[nick c]

Originally Posted by Tommyk

Excuse my rambling but these are my thoughts ...

The media and socialites of the era right now are very strong on Rolex, its a very recognizable brand, and that is what a non-enthusiasts wants when they are shelling out money for something is for everyone to know that they did.

Panerai is still popular, it might have lost some of its craze from several years ago though.

I think what could be said is now that the brand has had roughly 15 strong years there are more watches available in the open market. If you consider that Panerai makes about 100,000 watches a year, we now have over 1.5 million watches in the market place were as before the demand was higher than the supply from the manufacture. The rate of supply was constant but not enough to over spill into the private market.

Now we are in a time and place were there are just more watches trading hands on the private market to satisfy the demand and cool the frenzy for them.

Panerai is still more of an enthusiasts brand, it has wide following and many know what they are but the average person would not know. I would even say that a very big percentage of Rolex owners don't know what a Panerai is. Over time that will probably change since the designs are very timeless and the brand will grow more recognition, but for now we can all enjoy what we have.

Nicely said