Officine Panerai

ImranLondon
[PuristSPro Moderator]
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To know the value of the watch first you have to know the customer...

just what makes the value of a watch? and what is value for money when comes to watches?

For me, it starts with the the buyer..the customer

there are many different types of customer, first the normal chap!, this customer has very little or no concern for history, depreciation, appreciation, the main criteria are brand awarness and what its aesthetics are. This could be anything from Tag to PATEK depending on how deep the pocket is. The customer wants a nice watch...maybe watches to go with their lifestyle, an S class with a day date, or e class with bimetal datejust etc

But here in these forums we have not this customer, but a different customer, not necessarily superior, we just look at watches differently.

Brand awarness is still a crucial factor, look at the traffic on forum for Rolex, patek and Panerai and compare with other brands.

What other factors play a role here?,

well, rarity, complexity, desirability (what others think of a certain piece), limited edition and value..mainly appreciation as well as history of the brand and movement.

if we assume it is a given that you need to like the aesthetics of the watch first, then the above factors start to influence demand.

so if you take for instance the 127..here you have a watch which is fairly rare in the world of the Panerai collectors , its not very complex however, but is a limited edition has already appreciated and most if not all desire it.

what this does is make it more beautiful......more desirable. the hunt for it is by many not few..and those who have it can command more. The 203 is more an extreme example because of only 150 pieces and that they were hand chosen for customers.

What others think about a watch is very crucial here, it fuels the need to acquire, you feel more safe in knowing that it is desirable. for evidence, just compare the price of a PP perpetual with that of a VC, is the VC really that inferior? Because you have a critical mass of collectors wanting a particular watch, be it a 5218 or pre A or a 36 or 40 its value is always going to be strong, and that demand can make that watch be value for money,

for instance if say a piece like the pam 36 is say 15K today and in 10 years, as the legion of panerai collectors grows it becomes rarer and more in demand, and goes for 60K it is today undervalued..or definately VFM. Ofcourse if the OP brand dies a death, it is overpriced...

But there is another level even above this.

The vintage collector...this collector has another key factor, they have a psychology of looking at the watch as a piece of art, a piece of history even if they do not overtly realise this

then you are no longer comparing to another watch, you are comparing to say a Van Gogh or a rare chinese vase from 10th century, or a rare book which sells for 17 million.

here logic is no longer applicable, you can not compare a vintage Panerai with say even a modern Patek 5070. The rationale for buying is different: one is a fantastic beautiful watch, the other has become a piece of art, a historical artefact.

so what is value for money? what makes a watch overpriced? depends which type of customer you are on the day..........