[wayne93117]

This all started with me wanting the 38mm Due as my first Panerai. I had gotten past the water resistance and the fact that it was the "girl" model, but I wasn't sure which size Due was for me. I was flip flopping between the 38mm the 42mm. My preferred size of watch is 36-38 in all other brands.

I did my best to research online, which was very hard for the 38mm. Not alot out there except a Hodinkee article and while I had tried one one back in January I thought it was way too much to leave to chance. I got lucky and found one 45 minutes away so I hopped in the car.

This time around the 38 just looked a little out of place. I was having to put the band on the last hole (coming from a guy with a 6.75" wrist this was something new) and while it looked good on the wrist it felt a bit too much like all my other watches of that size. Kinda lost the uniqueness of the Panerai design.

Enter the 42 Due. I really like the hand wound version for the dial configuration from several years back, but the gray sunburst is pretty nice too. My problem was that it felt like a 42mm dress watch and for me that was way too big. I have two 36mm DJs for that purpose (one pictured below).

Hence my surprise with this 42mm submersible. I tried the 682 first and thought it's presence was just a bit too much on the wrist. I think its that fact that it's so much stainless steel without much disruption from the design to break it up a bit. Fortunately this AD had a wide selection of Panerai (Shreve in Palo Alto, CA). Out came the 683. I went back and forth with the 38 due and the 683 in store for a solid 20 minutes.

One thing that I think is so underrated about the 42mm submersible is the curve of the case and the comfort of the rubber strap. I will go out there and say that this is more comfortable than my SubC as well as my Tuder Fastrider on rubber was. I don't know what it is, but it feels great on the wrist.

I have to say there is less out there on any other watch I have looked into, including the 38mm Due. There were 110 pictures on IG which I peppered with wrist size questions as best I could. I hope this post can help someone.

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Case, Dial, Strap - The black ceramic insert makes the watch look a bit smaller in my opinion as does the matte black dial. The clicks of the bezel are B+. Not sub worthy, not the worst. Lume is A+. Rubber strap is A+, what a surprise, buckle looks sharp too. Extra black and blue nylon strap in the box looks ok (A-). Dial writing and markers look great.

Retail Kit - A+ for coming with all the tools in typical Panerai fashion (come on Rolex!). I give them a B for the box...cool material just not sure it is indicative of a $9.8k watch.

Pricing - $9,800?! C- Panerai! Jeez I fell back when I saw the sticker. For a touched up production movement this thing better not have a hiccup. I have to say this watch at msrp feels about $2k overpriced. I contacted a few people in the industry and was able to secure pricing that made this much more reasonable (20% off, no tax, from AD). I'm sure used ones will appear sometime, but demand seems pretty strong for now on this one. Resale even at that discount will be tough, but hey wear what you like, I'm not in it to invest.

Even with that she's still an A in my book. I'm just nit picking.

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She arrived yesterday afternoon and it's been a joy to wear. She's a welcome addition to the stable and for me my turnover of my collection is complete for now.

Enjoy the pics, feel free to ask me any questions....thanks for reading!