Officine Panerai

with the same person (I can't say the same woman anymore haha) for different reasons, of course. No harm done Lollllllllllllllllllll

It’s not that I would ignore the history, but it was never why I bought one and wouldn’t have been something to tip me over the edge or indeed keep me coming back. It’s different for others, and I understand that.

For many, Panerai is just a fashion brand and it appears Richemont is now migrating more towards that with basic usable movements while expanding the fashion styling in various casings. i love my Bell&Ross and they use mainstream known good movements and priced accordingly.

Sad but not surprising... Which is also sad. It makes me wonder what Richemont shenanigans are happening with VC and Lange.....

with great interest although, some 75% of what I read, I knew already. In Corporate lingo, in-house, means made under the corporate roof, regardless of the subsidiary that ACTUALLY manufactures it. On top of that, the practice of buying parts from outsiders, it's ALSO accepted in stride. International trade dictates that if you manufacture the greater percentage of components inside one of your products, you can claim "paternity" for the whole shabang What saddens me, is the fact that if they chose to concentrate all the movements' production in one of the subsidiaries (Valfleuriers, in this case), they should also have created separate sections, where different QUALITY of movements were manufactured, according to the models in which they were to be used. That would at least ensure that all the "bells and whistles" that are expected in a top of the line movement, where actually there. I find it totally desplicable, using cheap movement in what will be sold as high end models. But hey, corporate philosophy is just that, cutting corners, the hand's quicker than the eyes etc etc I have no comments for the bloggist or web-zines that litterally "lick the potent's boots". They also, are part and parcel of our..modern society. I have written many a time, in several fora, that the world has gone through eras: the era of iron, the era of bronze, the era of gold etc The one we're living in at the moment, in MY PERSONAL OPINION, is the: styrofoam era. Everything is cheap, disposable and price factor has overtaken the...value one, by leaps and bounds. The buyer is PERFECTLY aware of this status quo. There was a time, when you walked by a luxury shop window and just marveled at all the beautiful things inside, perfectly aware you could never afford them and perfectly as ease with yourself. Today, in front of the same luxury shop window, a great number of people start calculating, how much money they can BORROW and what they can SELL, just to be able to afford the CHEAPEST object in the window. Again what I write reflects MY PERSONAL OPINION and is not based on market researches or any other "scientific" studies.

I remember a conversation with the brand’s CEO In early 2000’s, at the time Panerai had to project their future, the choice was between investing in marketing strategies or invest into a manufacturing plant.  I proposed a different path, invest in a laboratory of ideas, gather ideas and resources and keep on providing functional watches, same as always…

I was replied, marketing is not an option because of the ‘complicated’ military background.  Manufacturing our own movements will resonate to a larger network (greater sales).  I replied this will be difficult to achieve, because I had learned from various Swiss connexions that it takes a minimum of 30-50 years to secure the good running of a movement… or maybe via La Grande Maison, JLC.

I am not surprised to read about this report, of course there was a shorter path to anyway force ‘success’ at the expense of the aficionados and good buyers, but this far is terribly bad!

Panerai in Firenze (watches and instruments) was about supplying solutions, a laboratory of ideas and resources, this was the spirit and the Panerai DNA, we expected nothing else and I am sure like most of us, all we want is genuine products!

Bad away this is a similar movement configuration than the Pre-Vendome Mare Nostrum with ETA and Dubois Depraz module, nothing new…

Periscope has struck again ;-) amassing works, thank you.

but the gravest "ingenuity" committed by Panerai, is to have been able to alienate a grassroot base, that didn't LOOK INSIDE THE WATCH. A grassroot base that bought a Panerai for the way it made them feel, when strapping one on the wrist, regardless of what was...inside. It would have been enough to put a decent enough movement inside the 318 and that was that!! They had to go for...shortcuts, misrepresentations and downright...lies. What a shame.

I couldn’t agree more!

Ciao
Thomas

That is also something I hope for. The power of the enthusiasts.

Best Thomas

Personally, I have had very good experiences with ETA movements and I have absolutely no reservations here.

Some of my favorite watches (for example my IWC Da Vinci Perpetual Rattrapante) are based on an ETA movement. These movements have been tried and tested a million times, are absolutely reliable and also very accurate.

What bothers me so much here is the mendacity and the fact that consumers are being fooled.
They should/could also refine a movement of a watch that costs Euro 27,000. At least a little bit!
So the whole thing looks like absolute greed for profit.

If this topic were dealt with honestly and openly, I would not have any problems or reservations. Here, however, this kind of behavior and misinformation massively destroys trust. And if trust is destroyed, then - for me - the basis is missing.

Best
Thomas

I was really considering getting back into Panerai. 42mm Submersible or Luminor would have been nice to have in the collection. However, I do not think I would add Panerai after this.

I'll keep my old few Panerai's but I don't see myself buying any more new ones specifically because of crap like this.

No problem with movements that are not in-house personally, but I do see an issue with misleading people. 

I'll keep my "oldie" with God knows what's inside and my trusted and the always scrumptious....margherita, from my favourite local pizzeria :P :P

To me that’s fraudulent. Sorry for my harsh words.
Didn’t believe my eyes. I‘m done with Panerai.
Thx to Perezcope for his great recherche.

Best
Tempus

I've "been done" with Panerai for quite sometime now. Enjoy your new status. Sorry, out of curiosity, how many Panerai di you own?

I've been hearing that 'vintage' models will do well so there is good news to Panerai's apparent direction. The old legendary ones with Rolex and other good movements of course.

have always had a niche of their own. There has been a bubble for them too, but I didn't turn into a ridiculous 3 rings circus like for the Pre-V and all the T-dialled ones of early Post-V. Nobody ever talks about them in forum because they are an acquired taste, for very few people. This is due to costs and limited availability of authentic pieces. Unfortunately for collectors, the Pre-V and Pre-A models have been at the very centre of the bubble and when it exploded, it did it with a very loud bang. They haven't recovered yet and IMO they won't in any foreseable future

Excellent analogy, and hope the Richemont conglomerate can successfully navigate their Panerai branded fashion watches through all this controversy.