Officine Panerai

joshua71
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Take 2 - Not Trying Too Hard

It's always difficult to draw distinct lines on subjective matters.  Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart once said about pornography, "I know it when I see it."  I think the same approach could be brought to this discussion.  Upon further thought, I can't say that I don't like all re-editions.  And many of my favorite watches are re-editions.  I'm a big fan of the 232/249, 203, 341, 300, 127/217.  I think those are great watches because of the purity of the design and the fact that they are true to the Panerai identity.  Where I start to feel that something is off is when I feel like Panerai is trying too hard to manufacture something that is rare or when they stray too far from their identity.  It's kind of the same way with people who try too hard to be popular or try to be something that they're not.  Where Panerai takes a watch that is genuinely historic and faithfully reproduces that watch in limited quantities, I think that is pretty cool (as long as they are not going to that well too often).  When they take a fairly modern watch like the 26 or 28 and re-issue it, I think they are trying too hard to squeeze cash out of their fan base.  In the same vein, I'm not a fan of watches like the 360 or 366 where they create a fake patina on the numbers.  It's like Panerai is creating a knock-off of their own T dial watch.  I'm not a fan of the "limited editions" they do for the boutiques all the time now.  There isn't much that is special about those watches other than the fact that they are advertised as "limited editions."  It feels like they are trying to manufacture a sense of excitement about a watch that people would not otherwise be excited about.  It feels like a money grab by the company.  That's my "not trying too hard theory."  Like any theory, I'm sure there will be disagreement or exceptions.