 (edited) Cheers for reading and thanks for the kind words guys! I'll be extremely careful when I change the strap, hopefully it goes without a hitch The watch finally winded down earlier this evening and gave me a chance to fix the swan neck. I assume the proper way of fixing this is removing the movement from the case, but my reading over on RWI mentioned that most(if not all) swan necks in reps are aesthetic and mainly just there to look nice. Info can be found here ---> http://www.replica-w...part-84846.html So rather than taking the whole movement out, I just removed the swan neck and put the micro-adjustment screw back in it's place before putting the whole 'repaired' part back onto the movement, using dead-reckoning as to how much space to leave for the regulator lever. All done. Micro-adjustment screw back in place. As I mentioned earlier, I suspect the swan neck is purely for aesthetics as the micro-adjustment was fully screwed in while still having a tiny gap between itself and the regulator lever. Nonetheless I'm glad everything is back where it should be and that the watch is running fine. A word of warning, the screws(micro-adjustment and screws securing the swan neck in place) are incredibly tiny. The latter probably being <3mm. So they are insanely easy to lose. Don't say I didn't warn you! Once again thanks for reading and the kind words! Will hopefully get round to doing more write ups! -Arism- Edited May 29, 2012 by Arism Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sconehead 5 Posted May 29, 2012 Congrats mate - glad it all worked out well for you! (Great story and review btw!) Just be careful with the strap changes - it doesn't take much to chip the ceramic case around those lug bar holes.......I should know! ...it ain't so hard... http://www.rwgboard.com/board/index.php?showtopic=4984&hl=%2Bradiomir+%2B&fromsearch=1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
