dpmhi x know1edge watch - what do you think???

[robideaux]

here is one with a real PVD coating

[holotekor]

i got mine on the 26th.

[drgitlin]

been emailing endclothing on and off about the status of the watch.

"We are just waiting for them to come in from Maharishi. As soon as we

have them we will ship them directly to our customers. I apologise for

the delay but there is nothing I can do until I have received them.

Have a nice New Year,"

anyone else stateside get their watch from endclothing yet?

No, and I've been calling them trying to find out why they still haven't gotten them from Maharishi yet when other people have received theirs already. I do hope we're not being fucked around.

[drgitlin]

i got mine on the 26th.

Yes, but did you order yours from End Clothing?

[IncaBlocHead]

it just seems like a lot of money to waste on a poor automatic movement. the case is painted, and the crystal is probably mineral. it will probably last a couple years at most. for a little bit more money you can get a decent panerai "HOMAGE" watch, which are genuinely high quality 1:1 reproductions of vintage models but lack any name branding. many of these panerai homage's use the same base caliber swiss movements as the originals. they surface on ebay from time to time, but they tend to go for a few hundred bucks..... if you know who the supplier is, you can email them directly and get a really good price on a custom assembled watch of your choice of case size/type (radiomir/luminor; 44mm/47mm), dial (sandwich/sausage), crystal (sapphire or acrylic), and movement.

between a custom built swiss movement homage watch for a couple hundred and this cheap imitation i would rather choose the custom. the truth of the matter is that they are both instances of copyright infringement on panerai's patented crown guard mechanism. which do you all think is more honorable, making a quality homage with no labels or markings or slapping some streetwear brand name and an unclever deliberately mispelled (with a number in lieu of a letter) word on a cheap asian movement watch (and then marketing it as swiss).

Several years ago there was another brand, RXW, which panerai's legal team compelled to halt production. they based their design off a vintage model and used a good quality swiss made ETA 6497 caliber movement. retail at the time was about $400, but thanks to their high quaility and limited production they became somewhat collectable and now sell for upwards of $2000. unfortunately, i highly doubt the same will come of this cheap imitator.

Naturally, this watch is not going to have a Unitas movement or anything even remotely close to my Pam048, or any other Panerai for that matter. However, I would argue that you are not giving these watches enough credit. I have searched eBay high and low, and you seldom get anything that is even somewhat credible looking for the $200 price mark. Sure, you can get a knockoff Panerai around that price, but the movements are more than often very cheap, the hands fall off, or there are significantly noticible aesthetic differences between the authentic Panerai version, and the knockoff you would receive. While this watch is essentially a cheaper copy of the Panerai with a colorful twist, at least it offers a collector some value in its limited production, and doesn't make you look like a stroke that walked through China Town and picked up a cz encrusted Pamerai just to look the part of a rapper or a watch connoisseur.

I have owned many fine timepieces, and this is most certainly not one that will fall into this category. However, I chose to own an orange 'Officine' (I know, I know..., even the name is a rip off...) because it was inexpensive for an everyday wear, and offers great aesthetic in the urban atmosphere. I will continue to wear my Panerai, but this watch is a novel alternate, while not making me look like every unrefined 'I bought it off eBay, but it's real' knuckle dragger.

And, yes, RXWs were nice.

Cheers,

- IncaBlocHead

[drgitlin]

End still say they're waiting for delivery. I'm starting to smell a rat.

[drgitlin]

Well End aren't the only one waiting for delivery, Drooghi are too. Looks like customers who bought direct from DPMHI got priority over companies...

Interesting...

[aDj]

you can order them from Capsule in Toronto: http://www.c-apsule.com/know1edge-m-37.html

$240 CDN

[drgitlin]

End finally got theirs, and they're going out today.

[mike lowrey]

here is one with a real PVD coating

I love these. whats the story with these Marina ones and the Panerais, are the panerais the original ones or..? is Marina Militare a brand?

I've seen some MM ones for $100-200, are they knock-offs or whats the deal? I wanna get one of those because they're in my price range, but I'm not familiar with the brand.

[triniboy27]

This watch is ridiculous. I know it's been said before but all they've done is COMPLETELY ripped off the Panerai design and aesthetic, right down to the box, and slapped some different colours on there.

How can this be considered 'design'?

[cureOne]

I love these. whats the story with these Marina ones and the Panerais, are the panerais the original ones or..? is Marina Militare a brand?

I've seen some MM ones for $100-200, are they knock-offs or whats the deal? I wanna get one of those because they're in my price range, but I'm not familiar with the brand.

I don't know anything about watches, but I would assume those are all knockoffs (they all seem to be listed in singapore) of this

http://cgi.ebay.com/Panerai-PAM217-47mm-1950-Destro-Marina-Militare_W0QQitemZ230074554980QQihZ013QQcategoryZ31387QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Either way I think I might buy one of the knockoffs because I'm an asshole like that.

[retrored]

It's a piece of junk watch with an automatic movement that you can't take into the shower or wear more then a few years.

Automatic, Manual Wind watches are purchased primairly for love, and secondly for time keeping.

That's where all the resentment is coming from. This is a peice of crap. PLain and simple.

[Guest jmatsu]

exactly! i fucking loathe this watch and it's theme/concept whatever. knowledge is gay and i never thought that maharishi would sink so low. yet another streetbrand watch imitation to put next to your bapex. at least fucking bape (which is terrible as well) came out with a panerai rip off a couple years ago. there is no difference between this and a fake, except that some fakes/replicas are probably made better.

this watch is an abomination. fucking crap incarnate.

[superdupersang]

exactly! i fucking loathe this watch and it's theme/concept whatever. knowledge is gay and i never thought that maharishi would sink so low. yet another streetbrand watch imitation to put next to your bapex. at least fucking bape (which is terrible as well) came out with a panerai rip off a couple years ago. there is no difference between this and a fake, except that some fakes/replicas are probably made better.

this watch is an abomination. fucking crap incarnate.

its know1edge, not knowledge

[retrored]

its know1edge, not knowledge

whatever, fuck brian swiswojo and his rich parents. knowledge is lame.

[robideaux]

I love these. whats the story with these Marina ones and the Panerais, are the panerais the original ones or..? is Marina Militare a brand?

I've seen some MM ones for $100-200, are they knock-offs or whats the deal? I wanna get one of those because they're in my price range, but I'm not familiar with the brand.

yes, so my original point: if your going to get a panerai knock-off, at least make it a good one. it is more honorable to have a custom panerai style watch (lacking any name brandings) assembled with your choice of case/crystal/dial/movement, rather than buy some mass marketed knock-off. a decent custom watch, with c3 superlume, ETA swiss movement, and sapphire crystal, will set you back about 300 bucks or so but the quality will be there. the photos i posted are from the photobucket account of a watchmaker in hongkong who makes custom watches to the specific needs of the customer (well based on what parts he has in stock or access to). he pressure tests and everything, and guaruntees his products. i have only purchased spare watch parts from him before, but he has been 100% trust worthy and reliable.

if i understand correctly marina militare is the italian navy. panerai produced watches for them in either WWI or II. back then they used a rolex caliber pocketwatch movement. the brand was eventually bought by the richemont group, who owns rolex and countless other companies back in 1996 or so. modern panerais produced by richemont are in effect replicas of vintage military watches. there is no direct lineage between the original panerai watches and modern ones. Richemont merely bought the name. therefore i feel the design is fair game for "knocking off." it is a style of watch that has entered the public domain--the collective consciousness of pop-culture--and should be free for anyone to access or reference, like an old folk song or story.

[triniboy27]

. modern panerais produced by richemont are in effect replicas of vintage military watches. there is no direct lineage between the original panerai watches and modern ones. Richemont merely bought the name. therefore i feel the design is fair game for "knocking off." it is a style of watch that has entered the public domain--the collective consciousness of pop-culture--and should be free for anyone to access or reference, like an old folk song or story.

I disagree - Richemont didn't just buy the name - it bought the entire design with it. It's not like they took the Panerai name and slapped it onto some watches that looked nothing like original Panerais. They've maintained the original aesthetic and design of the original watches.

Using your logic, because car companies like Rolls Royce and Bentley have been bought over by larger car companies, their inherent and quite unique designs are fair game for knocking off too?

[robideaux]

I disagree - Richemont didn't just buy the name - it bought the entire design with it. It's not like they took the Panerai name and slapped it onto some watches that looked nothing like original Panerais. They've maintained the original aesthetic and design of the original watches.

Using your logic, because car companies like Rolls Royce and Bentley have been bought over by larger car companies, their inherent and quite unique designs are fair game for knocking off too?

it is not merely the fact that they've been bought out by a larger company that justifies the right to knock off their design. It's all about the name and who does the designing. original panerai watches were designed for utility, not luxury. the patented crown lock mechanism was a response to the patent rolex had on the screw down crown. nowadays, most watches come equipped with screw down crowns--its an industry standard. what was one a unique design became something quite commonplace.

panerai's crown guard--which was designed merely to fulfil the same function--has more semiotic value. i think most people are drawn to panerai styled watches with their huge crown guard because it looks masculine and militant, not rich and luxurious.

looking at the classic panerai's which were first produced for utility and comparing that to the huge catalogue of contemporary panerais one cannot help but wonder who comes up with all these designs. Personally i dont know, but i am sure it's not a single person let alone the original designer of the classic panerai style. My intuitions tell me that it is a bunch of overpaid designers who are asked to work off an original blueprint and preserve certain distinctive features like the crown guard, font, etc. but truthfully there is no real connection (only one of corporate ownership) between the original military instruments and the contemporary luxury commodities. its not like cezzane's countless variations of mount st. victoire; its capatalist mass production (though they do produce limited batches, which is why they have needed hundreds of diff models over the years--marketing ploy) orchestrated by richemont.

[sygyzy]

Wow, I haven't visited this thread for a while and I hadn't realized the firestorm my post would set off. First off, I didn't intend to many anyone feel bad about their decsion to purchase this watch. I just think that people should at least have some background knowledge on what they are buying, especially when it means looking silly (to put it lightly) rocking cheap knockoff of a very popular design.

I am surprised at the (albeit small) number of people here who actually are WIS's (look it up). You guys surprised me. As for someone asking about what a good Panerai look-a-like would be, let me tell you one thing - It's not U-Boat. That watch company is rediculous as well.

It's not hard to get a quality Swiss or Japanese (yes I said it) watch for under $500. I;d give you alot more respect and praise for rocking one of those rather than this POS. I also agree with those that said tasteful or respectful copies are far better than cheap imitations. I have a O&W and a Speedbird, both of which look similar to much more expensive counter parts (Rolex and IWC respectively) but nobody would claim I wast trying to pass it off as the real deal.

[Guest jmatsu]

hey guy, don't feel bad. no one is hating on you personally.

a couple people just don't like the watch and cannot rationalize it's purchase.

[thescott]

After seeing this knowledge watch I really started to fall in love with the Panerai Uboat style, and I was also coming very close to purchasing the knowledge piece, but after reading the posts here and doing some online research of my own, I'm instead leaning towards this panerai homage available at www.internationalwatchman.com :

Case size 44mm

Lug size 24mm

Sapphire crystal front and back(no solid back included)

ETA 2824-2

25 Jewel

28,800 VPH

Hack second

Working lever lock crown guard

Quick set date

Luminova Numbers & hands

Waterproof to 60 meters

38 Hour power reserve

Cordovan leather strap

This watch comes in at about $250 USD for the automatic and seems to be the real deal. I've browsed other watch forums and the guy who makes these has a legit rep. I think for the amount of money this costs versus the knowledge this is way better value. I also looked into the RXW MM20 but prices seem to be around the $1500 mark, which is getting a little out of my price range.

[robideaux]

After seeing this knowledge watch I really started to fall in love with the Panerai Uboat style, and I was also coming very close to purchasing the knowledge piece, but after reading the posts here and doing some online research of my own, I'm instead leaning towards this panerai homage available at www.internationalwatchman.com :

Case size 44mm

Lug size 24mm

Sapphire crystal front and back(no solid back included)

ETA 2824-2

25 Jewel

28,800 VPH

Hack second

Working lever lock crown guard

Quick set date

Luminova Numbers & hands

Waterproof to 60 meters

38 Hour power reserve

Cordovan leather strap

This watch comes in at about $250 USD for the automatic and seems to be the real deal. I've browsed other watch forums and the guy who makes these has a legit rep. I think for the amount of money this costs versus the knowledge this is way better value. I also looked into the RXW MM20 but prices seem to be around the $1500 mark, which is getting a little out of my price range.

once again, this is not a homage but a knock off. it may be of better quality, if the specs listed actually are true. but the fact of the matter is that instead of luminor panerai there is some cheap sounding surrogate name like marine diver. i should've been more clear: a homage is a built to exact specs of a classic watch like the more vintage and collectable panerais, but generally lack any name branding. they are a generic clone if you will. once someone tries to slap their own name on it, it the watch loses its appeal IMHO. if you want the email to my guy in HK, send me a PM... ill set you up with his photobucket info.

[superdupersang]

once again, this is not a homage but a knock off. it may be of better quality, if the specs listed actually are true. but the fact of the matter is that instead of luminor panerai there is some cheap sounding surrogate name like marine diver. i should've been more clear: a homage is a built to exact specs of a classic watch like the more vintage and collectable panerais, but generally lack any name branding. they are a generic clone if you will. once someone tries to slap their own name on it, it the watch loses its appeal IMHO. if you want the email to my guy in HK, send me a PM... ill set you up with his photobucket info.

robideaux, either it is a panerai or it isnt.

mine isnt, marine diver isnt and your homage isnt

deal with it

[robideaux]

if you've paid any attention you would've read that i dont own a "homage." i've merely purchased a spare crystal and movement for a vintage pocket watch from this guy in the past. i too used to think panerai had a cool and clean design about 3 years ago, when i first heard of the brand from a friend. i even rocked a 001C for a little while (you can pick these up on the used market for only a couple G's). but i dumped the bugger when they became the spokeswatch for overweight, bald, middle aged white guys trying to be flashyand hip. anyone with decent credit can pick up a brand new panerai base. when i actually learned what they're made of (movement wise), i realized how much of this watch's popularity is mere hype (aside from the rarer models which have more complicated movements). the only reason this style of watch is worth buying is for the design, which i've argued before has no real relation to the folks at richemont (they've merely paid for the rights to carry the name and reproduce watches that resemble the original military watches). All i'm trying to do is steer a fellow SuFu-er in the direction of a more sensible purchase--one that wont be frowned upon by watch enthusiasts, a custom built nameless watch with a little more soul.

[superdupersang]

by your homage i didnt mean the one own but the one you harp on about

and i do read all post in a thread. dipshit

so panerai is all hype design and no subst?

then whats the fuss about getting a similar design, bit of intrest as a limited edition

and best of all not that expencive

im happy ur in the priveledged position to drop a couple of G's on a timepiece but i dont have that luxury

and the next watch i have my eye on is this

[eutum]

just to let you guys know, karmaloop.com has em. And for a descent price with those discounts...

found one... Rep Code KK5061

[readytoignite]

it's true that the watch is of dubious workmanship - i'm not fussy about watches (i'm deficient in both the watch gene and the car gene) but the one i bought gains two minutes a day(!) which is probably fine as i'm chronically late but you do kind of wonder what you're paying for.

otoh, i suppose it should be obvious that the market in play for this particular watch is more concerned about the label rather than quality. at any rate it's rather disappointing all the same.

[padawan]

I have the Black DPMHI watch and find that it also gains around 2 mins a day? anyone else?

[superdupersang]

mine has stopped gaining 2 mins a day now.

do movts. need time to bed in?

most prob due to the shoddy mechanism, but still a a nice looking watch