Between the Pam 203 and Pam 372 with 240 cal (image heavy)
Not a Pam 203 and not really a Pam 372...a Modern Vintage
Why Build it? I believe Panerai once had a small surplus of brand new Angelus 240 cal movements that they used to build the Panerai 203. With this in mind three people got together and we decided that we didn't want to try and make a copy of the 203 therefore we asked the question.... " if we could choose the best case to put the 240 cal in what case would we use ?" We all agreed on the Pam 372, for us, it the best shaped case.
The Builds: Originally a total of 3 watches were built. One had the original Pam 372 engravings on the case, the other two had references to Pam 372 removed, all had Angelus 240 cal movements.
The Dial: The Pam 203 was built as a Modern Vintage with 2 Piece dial. True Vintage Panerai’s had much thicker 3 Piece dials about 2 mm thick which are very thick compared with dials today. We wanted to use the traditional 2mm thick dial but make it modern.
The Case: Starting with a 372 case this had to be machined to take the thicker movement and thick dial. Its like trying to put a wagon engine into a car, it simply will not fit without a lot of machining.
Crystal: This was upgraded to a WSO Sapphire Crystal with excellent AR properties (available on the net) .
Water-Proof: As yet to be tested I believe the watches are water proof, not sure of the depth but when I get time I will have one of the watches pressure tested.
The rest is shown in images below.
December 2015: (Project Started)
Below: a new case arrived ready for conversion.
http://www.vintagewatchparts.co.uk/g...don372-001.jpg
Below: First Stage Machining completed
http://www.vintagewatchparts.co.uk/g...don372-002.jpg
Below: The engraving has been removed and the Bezel is being developed
http://www.vintagewatchparts.co.uk/g...don372-003.jpg
Below: The dial, anodized and textured with super lume. This image shows the soldered dial feet
http://www.vintagewatchparts.co.uk/g...don372-004.jpg
Below: The bezel is complicated, its made up of 3 parts, all have to be precision otherwise the case can never be water tight.
http://www.vintagewatchparts.co.uk/g...don372-005.jpg
Below: With the gasket added the next stage is to upgrade and fit a Sapphire Crystal (expensive but worth it) Note this case has the engraving on the sides.
http://www.vintagewatchparts.co.uk/g...on372-005a.jpg
Below: The engine a fully converted and serviced Angelus 240 cal
http://www.vintagewatchparts.co.uk/g...on372-005b.jpg
Below: The Original Two of the three watches that were first built. Mine is the one with the original Panerai Strap which I plan to keep on the watch
http://www.vintagewatchparts.co.uk/g...don372-006.jpg
Below: The engine is fitted, in car terms this is a big block V8 (8 days not 8 cylinders)
http://www.vintagewatchparts.co.uk/g...on372-008c.jpg
Below: Good to see the owner of this spent time and money to have the movement fully cleaned and serviced.
http://www.vintagewatchparts.co.uk/g...on372-009b.jpg
Below: A couple of the engravings we decided to keep.
http://www.vintagewatchparts.co.uk/g...on372-009c.jpg
Below: Super Lume at its best
http://www.vintagewatchparts.co.uk/g...on372-009e.jpg
Updated: (June 2016)
http://www.vintagewatchparts.co.uk/g...ts/gmv-001.jpg
http://www.vintagewatchparts.co.uk/g...ts/gmv-002.jpg
http://www.vintagewatchparts.co.uk/g...ts/gmv-003.jpg
http://www.vintagewatchparts.co.uk/g...ts/gmv-004.jpg
http://www.vintagewatchparts.co.uk/g...ts/gmv-005.jpg
http://www.vintagewatchparts.co.uk/g...ts/gmv-006.jpg
http://www.vintagewatchparts.co.uk/g...ts/gmv-007.jpg
http://www.vintagewatchparts.co.uk/g...ts/gmv-008.jpg
Between the Pam 203 and Pam 372 with 240 cal (image heavy)
He used to have that site vintagewatchparts in UK but it doesn’t work anymore :/
He build some amazing time pieces
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