Just indulged in a Parnis Portuguese (IWC lookalike) power reserve auto of the bay should be with me by the end of the week bit of an impulse buy. Whats the opinions around here on Parnis watches good or bad ?
I had an impulse purchase of one a few weeks back (a Retrograde Power reserve, open heart) it's very pleasant for the money.
The leather strap is awful (quite where the leather comes from?! A goose maybe?) and it has a very noisy rotor but nice all the same. :)
Does the power reserve meter work ok ? one reason I liked these was because of this feature with most of my autos if I go to bed wearing one, then by morning they seem to have stopped which kind of defeats the idea of an automatic self winding watch !Originally Posted by LukeBird
Is the rotor noise really bad ? i.e loud enough to scare away any small animals :)
I had one... Power reserve works fine, mine had a screw missing from the rotor and it would ding-ding against the crystal back. I hadn't noticed any of that before I sold it (on this forum I think) so I guess it depends on your sensitivity to these things...
Oh, and the strap on mine was nice enough (IMHO) but I think they change from seller to selller:
I bought a Parnis through another sales forum last year to check out the custom-made strap that it was attached to.
Paid ~$40USD which is what the strap was new, I think.
Not in my realm of interest, but the watch looks nice enough, keeps good time, and is of acceptable quality.
Just for kicks I refinished the dial to remove the "Parnis Mechanical" text and re-lumed the sandwich dial.
Same watch as yours Kutosov, but mine has a black strap, which on the pictures looks ok but will post some pics of it here when It arrives.
It is difficult to comment after you bought it. :wink:
john
THIN is the new BLACK
It was a bit of an impulse buy, so If I don't bond with it then it'll be off somewheres else ! would'nt like to attempt a re-lume on any of the watches I own, but some of them could certainly use it :shock:I bought a Parnis through another sales forum last year to check out the custom-made strap that it was attached to.
Paid ~$40USD which is what the strap was new, I think.
Not in my realm of interest, but the watch looks nice enough, keeps good time, and is of acceptable quality.
Just for kicks I refinished the dial to remove the "Parnis Mechanical" text and re-lumed the sandwich dial.
Straight out with it man dont be shy, whats up with them ?It is difficult to comment after you bought it. :wink:
john
Mine has just been sitting on the bench.
I was going to give it to my brother-in-law who I think would dig it, but haven't gotten to it.
Maybe a good one to practice on!
:lol:
Well, the Portuguese isn't the one to try, there's no lume (nice blue metallic paint on hands and markers). Sandwich dials are easy enough to relume, not much chance of screwing it up. The hard part is getting the hands off and (especially) putting them back on.
BTW, I really like Radiomir looky-like :wink:
great for the money, some qc issues, good for instant gratification but ive never held on to one for long..
Good luck everybody. Have a good one.
Yeah the Power Reserve works fine. :)Does the power reserve meter work ok ? one reason I liked these was because of this feature with most of my autos if I go to bed wearing one, then by morning they seem to have stopped which kind of defeats the idea of an automatic self winding watch !
Is the rotor noise really bad ? i.e loud enough to scare away any small animals :)
The noise isn't terrifying but it is pretty loud.
I reckon a service would get it sounding smoother and quieter (that and the Retrograde is a bit off at the extreme ends of the month); as mentioned I think it's more QC problems than anything else.
Oh, I should add that I asked the seller to send it with the brown strap instead of the black one. I think it's the same kind of strap only the colour changes. If it is, it's actually a nice enough strap, I've seen far worst.
I bought two Parnis watches from 'Daji Watch'. One was a manual Pan homage; it works really very well and has a lovely display back. I think it needs a better strap and reluming though. The other was the Portuguese homage that the OP is talking about, it looks great from the front but I'm not too keen on the display back. The rotor noise is extremely noisy and rough and it was also running a little wildly, so I sent it off to Steve Burrage to have it looked at.
I think all in all they're pretty good, but the Portuguese look-a-like maybe in the SC soon lol.
And it will go fast!!... so little risk with these things and they are good fun! :wink:
Well its arrived ! I am still getting used to it as it were ! its the biggest watch in my small collection at 43mm diameter. Liking it so far, with no complaints the rotor is noisy when spinning but only when I have the watch in my hand and shaking it is it noticeable. I think its made worse because of the large area of the back of the watch being glass. It is not noticeable to me when wearing the watch. The strap isnt too bad either it is not uncomfortable to my wrist at least.
Timekeeping seems good so far but needs further running to get a better idea.
Anyway heres some pictures :D
Got an Alpha gmt coming soon it will be interesting comparing both these watches as they use chinese movements in them, not sure which movement is in the Alpha but I do know its another Chinese :)
The Alpha GMT has a Shanghai B and it's a much, much better movement IMHO. Alphas are better watches than Parnis, if you liked the Portuguese homage, you'll fall in love with the GMT.
Special Alpha tip.... the mechanical chronos they have are a lot better than the GMTs and Subs. These are very good for the money but the chronos are incredible value with ST19 movements and much better finishing! There's an Alpha "Panda" in my watch list...
I bought this one a few weeks back and have to say that for sub £50 its pretty fantastic.
I've worn it a few times and it seems to keep good time and function correctly. Tourbillon is not a tourbillon, but its pretty and interesting to look at as open hearts are.
Not sure I'll want to keep it forever and agree that the strap is terrible and possibly plastic(!), but it sure goes to show what a shocking rip off all our £3k+ watches really are!! :shock:
Kutosov thanks for the heads up on the Alpha's :wink: I thought the st25 fitted to the Parnis was supposed to be a better quality movement than the st19, but not had a lot of experience with all this stuff, just trying to learn as much as I can as I go along.
To Mr Noble
Looks nice thanks for the pic! the fancy windmill under the balance is still fitted in the Portuguese lookalike you can see it working when looking through the back case. I also understand some of the newer Timex's are using the same st25 movement and showing the tourbillion effect.
Nha... look at this beauty (ST19)
Wow see what you mean Kutosov :shock: thats a work of art in there! so these are fitted in the Paul Newman Alphas ?
I've nothing against Parnis but PLEASE leave the chronometer text out when it actually is not one. That's a big step towards fake from the land of homage. Also open hearts without anything spectacular to show are quite zenith these days (no good).
Yeap, and on the Daytonas. I think it's on every Alpha mechanical chrono. That one on the photo is a Radiomir chrono.
Actually the term chronometer is not as straightforward as you might think (don't confuse it with chronograph) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chronometer_watch
Do they have clear casebacks as well?Yeap, and on the Daytonas. I think it's on every Alpha mechanical chrono. That one on the photo is a Radiomir chrono.
I'd like an ST19 equipped Chrono (do any have a date complication?) but want to see it!
I don't think so, I'm pretty sure the Dytonas and the PN have screw backs. AFAIK, only the Radiomir chrono has a see-through back... It's this one (it now belongs to Martin):
I've owned a GMT, a Sub LV and this one and I can tell you that this Radiomir is miles away quality-wise than the other two. And those two are already very impressive considering the price!
BTW, no, they don't have date. If you need it, I suggest you look into a 3133 Russian chronograph. They cost around twice as much as the Alphas though and it's usually a movement without decoration and blue screws and all that.
Thanks for the reply.
I have a 3133-equipped Poljot (without a clearback though :().
I have a Seagull 1963 reissue en route to me, so that will have to suffice for an ST19-equipped chrono for now.
A shame there is no ST19-equipped Chrono with clear caseback, a date and a nicely decorated movement.
I don't recall ever seeing one with date but if there is then it probably isn't called an ST19. It's like the Poljots 31659... it's just a 3133 that hacks :mrgreen:
Yeah, very true. :)
LukeBird
Love to see some pics of that 1963 re-issue when you receive it! been looking at those and like them very much. Hope you let us all know your findings when it arrives!
Yeap, those are nice!! I've been very tempted by one but then thought it might be too much of an early Strela look-alike and I would rather get one of those (maybe this makes no sense, if it doesn't just don't mind me :mrgreen: )
Not many places seem to be selling the 1963 re-issue last time I checked their web site only listed one in stock!
They have a bit of a strela look to them, but I like the slightly less complicated dial, they do have a certain oriental look to them.
I meant these without the metrometer of later models:
Still, the 1963 has those nice blue hands and the Chinese characters so it's different enough and maybe even a bit more classy! I would seriously consider getting one if such a thing turned up on the SC (in a few months at least :mrgreen: )
No problem, I'll get some pics up when it arrives. :)
It departed Hong Kong on the 3rd, but it isn't shown on tracking in the UK yet. :(
Details of where it came from will follow when it arrives!
Cheers :) look forward to thatNo problem, I'll get some pics up when it arrives. :)
It departed Hong Kong on the 3rd, but it isn't shown on tracking in the UK yet. :(
Details of where it came from will follow when it arrives!
On this site I bought the watch, high quality http://www.parnis.cc/
I bought this one a few weeks back and have to say that for sub £50 its pretty fantastic.
I've worn it a few times and it seems to keep good time and function correctly. Tourbillon is not a tourbillon, but its pretty and interesting to look at as open hearts are.
Not sure I'll want to keep it forever and agree that the strap is terrible and possibly plastic(!), but it sure goes to show what a shocking rip off all our £3k+ watches really are!! :shock:
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