First Paneria

[Quailhunter]

A friend showed up on our annual Scotland hunting trip with a new Paneria. Up to now, I've only seen him wear Rolex. I'm intrigued.

I own 4 Rolex and 2 Patek and I'm toying with the idea of adding a Paneria, but the choices are bewildering even after a lot of research.

I want a date and the tritium lume and the crown protector. I have a 7" wrist so the 47mm is too big. I'm confused about in house movement vs ETA movement. I don't like the ceramic look. I have old eyes so ease of reading the time is important.


Suggestions?

[Psmith]

Hi Doug

Sounds like a 44mm Luminor is what you are looking for. Having the date will narrow things down a bit - take a look at the 312, 320, 359 and 233 for starters. There are some 42mm options e.g. the 392, but this size is generally unloved. Some questions to ask yourself are do you want auto or manual, quick-change strap mechanism (vs. screws), sandwich dial or applied lume, steel or titanium case, dial colour, etc. Take your time as the choice is large (although not so much for manual movements with the date).

Panerai have used ETA-based movements for a long time, but in more recent years have been rolling out in-house calibres. ETA-based movements are well-proven and will be easier to service/repair in the long run, whereas for now at least the in-house movements can only be serviced by Panerai.

Tritium lume is not used, by the way - it will be (Super)Luminova.

[arcadelt]

If I'm not mistaken, crown protector equals Luminor or Submersible, and Tritium equals early Luminor and perhaps later Submersible too. Many come in at 44mm, with a few Luminor smaller again. Date will probably mean small seconds too, and if you want legibility avoid chronograph models. Another point (and yes I am being a pedant) is that it is Panerai, not Panerai.

[fullcourt]

do a bit of searching here....this topic comes up frequently.

also go and try some on, you'll know what fits and what doesn't

....and it's panerai, just saying

[Quailhunter]

I was misinformed as to the tritium. I was told the modern sandwich dials used tritium.

I do want self winding. I prefer steel. I could live without the date. I saw the strap quick change feature on a video and liked it a lot. I think I could manage the 44mm size.

The last post re the last point goes over my head.

[bmpwatch]

for a panerai i prefer the ETA movement they are reliable and if anything goes wrong you can send to any reputable watch repair to get fixed :)

[Mystro]

Panerai is a work of art that is distinctive, robust and practical. The strap change options keeps the watch anynway you want. Go from Diver to dress watch to upscale casual, etc..in 30 seconds.

Any 44mm Luminor Marina is what you are looking for. The Pam 104 was exactly what I was looking for and have loved it ever since. My Pam 104 has been keeping less than 1 second a week accuracy.

[Psmith]

Originally Posted by Quailhunter

I was misinformed as to the tritium. I was told the modern sandwich dials used tritium.

I do want self winding. I prefer steel. I could live without the date. I saw the strap quick change feature on a video and liked it a lot. I think I could manage the 44mm size.

The last post re the last point goes over my head.

I think the guys were just picking up on the spelling of Panerai, which was 'Paneria' (no doubt just a typo) in your first post.

Dropping the date will bring a lot more models into play, and something else to consider is whether you would be interested in a 'Base' model (2 hands) or 'Marina' (3 hands i.e. hr, min, sec). As has been mentioned, some of the Submersible models are interesting but they tend to be 47mm.

[Quailhunter]

I can live without the second hand..... I'm retired.

[Psmith]

Originally Posted by Quailhunter

I can live without the second hand..... I'm retired.

Understandable!

There used to be a handy model-finder on the Panerai website, but this seems to have disappeared.

[Iammountain]

For toying, just go for cheap P5000 watches such as 510 or P9000 watches such as 312 or 392

[arcadelt]

Something like this perhaps



44mm, crown guard, legible painted markers, uncluttered dial, lightweight titanium so the case will not get easily scratched on those hunting trips and the screw pins allow for the straps to be easily changed.

[Quailhunter]

I like that idea. What's the model number?

[keithl]

Originally Posted by Quailhunter

A friend showed up on our annual Scotland hunting trip with a new Paneria. Up to now, I've only seen him wear Rolex. I'm intrigued.

I own 4 Rolex and 2 Patek and I'm toying with the idea of adding a Paneria, but the choices are bewildering even after a lot of research.

I want a date and the tritium lume and the crown protector. I have a 7" wrist so the 47mm is too big. I'm confused about in house movement vs ETA movement. I don't like the ceramic look. I have old eyes so ease of reading the time is important.


Suggestions?

I was out of work for two weeks with Paneria, you don't want that.

[arcadelt]

Originally Posted by Quailhunter

I like that idea. What's the model number?

That's a PAM 116, which has a tobacco dial. You can get a similar look with the more common PAM 176 with a black dial, which has a less decorated movement but later models have the sandwich dial instead of painted markers.

[Quailhunter]

"I was out of work for two weeks with Paneria, you don't want that."

Don't understand.

[keithl]

Originally Posted by Quailhunter

"I was out of work for two weeks with Paneria, you don't want that."

Don't understand.

I was making a joke.

[Quailhunter]

I want to thank all the people who kindly and gently answered my questions.

I've pretty much decided against the Panerai. First, it doesn't feature tritium and I've been very disappointed with the lume on my Rolex GMT. My Luminox does a great job staying all night bright after 20 years. Second, by the time I've added the features want, I'm in the Rolex SubC price range and I have a third world product with a reported poor trade in value.

I did find the crown mechanism attractive as was the strap change feature. The watch design is attractive and the dials are appealing.

At around 30 to 40 percent off retail, my mind might change. Until then, I'll stick with a Rolex.

[ap1]

Seems reasonable. The lume is quite good on pams id say though

[arcadelt]

Originally Posted by ap1

Seems reasonable. The lume is quite good on pams id say though

Yeah, I agree. The lume on my Panerais is the best I've ever seen and lasts longer than any other watch I own.

[Ruud Van Driver]

Originally Posted by Psmith

Understandable!

There used to be a handy model-finder on the Panerai website, but this seems to have disappeared.

Not sure what used to be there Clive, but there's a good search facility there now. You can narrow it down to which case you want (Luminor, Rad, etc), size, colour of dial and then add complications such as seconds hand, GMT, date, etc.

[Psmith]

Originally Posted by Ruud Van Driver

Not sure what used to be there Clive, but there's a good search facility there now. You can narrow it down to which case you want (Luminor, Rad, etc), size, colour of dial and then add complications such as seconds hand, GMT, date, etc.

Thanks Paul - in fact I've found it (Search > Find Your Panerai). Think it was elsewhere on the site a few months ago.

[jagwap]

Originally Posted by Quailhunter

I want to thank all the people who kindly and gently answered my questions.

I've pretty much decided against the Panerai. First, it doesn't feature tritium and I've been very disappointed with the lume on my Rolex GMT. My Luminox does a great job staying all night bright after 20 years. Second, by the time I've added the features want, I'm in the Rolex SubC price range and I have a third world product with a reported poor trade in value.

I did find the crown mechanism attractive as was the strap change feature. The watch design is attractive and the dials are appealing.

At around 30 to 40 percent off retail, my mind might change. Until then, I'll stick with a Rolex.

Try Ball:http://www.ballwatch.com/global/

They have tritium tubes and some nice models. A step uo from Luminox.

[Quailhunter]

Thanks for the Ball watch reference. I bought a Ball railroad pocket watch many years ago on a whim after reading the history of the phrase "on the Ball". In reading about Panerai, I learned the early models used pocket watch movements, some bought from Patek. Fascinating.

I like the Bell Hydrocarbon line.

[Psmith]

Originally Posted by Quailhunter

I want to thank all the people who kindly and gently answered my questions.

I've pretty much decided against the Panerai. First, it doesn't feature tritium and I've been very disappointed with the lume on my Rolex GMT. My Luminox does a great job staying all night bright after 20 years. Second, by the time I've added the features want, I'm in the Rolex SubC price range and I have a third world product with a reported poor trade in value.

I did find the crown mechanism attractive as was the strap change feature. The watch design is attractive and the dials are appealing.

At around 30 to 40 percent off retail, my mind might change. Until then, I'll stick with a Rolex.

Panerai lume is excellent, certainly better than Rolex, so I would not let this put you off. Not sure what you mean by 'third world product'? Panerai are Swiss-made (the company origins are Italian). As with all other brands, including Rolex, resale value is very much dependant on specific models.

[Ruud Van Driver]

Originally Posted by Quailhunter

I want to thank all the people who kindly and gently answered my questions.

I've pretty much decided against the Panerai. First, it doesn't feature tritium and I've been very disappointed with the lume on my Rolex GMT. My Luminox does a great job staying all night bright after 20 years. Second, by the time I've added the features want, I'm in the Rolex SubC price range and I have a third world product with a reported poor trade in value.

I did find the crown mechanism attractive as was the strap change feature. The watch design is attractive and the dials are appealing.

At around 30 to 40 percent off retail, my mind might change. Until then, I'll stick with a Rolex.

Third world product? Wow. Just wow. #speechless

[nick c]

Originally Posted by Psmith

Panerai lume is excellent, certainly better than Rolex, so I would not let this put you off. Not sure what you mean by 'third world product'? Panerai are Swiss-made (the company origins are Italian). As with all other brands, including Rolex, resale value is very much dependant on specific models.

Originally Posted by Ruud Van Driver

Third world product? Wow. Just wow. #speechless

Clive and Paul nicely said

[Quailhunter]

My "3rd world" comment referred to the geo political economic situation today in Italy and not to the watch. Since non-watch comments are not appropriate in this forum, I should have not made mine.

[Psmith]

Originally Posted by Quailhunter

My "3rd world" comment referred to the geo political economic situation today in Italy and not to the watch. Since non-watch comments are not appropriate in this forum, I should have not made mine.

Doug - Panerai have been made in Switzerland (Neuchâtel) for the past 15 years.

[Quailhunter]

Thanks. I've done a lot of reading about the brand. I think current movements are either modified ETA or, recently, in house. Correct? At one time, I've read that Panerai used Patek pocket watch movements. Correct? I'm still in the learning mode. I researched Patek for 6 months before I bought my first one. I tend to enjoy the research as much as owning the watches.

Again, my comment wasn't about the watch.