Panerai Luminor homage

[UNiCOM]

I've a Luminor 'homage' with an ST25 movement and a 36.5 dial. I also have a spare genuine ETA 6497 that would fit in the case if I moved or removed the stem tube that protrudes into the case
.... is this a common mod'?

[Hypnogagia]

If the stem tube is sticking out on the inside of the case, it shouldn’t cause any problems to file it down so it’s flush. I would recommend removing the crystal to avoid scratching it, and tape off the areas that you don’t want to get any accidental scratches on.

Depending on the case it might be a really tight fit. The 6497 is 37mm in diameter. If the movement fits other than the stem tube you should be ok. If the fit is too tight it can put pressure on the movement plates or the mainspring barrel and cause issues.

there also might be a height discrepancy of the stem insertion from the case to the movement. This can be solved by adding a spacer(easy) or grinding down the inside of the case (kind of a pain, but doable).

You might be able to file down the tube and everything will go together easily, or you might be in for a long project making minor adjustments. In watchmaking 1mm=1 mile. It takes twenty minutes to walk a mile and it takes about the same amount of time to remove, move or add a millimeter when modifying watch bits.

Hope this helps!