Officine Panerai

amanico
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The return of a Myth: The Mare Nostrum.

Announced a few years ago, eagerly awaited every year, it finally landed.

Why is it a Myth?

The Mare Nostrum, I mean the original one, was a Prototype conceived for the Italian Deck Officers in 1943, but as the Story says, it was never produced.

So, this watch is a kind of Loch Ness Monster, a phantasm, every Panerai fan never played with it, never saw it in the flesh, except at the Panerai Museum, and badly dreamt about it. ( Pic by Asi )



A 52 mm Beast, housing an Angelus 215 Chrono, with a large smooth bezel and 2 levels dial. ( Pic to be credited to Y.O )



A Myth doesn't have to be produced to be important, and Panerai understood it very well, as in 1993, they decided to pay hommage to 2 watches from the Past: The Luminor and the Mare Nostrum, while we could think that they would prefer the Radiomir to the Mare!





So, from 1993 to 1996, 3 Mare Nostrum were produced, or should I better say 1, which knew 2 evolutions.

It was a SS 42 mm Chrono, water resistant to 5 ATM ( 50 meters ).

The 5218-301/A ( 492 pieces ) housing an ETA 2801-2 with a Dubois Depraz Chrono module:



And the 2 Slytech versions: The 5218-302 ( the same than the 301/A, but with a different wording on the dial as " Slytech " is mentionned ), and the 304 ( same than 302, but with a smooth bezel, which makes it look closer to the 1943 prototype ).

The 302: ( Credit pic: Panerai )



The 304:



Then, Cartier Vendome bough Panerai in March 1997, and reworked the Mare Nostrum ( dial and bezel ) in 3 references: Pam 6 ( Blue dial ), Pam 7 ( White dial ), and Pam 8 Black dial ) for a total of 382 pieces.



The funny thing is that at the beginning, the Mares sold very badly, even if the price was fair ( 1500 Euros, approximatively ), and people began to show some interest when they began to be very difficult to find.

Is this the reason why Panerai waited so long before presenting the new Mare?

Anyway... The New Mare landed, and I'm very happy to have been able to see it in the flesh.

I couldn't resist to bring with me my Mare 5218-301/A, and Patrice did the same with his 304, so we were able to take an historical family shot, the Pre V and the new Réédition, side by side. ( Sorry for the quality of the pics, but we were in big hurry, and didn't have the necessary time to take better photos...A shame! )





Here, we can really say that the Pam 300 is a true Réédition of the 1943 prototype.

The Pre Vendome Mares were a nice and lovely first approach, but they missed the 2 levels dial, and ( at the exception of the 304 ), the smooth bezel.



On this last picture, you can observe that the spirit of the Proto was kept, on the Pre Vendome, tough.

You will also see the big difference in size, as the new Mare is 52 mm big, while the Pre V was 42mm.

Difference in size, difference in thickness, too.

My guess is that the Pam 300 is around 17 mm thick, while the Pre V was around 13/ 14 mm.

The Pam 300 is a gorgeous watch, with an unbelievable strength, presence, and symmetry, stunningly faithful to the prototype, in all its characteristics, or almost.

We find the same typical chrono pushers, crown, profile of the case, bezel, 2 levels dial, hands, and counters.





As you can see, the case is different from a Luminor or a Radiomir, which gives it its own character, a blend of power, elegance, and originality.

There is always this weird straight line between the lugs, which " cuts " the overall curved shape, as to remind that it was made as a toolwatch.

It is a bit brutal, but it is one of the Mare Characteristic.

Big, enormous, but a superb balance, symmetry and purity.





The dial is to die for, indeed.

The 2 levels give it an interesting visual impact, intriguing, captivating.

For the new Mare, Panerai decided to opt for a sapphire case back, which is once again, conform to the original, which I was not sure at all, but one of my friends, Y.O, confirmed it to me.

So, it will allow the future owner of this watch to admire the nice Chrono movement, a manual winding Minerva ( I'm not sure about the Reference of this caliber, as I had contradictory informations about it ) beating at 18 000 vibrations per hour, if I'm not wrong, and pleasantly finished .





BUT, some thoughts:

- Isn't this case back more to be seen as a justification of the price, as the New Mare is expensive ( 25 / 26 000 Euros ) ?

- When Panerai claims to be a Manufacture, I'm always a bit surprised to see that on some watches, they still use outsourced movements, rather than " in house " ones...Even if they are really nice, like this Minerva.

- As the movement is outsourced, why not going on an Angelus 215 Chrono?

- The Mare never was a watch with an important water resistance, but when pre vendome and then vendome were 50 ATM ( 50 meters ) water resistant, the new one is only 30 meters...Curiously.

Conclusion:

The main issue of this watch is its size, very big and thick.

A wrist shot perfectly sums it:



The very good point is that Panerai almost perfectly respected the original Mare Nostrum, and kudos to them for that ( at the exception- the only one- of the refined movement, which is at the opposite of the spirit of this toolwatch ).

The problem is that its important volume makes this watch very difficult to wear, when the Egiziano is impossible to wear.

The 2 other problems are:

- The Limited Edition: 99 pieces is nothing, and most of the true Mare Lovers will end without getting one, even if we can expect, as too often with Panerai, some OORs to come, or, at least an increase of the limited edition to a stronger number.

- The price, which is much too high for a new Mare.

But I must admit that this watch will cause a big dilemma, and that certainly the Mare Lovers will see more pros than cons, and will live with the cons.

To me, for those of us who already own the Cali and/ or the 232, the 127 and / or the 217, or the 203, it will be difficult to not say yes to the Mare, as well as the Egiziano, to complete the Historical Collection.

For those who can't afford it, or for who the size is prohibitive, the Pre V and Pam 6,7 and 8 are still a great alternative!

Best,

Nicolas.

PS: I would like to specially thank the Spanish Cronotempvs Group, and especially Cesar ( who is also one of us ) for having added me during their appointment with Panerai, and Panerai Spain, for his great kindness and his disponibility. This message has been edited by amanico on 2010-02-02 03:21:47 This message has been edited by AnthonyTsai on 2010-02-07 10:07:51

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