Officine Panerai

Some of you may rmbr me from my earlier posts asking for advice on PAM 317/292, i am new watch collector, started last year and with guidance from some of you on the forum and friends have built a small collection :-

(1) ROLEX S/s Daytona (2) AP Royal Oak Off Shore Rubber (3) IWC Limited Saint Expuriey S/S Big pilot Brown (4) Patek Philippe 5130p Word Time platinum (5) Panerai PAM 317 and expecetd by July my 6th watch AP - Forged Carbon Grand Prix (a close freind helped to secure this), will posts pictures of all of them very soon, as still to learn the art of taking nic pics of the watches....

But i onec again need your advice on my next watch, i quite like APs and Panerais which you can see breaking away from my one watch per brand policyi will have my 2nd AP (F/C GP) , and am inclined to acquire a 2nd pam also.

But having aquired PAM 317 was thinking to aquire now a tradional PAM which represnets truly the brand and holds uniquness, I am thinking between PAM 111 in or Pam 176 which are regular production peinecs or may be can aquire PAM 26, (woudl have rather have PAM 22 but no chance) so need your advice which one woudl you guys recomend.....

Cosndier i am left handed some time (while playing sports - pool) i quite like the idea of PAM 26 to wear on right wrist as its unqiue to have a right writs watch, but does PAM 26 tradional represnetaion of the PAM brand, or is again a black coated watch like PAM 317 which i have.

PAM 111 and 176 on other hand are tradional true repesentaion of the PAM brand....s/s so diffrent to PAM 317......as you can see i am confused......as you guys no a lot of PAM which PAM woudl you guys recomend to aquire to really repsent PAM in my collection ?

it's a very handsome watch and has historical Panerai's values too. I'm sure Anthony will be able to elaborate on...history. Another lefty which is very sought after is the 217 (47mm) if you don't mind big watches.

BTW I also wear watches on the right wrist and have a few lefties...

Cheers

I wouldn't get the PAM26 since you already have a "black" watch - your PAM317.  So you might want to mix it up more and get a non-black PAM even though the PAM26 is a great watch, especially if you want a Destro model.

Since the PAM317 is a 1950 Luminor case, I'd get a regular Luminor (not a 1950 Luminor) or a Radiomir as your second PAM since this will be your 2nd Panerai and you may not get a 3rd Panerai since you're already violating your 1 watch per brand policy.

I'd suggest taking a look at the new PAM29 re-edition coming out, a PAM0 or PAM5 logo, or maybe even a 47mm PAM346 Radiomir.

Cheers,
Anthony

AP RB2 even though holy grail, as i hopefully will get AP Grand Prix Forged Carbon, the RB2 is quite similar...dont you think ?

Intsead what do you think of AP Bumbel Bee which has a unqiue YELLOW which is unlike any other watch....

Agree - RB2 is very similar. Can't wait to see the pics! You look at any Vacherons? I feel like all Panerais are somewhat similar.

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...but that is a hell of a collection to amss in such a short time!

Interesting questions, you have the ultimate already....I have the PAM 317 too, this is one watch I really enjoy wearing....Congratulations for getting one, it is not easy! If I had an opportunity to get the 26 I would probably go for it....however, then again I have the 292J already so maybe I would think again as I do not want only have black Pams in my collection. Have a look at the 26, it is somewhat cool to wear a watch on your right hand. My AD told me that PAM 26 is no longer available. Good luck with whatever you finally decide.
This message has been edited by vc on 2010-05-25 01:22:07

Further to my earlier post, I am still thinking about the PAM 26. Just go for it. This is too good! A PVD PAM is rare especially a left handed watch. If you decide not to take it for any reason, PM me please - I would like one! Cheers! This message has been edited by vc on 2010-05-25 09:12:05

I think you are right VC and i agree, PAM 26 is ringing all the right bells and whistle, the PVD coating with dark grey finish makes it looks like a bullet, but as Anthony said i will end up having another grey / black panerai - may be shoudl mix it up.....

Frankly i did not know that in LUMINOR there were 2 types of cases....because of Anthony earlier post and explaination i realised the difference between LUMINOR (PAM 26) and LUMINOR 1950 (PAM 317) and i like the lumionr case more and more .....thanks Anthony for the info.....

Think i am almost have made up my mind....and have an idea how to make my panerais look different....thanks to all of you who helped me and wait for it shortly will reveal my decesion.....and post pics of my decesion...and as well as promissed my small collection....

u guys were great...

VC- Congrats on owning PAM 317 and PAM 292 J, i also enjoy my PAM 317....but i want a daily /causal watch....i cant get my hands on PAM 292 J next options i PAM 26 or PAM 176/177..........thanks to a friend i could get the oppurtunity..... for PAM 26

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Okay boyz as promissed....It was not an easy decesion...i was in PAM boutqiue for 2 hrs and spent atleast half hour holding PAM 177 and PAM 26 in my hand.....and then i changed the strap of PAM 26 to TAN (PAM boutqiue was nice enought to replace the orginal supplied black to tan w/t any charge) that chnaged the look completeley of PAM 26..and from there on was an easy decesion....also as PAM 26, is unqiue left handed watch which will compliment my collection, limited edition of 1000pcs so hard to get, the PVD coating is unique and as is not pure black but metalic light grey looks very sporty, spcial thanks to a frirend who used his influence to arrange PAM 26.... and as there was only 1 watch we tossed for the watch who will take it...even though i won the toss so got PAM 26 but i know my friend woudl have let me have it even if he had won the toss....and now my friend likes it so much that he is trying to hget 1 for him self hope he gets one.....

With tan strap the watch is more emphasised and has a obvious diffrernce from my PAM 317...what do you think ?? more sporty...out door

As pormissed here are some pics of the PAM 26 as well my other watches, excuses if some of you dont like the pics, as i first time tried my hand to take pic of watches and i combined the watches with my other passions WINE, CIGAR, MALT, POOL, i wish could also find a nice model to pose that woudl comeplete all my passions

thansk to all who helped......

VC : If you can get PAM 26.....go for it....change the strap like i have done to TAN and you have winner!!!!....let me know if you like the pic ?? also it looks quite different to my and yours PAM 317 and yours PAM 292 J.....with tan strap looks more of a casual / sporty out going watch....

So which one do you like/wear the most?

Always whenever i get a new watch the 1st week i wear it, except PATEK i hardly have worn that.....(my prize possession) after the 1st week when

i have seen the watch enough times on my wrist i go back to my AP ROYAL OAK Offshore as that is a rugged and heavy duty watch but now as

i have the Pam 26 will be 50/50 between AP Royal Oak and PAM 26.....

 

Won't the ceramic 317 be more durable (or at least resistant to scratches) than the PVD 26? I'm curious what a PVD watch will look like after heavy use versus a ceramic one (as well as the new composite).

I'm still scared of ever cracking the case and don't know the scratch tolerance on the 317, so I treat it like a baby.

I think Ceramic is more durable then PVD as its a new material and as Mr. Angelo Bonati Panerai CEO said some time back in an interview :-

Quote

Regarding the ceramic case, we started to work on the ceramic case 4-5 years ago.  And the reason why we did so was because we had to find a substitute for PVD.  The market was very demanding of the black color, and I didn’t want to insist on PVD because, as you know, PVD can have problems with the quality if you scratch it.  And once it’s scratched, you can do nothing more.  We made the PAM195 and now we are presenting the PVD PAM26 this year, of which I produced for the collectors.  But the main problem was to find a black color proper to Panerai in a material that can resist scratches.  That’s why we worked on the ceramic, and the particular cases of the Radiomir and Luminor 1950 made this process very difficult because of the curves of the case.  Now we are able to produce 20 ceramic pieces per month, and 20 is enough.

Yes, it was stronger than PVD but once you scratch the coating, it’s always going to be scratched and there’s nothing you can’t do anything about it.

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So I think when a company CEO says they tried to find another better material then PVD which was ceramic then ceramic has to be more durable.

But the PAM 26 PVD color (metallic grey) and look (specially with tan strap ) is such that i think few scratches will add to the look of the watch.

Ceramic is too clean looking...

 

Excellent, so PAM has discovered a more durable watchcase. This means that PVD in the near future will be hard to come by

This is a very good question....Ceramic will be more durable than a steel watch which has PVD treatment. The new DLC coating on Panerai 332 would be more scratch resistant than earlier PVD models such as PAM 26. This is my opinion. I have been wearing my PAM 317 and 292 quite often, no scratches - so far so good. However, I will still go for the PAM 26 given the opportunity.VA be happy with the PAM 26 as to date in my opinion is the best PVD Panerai. Look at the PAM 28 PVD - it does not even come close to the "too good" PAM 26. I look forward to what Anthony has to say about this question......... This message has been edited by vc on 2010-05-27 08:11:06

Wow! Well done! Nice collection of watches, great way of showing them. PAM 26 stands out.....especially with the excellent choice of strap. I guess you were destined to get the PAM 26 anyhow. Good luck and enjoy it and the other masterpieces you have....meanwhile I will continue to hope to get a pam 26 too!

Just got info from AP AD the Grand Prix forged Carbon that watch is ready for collection........................so excited to go and collect...............

Were you able to get it at retail price? That is a really hard watch to get!

But due to a friend who gave me his allocation as he did not want as he has Alinghi/RB2 so was really lucky,
I know that currently this watch has usd 10-12k premium on it

I know he is, he also helped me to get PAM 26...he knows few people in the watch circut