A rare Panerai - the PAM 103

A hard to find limited edition Panerai, the rose gold Radiomir PAM103 is today’s rare beast. Made in a limited edition of 500 in 2002 (D and E series), this is an unusual Panerai for several reasons.

First of all, its size. At 40mm and 11mm thick, it’s significantly smaller than the current 45mm and 47mm Radiomirs.

Secondly, the PAM103 has appeal to even non-Panerai fans who make comments about the movements inside many of the brand’s watches. Inside the PAM103 is a Zenith movement - the automatic Calibre OP VII, base Zenith Elite 680. This is not the only Panerai with a Zenith movement however, the Zenith El Primero was used in various models such as the PAM52, PAM60 and PAM108.

SPECIFICATIONS

Movement: Panerai OP VII calibre, base Zenith Elite 680, 11 ½ lignes, 26 jewels. Glucydur balance, 28,800vph. Incabloc anti-shock device.

Power reserve: 55 hours

Dial: Luminous Arabic numerals and applied pink gold indices. Luminous pink gold baton hands.

Case and bezel: 40 mm, pink gold with removable wire loop strap attachments.

Caseback: Transparent sapphire crystal. Pink gold rotor with special Officine Panerai decoration

Water-resistance: 100 meters.

Strap: Alligator with a “PANERAI” signature buckle.
 

[AP]

Hands-on with a vintage Doxa Grafic

Doxa was founded in 1889 by 21 year old Georges Ducommun to create fine pocket watches, gradually progressing to fairly conservatively styled wristwatches and garnering a reputation for being a bit of an innovator, through developments such as his patenting of an 8-day watch movement in 1908. Interestingly, Bugatti used the Doxa 8-day movement instrument in its iconic Type 35 Bugatti.

On the death of Ducommun in 1936, the company's ownership moved to his son-in-law Jacques Nardin, grandson of another famous watchmaker, Ulysse Nardin. It was Nardin's stewardship which lead Doxa to diving watches, for which the brand has become most widely known in the modern era, most famously for its association with Jacques Cousteau and U.S. Diving Association, which lead to their first groundbreaking diving watch, the Sub300t, launched in 1967.

The advent of the quartz watch revolution hit the brand hard. Attempts to survive failed, and it ceased operations in 1980, only to be purchased by the Jenny family, and revived.

Against this background, it is almost a little odd that what has become one of its  iconic watches was, in fact, not only unusual for the brand, but also for its time. The Grafic of 1957, with its stark dial with a scaled down starburst pattern, was a Bauhaus influenced design born of Pierre Henry's (Doxa’s Advertising Manager) keenness for a thin, square cased dress watch that was non-angular. The trend at the time had been very much for round cases. 

Instead of positioning the brand name squarely at the centre of the dial, it was decided to place it at the lower right-hand corner, to give the design even more distinctiveness. The design proved immensely popular, leading to the production of a ladies’ version. Its longeivity was proven when it was re-issued, by popular demand, in 1995. It sold out. 

The "I'm Watch" smartwatch

White gold version

A few steps up from the LunaTik iPod watch conversion kit, Milan based Blue Sky s.r.l. is about to release the "I'm Watch", promoted as the world's first smartwatch. Designed with Android-based phones in mind, but apple (Blackberry to follow) compatible as well, it connects to your device via Bluetooth.

The smartwatch is divided into two distinct production lines, the more expensive "I'm Jewel" and the (still not inexpensive) "I'm Color".

Priced between US$840 and US$16,833, the "luxe" version will be available in white gold, pink gold, yellow gold, black gold or titanium finish with encrusted diamonds.

Yellow gold version

The "I'm Color" collection will be more basic, available in white, blue, green, yellow, red, pink and black, and priced at US$349.

Il Rustico

Il Rustico Rosticceria Siciliana
28 William St
Potts Point NSW 2010
Australia
Ph : (02) 9331 1196
Open daily until 10pm

Situated rather incongruously on Williams St just across the road from the Coke sign, Il Rustico has only been for open a couple of months, but word of mouth has meant that it already has fans and regular customers. On the day of my first visit I overheard someone telling the owner that a friend  had already eaten there three times that week.

It is a small casual establishment (seats twelve at three wooden benches and tables) and as well as dine-in, does a good trade in takeaway coffee and food. The menu and food available at the counter was reduced by the time of my second visit (no salads and fewer sweet items, for example), but whether this was temporary or a permanent fixture due to lack of customer demand, I don’t know.

What I do know is that their pizzas are not only good, but they are a bargain in Sydney terms. Ranging from $9 for a Margherita to the Parmiggiana (pomodoro, Mozzarella, eggplant, ham, marscapone, prosciutto) which is $12.50, the pizza menu is a compact eight items, of which five are vegetarian. As well as pizza, there are Foccacia (five types, by portion or by kilo) , Pidoni, Garibaldini, Pizzette, Panini, freshly made Arancini and Calzone (to order), and Lasagne.

The Pizza Margherita ($9) – at its best, simple and satisfying. At its worst, utterly boring. I’ve already blogged previously about some Margheritas in Sydney, and Il Rustica provided yet another different experience and rendition of this topping.

The thing that you first notice is the absence of basil leaves on top. As I was clearly able to taste basil, I wondered whether they were in fact using dried basil (there is dried oregano on top, as well as drizzled olive oil), but a query elicited the response that there is fresh basil used in the tomato base.

This was a good pizza, the crust thin, just as I like it, the edge crisp and puffed, the topping full of flavour. Would it have been improved by the basil being on top as well as incorporated into the sauce? I think that perhaps it would, but I’m actually not yet fully decided about this, as I really enjoyed it for what it was, especially the unexpected addition of the oregano. It is a pizza that I will eat again.

Space Invaders watch - the price of nostalgia

Romain Jerome, ever the brand searching for something that no-one else will do, whether this be the Titanic, the moon dust or the Eyjafjallajökull (yes I can say it, it’s my sole party trick) watches, has come up with yet another attention-grabbing model, though in this case, one that is probably far less controversial and with greater broad appeal.

Aimed clearly at the Atari generation, Japan’s TAITO Corporation has agreed to a partnership with Romain Jerome for a two limited edition series of Space Invaders watches. As a member of that generation, and a Space Invaders addict when it was released, this collaboration intrigued me by virtue of it being so unexpected. Then again, with Space Invaders adorning everything from shoes (Vans) to biscuit tins to ice trays nowadays, perhaps it was inevitable that a luxury watch was inevitable.

Using their Moon case (not just the shape, but the same case that has the Apollo 11 fragments), Romain Jerome’s two limited edition Space Invaders watches will only have a production run of 78 each, the number chosen to commemorate the year of the game’s birth.

The engraved plate on the caseback is made of what they call “Moon SilverRJ”, a silver alloy with an extremely low oxidisation rate, and incorporating moon rocks.

The distinctive part of these new watches is of course the dial. It is made of three layers of pixelated and shot peened dies featuring hand-drawn file strokes. Each of the Space Invaders is 3.5 mm, and lacquered in different colours (day version) or coated with Superluminova (night version).

Katzy's Food Factory

Katzy's Food Factory
Shop 2
113-115 Hall St
Bondi
NSW 2026
Ph: (02) 9130 6755

Sometimes I go through a sandwich phase. It's as though I can't get enough of bread filled up with whatever I crave at that time. It had also been a little while since I'd eaten at Bondi, so it was off to the well-established Katzy's Food Factory to satisfy a bit more of the sandwich "need".

I was there for the "Hot Beef on Rye" ($16.95), which you can order with salad or chips.

There was an oddly endearing quality to the partially missing crust, and the rather large serving of chips were also somewhat appealingly varied in shape, though a little on the dry side, tastewise. This  sandwich comes with a generous serving of chopped up pickles, which you can see behind the pile of chips.

The hot beef was generous in quantity, the bread coated in a thin smear of Dijon mustard, and this was the sort of sandwich that is pure uncomplicated comfort food. Nothing elaborate about it, but I enjoyed it sufficiently that I went back a week later and had another one.

The making of a Panerai

The Science Channel's How it's Made program, which shows how everyday things are created, recently took a horological bent, with an engaging and educational look at how a watch (in this case a Panerai) is made. Even for those of us who are Panerai owners it was still really interesting, as I had never seen footage of many of these processes.

Take a look. It's fascinating, regardless of whether you're a watch person or not, to see each step and to find out how much of this particular creation is automated and how much is done by hand.

Part one -

Part two -

Now tell me how you can watch this and NOT immediately want to go out and buy a mechanical watch?

[AP]