How would you like the PanAm to look?

[Arthur]

I'm involved in the Project 300 project but wonder if simply calling this watch the "MKII 707" might work. The nomenclature for the customer numbers and variants of this airplane was 707-XXX so Pan Am dials could read 707-001, 707-002, 707-003...which would be a nod to both the plane and watch's limited edition run. I imagine that 707-120 would be especially desirable since that was Pan Am's original launch order number. Fans of American (707-123), TWA (707-131), Qantus (707-138, first international order) or other airlines could request the 707 customer numbers issued to their favorite companies.

Possibly if you used this nomenclature to designate caseback numbers, it would be OK, but idf you did this on the dial, it would require every dial to be set up differently when printed. I would bet that the dial maker would be either very reluctant to do this, or price the dials way above the regular price..

Personally, I would be very happy with either "Key West" or Pan American as the name. I particularly like the idea that was rendered above.

MKII
Auto Winding

Pan American
GMT

[zivadavis]

i have read this thread from first post to the last one before my post......twce.....lots of great ideas

when mr yao decides on the final design(s) i will certainly be in line with $ in hand...

[Yao]

Possibly if you used this nomenclature to designate caseback numbers, it would be OK, but idf you did this on the dial, it would require every dial to be set up differently when printed. I would bet that the dial maker would be either very reluctant to do this, or price the dials way above the regular price..

Personally, I would be very happy with either "Key West" or Pan American as the name. I particularly like the idea that was rendered above.

MKII
Auto Winding

Pan American
GMT

The other issue with that is that on a good day the dial printer has a 20% scrap rate....so you can see how hard it would be to do a serial numbered dial.

I'd love to learn how to pad print here in my shop......but oh god would that be one deep rabbit hole! Perhaps when I have some free time :D

[Watchamacallit]

Auto Winding

Small niggle because this crops up again and again, even on my Kingston. :-) Miele use this term for the retractable cord in their vacuum cleaners. Teutonic translator, I guess. For watches, I think there isn’t really anything wrong with the established terms (self-winding, automatic).

The difference between the almost right word & the right word is really a large matter—it’s the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning. —Mark Twain

[enkidu]

The other issue with that is that on a good day the dial printer has a 20% scrap rate....so you can see how hard it would be to do a serial numbered dial.

I'd love to learn how to pad print here in my shop......but oh god would that be one deep rabbit hole! Perhaps when I have some free time :D

An alternative would be to get the dials printed without the S/N and etch the S/N with a laser (perhaps the entire "n of m" text). I think that modern laser rigs would have the required resolution and power control; you'd have to make a dial to hold the dial consistently.

[TheDude]

I would never want a dial with a SN.

[enkidu]

I would never want a dial with a SN.

Now that I think about it, I agree with you. I guess I got caught up in solving the technical problem instead of asking if the problem was the right one to solve.

[TheDude]

I presume that we are talking about having the serial on the case and the dial?

This would keep people from trying to sell frankenwatches, but this isn't a Rolex, and the chance of one of these being reconstituted from parts is nil.

The current Rolex practice of engraving the SN on the rehaut makes it easy to view it, while at the same time making it permanent and case-specific.

[Cowbiker]

OT: Let's face it, the majority of the modern details are all anti-counterfiting efforts that attempt to frustrate counterfitters. Kuddos to Roli for being popular enough to have such a problem, but seriously, I liken them to the authentic sports merchandise with tags and hologram stickers; seeing people out in public with the stickers on their team gear and tags as if to say 'That's right, it's the real thing.' Seriously? Who cares? You're a fan of your team and so is the person that had sense enough to take the tags off. Is the person with tags a better fan?

In any event, I liken ANY and ALL efforts to pay tribute to such modern practices, especially on a historically shaped case, as inappropriate at best.

Rock your holograms and tags if it makes you feel better, but think twice before modernizing this project with techniques and technologies as it will not be well recieved. The guys wearing tags and hologram sports gear tend to be wearing G's or not wearing watches at all.

[ljb187]

I fear I've gotten everybody off track a little! I was suggesting calling the watch the MK ll 707 and then referencing the watch's limited edition number on the dial since such nomenclature also suggests the often famous order numbers and variants that Boeing delivered to their customers. However, as Author suggested and Bill confirmed, such an idea, whatever its merits, would not be technically feasible. I do thank everybody for their insights into watchmaking and for the very worthy expansion of what was a shot-in-the-dark effort by me at best.

In hindsight, would using 707-XXX as a serial number engraved on the caseback work (for the reasons I've already stated) or is the whole thought just too darn gimmicky?

P.S. As a member of the Project 300 group I wouldn't mind seeing this watch called the Key West then having the 300 called something like the Portsmouth. I'm a fan a traditions and think it would be a cool to follow the precedent set by the Kingston and begin naming future MK ll special projects after cities that have ties to the watch (sort of how the US used to name battleships after states - USS Missouri, et al.).