Messages: 345 Location: Houston
Registered: December 2003
Back again
Fri, 11 January 2013 09:29
Just received my 3rd Panerai from the purple guys yesterday, and wanted to give a little background. I first saw Panerai at my local Tourneau in the late 90's, can't remember if it was pre-Richemont or not, but what I do remember was they weren't exactly flying off the shelves back then. I recall trying on some steel, ti, and PVD Luminors back then that were around $2.5K MSRP, and thinking they were huge! as they were at the time compared to other brands. I finally bought my first one, a GMT Luminor around 2001. Kept it a couple of years then moved on, came back a few years later and bought a 90 Power Reserve. Kept that one a little longer and started quite the strap collection, but then moved on again.
This time around I was pretty sure I wanted a Radiomir. I began quietly following the forums again and checking them out at the local dealers whenever I was in. This year's 424 and 425 both grabbed my eye and I started looking in earnest a few weeks ago. Neither of my local dealers could get either in a timely fashion, yet I found they were pretty available elsewhere.
I ended up with a new 425. I love its simplicity, just wind it up and it tells time. No fru-fru features or embellishments. Although relatively large, I had forgotten how Panerais "wear smaller" than they are. It's very comfortable and I love the OEM nubuck strap so much I'm not sure I'll rush out to get others just yet.
PS: I'm not patient enough to go the limited edition route, they remind me of my Daytona days, where you're either waiting forever from an AD or paying more to someone else, for something that's not that much different.
- Scott S