Officine Panerai

rsqd
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Brief response

1.  I used to follow Breitling rather closely, but became tired of the brand when it was not sufficiently innovative to retain my interest.  The Navitimer (once a favorite of mine) and the Chronomat have seemed to be the basis of the brand for decades.  How many of the same basic two watches can you buy?  When Breitling tried to develop more complicated models, there didn't seem to be sufficient interest to support.  I believe too many dealers meant massive discounting which undermined the brand.  Typically resale values for Breitling have been about 30% or less of retail.   Panerai watches have generally retained most of their value because production has been kept behind demand for most models and not vice versa. 

I believe that 2007 was a mixed year for Panerai, too many similar models and not enough choice for those familiar with the Panerai brand to motivate additional purchases.  The Panerai community is one of its best assets, Panerai needs to stimulate the community each year with at least 2 exciting and reasonably affordable watches.  For 2007 the tourbillon could be considered exciting but the price point makes it hard to consider and I am not sure that deliveries have started even this late in the 2007 year.  Most, if not all the recent years had special editions or regular production which qualified but IMO 2007's product line was not as strong as prior years.

Breitling and Panerai's decision to produce a watch with reference to the Bentley and Ferrari was not, in my view, a good idea.   I share the view of some that there is little reason to buy a watch which promotes a car you do not own, and how many with an interest in watches own a Bentley or Ferrari?  GP had the Ferrari relationship for what seemed to be over 10 years and ran it into the ground, I am concerned that it will adversely affect Panerai particularly if production is too great in relation to demand.  Most AD have a relatively few Panerai but significantly more Ferrari watches in the case, is that a bad omen? 

2.  Although I would not consider any prediction of future value to be accurate, I would pick the PAM127 and PAM249 to out-perform the PAM2A, PAM27A, and PAM29A if the values are based on today's values rather than initial pricing.  If I had all 5 (which I don't), and could keep only three, I would retain the PAM127, PAM249, and the PAM29A.  That being the case, it seems fairly logical, based on my perspective, that having two of  three keepers would likely mean the 2 47mm watches will have greater long term appreciation.