A Week On The Wrist: The Zodiac Sea Wolf
1953 was the year the dive watch was born. Sure, the quirky Art Deco OMEGA Marine went underwater in 1932 and (Rolex-cased) Panerais were on the wrists of Italian commandos in Word War II, but it was at the 1953 Basel watch fair that the first purpose-built dive watches appeared. While the Rolex Submariner wouldn’t make its official debut until the 1954 fair, two other brands proudly introduced their divers in ’53: Blancpain with its Fifty Fathoms and Zodiac with the Sea Wolf. They say history is written by the victors and indeed, Blancpain and Rolex have capitalized on their long lineages while the Sea Wolf was all but forgotten, other than its dubious distinction as the wrist-wear of a serial killer in the 1970s who took his watch fetish a little too far by calling himself “Zodiac.” With Zodiac’s forthcoming re-release of the Sea Wolf, it’s a good excuse to look back at the pioneering watch’s history and evaluate the new watch.The Fifty Fatho

Your Thoughts???
Hello Friends,Lately I've been contemplating the Omega brand. More specifically the Omega 2254 (like the look and a discontinued model) and the 3570 (the only watch to make it to the moon). Just wondering what some of you Rolex/Omega collectors thought? If you own one, please show some pics and let me know how they measure up to your almighty Rolex. Thanks in advance.

Outgoing...
Did I say incoming? Make that landed The reasoning behind my selection of this one goes beyond logic, maybe beyond even WIS-logic and into the realms of that small (and at times short-sighted) group, Il Paneristi. In my feeble defense, I made the mistake of accepting an invitation to Firenze not to long ago and the temptation got the best of me...Four numerals, small seconds and last but certainly not least, the Marina Militare label... c/o Ralf und Volker... I'd never buy such a watch w/o seeing it in person so it was fate when my favorite local grey dealer pulled it out to show me. Only one owner, originating from an Austrian AD (I curr. reside in Vienna), properly used, but not abused; my dealer decided not to do anything to it so that the buyer could decide. Considering it's not vintage per say, I'm going to have him send it in to OP for a full service and (minimal) surface polish.My two PAMs will pretty much keep me satisfied for a long time to come*... big and clean vs. complic

Hand change
In recently bought a pam510. I love the piece but as I look at other Panerai models, I'm realizing I like shiny silver colored hands better than the black. Is it possible to swap out the black hands with a polished steel/silver/white gold hands?Can any watchmaker do this even though it is an in-house movement?Any ideas on cost and labor?Does anyone know somebody in the Chicago area who could do it?I have the discontinued sandwich dial so will this kill the watch as far as collectibility or resale?

Opinions on my first Panerai model...
So I've seen a lot of threads in the past regarding which Panerai one should start their collection with. Most commonly people refer to 47mm Panerai Luminor 1950. I get that this probably the closest to what is considered the classic Panerai piece.Please indulge me with the same question but with more specific criteria and your opinions. First off, I own the watches listed in my signature. I am looking for something different. This puts the Submersible or GMTs as being a redundant pieces for me and it also means I want nothing on a bracelet. When I think of Panerai I definitely want a leather strap. I am looking for something around 44 to 45mm, costing between 5-8k (obviously stainless steel), and would prefer hand wound as opposed to automatic. I am on the fence if I want to go Radiomir or Luminor. I know I could plug these criteria into the website and get a list of options but I am looking for expert opinions and reasons. My first three watches were must owns for me, this