Officine Panerai

amanico
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Panerai SIHH 2011: The return of some legends?

This year, Panerai is very productive, to say the least, as they come with a lot of new limited editions, and a bomb, the long awaited " Fiddy Base ", the Pam 372, WHICH IS NOT A LIMITED EDITION.

The brand from Firenze started to massively use the Cal 3000.

So, what do we have to think about this " Mare " of novelties?

Are they to be considered like novelties?

Let's try to find some answers, among the 3 lines introduced this year, the Submersible, the Radiomir and the Luminor.

1/ The Submersible ( 47 mm case / 300 meters Water Resistant / crystal glass )

2 watches are highlighted, here, the Regatta ( Pam 371 ), and the Bronze ( Pam 382 ), both of them belonging to the Limited Edition Category.

- The Regatta:

Compared to a Pam 305, this is basically the same watch, the only difference being a blue dial, and a GMT function on 12 hours, if I got it well ( ??? ).

The P 9001 has an autonomy of 3 days, which displays a power reserve indicator on the back of the watch.

- The Submersible Bronze.

This is basically a Pam 305, with a Bronze case and a deep dark green dial.

The Bronze case is not a novelty for Panerai, as, in the past, there was a proto made in bronze,called SLOB, which was developped in a Luminor case.

We also have to remember that some other brands made a bronze watch, as, for example, Gerald Genta, with the famous Gefica.

It houses the same calibre than the Pam 305, the P 9000, an automatic movement with 3 days power reserve.




The see through case back has an internal ring in brushed titanium:

More than true novelties, I'd say that these 2 watches introduce some new developments ( the GMT on the Regatta- without forgetting that the GMT was first introduced in the Submersible Line with the ARKTOS GMT- , the bronze case on the Submersible Bronze ).

2/ The Radiomir line: ( 47 mm case / plexy glass / water resistant to 100 meters )

Here, 3 models are introduced this year.

- A California, but in white gold, a brown dial, and housing a P 3000 ( 3 days power reserve ) Ref Pam 376.

This latest California is definitely not a novelty, as this is the 5th ( !!! ) made, if we include the Vintage 3646: 3646, Pam 249, Pam 262, Pam 349, and this one, the Pam 376.

The use of the white gold, the fact that the blue hands we had on the former Cali have gone, and the Cal P 3000 ( instead of the ETA ) are not enough to allow us to say that it is a new watch.

Nice, but not a novelty.

The Pam 379 is looking like a Pam 232, but with a rose gold case, housing the P 3000.

A nice brown dial, big wording, a nice evolution of the Pam 232, enhancing its vintage " personality ", even if Rose Gold is a weird allusion for an historical watch.

Yes, aesthetically nice, historically weird, if I had to sum it.

- The TRUE novelty among the Radiomir Panerai introduced this year is the Pam 373, a pretty nice and faithful evocation of the " Loch Ness " monster 2533.

The 2533 is the mother of all Panerai watches, as it announced, as a proto it was, the time keepers to come, around 1935 or 1936, I don't remember well.

Credit picture: Auto Montanari, I think.

God knows how many were made, one, or a few more?

This is why I call it the Loch Ness Monster: Often heard about it, rarely seen.

Back to the Pam 373, now.

You have to know that is is a Limited Edition in platinum.

Good or bad choice, we may have a lobg discussion about the metal.

I'd say that as it is an important watch for the Panerai History and Fans, I would have preferred to see it released in stainless steel.

One thing is sure, I would much have preferred to see the sectored blue hands on the 373.

The dial is to die for: the Epitome of Elegance and purity, as well as the Radiomir case.

Here are the pictures:

One last word about these Historical Radiomirs:

As they are strongly linked to the history of the brand, and as the 3646 housed a Rollex Cortebert movement, the main thing I regret on these modern Tributes is that their movement, the P 3000, is not designed as a Rolex Cortebert ( as it was the case with the former ETA ), but as an Angelus.

3/ The Luminor line:

Here, 3 watches are really important: The Pam 375, the Pam 368, and the big winner, this year, in my opinion, the 372.

All have a 47 mm case, and all share a water resistance of 100 meters.

Let's see them in the detail.

- The Pam 368.

It is, basically, a Pam 217, a left handed Luminor, but with an 8 days power reserve movement, the Cal P 2002 / 9, replacing the good old ETA.

Same sandwich dial ( but brown ) and green white indexes than on the 217, and a nice domed sapphire glass:

You will notice one very interesting detail on the following picture.

Panerai finally put the lever of the crownguard at the good place.

While the lever went from down to up when you opened it ( like on the Pam 127 / 217 ), it goes now from up to down, as it should be:

Another interesting detail is the location of the 8 Days power reserve indicator... On the case back, not on the dial, which will avoid to ruin such a nice dial, and, in this watch, the use of the Cal P 2002 / 9, which has an " air de famille " with the Angelus movement housed in the Vintage Lumnior 8 Days, is very à propos.

Not a new watch, but an aesthetical and mechanical evolution of the Pam 217, to me.

- The Pam 375.

Here again, an evolution rather than a revolution, as this reference is a black brown composite " Fiddy " Pam 127, housing a P 3000 movement, receiving " Vintage " tainted indexes and a brown dial.

As for the Pam 368, they put the lever of the crownguard at the good place.

A curious detail is that Panerai kept the " 1950 " writing on the dial, when a lot of people was complaining about it.

It would have been much nicer without, in my opinion.

A view on the domed sapphire and on the sandwich dial:



The case back:

The whole Pam 375, now:

Maybe a bit too trendy for me, but aesthetically appealing.

And, last but not least, the TRUE winner for me, this year, the Pam 372.

The Pam 372 is a nice evocation of the Vintage 6152/ 1.

A superb profile of the case and lugs:




A somptuous sandwich dial, with tainted luminova indexes, and the big thick magic writing ( engraved ? ) " LUMINOR PANERAI ", and the sexy " 3/6/9/12 ".

Without the bloody " 1950 " on the dial!

The cons on this watch are:

Too short hands, but it may change, as we already saw Panerai improving this kind of details in the past.

The P 3000, which is aesthetically closer to the Angelus than to the ETA, once again.

I would have preferred a solid case back on this watch, but it is just my personal take.

The big pro is that Panerai decided to not make a LE of this watch, for the biggest pleasure of the afficionados of the florentian brand.

The price, 6900 Euros, is something which made me smile, as it was EXACTLY the retail of the Pam 127 some ... 9 years ago!

Here are my pictures:

Yes, this may well be MY next Panerai, this year, if I am able to get one.

4/ Some thoughts on the 2011 collection:

When I saw this collection, I wondered if the evolutions would be a problem for the watches they took their inspiration from:

For example, we can wonder if the Pam 368 will not affect the value of the Pam 217, or the 375 the value of the 127.

In fact, I don't care ...

Same for the 372, which, because it is not a LE, may well escape from the flippers.

Anyway, as you could see, I think that there were more evolutions than revolutions, this year, but nicely done, and sticking to Panerai's History.

2 exceptions, 2 true novelties, 2 winners, in my opinion: The 372, and the 373, 2 long awaited watches from the fans.

One more effort, please, pretty please: The 6154 small Egiziano, and I am a dumb when it comes to numbers, a SS version of the Pam 373, and it will be perfect!

Looking forward to hearing your comments,

Best.

Nicolas.

PS: A very big Thank you to Emanuela, for her warm welcome, as always.

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